Program for changing photo data. Metadata in digital photography

ShowExif is a small utility for viewing metadata of digital images captured using professional cameras.

Usage

Given software It is unlikely to be useful to you in everyday work with the camera. However, sometimes it can be no less useful than popular graphic editors and image converters that you use almost every day. The need to view metadata, access to which the utility provides, may arise for various reasons. However, the most popular of them is to get acquainted with the “mileage” of the camera.

Possibilities

ShowExif does not require installation as it is portable. After downloading, you can launch it and immediately start using it. To view the number displayed in the counter that records when the shutter is closed, first take a photo from your camera and download it to your computer.

To do this, you should use a RAW format image. After taking a photo, open it using the utility in your browser. After this, all the necessary information will be displayed on the screen. The "Total Number of Shutter Releases" item displayed on the left side of the table is what you need. Look at the number in the line opposite it - this is the mileage of your camera. All metadata can be copied, deleted and saved to disk. Additionally, you can “attach” first photos to them.

Key Features

• displays EXIF ​​left by photographic equipment from the most popular manufacturers;
• allows you to copy, delete and save metadata to disk and clipboard;
• To view the camera's mileage, you need a photo in RAW format;
• fully translated into Russian;
• does not require additional installation into the system, can be stored on a removable storage device;
• available completely free of charge;
• performs quick export of Thumbnails to disk;
• allows you to view mileage not for all cameras, but only for those that have this counter;
• Works on all versions of the Windows operating system.

The ExifTool utility is designed to view and edit metadata large quantity file formats. Primarily used to view and edit shooting parameters in digital photo files. License: GPL. Website: sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/

General information

Many file formats, in addition to the main content, also contain metadata. This metadata may describe different additional options file contents.

The most well-known metadata standard is the EXIF ​​standard. (English Exchangeable Image File Format)- a standard that allows you to add to various types files additional information, describing the conditions and methods for obtaining them, GPS coordinates, authorship, comments and much more. The EXIF ​​standard is most actively used for photographic images, and almost every modern digital camera records a large amount of EXIF ​​data for each photograph.

Other data formats may also have their own metadata. These are video files, various document files - PDF, Djvu, etc.

You can view and edit file metadata using a large number of utilities and programs. We especially note the console utility ExifTool as the most universal and powerful tool for working with file metadata.

This utility works from command line. It exists for everyone operating systems- Linux, Windows, MacOS. However, there are also add-ons for it in the form of an application with graphical interface, such as Exiftoolgui for Windows.

Another example of a graphical shell for ExifTool is the PyExifToolGUI utility. ()

As its name suggests, ExifTool is primarily designed to work with EXIF ​​metadata in digital photos. Supported photo image formats: JPEG, TIFF, PNG, DNG, NEF, PEF, CRW, JP2, CR2, MRW, ARW, SR2, ORF, RAF, and others.

But keep in mind that the ExifTool utility can also work with metadata in other file types.

• video and audio: 3gp, AVI, MPG, MOV, WEBM, MP3, MP4, Ogg, etc.;
• documents: PDF, Djvu, RTF, PPT, EPUB, etc.;
• archives and binary files: ZIP, DLL, etc.

At the same time, for some files, both reading metadata and editing it are available. And for other file types, read-only is available. Full information You can learn about the numerous capabilities of the ExifTool utility by executing, after installing the program, the command

Man exiftool

There will be a table in the manual where symbols will indicate the ability to edit metadata for this type of file. Symbol (r) - read-only metadata, (w) - metadata can be overwritten using ExifTool, (c) - metadata can be created.

Some examples of ExifTool working with photos

Let's look at several options of this console utility necessary for basic work with EXIF ​​metadata in photo image files, since this metadata format is used in almost all digital cameras. Although ExifTool also works with XMP and IPTC metadata formats.

Reading and editing tags

Exiftool FOTO.JPG

Exiftool -ISO FOTO.JPG

Show tags that can be edited.

