new

    $exifTool = new Image::ExifTool;

Note that ExifTool uses AUTOLOAD to load non-member methods, so any class using Image::ExifTool as a base class must define an AUTOLOAD which calls Image::ExifTool::DoAutoLoad(). eg)

    sub AUTOLOAD
    {
        Image::ExifTool::DoAutoLoad($AUTOLOAD, @_);
    }

ImageInfo

    # return meta information for 2 tags only (procedural)
    $info = ImageInfo($filename, $tag1, $tag2);

    # return information about an open image file (object-oriented)
    $info = $exifTool->ImageInfo(\*FILE);

    # return information from image data in memory for specified tags
    %options = (PrintConv => 0);
    @tagList = qw(filename imagesize xmp:creator exif:* -ifd1:*);
    $info = ImageInfo(\$imageData, \@tagList, \%options);

    # extract information from an embedded thumbnail image
    $info = ImageInfo('image.jpg', 'thumbnailimage');
    $thumbInfo = ImageInfo($$info{ThumbnailImage});

Inputs:

"ImageInfo" is very flexible about the input arguments, and interprets them based on their type. It may be called with one or more arguments. The one required argument is either a SCALAR (the image file name), a file reference (a reference to the image file) or a SCALAR reference (a reference to the image in memory). Other arguments are optional. The order of the arguments is not significant, except that the first SCALAR is taken to be the file name unless a file reference or scalar reference comes earlier in the argument list.

Below is an explanation of how the "ImageInfo" function arguments are interpreted:

Return Values:

"ImageInfo" returns a reference to a hash of tag-key/value pairs. The tag keys are identifiers -- essentially case-sensitive tag names with an appended instance number if multiple tags with the same name were extracted from the image. Many of the ExifTool functions require a tag key as an argument. Use "GetTagName [static]" to get the tag name for a given tag key. Note that the case of the tag names may not be the same as requested. Here is a simple example to print out the information returned by "ImageInfo":

    foreach (sort keys %$info) {
        print "$_ => $$info{$_}\n";
    }
    

Values of the returned hash are usually simple scalars, but a scalar reference is used to indicate binary data and an array reference may be used to indicate a list. Also, a hash reference may be returned if the "Struct" option is used. Lists of values are joined by commas into a single string only if the PrintConv option is enabled and the ListJoin option is enabled (which are the defaults). Note that binary values are not necessarily extracted unless specifically requested, or the Binary option is enabled and the tag is not specifically excluded. If not extracted the value is a reference to a string of the form "Binary data ##### bytes".

The code below gives an example of how to handle these return values, as well as illustrating the use of other ExifTool functions:

    use Image::ExifTool;
    my $exifTool = new Image::ExifTool;
    $exifTool->Options(Unknown => 1);
    my $info = $exifTool->ImageInfo('a.jpg');
    my $group = '';
    my $tag;
    foreach $tag ($exifTool->GetFoundTags('Group0')) {
        if ($group ne $exifTool->GetGroup($tag)) {
            $group = $exifTool->GetGroup($tag);
            print "---- $group ----\n";
        }
        my $val = $info->{$tag};
        if (ref $val eq 'SCALAR') {
            if ($$val =~ /^Binary data/) {
                $val = "($$val)";
            } else {
                my $len = length($$val);
                $val = "(Binary data $len bytes)";
            }
        }
        printf("%-32s : %s\n", $exifTool->GetDescription($tag), $val);
    }
    

Notes:

ExifTool returns all values as byte strings of encoded characters. Perl wide characters are not used. See "CHARACTER ENCODINGS" for details about the encodings. By default, most returned values are encoded in UTF-8. For these, Encode::decode_utf8() may be used to convert to a sequence of logical Perl characters.

As well as tags representing information extracted from the image, the following Extra tags generated by ExifTool may be returned:

    ExifToolVersion - The ExifTool version number.

    Error - An error message if the image could not be processed.

    Warning - A warning message if problems were encountered while
              processing the image.
    

Options

The default option values may be changed by defining a %Image::ExifTool::UserDefined::Options hash. See the ExifTool_config file in the full ExifTool distribution for examples.

