EXIV2(1)EXIV2(1)NAMEexiv2 - Image metadata manipulation tool
SYNOPSISexiv2 [options] [action] file ...
DESCRIPTIONexiv2 is a program to read and write Exif, IPTC, XMP metadata and image
comments and can read many vendor makernote tags. The program option‐
ally converts between Exif tags, XMP properties and IPTC datasets as
recommended by the Exif Standard, the IPTC Standard, the XMP specifica‐
tion and Metadata Working Group guidelines.
The following image formats are supported:
Type Exif IPTC XMP Image comments
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
JPEG Read/Write Read/Write Read/Write Read/Write
EXV Read/Write Read/Write Read/Write Read/Write
CR2 Read/Write Read/Write Read/Write -
CRW Read/Write - - Read/Write
MRW Read Read Read -
TIFF Read/Write Read/Write Read/Write -
DNG Read/Write Read/Write Read/Write -
NEF Read/Write Read/Write Read/Write -
PEF Read/Write Read/Write Read/Write -
ARW Read Read Read -
RW2 Read Read Read -
SR2 Read Read Read -
SRW Read/Write Read/Write Read/Write -
ORF Read/Write Read/Write Read/Write -
PNG Read/Write Read/Write Read/Write Read/Write
PGF Read/Write Read/Write Read/Write Read/Write
RAF Read Read Read -
EPS - - Read/Write -
XMP - - Read/Write -
GIF - - - -
PSD Read/Write Read/Write Read/Write -
TGA - - - -
BMP - - - -
JP2 Read/Write Read/Write Read/Write -
· Support for GIF, TGA and BMP images is minimal: the image format is
recognized, a MIME type assigned to it and the height and width of
the image are determined.
· Reading other TIFF-like RAW image formats, which are not listed in
the table, may also work.
ACTIONS
The action argument is only required if it is not clear from the
options which action is implied.
pr | print
Print image metadata. This is the default action, i.e., the com‐
mand exiv2 image.jpg will print a summary of the image Exif
metadata.
ex | extract
Extract metadata to *.exv, XMP sidecar (*.xmp) and thumbnail
image files. Modification commands can be applied on-the-fly.
in | insert
Insert metadata from corresponding *.exv, XMP sidecar (*.xmp)
and thumbnail files. Use option -S .suf to change the suffix of
the input files. Since files of any supported format can be used
as input files, this command can be used to copy the metadata
between files of different formats. Modification commands can be
applied on-the-fly.
rm | delete
Delete image metadata from the files.
ad | adjust
Adjust Exif timestamps by the given time. Requires at least one
of the options -a time, -Y yrs, -O mon or -D day.
mo | modify
Apply commands to modify (add, set, delete) the Exif, IPTC and
XMP metadata of image files. Requires option -c, -m or -M.
mv | rename
Rename files and/or set file timestamps according to the Exif
create timestamp. Uses the value of tag Exif.Photo.DateTimeOrig‐
inal or, if not present, Exif.Image.DateTime to determine the
timestamp. The filename format can be set with -r fmt, timestamp
options are -t and -T.
fi | fixiso
Copy the ISO setting from one of the proprietary Nikon or Canon
makernote ISO tags to the regular Exif ISO tag,
Exif.Photo.ISOSpeedRatings. Does not overwrite an existing stan‐
dard Exif ISO tag.
fc | fixcom
Fix the character encoding of Exif Unicode user comments.
Decodes the comment using the auto-detected or specified charac‐
ter encoding and writes it back in UCS-2. Use option -n to spec‐
ify the current encoding of the comment if necessary.
COMMAND SUMMARYexiv2 [ opt [arg] ]+ [ act ] file ...
option [arg] long option description
-a tim --adjust Modify time stamps. [+|-]HH[:MM[:SS[.mmm]]]
-b--binary Show large binary values (default is to suppress them).
-c txt --comment JPEG comment string to set in the image ('modify' action). ...
