It is my impression that Aperture keeps the metadata for Original (Master) images in it's database only, unless you specify that you want the metadata written 'into' the file. or am I best just looking at the Aperture vs LR or even IDI Supreme (but this seems a little unproven at present) and if so, is Aperture or LR best in terms of Metadata handling (sync etc.)? Is there a program that focuses properly on Metadata with IPTC, XMP, File sync, Hierarchical keywords etc. I have looked at LR which seems to meet my needs but also contains large amount of editing and is licensed at one machine per licences. Aperture does support hierarchical keywords. Aperture users also seem to warn against keeping the file Metadata in sync as takes long time and cannot run in background.

Aperture will allow full Metadata editing and has advantage of 3 licences ( will help as will have iMac, MBPro and older MBAir ) but seems not as convenient for Metadata as IDI (tried Aperture at local Apple store). IPhoto does not seem to support hierarchical keywords and editing the full metadata set. I am also keen to keep the image Metadata in sync with the data within the database/library. In process of moving to Mac from PC (15000 images mainly jpeg ) where I have been using IDImager but realised that 90% of use is for editing the Metadata - specifically Title, Headline, Description, Keywords (my own hierarchical format), GPS data, EXIF ( data if time zone need adjusting) in multiple files at once and keep IPTC and XMP Metadata in sync.

Does anybody have any suggestions for primarily a metadata editor for the Mac.

Mac image metadata editor