Exiftool -listw FOTO.JPG

Writing the value of a specific EXIF ​​tag to an image file is done through the assignment symbol = .

Exiftool -ISO="200" FOTO.JPG

Removing the value of a specific EXIF ​​tag in an image file is done through assignments to the empty value.

Exiftool -ISO="" FOTO.JPG

Naturally, the console utility exiftool is good for batch processing files when one or more identical tags need to be written or deleted in multiple images. The below command will write the ISO value to all files with jpg extension in the current folder. The * symbol in the file name is a wildcard for any name.

Exiftool -ISO="200" *.JPG

When editing tags, the utility creates an original file with the suffix "_original" next to the new file. If this is not required, you need to use additional option-overwrite_original .

Exiftool -ISO="200" -overwrite_original *.JPG

Note: if you forgot to write this option and ExifTool created many archive copies with the “_original” suffix, then you can delete these copies by executing in the console for Linux systems in the current directory a simple one-line script:

For f in *_original ; do rm $f; done

You can copy tags from one file to another. Below is an example of a command where EXIF ​​tags will be copied from the FOTO.DNG file to FOTO.JPG

Exiftool -TagsFromFile FOTO.DNG FOTO.JPG

This makes it possible to copy tags for several files in a folder ( original files and derivatives lie nearby).

Exiftool -TagsFromFile %d%f.DNG -r -ext JPG directory_path

Name and explanation of the most popular EXIF ​​tags

• Make - camera manufacturer
• Model - camera model
• DateTime - date the image was last modified
• ExposureTime - shutter speed
• FNumber - aperture number
• ISO - light sensitivity
• DateTimeOriginal - shooting time
• FocalLength - focal length of the lens on the camera
• Artist - author
• Copyright - copyright
• UserComment - user comments on the file

In order not to enter any set of tags each time, they can be written to a separate text file. For example, a set of common tags for any digitized photographs from the Smena 8M camera can be written as follows text file with a name such as lens8M.txt.

N -EXIF:LensModel=LOMO T-43 (Triplet) 40mm f/4 -EXIF:Model=Smena 8M -EXIF:FocalLength=40 -EXIF:MaxApertureValue=4

And then just call the -@ option as a parameter.

Exiftool -@ lens8M.txt *.JPG

Geotags, read and edit

Exiftool is the simplest and affordable way Add geographic location metadata (geotags) to both digital photo and video files.

Remove specific geotags via empty value. For example, when publishing photos on the Internet, it is considered correct to remove geotags from them. Note: between two single quotes-geotag="" must be an empty value, not a space.

Exiftool -geotag="" FOTO.JPG

Conversely, for example, you can set the longitude and latitude in the metadata of a digital photograph using the -GPSLongitude and -GPSLatitude parameters, respectively. For example

Exiftool -GPSLongitude="27.46" -GPSLatitude="53.89" FOTO.JPG

ExifTool can work with GPS tracks, as a result of which you can synchronize the coordinates of the GPS track and the time the photo was taken. That is, if a GPS track was created during photography, then using ExifTool you can automatically extract geo-coordinates corresponding to the time the image was taken and write them into the photo’s metadata.

Exiftool -geotag track.gpx *.JPG

Date and time manipulation

Incorrectly set time in the camera is another common annoying mistake that ExifTool will help you correct. This is especially unpleasant when synchronizing GPS tracks and photos. Because synchronization with the coordinates of the GPS track occurs according to the time the photograph was taken, and a camera lag or rush of even one minute can lead to large errors in the coordinates of the shooting location in the metadata of the digital photograph. You can correct the situation using a special format year:month:day hours:minutes:seconds for the -DateTimeOriginal option, which is easy to understand using the following example. Let's say we need to make a photo older “older” by one year and one hour.

Exiftool "-DateTimeOriginal-=1:0:0 1:00:00" FOTO.JPG

Pay attention to the decreasing sign - before the = sign. If the photo needs to be made “younger” in terms of the time of creation, then a + sign is added.

