How to read an IPTC caption on a Mac

A caption written for a photo is stored inside the image file, in a metadata field that the IPTC Photo Metadata Standard calls Description. On a Mac you can look for it in Preview's Inspector, or open the photo in Flipic Lens and press I, which shows the caption at the top of the photo info panel.

Where the caption is stored

The IPTC specification defines Description as "A textual description, including captions, of the image" and labels the field Caption/Description. In XMP it is saved as dc:description; in the older IIM format it is 2:120 Caption/Abstract (IPTC Photo Metadata Standard 2025.1, Description).

Headline is a separate field next to it, defined as "A brief synopsis of the caption", and the specification adds that Headline is not the same as Title (Headline). Both belong to IPTC Core, one of the two schemas in the standard; the other is IPTC Extension (IPTC Photo Metadata Standard).

Look for it in Preview

Apple's Preview guide describes the Inspector window as the place to view information about an image "such as file size, the author name, and the image resolution". Open the photo in Preview and click the Info button in the toolbar. Among the Inspector's tools, More Info is described as "View information about an image in different formats, and about where a photo was taken", and the Keywords inspector shows the keywords assigned to the image (View information about PDFs and images in Preview).

Apple's page does not list the individual fields, so look through More Info for the description in your own file.

Read it in Flipic Lens

1. Open the photo in Flipic Lens. The arrow keys page through the rest of the folder.
2. Press I to open the photo info panel. The headline (IPTC Headline) and caption (IPTC Description) written into the file are at the top, followed by the creator, credit, copyright, place and keywords.
3. Press ⇧I, or use the control at the top right of the panel, to switch from Essentials to All.

All is split into six groups: Description, Credit & Rights, Capture, Image, Location and File. It includes the color model, orientation, resolution and a wire service's transmission reference. Text in the panel can be selected and copied, and a link inside a caption can be clicked. All of this is in the free version.

Translate a caption

When the caption is in a different language from the interface, a Translate button appears under it. The translation is shown below the original, and the original stays in place.

Flipic Lens uses the translation built into macOS. It runs on your Mac and the text is not sent to any server. The first time you translate from a language, macOS asks to download that language. Caption translation needs macOS 15 or later.

To translate every caption without clicking, turn on Settings › Viewing › Translate photo captions automatically. It is off by default.

Reading, not editing

Flipic Lens reads IPTC data and does not edit it or any other metadata. To write a caption, change a copyright notice or add keywords, use a tool that writes IPTC: a metadata editor, an asset browser with metadata tools, or an ingest and delivery app. The comparison of Mac photo viewers and culling tools lists which apps cover that work.