Metadata Express

How to make a roster file

About 10 minutes, once per team per season.

Your roster is what lets you type 23 and get Marcus Ellis. It's a plain text file with one person per line: a short code (usually the jersey number) and the name, exactly as you want it written into your photos.

Download a football example Download a basketball example

Open an example, replace the names with your team's, and save. That's the quickest way to start.

1. What the file looks like

Players:
1o    Marcus Hale
1d    Devin Brooks
11o   Isaiah Coleman
11d   Andre Whitfield Jr.
88o   Chris Delgado III
91s   Luis Ortega

Coaches and staff:
hc    Ray Simmons
oc    Dana Whitlock
ad    Karen Lopez

2. Choosing codes

WhoCodeExample
A player with a unique numberJust the number23 Marcus Ellis
Two players who share a number (common in football)Number plus o (offense), d (defense) or s (special teams)11o Isaiah Coleman
11d Andre Whitfield Jr.
Coaches, staff, anyone without a numberAny short letters you'll rememberhc head coach, oc offensive coordinator, ad athletic director

Every code must be different. If two lines use the same code, the later one wins.

Brands and sponsors (optional)

Want to find every photo with the Nike or Gatorade logo later? Add them under a Brands: heading. They're saved as keywords you can search for, but never named in the caption.

Brands:
nk    Nike
gt    Gatorade

3. Spell the names exactly right

The name is written into every photo exactly as you type it here, so it should match how the athlete is listed wherever your photos go: the team's athlete-delivery or photo-sharing platform, the official roster, your newsroom style.

Why this matters: if your team sends photos to athletes automatically by name, a photo tagged "Andre Whitfield" won't reach someone signed up as "Andre Whitfield Jr." Copy the names straight from that platform's athlete list if you can.

4. Three ways to make the file

On a Mac (TextEdit)

  1. Open TextEdit and choose File › New.
  2. Choose Format › Make Plain Text (important: rich text won't work).
  3. Type or paste one person per line.
  4. File › Save, name it something like Hawks Football 2026.txt, and keep the encoding as Unicode (UTF-8).

On Windows (Notepad)

  1. Open Notepad, type or paste one person per line.
  2. File › Save As, choose UTF-8 encoding, and save as a .txt file.

From a spreadsheet (Excel, Numbers, Google Sheets)

  1. Put the codes in column A and the names in column B, with no other columns.
  2. Either copy both columns and paste them into TextEdit or Notepad (they paste with Tabs, which is perfect),
  3. or export it as CSV (File › Export To › CSV in Numbers; File › Save As › CSV UTF-8 in Excel; File › Download › CSV in Google Sheets). Metadata Express opens .csv files too.

Right in Metadata Express

In Session Setup, click the i next to Roster and open Create a Roster. Type each code and name, or paste two columns copied from a spreadsheet. It warns you about missing or duplicate codes, saves the file wherever you like, and works without internet.

From the team's website (fastest)

In Metadata Express, go to Session Setup › Roster › From Link… and paste the team's roster page (it usually ends in /roster). Most college athletics sites work, plus ESPN team rosters in any league, NFL team sites, NBA.com, NHL.com, MLB.com and MLS (mlssoccer.com and club sites). Metadata Express builds the file for you with numbers, names and offense/defense/special-teams codes. Check the names it lists before saving, and add your coaches and staff.

5. Using it in the app

  1. In Session Setup, click Load Roster and choose your file. Metadata Express remembers it for next time.
  2. While tagging:
    • Type 23 and press Enter to add that player.
    • Type 11 when two players share it, and you'll get a quick choice; or type 11o to skip the choice.
    • Type hc for the head coach, or any code you made.
    • Type two or more letters of a name, like col, for suggestions.

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