-d tgt --delete Delete target(s) for the 'delete' action. ...
-D +-n --days Time adjustment by a positive or negative number of days ...
-e tgt --extract Extract target(s) for the 'extract' action.
-f--force Do not prompt before overwriting existing files ...
-F--Force Do not prompt before renaming files (Force rename) ...
-g key --grep Only output info for this Exiv2 key (grep).
-h--help Display help and exit.
-i tgt --insert Insert target(s) for the 'insert' action. ...
-k--keep Preserve file timestamps when updating files (keep)
-K Key --key Report key. Similar to -g (grep) however key must match exactly.
-l dir --location Location (directory) for files to be inserted or extracted.
-m file --modify read commands from cmd-file
-M cmd --Modify Command line for the 'modify' action. ...
-n enc --encode Charset to decode Exif Unicode user comments. See: man 3 iconv_open
-O +-n --months Time adjustment by a positive or negative number of months, ...
-p mod --print Print report (common reports)
-P flg --Print Print report (fine grained control)
-q--quiet Silence warnings and error messages from the Exiv2 library ...
-Q lvl --log Set the log-level to 'd'(ebug), 'i'(nfo), 'w'(arning), 'e'(rror)
-r fmt --rename Filename format for the 'rename' action. ...
-S suf --suffix Use suffix .suf for source files for insert command.
-t--timestamp Set the file timestamp according to the Exif create timestamp ...
-T--Timestamp Only set the file timestamp according to Exif create timestamp ...
-u--unknown Show unknown tags ...
-v--verbose verbose
-V--version Show the program version and exit.
-Y +-n --years Time adjustment by a positive or negative number of years ...
act pr | ex | in | rm | ad | mo | mv | fi | fc
print, extract, insert, delete, adjust, modify, rename, fixiso,fixcom
cmd See "Commands" below.
flg E | I | X | x | g | k | l | n | y | c | s | v | t | h
Exif , IPTC, XMP, num, grp, key, label, name , type, count, size, vanilla, translated, hex
fmt Default format is %Y%m%d_%H%M%S.
lvl d | i | i | w | e
debug, info, warning, error
mod s | a | t | v | h | i | x | c | p | i | S | X :
summary, add, translated, vanilla, hex ...
iptc ,xmp, comment, preview, Structure,XMP raw
tgt a | c | e | i | t | x
all, comment, exif, iptc, thumb, xmp
OPTIONS-h Display help and exit.
-V Show the program version and exit.
When -V is combined with -v (Verbose version), build information
is printed to standard output along with a list of shared
libraries which have been loaded into memory. Verbose version is
supported on Windows (MSVC, Cygwin and MinGW builds), MacOSX and
Linux and is provided for test and debugging.
-v Be verbose during the program run.
-q Silence warnings and error messages from the Exiv2 library dur‐
ing the program run (quiet). Note that options -v and -q can be
used at the same time.
-Q lvl Set the log-level to 'd'(ebug), 'i'(nfo), 'w'(arning), 'e'(rror)
or 'm'(ute). The default log-level is 'w'. -Qm is equivalent to
-q. All log messages are written to standard error.
-b Show large binary values (default is to suppress them).
-u Show unknown tags (default is to suppress tags which don't have
a name).
-g key Only keys which match the given key (grep).
Multiple -g options can be used to grep info for several keys.
This option uses the system regular expression engine: see man
3 regex. Platforms which do not support regex use key for a
substring match. You can determine the availability of regex
using the command: exiv2-v -V -g have_regex
exiv2-g Date -pt R.jpg
Exif.Image.DateTime Ascii 20 2012:08:07 16:01:05
Exif.Photo.DateTimeOriginal Ascii 20 2011:09:18 16:25:48
Exif.Photo.DateTimeDigitized Ascii 20 2011:09:18 16:25:48
-K key Only report data for given key.
