If this sounds like your week
EXIF is a file format feature that became a privacy footgun.
“strip XMP rating and label before stock resubmit” is not about hating metadata; it is about controlling it with tools that match the stakes. Rejected stock uploads edited in desktop DAMs sometimes carry private rating stars agencies interpret as spam signals.
Where tooling usually breaks
Copy-paste forum advice does not scale to 20,000 frames.
One wrong flag, one missed field, one “it looked fine in Preview” moment is enough.
The invisible payload
Image looks fine in viewer EXIF: GPS, body, lens, software Client sees: the photo Internet sees: the rest MetaForge: strip on disk