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ExifTool | Mastering Metadata Manipulation

Learn how to use ExifTool to manipulate metadata in various file formats.

Remove Metadata

Remove all metadata from an image:

exiftool -all= image.jpg

Remove specific metadata tags (e.g., DateTimeOriginal and GPSLatitude) from an image:

exiftool -GPSLatitude= -DateTimeOriginal= image.jpg

Remove all metadata except for the date and time tags from an image:

exiftool -alldates image.jpg

Remove all EXIF metadata from a directory of images:

exiftool -all= directory/

Remove IPTC metadata from a file:

exiftool -IPTC:all= file.jpg

Remove XMP metadata from a file:

exiftool -XMP:all= file.jpg

exiftool -Make= -Model= image.jpg

Remove GPS metadata from an image:

exiftool -GPS:all= image.jpg

Remove specific IPTC tags (e.g., Caption and Keywords) from an image:

exiftool -IPTC:Caption= -IPTC:Keywords= image.jpg

Remove specific XMP tags (e.g., XMP:Creator and XMP:Subject) from an image:

exiftool -XMP:XMP:Creator= -XMP:XMP:Subject= image.jpg

Remove all metadata from a video file:

exiftool -all= video.mp4

Remove specific QuickTime tags (e.g., QuickTime:CreationDate and QuickTime:Artist) from a video:

exiftool -QuickTime:CreationDate= -QuickTime:Artist= video.mp4

exiftool -ExposureTime= -FNumber= image.jpg

Remove ICC profile metadata from an image:

exiftool -icc_profile:all= image.jpg

Remove specific Photoshop tags (e.g., Photoshop:AuthorsPosition and Photoshop:Credit) from an image:

exiftool -Photoshop:AuthorsPosition= -Photoshop:Credit= image.jpg

Remove specific XMP-GPS tags from an image:

exiftool -XMP-GPS:all= image.jpg

Remove specific IPTC-Location tags from an image:

exiftool -IPTC-Location:all= image.jpg

Remove specific XMP-MP tags from a video file:

exiftool -XMP-MP:all= video.mp4

Remove specific MPEG tags from a video:

exiftool -MPEG:all= video.mp4

Remove specific JFIF tags from an image:

exiftool -JFIF:all= image.jpg

Manipulate Dates

Update the DateTimeOriginal of an image to a specific date and time:

exiftool -DateTimeOriginal="2022:01:15 10:30:00" image.jpg

Shift the DateTimeOriginal of an image by a specific time offset (e.g., 1 hour forward):

exiftool "-DateTimeOriginal+=0:1:0 0" image.jpg

Set the CreateDate, ModifyDate, and DateTimeOriginal of an image to the current date and time:

exiftool "-CreateDate<now" "-ModifyDate<now" "-DateTimeOriginal<now" image.jpg

Adjust the DateTimeOriginal of an image by a specific time difference (e.g., 2 hours earlier):

exiftool "-DateTimeOriginal-=0:2:0 0" image.jpg

Set the GPSDateStamp and GPSTimeStamp of an image to a specific date and time:

exiftool -GPSDateStamp="2022:01:15" -GPSTimeStamp="10:30:00" image.jpg

Set the FileModifyDate of a file to a specific date and time:

exiftool -FileModifyDate="2022:01:15 10:30:00" file.txt

Adjust the ModifyDate of a file by a specific time offset (e.g., 30 minutes forward):

exiftool "-ModifyDate+=0:0:30" file.txt

Set the MediaCreateDate and MediaModifyDate of a video file to the current date and time:

exiftool "-MediaCreateDate<now" "-MediaModifyDate<now" video.mp4

Update the DateTimeOriginal of multiple images in a directory to a specific date and time:

exiftool -DateTimeOriginal="2022:01:15 10:30:00" directory/

Set the DateCreated and DateModified of a file to a specific date and time:

exiftool -DateCreated="2022:01:15 10:30:00" -DateModified="2022:01:15 10:30:00" file.txt