Multiple -K options can be used to report more than a single
key.
exiv2-K Exif.Photo.DateTimeDigitized -K Exif.Photo.DateTimeOriginal -pt R.jpg
Exif.Photo.DateTimeOriginal Ascii 20 2011:09:18 16:25:48
Exif.Photo.DateTimeDigitized Ascii 20 2011:09:18 16:25:48
-n enc Charset to use to decode Exif Unicode user comments. enc is a
name understood by iconv_open(3), e.g., 'UTF-8'.
-k Preserve file timestamps when updating files (keep). Can be used
with all options which update files. The flag is ignored by
read-only options.
-t Set the file timestamp according to the Exif create timestamp in
addition to renaming the file (overrides -k). This option is
only used with the 'rename' action.
-T Only set the file timestamp according to the Exif create time‐
stamp, do not rename the file (overrides -k). This option is
only used with the 'rename' action. Note: On Windows you may
have to set the TZ environment variable for this option to work
correctly.
-f Do not prompt before overwriting existing files (force over‐
write).
-F Do not prompt before renaming files (Force rename). Appends '_1'
('_2', ...) to the name of the new file.
-a time
Time adjustment in the format [-]HH[:MM[:SS]]. This option is
only used with the 'adjust' action. Examples: 1 adds one hour,
1:01 adds one hour and one minute, -0:00:30 subtracts 30 sec‐
onds.
-Y yrs Time adjustment by a positive or negative number of years, for
the 'adjust' action.
-O mon Time adjustment by a positive or negative number of months, for
the 'adjust' action.
-D day Time adjustment by a positive or negative number of days, for
the 'adjust' action.
-p mode
Print mode for the 'print' action. Possible modes are:
s : print a summary of the Exif metadata (the default)
a : print Exif, IPTC and XMP metadata (shortcut for -Pkyct)
t : interpreted (translated) Exif tags (-PEkyct)
v : plain Exif tag values (-PExgnycv)
h : hexdump of the Exif data (-PExgnycsh)
i : IPTC datasets (-PIkyct)
x : XMP properties (-PXkyct)
c : JPEG comment
p : list available image previews, sorted by preview image size
in pixels
S : print image structure information (jpg, png and tiff only)
X : print "raw" XMP (jpg, png and tiff only)
-P flgs
Print flags for fine control of the tag list ('print' action).
Allows control of the type of metadata as well as data columns
included in the print output. Valid flags are:
E : include Exif tags in the list
I : IPTC datasets
X : XMP properties
x : print a column with the tag number
g : group name
k : key
l : tag label
n : tag name
y : type
c : number of components (count)
s : size in bytes
v : plain data value
t : interpreted (translated) data
h : hexdump of the data
-d tgt Delete target(s) for the 'delete' action. Possible targets are:
a : all supported metadata (the default)
e : Exif section
t : Exif thumbnail only
i : IPTC data
x : XMP packet
c : JPEG comment
-i tgt Insert target(s) for the 'insert' action. Possible targets are
the same as those for the -d option, plus an optional modifier:
X : Insert metadata from an XMP sidecar file <file>.xmp. The
remaining insert targets determine what metadata to insert from
the sidecar file. Possible are Exif, IPTC and XMP and the
default is all of these. Note that the inserted XMP properties
include those converted to Exif and IPTC.
This is option is intended for "filter" operations on the XMP
such as:
$ exiv2 -e{tgt}- filename | xmllint .... | exiv2 -i{tgt}- file‐
name
Only JPEG thumbnails can be inserted (not TIFF thumbnails), they
need to be named file-thumb.jpg.
-e tgt Extract target(s) for the 'extract' action. Possible targets are
the same as those for the -d option, plus a target to extract
preview images and a modifier to generate an XMP sidecar file:
p[<n>[,<m> ...]] : Extract preview images. The optional comma
separated list of preview image numbers is used to determine
which preview images to extract. The available preview images
and their numbers are displayed with the 'print' option -pp.
