Cheatsheet for image / video metadata manipulation.
Last updated 2019-07-24
until more specific license...
THE CONTENT BELOW IS PROVIDED "AS-IS",
WE DISCLAIM LIABILITY FOR ALL USES TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.
WE MAKE NO GUARANTEES.
In other words, don't be dumb, backup your data and don't blame us for losing your precious data.
-h ➔ the most important of all, this cheatsheet is not exhaustive.
-s ➔ use tag names instead of description, good for scripting since you want to use [-tagname] options.
-G ➔ add group names to each tag, good if you deal with both Exif, XMP, etc.
-P ➔ preserve [FileModifyDate], useful if you do not have any timestamp info in the file.
Examples
$ exiftool -s -G IMG_123.JPG
[show all metadata]
$ exiftool -AllDates IMG_123.JPG
Date/Time Original : 2018:09:14 08:53:41
Create Date : 2018:09:14 08:53:41
Modify Date : 2018:09:14 08:53:41
$ exiftool -AllDates -s IMG_123.JPG
DateTimeOriginal : 2018:09:14 08:53:41
CreateDate : 2018:09:14 08:53:41
ModifyDate : 2018:09:14 08:53:41
$ exiftool -DateTimeOriginal -s IMG_123.JPG
DateTimeOriginal : 2018:09:14 08:53:41
$ exiftool -exif:DateTimeOriginal -G -s IMG_123.JPG
[EXIF] DateTimeOriginal : 2018:09:14 08:53:41
$ exiftool -xmp:DateTimeOriginal -G -s IMG_123.JPG
[nothing to see]
exiftool -time:all -s .
exiftool -AllDates -s .
This is often made more simple with conditions.
If you need more advanced comparisons, learn Perl.
-ext jpg -ext jpeg
-if '(not $datetimeoriginal)'
Or more specifically in a particular group
-if '(not ${exif:datetimeoriginal})'
Example
$ exiftool -s -G -filename -if '(${exif:datetimeoriginal})' -ext jpg IMG_*
======== IMG_123.JPG
[File] FileName : IMG_123.JPG
======== IMG_2131.jpg
[File] FileName : IMG_2131.jpg
2 image files read
Often enough, my battery is dead, and I put new ones in, but I forget to set the time on the camera.
-if '$DateTimeOriginal lt "2013:05:01 00:00:00"'
I like to use ISO date in the filename.
-if '$filename !~ /^\d/'
Note this can take a long time if you have a lot of jpgs
# You'll need to set your Dropbox folder path. I have mine set as a global variable
OLDFILE="$DROPBOX_PERSONAL/nodates.csv"
FILECOUNT=$(mdfind -count -onlyin "$DROPBOX_PERSONAL" 'kMDItemKind =="JPEG image"')
while IFS= read -r -d '' n; do
FILECOUNT=$(( $FILECOUNT - 1 ))
if grep -q "$n" "$OLDFILE"; then
echo "Skipping $n"
continue
fi
echo -ne "Remaining: $FILECOUNT\r"
exiftool -q -if '(not $datetimeoriginal or ($datetimeoriginal eq "0000:00:00 00:00:00"))' -csv -common "$n" | sed 1d >> "$DROPBOX_PERSONAL/nodates.csv"
done < <( mdfind -onlyin "$DROPBOX_PERSONAL" 'kMDItemKind =="JPEG image"' -0 )
exiftool -filemodifydate -r -if '(not $datetimeoriginal or ($datetimeoriginal eq "0000:00:00 00:00:00")) and ($filetype eq "JPEG")' .
The command alone will put the full filename in the comments. If you want to add the filename without the extension, add the example exiftool config file found here
# This is the command if you have the config installed
exiftool '-Comment<BaseName' '-UserComment<BaseName' .
# Getting the filename without the config file, but with a for-loop
for i in *; do
FileName="${i%%.*}"
exiftool "-Comment=$FileName" "-UserComment=$FileName" "$i";
done
Learn more about -filename and -directory on the exiftool docs.
exiftool '-filename=%f.%le' -ext jpg -ext mov *
example, using -testname instead to play pretend.
$ exiftool '-testname=%f.%le' IMG_*
'IMG_123.JPG' --> 'IMG_123.jpg'
Warning: File name is unchanged - IMG_2131.jpg
Warning: File name is unchanged - IMG_2132.jpeg
0 image files updated
3 image files unchanged
The date syntax has to be YYYY:MM:DD HH:MM:SS
Option 1:
find . -name "*.jpg" | while read filename;
exiftool "-AllDates=1986:11:05 12:00:00" "$filename";
done
Option 2:
exiftool "-AllDates=1986:11:05 12:00:00" -if '$filetype eq "JPEG"' .