    # exclude the 'OwnerName' tag from returned information
    $exifTool->Options(Exclude => 'OwnerName');

    # only get information in EXIF or MakerNotes groups
    $exifTool->Options(Group0 => ['EXIF', 'MakerNotes']);

    # ignore information from IFD1
    $exifTool->Options(Group1 => '-IFD1');

    # sort by groups in family 2, and extract unknown tags
    $exifTool->Options(Sort => 'Group2', Unknown => 1);

    # reset DateFormat option
    $exifTool->Options(DateFormat => undef);

    # do not extract duplicate tag names
    $oldSetting = $exifTool->Options(Duplicates => 0);

    # get current Verbose setting
    $isVerbose = $exifTool->Options('Verbose');

    # set a user parameter
    $exifTool->Options(UserParam => 'MyParam=some value');

Inputs:

0) ExifTool object reference

1) Option parameter name (case-insensitive)

2) [optional] Option parameter value (may be undef to clear option)

3-N) [optional] Additional parameter/value pairs

Option Parameters:

Note that these API options may also be used in the exiftool application via the command-line -api option.

Return Values:

The original value of the last specified parameter.

ClearOptions

    $exifTool->ClearOptions();

Inputs:

0) ExifTool object reference

Return Values:

(none)

ExtractInfo

    $success = $exifTool->ExtractInfo('image.jpg', \%options);

Inputs:

"ExtractInfo" takes exactly the same arguments as "ImageInfo". The only difference is that a list of tag keys is not returned if an ARRAY reference is given. The following options are effective in the call to "ExtractInfo":

Binary, Charset, CharsetEXIF, CharsetFileName, CharsetID3, CharsetIPTC, CharsetPhotoshop, CharsetQuickTime, CharsetRIFF, Composite, ExtendedXMP, ExtractEmbedded, FastScan, FixBase, HtmlDump, HtmlDumpBase, IgnoreMinorErrors, Lang, LargeFileSupport, MakerNotes, MDItemTags, NoPDFList, Password, QuickTimeUTC (enforced 1904 time zero), RequestAll, RequestTags, SaveFormat, SavePath, ScanForXMP, Struct, TextOut, Unknown, Verbose, XAttrTags and XMPAutoConv.

Return Value:

1 if this was a recognized file format, 0 otherwise (and 'Error' tag set).

GetInfo

    # get image width and height only
    $info = $exifTool->GetInfo('ImageWidth', 'ImageHeight');

    # get all Error and Warning messages
    $info = $exifTool->GetInfo('Error', 'Warning');

    # get information for all tags in list (list updated with tags found)
    $info = $exifTool->GetInfo(\@ioTagList);

    # get all information in Author or Location groups
    $info = $exifTool->GetInfo({Group2 => ['Author', 'Location']});

Inputs:

Inputs are the same as "ExtractInfo" and "ImageInfo" except that an image can not be specified. Options in effect are:

Charset, CoordFormat, DateFormat, Duplicates, Escape, Exclude, Filter, Group#, GlobalTimeShift, Lang, ListItem, ListJoin, PrintConv, Sort (if a tag list reference is given) and StrictDate.

Return Value:

Reference to information hash, the same as with "ImageInfo".

The following options are effective in the call to "GetInfo":

Charset, CoordFormat, DateFormat, Duplicates, Escape, Exclude, Filter, Group#, GlobalTimeShift, Lang, ListItem, ListJoin, PrintConv, QuickTimeUTC (conversion to local time), Sort (if a tag list reference is given) and StrictDate.

WriteInfo

ExifTool queues all new values that are assigned via calls to "SetNewValue", then applies them to any number of files through one or more calls to "WriteInfo". These queued values may be accessed through "GetNewValue", and are completely separate from metadata extracted from files via "ExtractInfo" or "ImageInfo" and accessed through "GetInfo" or "GetValue".

To be clear, it is NOT necessary to call "ExtractInfo" or "ImageInfo" before "WriteInfo". "WriteInfo" changes only metadata specified by previous calls to "SetNewValue".

    # add information to a source file, writing output to new file
    $exifTool->WriteInfo($srcfile, $dstfile);

    # create XMP data file from scratch
    $exifTool->WriteInfo(undef, $dstfile, 'XMP');

    # overwrite file (you do have backups, right?)
    $exifTool->WriteInfo($srcfile);

Inputs:

0) ExifTool object reference

1) Source file name, file reference, scalar reference, or undef to create a file from scratch. A reference to a File::RandomAccess object is also allowed as a source, but in this case the destination is not optional.