You can change three time tags at once - DateTimeOriginal, CreateDate and ModifyDate. To do this, use the -AllDates option.

It is possible to rename image file names based on date from EXIF, removing original name file.

Exiftool -d %Y%m%d-%H%M%S.%%e "-filename

Rename based on creation date without removing the initial filename.

Exiftool -d %Y%m%d-%H%M%S%%-c-%%f.%%e "-filename

During the manipulations, ExifTool will change the modification date of the file. Restore original original date:

Exiftool "-filemodifydate

To describe each point of a digital image pixel - picture element (picture element, literally) you need to specify several numbers. In the case of an RGB 8-bit raster representation, each pixel is characterized by three 8-bit computer words for each of the channels. There are 3 million such words in a megapixel image. This is why graphics files in raster format are so large. Recording a thousand words along the way will not be difficult and will not require any additional costs. But these “non-graphic” words - metadata allow:
a) match the colors and brightness perceived by the camera or scanner with the brightness or colors on the computer display,
b) know the camera shooting settings for the image file (get rid of paper notepads and voice recorders that store memorable notes),
c) confirm your copyright,
d) find the desired image in the database using a keyword or even the geographic coordinates of the shooting location,
e) automatically convert the file into the format required for output and correctly print the image in automatic mode (including without a computer),
and much more.DCF

Design Rule for Camera File System (described in) is an industry standard for organizing data in devices for receiving, storing, converting and outputting digital images. Adopted in 1998 (Japan Electronics Industry Development Association) to standardize the process of transferring data between different devices. Currently a member of the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association.

The structure of files on the memory card of a digital device is subject to DCF rules. In the usual view, this is a tree of folders with files and individual files. Images are usually stored in subfolders of the DCIM directory. Others store video and sound files, “system” data for camera settings, and templates for creating HTML galleries. DPOF print jobs (MISC folder) allow the direct print printer to find and execute the print job itself.

The software that comes with the camera, using DCF information, automatically copies pictures from the memory card to the computer into a database, builds panoramas, opens applications for converting RAW files and does much more, which is only possible for the developers’ imagination.

The DCF standard also includes a description of the format of the actual graphic files JPEG, TIFF, RAW. Graphic files, in turn, are subject to the rules of the organizations and associations that approved them. The EXIF ​​standard is part of the DCF specification.

Data structure on the Epson L-500V camera memory card

For the correct operation of various devices with multimedia files (sound, images), the standard of universal EXIF ​​file headers was adopted. EXIF - Exchangeble image format (version 1.0 was published in 1995). The format provides for storing image or music data, their reduced copies (for JPEG 160×120 is recommended), and a subsection of a text description of the data in one file.

The modern version of the standard is Exif 2.2 (described in). It also includes technology for automatic color management and image processing in accordance with scene shooting settings for printing or display (version 2.0 assumed color coding in sRGB space, in version 2.2 the color space can be any).

The text part of the Exif section of the file consists of markers and tags that describe a specific parameter (identifier and the corresponding parameter name) and the value of this parameter (the value in a specific format for representing a value in the form of an ASCII code, rational, decimal, hexadecimal, etc. number) . The set of tags contains a more or less standardized and mandatory part and sections “given” to hardware and software manufacturers for their special purposes. Software designed to read EXIF ​​data maps tags to their definitions and values ​​to values. At the same time, the creators do not always adhere to the specifications and therefore misunderstandings occur. Thus, the definition of an information field may be replaced by its corresponding generally accepted equivalent, but the value is not converted to the appropriate format. Or the camera manufacturer writes information in the field corresponding to the tag in an incorrect format or about a different parameter altogether. If this is a highly specialized program for a specific brand of cameras, then there are usually no misunderstandings. The user is “obliged by his purchase” to obey the rules described in the software manual and, having studied his device and program, will understand what is at stake. But if this is a universal program, then confusion with incorrect naming of tags and formatting of the corresponding values ​​is not uncommon. This is an inevitable price to pay for versatility. And also for the familiar language, because according to the rules of the EXIF ​​language, the parameter values ​​are just numbers (for example, inch - “1”, cm - “2”), and the program translates them into words we understand (which is not necessary, for example they are presented in the form of numbers some parameters in Adobe Photoshop, Info section "Advanced EXIF").

