MLS roster files

MLS roster files for Photo Mechanic and GalleryID Desktop

Soccer captions live or die on getting the name right, and MLS squads are full of names that break when they pass through a caption field. SnapCaption builds the club roster file in about a minute with names already folded to clean ASCII, and the same file loads into Photo Mechanic and GalleryID Desktop.

Free. No account required to build and download a file.

What makes MLS rosters painful by hand

Every sport breaks a roster file in its own way. These are the ones that bite in MLS.

Accented names break on the way to the wire

A name typed with the accent intact can arrive at the desk garbled or truncated. Exported names are folded to US-ASCII so the character that reaches the caption field is the character you expected.

Squads turn over mid-season

Transfer windows, loans and roster designations move players in and out during the year. Pull a current squad on match day rather than maintaining one by hand.

Tournament squads are not league squads

Leagues Cup eligibility is its own registered list, not the club roster. That tournament is built from the official registered squads, so the file matches who can actually take the field.

One file, both applications

The export is not locked to one program. The same MLS roster file loads into Photo Mechanic and into GalleryID Desktop, with identical shortcodes either way.

Photo Mechanic

Edit > Settings > Set Code Replacements > Load, then pick the file. The shortcodes are live in the caption fields immediately.

Code Replacement is the name Camera Bits, Inc. gives the feature in Photo Mechanic's own documentation, which is why this file is often called a code replacement roster file.

GalleryID Desktop

Attach the same file as a roster and the identical shortcodes expand while you caption. Nothing about the export changes.

GalleryID Desktop goes further than shortcodes — it identifies athletes by facial recognition and writes the names into the photo, so there is no code to type at all. See GalleryID Desktop

What a shortcode looks like

You type
h10
The caption field shows
Marcus Cole, #10, Midfielder, Portland Timbers

The h is the prefix you assigned the home club, 10 the shirt number. Give the visitors their own prefix and both squads live in one file.

What goes in your MLS file

You choose the columns. The export is a tab-separated file, so anything that reads a tab-delimited roster can use it.

  • Full name, first name and last name as separate columns if you want them
  • Shirt number written as 10, #10 or (10)
  • Position as an abbreviation, lowercase, or title case
  • Club name
  • Long-form caption strings, for example: Marcus Cole #10 of the Portland Timbers

MLS teams you can build a roster file for

30 teams, kept current from in-season sources. Pick any two and build one file for the whole game.

  • Atlanta United FC
  • Austin FC
  • CF Montréal
  • Charlotte FC
  • Chicago Fire FC
  • Colorado Rapids
  • Columbus Crew
  • D.C. United
  • FC Cincinnati
  • FC Dallas
  • Houston Dynamo FC
  • Inter Miami CF
  • LA Galaxy
  • LAFC
  • Minnesota United FC
  • Nashville SC
  • New England Revolution
  • New York City FC
  • Orlando City SC
  • Philadelphia Union
  • Portland Timbers
  • Real Salt Lake
  • Red Bull New York
  • San Diego FC
  • San Jose Earthquakes
  • Seattle Sounders FC
  • Sporting Kansas City
  • St. Louis CITY SC
  • Toronto FC
  • Vancouver Whitecaps

MLS roster file questions

How do I load an MLS roster file into Photo Mechanic?

In Photo Mechanic, go to Edit > Settings > Set Code Replacements, click Load, and select the downloaded file. GalleryID Desktop attaches the same file as a roster and expands the identical shortcodes while you caption.

How are accented names handled?

Names are folded to US-ASCII on export so they survive the trip through Photo Mechanic and out to the wires without turning into replacement characters.

Can I build a Leagues Cup file instead of a league file?

Yes. Leagues Cup is a separate selection built from the official registered tournament rosters rather than league rosters, so the squad reflects who is actually eligible for the tournament.

Does it cover Liga MX too?

Yes, Liga MX clubs are available as their own league selection, which matters for Leagues Cup where you are shooting clubs from both.

Build your MLS roster file

Pick your teams, set your codes, download the file. Free, and no account required.

Open the roster builder