aeondave/exiftool

ExifTool

High-coverage metadata inspection and editing across a huge range of file types.

When to use ExifTool

Use ExifTool when you need to:

• dump metadata from images, videos, PDFs, archives, or binaries
• extract GPS, EXIF, XMP, IPTC, ICC, and embedded-preview information
• compare, copy, or transform metadata between files
• batch process directories recursively
• geotag images from GPS logs or normalize timestamp fields

Quick Start

# Read everything ExifTool considers available
exiftool file.jpg

# Short tag names with group names
exiftool -s -G1 file.jpg

# JSON output for automation
exiftool -j file.jpg

High-Value Read Workflows

Full metadata dump

exiftool -a -u -g1 file.jpg

Use this when you want duplicate and unknown tags grouped clearly.

Focused tags

exiftool -s -ImageSize -ExposureTime -CreateDate file.jpg

Structured output for tooling

exiftool -j file.jpg
exiftool -csv dir/

Recursive directory processing

exiftool -r -ext jpg pictures/

Embedded Data and Binary Extraction

# Extract thumbnail
exiftool -b -ThumbnailImage image.jpg > thumbnail.jpg

# Extract embedded metadata from nested content
exiftool -ee file.pdf

-ee is especially useful for embedded documents, previews, or timed metadata in container formats.

Copy and Transform Metadata

Copy tags from one file to another

exiftool -tagsFromFile src.jpg dst.jpg
exiftool -TagsFromFile src.jpg -all:all dst.jpg

Copy selected metadata while rewriting groups intentionally

exiftool -all= -tagsFromFile src.jpg -exif:all dst.jpg

Editing and Deletion

# Write or replace one tag
exiftool -comment='new comment' file.jpg

# Delete all metadata
exiftool -all= file.jpg

# Recursive delete of one group
exiftool -r -XMP-crss:all= DIR

Geotagging

exiftool -geotag track.log image.jpg
exiftool -geotag track.log -geosync=-20 DIR

Use this for forensic or OSINT workflows that align image timestamps with GPS logs.

Practical Notes

• By default, when ExifTool writes metadata it preserves originals as *_original backups.
• Use -overwrite_original only when you intentionally do not want those backups.
• -n disables print conversion and is useful when you need raw numeric values.
• -b is the right choice when extracting binary values like thumbnails or full XMP blobs.
• -G and -g matter because the same logical tag may exist in multiple metadata groups.

Caveats

• Editing metadata is not the same as sanitizing a file for privacy; review generated _original files too.
• Upstream notes that PDF edits are reversible because original information is not actually removed from the file.
• -all= on RAW formats can destroy metadata needed by vendor workflows; use carefully.

Resources

No bundled scripts/, references/, or assets/. Use the official ExifTool documentation for the full tag database, batch formatting tricks, and advanced copy/write syntax.