2) [optional] Destination file name, file reference, scalar reference, or undef to overwrite the original file. May be '-' to write to stdout.

3) [optional] Destination file type. Ignored if a source is defined.

Return Value:

1 if file was written OK, 2 if file was written but no changes made, 0 on file write error.

If an error code is returned, an Error tag is set and GetValue('Error') can be called to obtain the error description. A Warning tag may be set even if this routine is successful. Calling WriteInfo clears any pre-existing Error and Warning tags.

    $errorMessage = $exifTool->GetValue('Error');
    $warningMessage = $exifTool->GetValue('Warning');
    

Notes:

The source file name may be undefined to create a file from scratch (currently only XMP, MIE, ICC, VRD, DR4, EXV and EXIF files can be created in this way -- see "CanCreate" for details). If undefined, the destination file type is required unless the type can be determined from the extension of the destination file name.

If a destination file name is given, the specified file must not exist because an existing destination file will not be overwritten. Any new values for FileName, Directory or HardLink are ignored when a destination file name is specified.

The destination file name may be undefined to overwrite the original file (make sure you have backups!). In this case, if a source file name is provided, a temporary file is created and renamed to replace the source file if no errors occurred while writing. Otherwise, if a source file reference or scalar reference is used, the image is first written to memory then copied back to replace the original if there were no errors.

On Mac OS systems, the file resource fork is preserved if this routine is called with a source file name.

The following ExifTool options are effective in the call to "WriteInfo":

ByteOrder, Charset, CharsetEXIF, CharsetFileName, CharsetIPTC, Compact, Compress, FixBase, IgnoreMinorErrors, Password, QuickTimeHandler, Verbose and WriteMode.

GetTagList

    @tags = $exifTool->GetTagList($info, 'Group0');

Inputs:

0) ExifTool object reference

1) [optional] Information hash reference or tag list reference

2) [optional] Sort order ('Input', 'File', 'Tag', 'Descr' or 'Group#')

3) [optional] Secondary sort order ('File', 'Tag' or 'Descr')

If the information hash or tag list reference is not provided, then the list of found tags from the last call to "ImageInfo", "ExtractInfo" or "GetInfo" is used instead, and the result is the same as if "GetFoundTags" was called. If sort order is not specified, the sort order is taken from the current options settings.

Return Values:

A list of tag keys in the specified order.

GetFoundTags

    @tags = $exifTool->GetFoundTags('File');

Inputs:

0) ExifTool object reference

1) [optional] Sort order ('Input', 'File', 'Tag', 'Descr' or 'Group#')

2) [optional] Secondary sort order ('File', 'Tag' or 'Descr')

If sort order is not specified, the sort order from the ExifTool options is used.

Return Values:

A list of tag keys in the specified order.

GetRequestedTags

    @tags = $exifTool->GetRequestedTags();

Inputs:

(none)

Return Values:

List of requested tag keys in the same order that the tags were specified. Note that this list will be empty if tags were not specifically requested (ie. If extracting all tags).

GetValue

Tags which represent lists of multiple values (as may happen with 'Keywords' for example) are handled specially. In scalar context, the returned PrintConv value for these tags is either a string of values or a list reference (depending on the ListJoin option setting), and the ValueConv value is always a list reference. But in list context, "GetValue" always returns the list itself.

Note that "GetValue" requires a case-sensitive tag key as an argument. To retrieve tag information based on a case-insensitive tag name (with an optional group specifier), use "GetInfo" instead.

    # PrintConv example
    my $val = $exifTool->GetValue($tag);
    if (ref $val eq 'SCALAR') {
        print "$tag = (unprintable value)\n";
    } else {
        print "$tag = $val\n";
    }

    # ValueConv examples
    my $val = $exifTool->GetValue($tag, 'ValueConv');
    if (ref $val eq 'ARRAY') {
        print "$tag is a list of values\n";
    } elsif (ref $val eq 'SCALAR') {
        print "$tag represents binary data\n";
    } else {
        print "$tag is a simple scalar\n";
    }

    my @keywords = $exifTool->GetValue('Keywords', 'ValueConv');

The following options are in effect when "GetValue" is called:

Charset, CoordFormat, DateFormat, Escape, Filter, GlobalTimeShift, Lang, ListItem, ListJoin, PrintConv, QuickTimeUTC (conversion to local time), StrictDate and TimeZone.