X : Extract metadata to an XMP sidecar file <file>.xmp. The
remaining extract targets determine what metadata to extract to
the sidecar file. Possible are Exif, IPTC and XMP and the
default is all of these.
- : Output sidecar file to stdout (see -i tgt for example)
-r fmt Filename format for the 'rename' action. The format string fol‐
lows strftime(3) and supports the following keywords:
:basename: - original filename without extension
:dirname: - name of the directory holding the original file
:parentname: - name of parent directory
Default filename format is %Y%m%d_%H%M%S.
-c txt JPEG comment string to set in the image ('modify' action). This
option can also be used with the 'extract' and 'insert' actions
to modify metadata on-the-fly.
-m file
Command file for the 'modify' action. This option can also be
used with the 'extract' and 'insert' actions to modify metadata
on-the-fly.
-M cmd Command line for the 'modify' action. This option can also be
used with the 'extract' and 'insert' actions to modify metadata
on-the-fly. The format for the commands is the same as that of
the lines of a command file.
-l dir Location (directory) for files to be inserted or extracted.
-S .suf
Use suffix .suf for source files in 'insert' action.
COMMANDS
Commands for the 'modify' action can be read from a command file, e.g.,
exiv2-m cmd.txt image.jpg
or given on the command line, as in
exiv2 -M"add Iptc.Application2.Credit String Mr. Smith" image.jpg
Note the quotes. Multiple -m and -M options can be combined, and a non-
standard XMP namespace registered.
exiv2 -M"reg myprefix http://ns.myprefix.me/" -M"add Xmp.myprefix.Whom Mr. Smith" -M"set Exif.Image.Artist Mr. Smith" image.jpg
When writing Exif, IPTC and XMP metadata, exiv2 enforces only a correct
metadata structure. It is possible to write tags with types and values
different from those specified in the standards, duplicate Exif tags,
undefined tags, or incomplete metadata. While exiv2 is able to read all
metadata that it can write, other programs may have difficulties with
images that contain non standard-conforming metadata.
Command format
The format of a command is
set | add | del key [[type] value]
set Set the value of an existing tag with a matching key or add the
tag.
add Add a tag (unless key is a non-repeatable IPTC key; nothing pre‐
vents you from adding duplicate Exif tags).
del Delete all occurrences of a tag (requires only a key).
key Exiv2 Exif, IPTC or XMP key.
type Byte | Ascii | Short | Long | Rational | Undefined | SShort |
SLong | SRational | Comment for Exif keys,
String | Date | Time | Short | Undefined for IPTC keys, and
XmpText | XmpAlt | XmpBag | XmpSeq | LangAlt for XMP keys.
A default type is used if none is explicitly given. The default
is determined based on key.
value The remaining text on the line is the value. It can optionally
be enclosed in single quotes ('value') or double quotes
("value").
The value is optional. Not providing any value is equivalent to
an empty value ("") and is mainly useful to create an XMP array
property, e.g., a bag.
The format of Exif Comment values includes an optional charset
specification at the beginning:
[charset=Ascii|Jis|Unicode|Undefined ]comment
Undefined is used by default if the value doesn't start with a
charset definition.
The format for an IPTC Date value is:
YYYY-MM-DD (year, month, day)
The format for an IPTC Time value is:
HH:MM:SS (hours, minutes, seconds)
and may optionally be followed by:
-HH:MM or +HH:MM (hours, minutes ahead/behind UTC)
The format of Rational (and SRational) is one of:
integer
integer-numerator/integer-denominator
Fnumber
fnumber
Rational Examples:
exiv2 "-Mset Exif.Photo.MaxApertureValue 557429/62500" X.jpg
exiv2 "-Mset Exif.Photo.MaxApertureValue F5.6" X.jpg
The Rational format Fnumber (or fnumber) is for the convenience
of setting aperture values. Aperture values are stored in Exif
is an APEX value which can be evaluated by the expression:
apex-value = log(Fnumber) * 2.0 / log(2.0)
Fnumber = exp(apex-value * log(2.0) / 2.0)
The Rational format Fnumber is valid for any Rational, even when
the key is not an Aperture. More information about APEX value
is available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APEX_system
The format of XMP LangAlt values includes an optional language
qualifier:
lang="language-code" text
lang="x-default" is used if the value doesn't start with a lan‐
guage qualifier.
