Exiv2 is a powerful command-line tool and library specifically designed for manipulating metadata in image files. Metadata, often referred to as “exif” data in the context of images, contains important information about the image file itself, such as camera settings, date and time of capture, location data, and much more.
The primary purpose of Exiv2 is to provide a comprehensive solution for working with and modifying image metadata. It supports a wide range of image file formats, including popular formats like JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and many others. With Exiv2, you can extract, modify, and delete metadata attributes within these image files, giving you fine-grained control over the information embedded within the images.
One of the key features of Exiv2 is its ability to extract metadata from images. This allows you to retrieve detailed information about the image, such as camera make and model, exposure settings, focal length, GPS coordinates, and other relevant data. Extracting metadata is particularly useful for analyzing and organizing image collections, as it provides insights into the technical aspects of the image capture process.
In addition to extracting metadata, Exiv2 enables you to modify and manipulate metadata attributes within image files. This includes operations like changing the date and time of capture, modifying the author or copyright information, adding keywords or tags, and adjusting other metadata values according to your requirements. Exiv2 provides a flexible and intuitive interface for performing these modifications, allowing you to customize the metadata to suit your needs.
Exiv2 also supports batch processing, which means you can apply metadata operations to multiple image files simultaneously. This is particularly useful when you need to perform consistent modifications across a large number of images, such as updating copyright information or adding keywords to an entire image collection.
Furthermore, Exiv2 is not limited to the command-line interface. It also offers a library that can be integrated into your own applications or scripts, providing programmatic access to image metadata manipulation capabilities. This allows you to incorporate metadata manipulation functionality directly into your image processing workflows or software projects.
exiv2 Command Examples
1. Print a summary of the image Exif metadata:
# exiv2 /path/to/file
2. Print all metadata (Exif, IPTC, XMP) with interpreted values:
# exiv2 -P kt /path/to/file
3. Print all metadata with raw values:
# exiv2 -P kv /path/to/file
4. Delete all metadata from an image:
# exiv2 -d a /path/to/file
5. Delete all metadata, preserving the file timestamp:
# exiv2 -d a -k /path/to/file
6. Rename the file, prepending the date and time from metadata (not from the file timestamp):
# exiv2 -r '%Y%m%d_%H%M%S_:basename:' /path/to/file
Summary
In summary, Exiv2 is a powerful command-line tool and library for manipulating metadata in image files. It supports a wide range of image formats and provides capabilities for extracting, modifying, and deleting metadata attributes. Whether you need to extract technical details from images, update metadata values, or perform batch operations on multiple files, Exiv2 offers a comprehensive and flexible solution for image metadata manipulation.