Inputs:

0) ExifTool object reference

1) Tag key, or case-sensitive tag name with optional group prefix(es)

2) [optional] Value type: 'PrintConv', 'ValueConv', 'Both', 'Raw' or 'Rational'

The default value type is 'PrintConv' if the PrintConv option is set, otherwise the default is 'ValueConv'. A value type of 'Both' returns both ValueConv and PrintConv values as a list. 'Rational' returns the raw rational value as a string fraction for rational types, or undef for other types.

Return Values:

The value of the specified tag. If the tag represents a list of multiple values and the ListJoin option is enabled then PrintConv returns a string of values, otherwise a reference to the list is returned in scalar context. The list itself is returned in list context. (Unless 'Both' values are requested, in which case two list references are returned, regardless of context.) Values may also be scalar references to binary data, or hash references if the "Struct" option is set.

Note: It is possible for "GetValue" to return an undefined ValueConv or PrintConv value (or an empty list in list context) even if the tag exists, since it is possible for these conversions to yield undefined values. And the Rational value will be undefined for any non-rational tag. The Raw value should always exist if the tag exists.

SetNewValue

For list-type tags (like Keywords), either call repeatedly with the same tag name for each value, or call with a reference to the list of values.

    # set a new value for a tag (errors go to STDERR)
    $success = $exifTool->SetNewValue($tag, $value);

    # set a new value and capture any error message
    ($success, $errStr) = $exifTool->SetNewValue($tag, $value);

    # delete information for specified tag if it exists in image
    # (also resets AddValue and DelValue options for this tag)
    $exifTool->SetNewValue($tag);

    # reset all values from previous calls to SetNewValue()
    $exifTool->SetNewValue();

    # delete a specific keyword
    $exifTool->SetNewValue('Keywords', $word, DelValue => 1);

    # set keywords (a list-type tag) with two new values
    $exifTool->SetNewValue(Keywords => 'word1');
    $exifTool->SetNewValue(Keywords => 'word2');
    # equivalent, but set both in one call using an array reference
    $exifTool->SetNewValue(Keywords => ['word1','word2']);

    # add a keyword without replacing existing keywords in the file
    $exifTool->SetNewValue(Keywords => $word, AddValue => 1);

    # conditionally add a tag if it didn't exist before,
    # or replace it if it had a specified value ("old value")
    $exifTool->SetNewValue(Description => '', DelValue => 1);
    $exifTool->SetNewValue(Description => 'old value', DelValue => 1);
    $exifTool->SetNewValue(Description => 'new value');

    # set a tag in a specific group
    $exifTool->SetNewValue(Headline => $val, Group => 'XMP');
    $exifTool->SetNewValue('XMP:Headline' => $val);  # (equivalent)

    # shift original date/time back by 2.5 hours
    $exifTool->SetNewValue(DateTimeOriginal => '2:30', Shift => -1);

    # write a tag only if it had a specific value
    # (the order of the following calls is not significant)
    $exifTool->SetNewValue(Title => $oldVal, DelValue => 1);
    $exifTool->SetNewValue(Title => $newVal);

    # write tag by numerical value
    $exifTool->SetNewValue(Orientation => 6, Type => 'ValueConv');
    $exifTool->SetNewValue('Orientation#' => 6);  # (equivalent)

    # delete all but EXIF tags
    $exifTool->SetNewValue('*');  # delete all...
    $exifTool->SetNewValue('EXIF:*', undef, Replace => 2); # ...but EXIF

    # write structured information as a HASH reference
    $exifTool->SetNewValue('XMP:Flash' => {
        mode   => 'on',
        fired  => 'true',
        return => 'not'
    });

    # write structured information as a serialized string
    $exifTool->SetNewValue('XMP:Flash'=>'{mode=on,fired=true,return=not}');

(See <https://exiftool.org/struct.html#Serialize> for a description of the structure serialization technique.)

