Exiftool mac how to#
Exiftool mac install#
Exiftool mac manual#
Exiftool mac full#
Exiftool mac android#

However, exiftool-added tags do not seem to be picked up by neither Preview nor SpotLight. The added tags, such as 'keywords', are all visible in OSX (mountain lion) Finder, Preview and nicely indexed by Spotlight.įor PNGs I need to fallback to XMP as this is the metadata container for PNG. Michael Hayden said about metadata ( this is extreme and won’t apply to 99.9% of the people, but it just goes to show you that metadata is serious business.Around my image processing software I use exiftool to successfully shuffle around exif info from Cr2, TIFF, JPG files. The same goes for videos, audio files, and documents.Īlso, remember what former intelligence boss and retired Gen. Please note that this process is not only to be applied to your photos. If you don’t think this is an important step to take before uploading any photo online and it’s too much work, at least disable geotagging on the device(s) you use to take your photos.

Exiftool mac android#

If you’re running iOS, you can use Metapho, and if you’re on Android check out Scrambled Exif on F-Droid. To remove the data with ExifTool, all you need to do is type exiftool -all= path_to_file.ĮxifTool will strip out all the Exif data from your photo and create a new file leaving the original photo untouched.

Pretty scary, right? Yet, most people don’t even know or think about the amount of information they share when posting a photo online. Open up a terminal and type exiftool path_to_photo ( replace path_to_photo with the location of the photo on your drive and include the format ) Now let’s see what’s Exiftool capable of. If you open the photo in Preview and hit cmd+I ( or go to Tools > Show Inspector ) you’ll notice quite a bit of info. If you’re running macOS, you can quickly view a photo’s metadata by switching to gallery view in Finder. NOTE: the process is the same on all platforms ( Linux, macOS, and Windows ).

Exiftool mac how to#

To demo how to use ExifTool to remove metadata from a photo, I’m going to use this photo from flickr.įlickr does not remove Exif data by default, and it’s displayed on the photo page, but that’s not important for demo purposes.

Exiftool mac manual#

To learn what it’s capable of, once installed on your system, make sure to read the manual exiftool -help NOTE: ExifTool is a powerful and complex tool. Windows: download ExifTool for Windows from the official website ( linked above )

Exiftool mac install#

MacOS: you can install it via Homebrew with brew install exiftool Arch, Manjaro sudo pacman -S perl-image-exiftool.Fedora, RedHat, CentOS sudo dnf install perl-image-exiftool.noarch.Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, Kali sudo apt install libimage-exiftool-perl.There are a lot of web apps and browser addons that you can use to strip out metadata from photos.īut today, we’re going to focus on ExifTool – a cross-platform Perl library plus a command-line application for reading, writing, and editing meta information in various files ( various image formats, audio formats, video formats, document formats, etc.).

Exiftool mac full#

The data fields are often written by the device used to take the photo but can also be populated by programs such as Photoshop.Ĭheck out the full list of data fields supported by Exif. Exif Data in PhotosĮxchangeable image file format, or Exif data, is information that accompanies an image file and contains many data fields that can be populated or left blank. They collect it and add it next to your likes, comments, your network of ‘friends’ etc., to profile you. While social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram ( same company – Facebook ) strip out the metadata before it shows your photo to the world, they don’t just erase that metadata. Make sure the service you use strips out metadata.

Luckily, most social media platforms eliminate this threat by stripping out metadata from your published files. That’s metadata.īesides what’s visible in the photo itself, metadata can reveal when and where the photo was taken, the device used to take the photo and other unique characteristics that can fingerprint you across the web.īy not removing metadata, a hacker or OSINT researcher can easily find out where you live, where you work, your preferences and habits, etc., just by extracting the Exif data hidden inside the photos you post online. And both file types have one thing in common that can give away a lot more information than you might think. The two most common file types shared online today are photos and videos. Today, however, a picture is worth much more than that, and it can threaten your privacy and security.ĪLSO READ The Easiest Way to Remove EXIF MetadataĪLSO READ Metadata Cleaner: View and Clean Metadata ( Linux )