Info at Time Shift
exiftool "-AllDates+=1:0:0 0" .
Because exiftool copies files before renaming them to overwrite your files, you want to get this part right. Otherwise you may end up processing GBs of data multiple times.
exiftool \
-overwrite_original \
-if '$createdate lt "2013:05:01 00:00:00"' \
'-quicktime:createdate+=1:0:16 11:40:0' \
'-QuickTime:ModifyDate<$createdate' \
'-QuickTime:TrackCreateDate<$createdate' \
'-QuickTime:TrackModifyDate<$createdate' \
'-QuickTime:MediaCreateDate<$createdate' \
'-QuickTime:MediaModifyDate<$createdate' \
-ext mp4 \
.
exiftool \
-overwrite_original \
-if '$DateTimeOriginal lt "2013:05:01 00:00:00"' \
'-exif:DateTimeOriginal+=1:0:16 11:40:0' \
'-AllDates+=1:0:16 11:40:0' \
-ext jpg \
.
Filename looks like 2014-01-01 12:00:00.jpg and will append -NUM if DateTimeOriginal is the same for multiple files
exiftool '-FileName<DateTimeOriginal' -d "%Y-%m-%d %H.%M.%S%%-c.%%e" .
Examples
exiftool \
'-filename<${DateTimeOriginal}%.3c.jpg' \
-d %y%m%d_%H%M%S \
-if '$datetimeoriginal' \
-ext jpg -ext jpeg \
.
exiftool \
'-filename<${DateTimeOriginal}_somelabel_%.3c.jpg' \
-d %y%m%d_%H%M%S \
-if '$datetimeoriginal' \
-ext jpg -ext jpeg \
.
for quicktime videos (see quicktime ref)
exiftool \
'-filename<${quicktime:createdate}%.3c%.le' \
-d %y%m%d_%H%M%S \
-if '${quicktime:createdate}' \
-ext mov -ext avi -ext mp4 \
.
Good for burst photos where the seconds are all the same. If milliseconds are only out to 2 digits, use ${SubSecCreateDate} instead
Found at this forum post.
exiftool -v '-Filename<${datetimeoriginal}${subsectimeoriginal;$_.=0 x(3-length)}.%e' -d %Y%m%d_%H%M%S .
exiftool \
'-datetimeoriginal<filemodifydate' \
-if '(not $datetimeoriginal or ($datetimeoriginal eq "0000:00:00 00:00:00")) and ($filetype eq "JPEG")' \
.
exiftool '-datetimeoriginal=2015:01:18 12:00:00' .
exiftool \
-o ~/dummy/ \
-if '$filesize# > 300000' \
'-Directory<CreateDate' \
-d "~/Desktop/old_photos2/%Y/%m %B" \
-r "~/Desktop/iPhoto Library/"
-
-o ~/dummyThis flag is to copy, not move. The directory is a fallback if the flag isn't available on the given photo. Good if using something like DateTimeOriginal -
-if '$filesize# > 300000'gets files that are over 300kB. I was parsing an iPhoto library where there were thumbnails. The#turns the value to a number. you can use the flag-nto turn all values to numbers -
'-Directory<CreateDate'Create directories based on the CreateDate of the photos -
-d "~/Desktop/old_photos/%Y/%m %B"Create folders with the given date format. -
-rRun recursively
To tag all my ULM pictures with coordinates -21.152441, 55.279274.
exiftool \
-exif:gpslatituderef=-1 \
-exif:gpslatitude=-21.152441 \
-exif:gpslongituderef=1 \
-exif:gpslongitude=55.279274 \
*ULM*
DESKTOP=$HOME/Desktop
cat $DESKTOP/kml-start.fmt > out.kml
exiftool -n -r -q -p $DESKTOP/kml-placemark.fmt . >> out.kml
cat $DESKTOP/kml-end.fmt >> out.kml
exiftool -csv -filename -imagesize -gps:GPSLatitude -gps:GPSLongitude ./ > long.csv
- Manual: exiftool manual
- FAQ: exiftool FAQ
- Config: exiftool docs
- Filename: exiftool docs
- Geotagging: exiftool docs
- Timeshift: exiftool docs
- 2019-07-24 - added more commands for searching for files, fix title formatting, geotagging example
- 2017-03-18 - added command to create comments from a filename
- 2015-08-11 - added line to rename files based on milliseconds
- 2015-01-18 - added line on how to set a date for a particular photo(s)
- 2014-12-26 - Adding new recursive command to rename JPG to jpg. Info on using
shwith-exechere - 2014-12-25 - Added line for copying photos into organized photos.
http://u88.n24.queensu.ca/exiftool/forum/index.php?topic=9005.0 - .mov editing