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Original author(s) | Phil Harvey |
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Initial release | 19 November 2003 [1] |
Stable release | 13.24 [2] / 7 March 2025 |
Repository | |
Written in | Perl |
Operating system | Linux, macOS, Windows |
Type | Tag editor |
License | GPLv1+ or Artistic License |
Website | exiftool |
Filename extension | .mie |
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Internet media type | application/x-mie |
Magic number |
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Developed by | Phil Harvey |
Initial release | 28 November 2005 |
Latest release | 1.1 21 January 2007 |
Type of format | Metadata |
Container for | any other file format |
Website | exiftool |
ExifTool is a free and open-source software program for reading, writing, and manipulating image, audio, video, and PDF metadata. As such, ExifTool classes as a tag editor. It is platform independent, available as both a Perl library (Image::ExifTool) and a command-line application. ExifTool is commonly incorporated into different types of digital workflows [3] [4] [5] [6] and supports many types of metadata including Exif, IPTC, XMP, JFIF, GeoTIFF, ICC Profile, Photoshop IRB, FlashPix, AFCP and ID3, as well as the manufacturer-specific metadata formats of many digital cameras. This tool is often used in digital forensic analysis [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] and library archival [14] [15] [16] . It's also important to note that there are other apps related to ExifTool that function in the same way on the appstore/playstore so you don't have to rely on a computer software version.
ExifTool also implements its own open metadata format. It is designed to encapsulate metainformation from many sources, in binary or textual form, and bundle it together with any type of file. It can either be a single file, wrapping existing data, or used as a sidecar file, carrying for example Exif or XMP metadata.
Websites and services that use ExifTool include:
ExifTool can read, edit or create files with the following formats: [21]
Extended content |
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Some metadata-only files may be created from metadata input alone. Here is a list of files that ExifTool can create from scratch:
ExifTool can read, edit or create the following types of metadata in JPEG images: [21]
JPEG Meta Information | Can read? | Can edit? | Can create? | Description |
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APP0 - JFIF | Yes | Yes | Yes | JPEG File Interchange Format |
APP0 - JFXX | Yes | No | No | Extended JFIF |
APP0 - CIFF | Yes | Yes | No | Camera Image File Format (used by some Canon models) |
APP0 - AVI1 | Yes | No | No | JPEG AVI information |
APP0 - Ocad | Yes | No | No | Photobucket Ocad segment |
APP1 - EXIF | Yes | Yes | Yes | Exchangeable Image File Format (including maker notes) |
APP1 - XMP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Extensible Metadata Platform (multi-segment) |
APP1 - QVCI | Yes | No | No | Casio QV-7000SX QVCI information |
APP1 - FLIR | Yes | No | No | FLIR thermal imaging data (multi-segment) |
APP1 - RawThermalImage | Yes | No | No | Thermal image from Parrot Bebop-Pro Thermal drone |
APP2 - ICC | Yes | Yes | Yes | International Color Consortium (multi-segment) |
APP2 - FPXR | Yes | No | No | FlashPix Ready (multi-segment) |
APP2 - MPF | Yes | No | No | Multi-Picture Format |
APP2 - PreviewImage | Yes | No | No | Samsung APP2 preview image (multi-segment) |
APP3 - Kodak Meta | Yes | Yes | No | Kodak Meta information (Exif-like) |
APP3 - Stim | Yes | No | No | Stereo Still Image format |
APP3 - PreviewImage | Yes | No | No | Samsung/HP preview image (multi-segment) |
APP4 - Scalado | Yes | No | No | (presumably written by Scalado mobile software) |
APP4 - FPXR | Yes | No | No | FlashPix Ready in non-standard location (multi-segment) |
APP4 - PreviewImage | Yes | No | No | (continued from APP3) |
APP5 - Ricoh RMETA | Yes | No | No | Ricoh custom fields |
APP5 - Samsung UniqueID | Yes | No | No | Samsung Unique ID |
APP5 - PreviewImage | Yes | No | No | (continued from APP4) |
APP6 - EPPIM | Yes | No | No | Toshiba PrintIM |
APP6 - NITF | Yes | No | No | National Imagery Transmission Format |
APP6 - HP TDHD | Yes | No | No | Hewlett-Packard Photosmart R837 TDHD information |
APP6 - GoPro | Yes | No | No | GoPro Metadata Format (GPMF) information |
APP7 - Pentax | Yes | No | No | Pentax APP7 maker notes |
APP7 - Qualcomm | Yes | No | No | Qualcomm Camera Attributes |
APP8 - SPIFF | Yes | No | No | Still Picture Interchange File Format |
APP9 - Media Jukebox | Yes | No | No | Media Jukebox XML information |
APP10 - Comment | Yes | No | No | PhotoStudio Unicode Comment |
APP11 - JPEG-HDR | Yes | No | No | JPEG-HDR compressed ratio image |
APP12 - Picture Info | Yes | No | No | ASCII-based Picture Information |
APP12 - Ducky | Yes | Yes | Yes | Photoshop "Save for Web" |
APP13 - Photoshop IRB | Yes | Yes | Yes | Image Resource Block (multi-segment, includes IPTC) |
APP13 - Adobe CM | Yes | No | No | Adobe Color Management |
APP14 - Adobe | Yes | Yes | Yes | Adobe DCT filter |
APP15 - GraphicConverter | Yes | No | No | GraphicConverter quality |
COM | Yes | Yes | Yes | JPEG Comment (multi-segment) |
DQT | Yes | No | No | (used to calculate the Extra:JPEGDigest tag value) |
SOF | Yes | No | No | JPEG Start Of Frame |
AFCP trailer | Yes | Yes | No | AXS File Concatenation Protocol (includes IPTC) |
CanonVRD trailer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Canon DPP Recipe Data |
FotoStation trailer | Yes | Yes | No | FotoWare FotoStation (includes IPTC) |
PhotoMechanic trailer | Yes | Yes | No | Camera Bits Photo Mechanic |
MIE trailer | Yes | Yes | No | Meta Information Encapsulation |
Samsung trailer | Yes | No | No | Samsung Galaxy trailer |
PreviewImage trailer | Yes | Yes | Yes | (preview image written after JPEG EOI) |
EmbeddedVideo trailer | Yes | No | No | (extracted only with ExtractEmbedded option) |
ExifTool is available as the native Perl library Image::ExifTool. [22] The Python PyExifTool module provides a wrapper to the system version of ExifTool. [23] Further programming resources are given on the ExifTool project webpage.