Apply Finder Tags

The Tags tab handles batch application of macOS Finder Tags to media files. It operates independently of the Workflow session — it can be used at any time without running Offload, Transcode, or Export.

Table of Contents

Live interactive mockup — click on SOURCE to simulate different input.

How It Works

evrExpanse reads a metadata file or scans a folder directly, then applies macOS Finder Tags — including both color tags and custom text labels — to the referenced media files on disk.

Input Sources

DaVinci Resolve CSV — drag and drop the .csv file exported from Resolve via File → Export Metadata From → Media Pool or Selected Media Pool Clips.

Final Cut Pro FCPXML / FCPXMLD — drag and drop a Library or Event export. Export from FCP via File → Export XML.

evrExpanse TSV — drag and drop the .tsv file generated by an Export Metadata session.

Folder — drag and drop a folder directly. evrExpanse scans the folder for media files, generates an internal TSV metadata export automatically, and processes it. No pre-exported metadata file needed.

Metadata Fields Mapped to Finder Tags

From DaVinci Resolve: Description · Comments · Keywords · People · Shot · Scene · Take · Good Take · Camera # · Reel Number · Roll Card # · Camera Type · Lens Type · Location

From Final Cut Pro: Keywords · Notes

From evrExpanse TSV or Folder scan:

Category Fields
Creative (XMP) Title · Description · Keywords · Creator · Rights · Label · Rating · Flag · Location
Camera & EXIF Make · Model · Serial # · Shutter · WB Kelvin · Gamma · Color · ISO · F-Number · Focal · Lens · Rotation · GPS · Camera Notes
Production / Clip Scene · Take · Reel · Clip Name

Tag Prefixes

Tags are created with automatic prefixes where useful, making them directly filterable in Finder:

Scene- Take- Reel- Card- Cam- Clip- Lens- SN- ISO- f/ Shutter- WB- Rot- Focal- Color- Gamma- Loc- Creator- Rights-

Tagging Modes

Append — adds new tags from the metadata file to each file's existing Finder Tags. Existing tags are preserved. This operation can be reversed using Remove mode.

Overwrite — removes all existing Finder Tags from each file and applies only the tags from the metadata. This operation cannot be undone.

Remove — removes only the tags listed in the metadata from each file. All other existing tags are left in place.

Workflow

Drag a metadata file or folder into the source area. evrExpanse detects the format automatically and shows the relevant field selector — choose which metadata fields to convert into Finder Tags. Click Preview Tags — or Extract & Preview, if your source is a folder.

evrExpanse scans the metadata file, matches each entry to the corresponding file on disk, and presents a Tagging Preview — a full list of files and tags before anything is written.

Review the preview, then choose a mode — Add, Overwrite, or Remove — and press Apply Finder Tags.

After processing, a summary sheet shows total files tagged, files skipped, and direct links to the Missing Files and Duplicate Files reports.

Closing the Summary returns you to the Tags tab. The status bar displays the result of the run — a confirmation when all files were tagged, or a notice if the run was cancelled or did not complete. When the tagging process has run, an Open Report button appears next to the result; selecting it opens the run's report in the Log & Report Viewer.

Duplicate File Handling

If the same file appears more than once in the metadata — for example, the same clip listed in multiple DaVinci Resolve bins or multiple Final Cut Pro events — evrExpanse handles duplicates as follows:

Include Duplicate Files disabled (default) — duplicates are skipped. A Duplicates Log is saved in the report folder.

Include Duplicate Files enabled — duplicates are processed in the order they appear in the metadata file.

  • Append — all unique tags from each occurrence are merged.
  • Overwrite — each duplicate replaces the previous tags. The last occurrence defines the final tag set.
  • Remove — all referenced tags across all occurrences are cumulatively removed.

Configure this behavior in Preferences → Tags.

Missing File Handling

If a file listed in the metadata does not exist on disk, it is skipped and recorded in a Missing Files Log. A warning is displayed in the progress window. You can cancel the operation at that point if needed.

Supported Media Formats

Video: MOV · MP4 · MXF · MKV · NEV Photo: JPG · JPEG · PNG · TIF · DNG · HEIC · AVIF

Output — Log and Report Folder

After every Apply Finder Tags session, evrExpanse creates a report folder next to the metadata file:

MetadataFile_tag_report/
  Tag Report <YYYY-MM-DD at HH.MM.SS> — <VolumeName> — <SourceLabel>.log
  evrE_missing_files_${CSVfileName}_${datelog}.tsv
  evrE_duplicate_files_${CSVfileName}_${datelog}.tsv

Access the report folder directly from the final summary window via Open Report.

Known Limitations

DaVinci Resolve CSV double quotes — due to a known bug in Resolve's CSV export, using double quotes inside any metadata field can corrupt the exported CSV. Replace double quotes with single quotes in Resolve before exporting.

Localized Finder color tags — color tag names are localized based on your macOS system language. Always use the color tag name that matches your macOS system language, otherwise the color label will not be applied and will appear as a plain text tag instead.