Kresty Initially I answered in deleted thread, so I move my answer here:
Tonfots can read pretty much all useable metadate there is, and most of it then actively used in UI, except for ratings and color tagging. Everything else - people, tags, location, time stamps, captions, etc - this all will be used by Tonfotos if it is stored in image metadata.
Apart from reading metadata and using it, Tonfotos can also edit most of it (except for location, but that is coming too), and it saves it back into file metadata so other applications can pick it up and use it. However, information about people is not stored in XMP by Tonfotos (see below).
Even though XMP metadata is standartized to some extent, most tools use it sligtly differently and put slightly different meaning into it. Therefore, you can’t be compatible will of them at the same time. There is a list of apps that I am testing against, and among them is Windows Photos (standard app for Win 10 and 11). I can guarantee that when you add tags or caption by Tonfotos, it will be picked up by Photos. However, Windows Live Photo Gallery is not in compatibility list so far. AFAIK, it is outdated and not supported by Microsoft for many years already, right?
Apart from simple things like tags, “standard” XMP record about people is not really adequate for practical use. It is not capable of storing of lots of critical information that Tonfotos has. Therefore as of now, Tonfotos will read People information from files and use it, but will not write it back when it changes, it relies on its own database, as well as .ini files for that purpose.
At this point of time, IMHO, Tonfotos provides most advanced capabilities for working with people, which includes relationship with the people, for example. I am not aware about any other similar application that can show this information, let alone working on data exchange with it.
Nevertheless, building up compatibility with other apps is strategically important for Tonfotos, so this part will only inprove in the future, including based on the feedback from the users.
It is up to you to decide what app for photo archive management you choose, but I would like to encourage you to at least give a try to Tonfotos. You can use free version for as long as you want, there is no time limitation as you can see wtih some other applications. So you can see for yourself if it is adequate for your needs or not.
