Image Governance
for Businesses
and Agencies
Metadata embedding solves discoverability. But for organisations that ship hundreds of images a month, discoverability isn't enough. You need control. Over what leaves. Over how it's credited. Over what it says about your brand.
The Risk Nobody Budgets For
When images leave your system without governance, the damage is invisible — until it isn't.
Brand Inconsistency
Different departments export images with different metadata standards. Some carry credits. Some don't. Externally, it looks like chaos.
Credit Omission
A photographer's name gets dropped. A contributor isn't credited. A licensing field is empty. The legal email arrives three months later.
Uncontrolled Export
Anyone can download and re-upload without quality or compliance checks. The image carries whatever metadata it had — or nothing at all.
Compliance Gaps
EU copyright requirements, accessibility standards, rights declarations — all depend on metadata being present and correct at the point of export.
Governance isn't about slowing teams down. It's about making sure every image that leaves represents the standard you set.
What Image Governance Actually Looks Like
ContextEmbed's governance layer is optional, configurable, and enforced at the only moment that matters — before export.
Export Rules
Define what must be present before an image can be exported. No copyright field? Export blocked. No description? Export blocked. Rules are project-level — different projects, different requirements.
Brand Consistency
Set default values for copyright holder, credit line format, and usage terms across all projects. Every image that leaves carries your brand's metadata signature.
Copyright: © 2025 Acme Studio. All rights reserved.
Credit: Acme Studio / [Photographer Name]
Usage: Licensed for editorial use only.
Export Profiles
Different destinations need different metadata. Define profiles for web, print, stock submission, and internal archive — each with its own field requirements and format rules.
Web Export
IPTC + Keywords
Print Archive
Full IPTC + XMP
Stock Submit
IPTC + Model Release
Internal
All + Audit Trail
Audit & Reporting
Every export is logged. Every governance check is recorded. When compliance questions come — and they will — you have a timestamped trail of what was checked, what passed, and what was blocked.
DAM Compatibility
ContextEmbed isn't a DAM. It's the metadata layer that makes your DAM work properly.
Upstream Processing
Process images through ContextEmbed before they enter your DAM. Every file arrives with structured, standards-compliant metadata already embedded.
Standards-First
IPTC Core, IPTC Extension, XMP Dublin Core — written by ExifTool. Compatible with Adobe Bridge, Photo Mechanic, Capture One, and any DAM that reads standard metadata.
Batch Export
Export entire projects as metadata-enriched archives. Web Packs, case study packs, and raw exports — all with governance checks applied.
Built For Teams That Ship At Scale
Creative Agencies
- Multi-client metadata standards
- Per-project governance rules
- Branded export profiles
Media Companies
- Rights enforcement at export
- Contributor credit tracking
- Compliance audit trails
Enterprise Marketing
- Brand metadata consistency
- Cross-department standards
- DAM integration pipeline
Control What Leaves Your System
Governance isn't overhead. It's the difference between shipping images and shipping assets.
Try ContextEmbed Free3 exports • live web app • no guessing