Star rating (XMP rating)

A star rating (one to five) given to a photo and stored in its metadata (XMP Rating), so the camera, Lightroom and other software read the same value.

Many cameras let you rate images in playback, often with a button you assign to Rating. Canon and Nikon write that rating into the image file itself, in the standard XMP rating field (and an EXIF equivalent), which is why in-camera stars show up when you import into Lightroom or Photo Mechanic.

Because the rating travels inside the file, a tethering app can read it too. CloudTether 1.1 uses it to send only the shots you rate in camera: unrated frames stay on the card, and a shot is sent within seconds of getting its star.