Does Bulkr Preserve Flickr Photo Metadata Like Title, Tags, and Geotags?

Updated

Yes. Bulkr can write the title, tags, description, and geotag from Flickr into the downloaded file's EXIF (XMP) metadata. That means the information attached to a photo on Flickr can travel with the file to your local drive instead of being lost during download. This matters most if you are archiving a photostream or migrating photos and want the original captions, keywords, and location data to stay attached to each image.

What metadata Bulkr writes

According to the site, Bulkr writes these fields into EXIF (XMP):

  • Title — the photo's name on Flickr
  • Tags — the keywords assigned to the photo
  • Description — the caption or text body
  • Geotag — the location data attached to the photo

The practical effect is that when you open a downloaded file in a photo manager or metadata viewer, these fields can appear as embedded metadata rather than as a separate sidecar or a note you have to keep track of manually.

Why this matters for archiving and migration

Flickr is more than a file host — the value of a library often sits in the text and location data around each image. If you download only the image files, you can end up with a folder of pictures whose titles, tags, and places are gone.

Writing metadata into EXIF (XMP) helps in two common situations:

  • Backup — you keep a local copy that still carries the descriptive information, so a restore or re-upload is less lossy.
  • Migration — if you move photos to another service or a local catalog, the embedded fields give that new tool something to read.

What to check before you rely on it

A few conditions are worth confirming for your own workflow, since the site describes the capability but not every edge case:

  • Which fields survive in your viewer — different photo managers read EXIF and XMP differently. Open one downloaded file in the tool you actually use and confirm title, tags, description, and geotag show up.
  • File format and size choices — Bulkr lets you download photos in four different sizes. Metadata handling should be verified on the size and format you plan to keep, not just on one test file.
  • Large libraries — if you are backing up thousands of photos, spot-check a sample across different sets rather than assuming every file behaves the same.

A quick verification step

  1. Download a small set or a single photo with metadata writing enabled.
  2. Open the file in a metadata-aware viewer or editor.
  3. Check that the title, tags, description, and geotag match what you see on Flickr.
  4. If a field is missing, adjust your settings or viewer before running a full backup.

Bulkr also supports downloading videos, sets (albums), favorites, groups, and explore photos, and it can auto-resume downloads if a connection breaks — useful when a large backup is interrupted. The metadata-writing feature is the part that keeps the descriptive side of your Flickr library intact alongside the image files.