ExifTool is a powerful command-line application and library used for reading, writing, and manipulating metadata information in various file formats, particularly image and video files. It was created by Phil Harvey and is available for free as open-source software.
ExifTool supports a wide range of file formats, including JPEG, PNG, TIFF, PDF, MOV, MP4, and many others. It allows you to extract, modify, and delete metadata tags from these files. Metadata tags can contain information such as camera settings, date and time of capture, geolocation data, copyright information, and more.
Here are some common tasks you can perform with ExifTool:
- Displaying metadata: You can use ExifTool to view the metadata of a file by running a command like this:
exiftool filename.jpg
Extracting metadata: ExifTool allows you to extract specific metadata tags from a file. For example, to extract the camera make and model from an image, you can use the following command:
exiftool -Make -Model filename.jpg
Modifying metadata: ExifTool enables you to modify or update metadata tags in a file. For instance, to change the author’s name in a PDF file, you can run the following command:
exiftool -Author="John Doe" filename.pdf
Deleting metadata: If you want to remove specific metadata tags from a file, ExifTool provides the option to delete them. For example, to delete the GPS information from an image, you can use the following command:
exiftool -GPSLatitude= -GPSLongitude= filename.jpg
These are just a few examples of what you can do with ExifTool. The tool offers a vast range of capabilities and allows for batch processing, advanced metadata manipulation, and integration with scripting languages. It’s widely used by photographers, forensic analysts, and professionals dealing with digital media to manage and analyze metadata in files.
