In this article, we’ll discover different methods for reading, writing, and manipulating metadata information recorded in different file types. To achieve this we will use a tool known as “ExifTool”. EXIF stands for Exchangeable Image File Format and is a standard for including metadata in certain file types.
Exif is short for Exchangeable image file format. It is a standard that specifies formats for images, audio, and auxiliary tags used by cameras, scanners, and other systems that process images and audio files recorded by cameras. Developed by Japan Electronic Industries Development Association.
Metadata contained in images and other files can provide a lot of information that our eyes cannot see. For example, look at the picture of this beach. When you see an image, it looks like a normal image but contains metadata.
Introduction
ChackMeta Data Of Images – In this article we will discover different ways to read, write and manipulate metadata data recorded in different file types. To achieve this we will use a tool known as “ExifTool”. EXIF is an acronym for Variable Image File Format and is a standard for adding metadata to certain file types.
ExifTool was developed by Phil Harvey. It is an independent Perl library combined with a command-line implementation full of reading, writing, and decrypting metadata on a wide variety of files, especially JPEG images. This metadata can contain a variety of information such as camera performance, file type, permissions, file size, etc., although it provides additional information about the image such as exposure, shutter speed, and whether or not the flash is on. ExifTool probably gives us an easy way to extract metadata from files because it’s free and an open-source program.
Use of Metadata
Metadata, or data that describes files such as photos or videos, is useful for detection by investigators because it is often overlooked by other targeted objects. Now, many social media platforms have eliminated this problem by removing the metadata from the files, but there are still many images online with this data completely left out.
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What is Meta Data?
Meta Data is a set of data that describes and provides information about the rights and controls of images. Image file pix are created by automatic recording from cameras or scanners. Metadata embedded in an image file in formats such as JPEG, DNG, PNG, TIFF
Video:-
In this video, I will show How to Check Meta Data Of Images Using Linux & Termux
Installation Termux :-
Step 1:- Before installing any tool, we need to reset the dependency so that the tool does not cause errors during operation. ChackMeta Image Data.
Step 2:- This command will include a package that will allow us to download projects in the Repository. After installing the above programs, initially use the command to install the required dependencies
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Installation Linux:-
Step 1:- This command will reset the termux Dependency so we will not find any errors while installing the tool.
Step 2:- This command will include a package that will allow us to download projects in the Repository. After installing the above programs, initially use the command to install the required dependencies.
Therefore, we have included a tool in our system. Let’s take a closer look
Usage of Exiftool Termux & Linux
To remove all file metadata, we just need to execute the command given below:
From the image below, you can see that we have all the information taken from our image file from the most basic to advanced. ChackMeta Data Of Images
However, if we need to capture the id and Exif tags in the Hexa-Decimal format, or we need to use the following command:
From the image below, we can see that there is a lot of information stored inside these Exif tags.
View Common Meta-Data Information:- Exiftool
Now execute the command below that will provide us with the exit of standard Exif tags for an image file.
GPS Location Co-ordinates Information:-
The photographs we capture using our smartphones or camera have GPS coordinates embedded. Photos taken with our mobile phones or camera have GPS links embedded as metadata in image files. To find this, we just need to turn off the command given below. ChackMeta Data Of Images.
View Meta Data Using Specific Keywords:-
The following command will help us extract the metadata information associated with certain keywords.
Saving outputs in Multiple Formats:- Exiftool
We can also export our EXIF data to a text file similar to an HTML output. To accomplish this, we just need to do the following instructions
Additionally, we can also monitor our output by opening it in any text editor or by simply using a command
View EXIF data from a Video file:-
ExifTool not only extracts metadata from the jpg file format but can read and write to various files. To find out more click here.
We will now extract all metadata details from the mp4 video file. To extract this, we will use the basic exiftool command i.e.
Removing Meta-Data Information:-
We’ve only extracted or decrypted EXIF data so far, but what if we want to delete or delete all metadata from the image file? Just issue a command below, let’s see how this works:
Displays 1 uploaded image file. EXIF data for “test.jpg” was successfully deleted. Although we may try to remove metadata from “test.jpg” again, this is why we get the basic image information and some of it is deleted.
Writing the Meta-Data
ExifTool gives us a lot of ability to write most of the information in EXIF tags that anyone might want to change, but some tags are protected because they describe physical properties of the image that we can’t change with ExifTool, such as compression. Also other tags like GPS, and MakerNotes, this information can be edited.
To manipulate the EXIF data, we need to execute the following command:
Here we can see that the information stored in the “Make” tag is replaced from “OPPO” to “HackingArticles”. When writing information, the ExifTool script will automatically preserve the original file by appending “_original” to the end of the file name.
The conclusion
This was a complete guide to the use of Exiftool as a metadata extractor. It is easy to use and easy to use due to its use of a simple command line. It has therefore become one of the best tools for extracting metadata data from various file formats.