Manipulate and Edit Metadata

Set the ISO value of an image to a specific value:

exiftool -ISO=200 image.jpg

Change the ExposureTime of a photo to a longer exposure:

exiftool -ExposureTime=1/30 image.jpg

exiftool -Copyright="Copyright © 2022 Your Name" image.jpg

Set the Artist tag of an image to a specific value:

exiftool -Artist="John Doe" image.jpg

Change the Make and Model tags of an image:

exiftool -Make="Nikon" -Model="D850" image.jpg

Add keywords to the metadata of an image:

exiftool -Keywords+="landscape" -Keywords+="nature" image.jpg

Set the GPS latitude and longitude of an image:

exiftool -GPSLatitude=37.7749 -GPSLongitude=-122.4194 image.jpg

Rotate an image based on the Orientation tag:

exiftool -Orientation#=1 image.jpg

Add a description to the XMP metadata of an image:

exiftool -XMP:Description="A beautiful sunset over the mountains" image.jpg

Change the camera model in the metadata of an image:

exiftool -Model="Canon EOS 5D Mark IV" image.jpg

Add a title to the IPTC metadata of an image:

exiftool -IPTC:Title="Sunflower Field" image.jpg

Adjust the exposure compensation value of an image:

exiftool -ExposureCompensation=-0.5 image.jpg

Set the resolution unit and XResolution/YResolution values of an image:

exiftool -ResolutionUnit=inches -XResolution=300 -YResolution=300 image.jpg

Change the author name in the XMP metadata of an image:

exiftool -XMP:Creator="Jane Smith" image.jpg

Remove all metadata from files in folder1

exiftool -all= /path/to/folder1/*

Set all dates to January 1, 1990, for files in folder2

exiftool -AllDates="1990:01:01 00:00:00" /path/to/folder2/*

Remove all metadata from files in folder3 using a loop

for file in /path/to/folder3/*; do
    exiftool -all= "$file"
done

Set all dates to January 1, 1990, for files in folder4 using a loop

for file in /path/to/folder4/*; do
    exiftool -AllDates="1990:01:01 00:00:00" "$file"
done

Remove all metadata from JPEG files in folder5

exiftool -all= /path/to/folder5/*.jpg

Set all dates to January 1, 1990, for JPEG files in folder6

exiftool -AllDates="1990:01:01 00:00:00" /path/to/folder6/*.jpg

Remove all metadata from JPEG files in folder7 using a loop

for file in /path/to/folder7/*.jpg; do
    exiftool -all= "$file"
done

Example 8: Set all dates to January 1, 1990, for JPEG files in folder8 using a loop

for file in /path/to/folder8/*.jpg; do
    exiftool -AllDates="1990:01:01 00:00:00" "$file"
done

Remove all metadata from PNG files in folder9

exiftool -all= /path/to/folder9/*.png

Set all dates to January 1, 1990, for PNG files in folder10

exiftool -AllDates="1990:01:01 00:00:00" /path/to/folder10/*.png

Remove all metadata from PNG files in folder11 using a loop

for file in /path/to/folder11/*.png; do
    exiftool -all= "$file"
done

Set all dates to January 1, 1990, for PNG files in folder12 using a loop

for file in /path/to/folder12/*.png; do
    exiftool -AllDates="1990:01:01 00:00:00" "$file"
done

Remove all metadata from MOV files in folder13

exiftool -all= /path/to/folder13/*.mov

Set all dates to January 1, 1990, for MOV files in folder14

exiftool -AllDates="1990:01:01 00:00:00" /path/to/folder14/*.mov

Remove all metadata from MOV files in folder15 using a loop

for file in /path/to/folder15/*.mov; do
    exiftool -all= "$file"
done

Set all dates to January 1, 1990, for MOV files in folder16 using a loop

for file in /path/to/folder16/*.mov; do
    exiftool -AllDates="1990:01:01 00:00:00" "$file"
done

Remove all metadata from MP3 files in folder17

exiftool -all= /path/to/folder17/*.mp3

Set all dates to January 1, 1990, for MP3 files in folder18

exiftool -AllDates="1990:01:01 00:00:00" /path/to/folder18/*.mp3

Remove all metadata from MP3 files in folder19 using a loop

for file in /path/to/folder19/*.mp3; do
    exiftool -all= "$file"
done

Set all dates to January 1, 1990, for MP3 files in folder20 using a loop

for file in /path/to/folder20/*.mp3; do
    exiftool -AllDates="1990:01:01 00:00:00" "$file"
done

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