How can I read and remove meta (exif) data from my photos using the command line?

Install exiftool:

sudo apt-get install libimage-exiftool-perl

To read photo metadata:

exiftool /tmp/my_photo.jpg

To erase photo metadata:

exiftool -all= /tmp/my_photo.jpg

Before:

ExifTool Version Number         : 8.60
File Name                       : my_photo.jpg
Directory                       : /tmp
File Size                       : 3.0 MB
File Modification Date/Time     : 2013:02:24 12:08:10-08:00
File Permissions                : rw-rw-r--
File Type                       : JPEG
MIME Type                       : image/jpeg
Exif Byte Order                 : Big-endian (Motorola, MM)
Orientation                     : Unknown (0)
Y Cb Cr Positioning             : Centered
X Resolution                    : 72
Y Resolution                    : 72
Resolution Unit                 : inches
Modify Date                     : 2013:02:24 11:25:27
Make                            : Samsung
Camera Model Name               : Galaxy Nexus
Exif Version                    : 0220
Flashpix Version                : 
Color Space                     : sRGB
Components Configuration        : Y, Cb, Cr, -
Compressed Bits Per Pixel       : 0
Exif Image Width                : 1944
Exif Image Height               : 2592
Date/Time Original              : 2013:02:24 11:25:27
Create Date                     : 2013:02:24 11:25:27
Exposure Time                   : 1/354
F Number                        : 2.8
Exposure Program                : Aperture-priority AE
ISO                             : 50, 0, 0
Shutter Speed Value             : 1/353
Aperture Value                  : 2.6
Brightness Value                : 0
Exposure Compensation           : 0
Max Aperture Value              : 2.6
Subject Distance                : 0 m
Metering Mode                   : Multi-spot
Light Source                    : Daylight
Flash                           : No Flash
Focal Length                    : 3.4 mm
Flash Energy                    : 0
Exposure Index                  : undef
Sensing Method                  : One-chip color area
Scene Type                      : Directly photographed
Custom Rendered                 : Custom
Exposure Mode                   : Auto
White Balance                   : Auto
Digital Zoom Ratio              : 1
Scene Capture Type              : Standard
Contrast                        : Normal
Saturation                      : Normal
Sharpness                       : Normal
Subject Distance Range          : Unknown
Image Unique ID                 : OAEL01
GPS Time Stamp                  : 19:25:27
GPS Date Stamp                  : 2013:02:24
Compression                     : JPEG (old-style)
Thumbnail Offset                : 2143
Thumbnail Length                : 10941
Image Width                     : 1944
Image Height                    : 2592
Encoding Process                : Baseline DCT, Huffman coding
Bits Per Sample                 : 8
Color Components                : 3
Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling            : YCbCr4:2:0 (2 2)
Aperture                        : 2.8
GPS Date/Time                   : 2013:02:24 19:25:27Z
Image Size                      : 1944x2592
Shutter Speed                   : 1/354
Thumbnail Image                 : (Binary data 10941 bytes, use -b option to extract)
Focal Length                    : 3.4 mm
Light Value                     : 12.4

After:

ExifTool Version Number         : 8.60
File Name                       : my_photo.jpg
Directory                       : /tmp
File Size                       : 2.9 MB
File Modification Date/Time     : 2013:02:24 12:21:39-08:00
File Permissions                : rw-rw-r--
File Type                       : JPEG
MIME Type                       : image/jpeg
Image Width                     : 1944
Image Height                    : 2592
Encoding Process                : Baseline DCT, Huffman coding
Bits Per Sample                 : 8
Color Components                : 3
Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling            : YCbCr4:2:0 (2 2)
Image Size                      : 1944x2592

References:

http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/howto-strip-jpeg-metadata/
http://hacktux.com/read/remove/exif
http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/exiftool_pod.html

Imagemagick

Instead of Exiftool, to handle Exif metadata I found Imagemagick more useful and command easier to remember:

To read

identify -verbose image.jpg | grep exif

To remove

With imagemagick package installed you can do this (not only for JPEGs):

mogrify -strip *.jpg

From manual:

-strip strip the image of any profiles, comments or these PNG chunks: bKGD, cHRM, EXIF, gAMA, iCCP, iTXt, sRGB, tEXt, zCCP, zTXt, date.

AFAIK the only difference is that mogrify won't remove this metadata:

JFIF Version
Resolution Unit
X Resolution
Y Resolution

Which might be useful. Compared with diff -y <(exiftool wMogrify.jpg) <(exiftool wExiftool.jpg)

Remove EXIF data is not the same as anonymize: -strip will recompress the image. This might be a good thing: The same software that take the photo could hide data on the image (steganography). I'm not sure if the recompression will always remove everything (probably not). To avoid this recompresion you can use jpegtran:

jpegtran -copy none image.jpg > newimage.jpg

Also, to avoid losing color profile (ICC, which causes richer colors^{[citation needed]}):

convert image.jpg profile.icm && convert image.jpg -strip -profile profile.icm newimage.jpg

You might ask yourself if these costs are noticeable or relevant in your case.

Another tool about steganography on images is steghide.

If you prefer Exiftool, you might find useful creating an alias to exiftool -all= *.jpg && rm *original, or with -overwrite_original option. To remove only GPS data use exiftool -gps:all= -xmp:geotag= *.jpg.
WebP format: webp package provides webpmux command, which manage XMP/EXIF metadata and ICC profile.
Another alternative (only for JPEGs) is jhead.

How can I read and remove meta (exif) data from my photos using the command line?

Imagemagick

To read

To remove

See also

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Command Line

Privacy

Jpeg

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