Let's look at the information part of a graphic file using the example of a digital photograph and an EXIF ​​header reader. The following table shows the main tags of the EXIF ​​format using the example of the Canon EOS 300D and the application. The table also shows some tags that are not displayed by the application, but it is useful to know about them. In addition to ExifRead, other programs also display headers: , .

You can compare EXIF ​​data for a JPEG file obtained from Canon ZOOMBrowserEX and ExifRead (tag fields that appear as "Unknown" in ExifRead are abbreviated):

EXIF data for RAW (Canon EOS 300D) file obtained from ExifRead program and Canon ZOOMBrowserEX application:

Notes

1. Some data fields for “Unknown” tags in the tables have been shortened.

2. Tags “ShutterSpeedValue”, “ApertureValue” and some others (with the Value identifier) ​​in accordance with the EXIF ​​standard are written not in the usual photographic values, but in APEX representation. Sometimes applications for viewing EXIF ​​data convert the APEX format to the usual form, sometimes not.

What is the APEX format? APEX (The Additive System for Photographic Exposure) is a convenient form of recording and, most importantly, expressing the relationships between exposure conditions. It is convenient because it operates with logarithmic values ​​with a base of 2. In them, doubling the exposure corresponds to increasing it by one step, that is, by the usual shutter speed or aperture level. To calculate exposure in APEX format, just use a simple formula: AV + TV = LV + SV = EV. Where AV and TV, respectively, APEX is the aperture and shutter speed, LV brightness, SV photosensitivity. At the same time, in APEX, aperture f/1.0, shutter speed TV = 0 - 1 s, brightness LV = 0 - 3.4 candelas/m*m, photosensitivity SV = 0 - 3.125 (in ISO) are taken as zero values ​​of AV = 0. ).

To distinguish the photographic terms “aperture” and “shutter speed” from values ​​in APEX, it is customary to accompany all values ​​expressed in APEX format with the word “value” - as “Aperture value”, and when abbreviated, add the letter “V” - as Av.

It’s interesting that now in Canon cameras with shutter priority and aperture priority modes Tv and Av, a number of values ​​on the controls are written in the usual reverse seconds and aperture numbers. This is explained by the fact that the Tv and Av “icons” appeared on Canon cameras when the APEX format was practically important for calculating exposure and was popular. And APEX values ​​were used as the values ​​of these quantities. Then, with the development of automation and unification of exposure metering devices, the practical importance of the APEX format for the photographer became minimal and it was abandoned, returning to the usual aperture numbers and seconds. But Canon’s mode markings remain the same ().

How information is displayed in the program for viewing shooting parameters depends on the developer. Formally, the “Aperture value” tag corresponds to a value in APEX units without any suffixes or prefixes. But, for example, in Canon ZOOM Browzer EX the “Aperture value” tag is displayed in aperture number format, but without the prefix “f/” (for clarity, it should be written that way, that is, “f/”), and Tv, which, however, it stands for "Shutter Speed", as a fraction of a second without the "c", which is true if you know the history of the Av/Tv icons on Canon. In ACDSee version 5, “Aperture value” is correctly displayed in APEX units, and in version 7 in the usual “f/number” format. You can determine what is hidden behind the “Aperture value” in your program by looking at the value of another EXIF ​​tag “F-number”. If the numerical values ​​coincide, then the “Aperture value” is displayed in aperture numbers, if not, in APEX units. Then check the correspondence using the formula Aperture value = 2 x Log 2 F-number. (It's easy to notice that at f/4 - APEX is also 4, but this is the only exception).

