# TextExpander with Lightroom



## oneshotBeary (Feb 4, 2017)

Hey,

Just checking to see if anyone uses Text Expander TextExpander - Productivity App | Text Expander with Lightroom to caption photos in the Library module?  Like code replacements in Photo Mechanic ....


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## LouieSherwin (Feb 5, 2017)

I believe it should work. I occasionally use TextExpander to insert date/time stamps into Custom Text field of the Page tab in the Print module to help keep track of my proof prints.

You should be able to use text expansion in any other text field in the metadata panels as well.

-louie


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## Victoria Bampton (Feb 6, 2017)

I'm running TextExpander 5.1.4 and yes, it works.


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## oneshotBeary (Feb 6, 2017)

Great thank you

So how do i go about importing it into Lightroom? i had a quick look on the Text Expander website but can't see how i can use it in conjunction with Lightroom. As i shoot a lot of sports what i am looking to do is have team-sheets typed out before games and when captioning photos in the IPTC caption field use Text Expander so i wont have to be typing player names over and over again.


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## Victoria Bampton (Feb 7, 2017)

TextExpander is a global setting, so you don't import into Lightroom. You basically just assign a key combination to each player name. For example, I use .vi to type Victoria and [email protected] to type one of my email addresses, and .mob to type my mobile phone number... you get the idea.


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## oneshotBeary (Feb 7, 2017)

yeah thats really cool .... so for it to work for me i create an individual snippet for each player and then it will be automatically applied in Lightroom? 

many thanks for your help on this Victoria


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## rob211 (Feb 7, 2017)

oneshotBeary said:


> yeah thats really cool .... so for it to work for me i create an individual snippet for each player and then it will be automatically applied in Lightroom?
> 
> many thanks for your help on this Victoria


No, it won't automatically enter it. It's a keyboard shortcut application. You could say create a snippet like "Tom Brady, quarterback for the New England Patriots." But then you'd need a trigger to cause that snippet to be typed, say ";12" or something. So if you then type ";12" anywhere it "expands" and types out "Tom Brady, quarterback for the New England Patriots." Whether in the caption field in Lr, or in a Mail message, or whatever (I can't remember if TextExpander allows application-specific snippets; I switched to Typinator, which does). It's not like it would search for ";12" and replace it either; you have to type it.

So it's not automatic. Just a way of shortening typing or copying/pasting. Photo Mechanic can do way more with automating captions.


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## oneshotBeary (Feb 7, 2017)

ah ok but if i create a snippet for Tom Brady with '\n12' as my abbreviation once i type that abbreviation in Lightroom 'Tom Brady, quarterback for the New England Patriots' will appear in my caption? 

but for each player i have to create an individual snippet with an abbreviation?


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## rob211 (Feb 7, 2017)

oneshotBeary said:


> ah ok but if i create a snippet for Tom Brady with '\n12' as my abbreviation once i type that abbreviation in Lightroom 'Tom Brady, quarterback for the New England Patriots' will appear in my caption?
> 
> but for each player i have to create an individual snippet with an abbreviation?


Yes. And yes, you need an abbreviation for each one. So it only makes sense if you're using "Tom Brady, quarterback for the New England Patriots" over and over again. Or like your copyright.

By contrast, the scripting in PM could find that \n12 somewhere and replace it. See this explanation of code replacement for the same usage scenario: Speeding Up Captioning - CameraBits


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