What it does
ExifTool is a command-line metadata reader and writer with Perl modules, including support for many camera makers' metadata.
Pass files or directories to inspect metadata, print selected tags or export a text report. Assign tag values to write them, use empty assignments to delete, or tagsFromFile to copy supported metadata. Writing preserves an _original backup by default; verify the edited file before removing that copy. Read, write and create support differ by format. Recursive traversal normally skips dot-directories even though ordinary directory processing includes hidden files. The source uses Perl's Artistic-or-GPL terms.
Strengths
- Wide metadata format scope
- Documented per-format read and write distinctions
Watch out for
- Write and create support varies by file type
Best for
- Inspecting or correcting image metadata
Sources
- GitHub - exiftool/exiftool: ExifTool meta information reader/writer · GitHub (Oct 26, 2026)
- README (Oct 26, 2026)
- ExifTool metadata reading, writing, copying and original backups (Oct 26, 2026)
- ExifTool Artistic-or-GPL source licence (Oct 26, 2026)