3. The DCF and EXIF ​​standards are constantly being “expanded” and new specifications and, accordingly, tags are added to them. In addition, hardware and software manufacturers sometimes introduce new metadata specifications. Such specifications can be integrated into EXIF, but can also be completely independent. Thus, in the EXIF ​​data fields there are markers indicating compatibility with FlashPix data presentation formats (International Imaging Industry Association - I3A standard), markers describing the ExifR98 extension, GPS data and others. With the EXIF ​​PRINT output, for automatic image processing in accordance with the shooting scene, tags have been added to EXIF ​​that describe the “scene” settings of the digital camera: flash, exposure mode, white balance, shutter speed, distance to the subject, light source, scene program, digital zoom, post-processing, contrast, saturation, sharpening, noise reduction. An alternative technology for matching printing and processing PIM ( - EPSON, 2001) also adds 12 (PIM I) or 14 (PIM II) “story” points to the metadata.

Metadata editable in ACDSee

Among the standard EXIF ​​tags there are those designed to organize the storage of images on a computer. These are: camera owner, username, copyright, description and others. If they cannot be filled in directly when shooting, then you need to use either “proprietary” software from the camera or universal programs. Such programs include, for example, Adobe Photoshop and ACDSee. With their help, you can change the values ​​of the listed tags. But you need to be careful, not all “fields” that can be filled in in such programs are saved as file metadata. The program can store the data in its database and not write it to the image file. So Adobe Photoshop, in addition to the standard (listed above) file description fields, allows you to fill out many others, and for RAW files you can even record “adjusted” camera settings. But all this additional information is stored either in a single Photoshop database on your computer, or in the form of a “*.XMP” metadata file that is transferred along with the main file (and the RAW file itself, by definition, is not subject to changes).

Why do you need to edit exif data in photos?
Most often, this is required to correct the date due to filming on an unconfigured camera.

Modern cameras, like mobile phones, contain an additional very low-capacity battery, an ionistor, and a kind of fancy capacitor.
But if the camera is left without batteries for a long time, the settings may be reset to their original settings, including the date.

In addition to the date, exif data also records GPS position, shooting parameters, focal length, and even flash power.

It should be noted that Windows already includes a basic iptc/exif tag editor, and it also has its pros and cons, and I will analyze it along with other utilities.
Of course, tag editors are also present in expensive graphics packages. However, the main obstacle here is the rather high cost.

Fortunately, the world is full of talented and not greedy programmers, the beloved sourceforge is the main proof of this. In this review, I will look at the best utilities for editing exif tags, exclusively in a free format. Let's begin.

Windows Exif/iptc tag editor

The easiest and most accessible way to edit exif data in a photo in the Windows environment.
It is noteworthy that owners of Apple equipment were not awarded such a utility.

Its undoubted advantage lies in its availability at hand at the right time.
In fact, the utility consists of two parts.
One part is tab in the File Properties menu. The second part is the Details Pane panel built into Windows Explorer.

The list of fields available for changing is very wide. There is also a prominent button to delete all properties at once.

By selecting multiple files in a folder, you can edit tags in batch mode.

The main disadvantage is the limited ability to edit the exif data that is relevant to photographers. For example, you cannot change the focal length, or aperture number.

• Available without installation
• Works in the system language
• Lots of editable fields
• Button to delete all properties at once
• Batch work directly through Explorer

• Inability to change camera settings important for exif professionals
• Backup is not provided

I love programs that have nothing superfluous.
And in addition to natural minimalism, this one also has interesting solutions for photographers.

The ascetic English-language interface is complemented by tabs on the right: Equipment, Film, Dev, Author.
Upon mouse click, the data from the field is automatically loaded into the exif file container.

In my opinion, the utility is very convenient if you are into film photography.
Or to prepare material for publication on the Internet.