exiv2 -M'set Xmp.dc.title lang="de-DE" Euros' X.jpg
exiv2 -M'set Xmp.dc.title lang="en-GB" Pounds' X.jpg
exiv2 -M'set Xmp.dc.title lang="en-US" In God We Trust'
X.jpg
exiv2 -M'set Xmp.dc.title All others pay cash' X.jpg
To remove a language specification, set the value to '' (empty
string)
exiv2 -M'set Xmp.dc.title lang="en-US"' X.jpg
To remove all language specifications, delete the key:
exiv2 -M'del Xmp.dc.title' X.jpg
To register additional XMP namespaces, combine the command with:
reg prefix namespace
Command file format
Empty lines and lines starting with # in a command file are ignored
(comments). Remaining lines are commands as described above.
EXAMPLESexiv2 *.jpg
Prints a summary of the Exif information for all JPEG files in
the directory.
exiv2-pi image.jpg
Prints the IPTC metadata of the image.
exiv2 rename img_1234.jpg
Renames img_1234.jpg (taken on 13-Nov-05 at 22:58:31) to
20051113_225831.jpg
exiv2 -r':basename:_%Y%m' rename img_1234.jpg
Renames img_1234.jpg to img_1234_200511.jpg
exiv2-et img1.jpg img2.jpg
Extracts the Exif thumbnails from the two files into
img1-thumb.jpg and img2-thumb.jpg.
exiv2-it img1.jpg img2.jpg
Inserts (copies) metadata from img1.exv to img1.jpg and from
img2.exv to img2.jpg.
exiv2-ep1,2 image.jpg
Extracts previews 1 and 2 from the image to the files image-pre‐
view1.jpg and image-preview2.jpg.
exiv2-eiX image.jpg
Extracts IPTC datasets into an XMP sidecar file image.xmp and in
the process converts them to "IPTC Core" XMP schema.
exiv2-iixX image.jpg
Inserts IPTC and XMP metadata from an XMP sidecar file image.xmp
into image.jpg. The resulting IPTC datasets are converted from
the "IPTC Core" XMP schema properties in the sidecar file to the
older IPTC IIM4 format. The inserted XMP properties include
those in the "IPTC Core" XMP schema.
exiv2 -M"set Exif.Photo.UserComment charset=Ascii New Exif comment" image.jpg
Sets the Exif comment to an ASCII string.
exiv2 -M"set Exif.GPSInfo.GPSLatitude 4/1 15/1 33/1" \
-M"set Exif.GPSInfo.GPSLatitudeRef N" image.jpg
Sets the latitude to 4 degrees, 15 minutes and 33 seconds north.
The Exif standard stipulates that the GPSLatitude tag consists
of three Rational numbers for the degrees, minutes and seconds
of the latitude and GPSLatitudeRef contains either 'N' or 'S'
for north or south latitude respectively.
exiv2 insert -l/tmp -S.CRW /data/*.JPG
Copy all metadata from CRW files in the /tmp directory to JPG
files with corresponding basenames in the /data directory. Note
that this copies metadata as is, without any modifications to
adapt it to the requirements of the target format. Some tags
copied like this may not make sense in the target image.
SEE ALSO
http://www.exiv2.org/sample.html#modify
Sample command files.
http://www.exiv2.org/metadata.html
Taglists with key and default type values.
AUTHORSexiv2 was written by Andreas Huggel and others. The Exiv2 project web
site is http://exiv2.org
This manual page was originally created for the Debian project by KELE‐
MEN Peter <fuji@debian.org>.
May 9, 2015 EXIV2(1)