The list of preset parameters can be easily expanded by pressing the pencil key.

Batch work is implemented by the ability to transfer exif data of photo tags to the entire folder.
The algorithm is as follows: you edit one photo in a folder, stating the necessary exif parameters, then specify it, and the data is copied to all other files in the folder.

By the way, if you are confident in your actions, It's better to disable backup- uncheck the box in the settings.

• The interface is not overloaded
• Automatic backup
• Selection of typical values
• Equipment substitution system
• Batch work
• Large number of editable fields

• Lack of Russian language
• Batch mode is specific.

GeoSetter

The main purpose of the utility, as the name suggests, is to assign GPS tags as well as other EXIF ​​text data about the shooting location.

However, other tags are also available for editing, but still the program is more tailored to the main goal.
The utility can extract data from gps reports gadgets, rename photos according to the shooting location, work with routes, upload data on GoogleEath.

Also worthy of attention is the filtering system, which allows you to use only the necessary files in the folder. This makes a certain sense; this idea partially implements the batch mode of operation.

The main navigation window of the utility.

Separating tags into tabs is good. But the visualization of the button names let us down.

• Russian language
• Good opportunities for working with exif geodata of photographs.
• exif tag templates
• Automatic backup
• Lots of settings

• Batch mode is specific.
• Possible instability of work.

Exiftool

I couldn't write a review about exif editors without mentioning exiftool.
One of the oldest projects for working with exif data. Full cross-platform forces the utility to work only through command line.
There are a dozen graphical shells for different systems, unfortunately most of them are no longer being developed today. Unlike the main branch.

If you need a tool, updated annually, and having the maximum knowledge of all the new specifications of the exif format, and at the same time you are not afraid of working through the command line - exiftool will be the best choice.

• Cross-platform
• Maximum possibilities for working with tags
• We combine batch mode
• Lots of settings

• Work only through the command line

Conclusions

My choice is definitely AnalogExif. An advantageous combination of convenience and minimalism.
The absence of the Russian language in programs with narrow functionality, for me personally, is not noticeable at all. So I wouldn't call this a major drawback.

If you need advanced functionality for GPS photo tags, geosetter will help you with this.
The functionality built into Windows will also cope with simple daily tasks.
Exiftool, at first glance, is a geeky solution, but with frequent work you can write bat files, and in terms of convenience the utility will not be inferior to competitors with a graphical shell.
All of these programs are free, easy to use, and often don't even require installation. However, if you still miss Adobe and you want to have a lot of settings and the advantages of working with raw files, here I am for free, but for beginners.

EXIF tag editor online

P.S. Recently I accidentally came across the project The eXifer.net - the guys launched Exif Editor directly online. This solution is generally considered extreme... but you never know, 700,000 people (or photos) have already used it. 🙂

Those who are into photography are probably aware of the Exif data stored in every image file. As a rule, they contain information about the date the photograph was taken, the device with which the photograph was taken, and much other information. It often happens that it is the Exif data of a graphic file that allows you to find out more information about its creator. Today we will look at a small free utility that allows you not only to view and edit Exif data and EXIF ​​GPS, but also to export and import them into XML files.

Surely the number of editable Exif data tags in Exif Farm Free will not be enough for many users. In this case, the developers have provided the ability to export Exif data that is not edited directly in the program to a CSV or XML file. To do this, as was described at the beginning of the article, open the menu for the file in Explorer and select the item Export Exif/Iptc Info. The file will be saved in the same folder where the image is stored.

Then we edit the XML file with the Exif data of the photo in any text editor or specialized utilities. After which all that remains is to erase the Exif data in the graphic file ( Clear Exif/Iptc/Xmp Info) and import them from an edited CSV or XML file ( Import Exif/Iptc Info).

Specifications:
Interface language: English
OS: Windows XP, Vista, 7
File size: 5.3 MB
License: free, there is a paid version for batch file processing