Inputs:

0) ExifTool object reference

1) [optional] Tag key or tag name, or undef to clear all new values. The tag name may be prefixed by one or more family 0, 1 or 2 group names with optional leading family numbers, separated by colons (eg. 'EXIF:Artist', 'XMP:Time:*'), which is equivalent to using a Group option argument. Also, a '#' may be appended to the tag name (eg. 'EXIF:Orientation#'), with the same effect as setting Type to 'ValueConv'. Wildcards ('*' and '?') may be used in the tag name to assign multiple tags simultaneously. A tag name of '*' is special when deleting information, and will delete an entire group even if some individual tags in the group are not writable, but only if a single family 0 or 1 group is specified (otherwise the tags are deleted individually). Use "GetDeleteGroups" to get a list of deletable group names, and see Image::ExifTool::TagNames for a complete list of tag names.

2) [optional] New value for tag. Undefined to delete tag from file. May be a scalar, scalar reference, list reference to set a list of values, or hash reference for a structure. Integer values may be specified as a hexadecimal string (with a leading '0x'), and simple rational values may be specified in fractional form (eg. '4/10'). Structure tags may be specified either as a hash reference or a serialized string (see the last two examples above).

3-N) [optional] SetNewValue option/value pairs (see below).

SetNewValue Options:

Return Values:

In scalar context, returns the number of tags set and error messages are printed to STDERR. In list context, returns the number of tags set, and the error string (which is undefined if there was no error).

Notes:

When deleting groups of tags, the Replace option may be used to exclude specific groups from a mass delete. However, this technique may not be used to exclude individual tags from a group delete (unless a family 2 group was specified in the delete). Instead, use "SetNewValuesFromFile" to recover the values of individual tags after deleting a group.

When deleting all tags from a JPEG image, the APP14 "Adobe" information is not deleted by default because doing so may affect the appearance of the image. However, this information may be deleted by specifying it explicitly, either by group (with 'Adobe:*') or as a block (with 'Adobe').

The following ExifTool options are effective in the call to "SetNewValue":

Charset, DateFormat, Escape, IgnoreMinorErrors, Lang, ListJoin, ListSplit, PrintConv, QuickTimeUTC, StrictDate, TimeZone, Verbose and WriteMode.

GetNewValue

    $rawVal = $exifTool->GetNewValue($tag);

    @rawVals = $exifTool->GetNewValue($tag);

Inputs:

0) ExifTool object reference

1) Tag name (case sensitive, may be prefixed by family 0, 1 or 7 group names, separated by colons)

Return Values:

List of new Raw tag values, or first value in list when called in scalar context. The list may be empty either if the tag isn't being written, or if it is being deleted (ie. if "SetNewValue" was called without a value).

SetNewValuesFromFile

    # set new values from all information in a file...
    my $info = $exifTool->SetNewValuesFromFile($srcFile);
    # ...then write these values to another image
    my $result = $exifTool->WriteInfo($file2, $outFile);

    # set all new values, preserving original groups
    $exifTool->SetNewValuesFromFile($srcFile, '*:*');

    # set specific information
    $exifTool->SetNewValuesFromFile($srcFile, @tags);

    # set new value from a different tag in specific group
    $exifTool->SetNewValuesFromFile($fp, 'XMP-dc:Subject<IPTC:Keywords');

    # add all IPTC keywords to XMP subject list
    $exifTool->SetNewValuesFromFile($fp, 'XMP-dc:Subject+<IPTC:Keywords');

    # set new value from an expression involving other tags
    $exifTool->SetNewValuesFromFile($file,
        'Comment<ISO=$ISO Aperture=$aperture Exposure=$shutterSpeed');

    # set keywords list from the values of multiple tags
    $exifTool->SetNewValuesFromFile($file, { Replace => 0 },
        'keywords<xmp:subject', 'keywords<filename');

    # copy all EXIF information, preserving the original IFD
    # (without '*.*<' tags would be copied to the preferred EXIF IFD)
    $exifTool->SetNewValuesFromFile($file, '*:*<EXIF:*');

    # copy all tags with names starting with "gps" (note: this is
    # different than "gps:*" because it will also copy XMP GPS tags)
    $exifTool->SetNewValuesFromFile($file, 'gps*');

    # set FileName from Model, translating questionable characters
    $exifTool->SetNewValuesFromFile($file,
        'filename<${model; tr(/\\\\?*:|"><)(_) }.jpg');

Inputs:

0) ExifTool object reference

1) File name, file reference, or scalar reference

2-N) [optional] List of tag names to set or options hash references. All writable tags are set if none are specified. The tag names are not case sensitive, and may be prefixed by one or more family 0, 1, 2 or 7 group names with optional leading family numbers, separated by colons (eg. 'exif:iso'). A leading '-' indicates tags to be excluded (eg. '-comment'), or a trailing '#' causes the ValueConv value to be copied (same as setting the Type option to 'ValueConv' for this tag only). Wildcards ('*' and '?') may be used in the tag name. A tag name of '*' is commonly used when a group is specified to copy all tags in the group (eg. 'XMP:*'). A special feature allows tag names of the form 'DSTTAG<SRCTAG' (or 'SRCTAG>DSTTAG') to be specified to copy information to a tag with a different name or a specified group. Both 'SRCTAG' and 'DSTTAG' may contain wildcards and/or be prefixed by a group name (eg. 'fileModifyDate<modifyDate' or 'xmp:*<*'), and/or suffixed by a '#' to disable print conversion. Copied tags may also be added or deleted from a list with arguments of the form 'DSTTAG+<SRCTAG' or 'DSTTAG-<SRCTAG'. Tags are evaluated in order, so exclusions apply only to tags included earlier in the list. An extension of this feature allows the tag value to be set from a string containing tag names with leading '$' symbols (eg. 'Comment<the file is $filename'). Braces '{}' may be used around the tag name to separate it from subsequent text, and a '$$' is used to to represent a '$' symbol. The behaviour for missing tags in expressions is defined by the "MissingTagValue" option. The tag value may be modified via changes to the default input variable ($_) in a Perl expression placed inside the braces and after a semicolon following the tag name (see the last example above). A '@' may be added after the tag name (before the semicolon) to make the expression act on individual list items instead of the concatenated string for list-type tags. Braces within the expression must be balanced. Multiple options hash references may be passed to set different options for different tags. Options apply to subsequent tags in the argument list.

By default, this routine will commute information between same-named tags in different groups, allowing information to be translated between images with different formats. This behaviour may be modified by specifying a group name for extracted tags (even if '*' is used as a group name), in which case the information is written to the original group, unless redirected to a different group. When '*' is used for a group name, by default the family 1 group of the original tag is preserved, but a different family may be specified with a leading family number. (For example, specifying '*:*' copies all information while preserving the original family 1 groups, while '0*:*' preserves the family 0 group.)

SetNewValuesFromFile Options:

The options are the same was for "SetNewValue", and are passed directly to "SetNewValue" internally, with a few exceptions:

- The Replace option defaults to 1 instead of 0 as with "SetNewValue".

- The AddValue or DelValue option is set for individual tags if '+>' or '->' (or '+<' or '-<') are used.

- The Group option is set for tags where a group name is given.

- The Protected flag is set to 1 for individually specified tags.

- The Type option also applies to extracted tags.

Return Values:

A hash of information that was set successfully. May include Warning or Error entries if there were problems reading the input file.

Notes:

The PrintConv option applies to this routine, but it normally should be left on to provide more reliable transfer of information between groups.

If a preview image exists, it is not copied. The preview image must be transferred separately if desired, in a separate call to "WriteInfo"

When simply copying all information between files of the same type, it is usually desirable to preserve the original groups by specifying '*:*' for the tags to set.

The "Duplicates" option is always in effect for tags extracted from the source file using this routine.

The "Struct" option is enabled by default for tags extracted by this routine. This allows the hierarchy of complex structures to be preserved when copying, but the Struct option may be set to 0 to override this behaviour and copy as flattened tags instead.

CountNewValues

    $numSet = $exifTool->CountNewValues();
    ($numSet, $numPseudo) = $exifTool->CountNewValues();

Inputs:

0) ExifTool object reference

Return Values:

In scalar context, returns the total number of tags with new values set. In list context, also returns the number of "pseudo" tag values which have been set. "Pseudo" tags are tags like FileName and FileModifyDate which are not contained within the file and can be changed without rewriting the file.

SaveNewValues

    $exifTool->SaveNewValues();         # save state of new values
    $exifTool->SetNewValue(ISO => 100); # set new value for ISO
    $exifTool->WriteInfo($src, $dst1);  # write ISO + previous new values
    $exifTool->RestoreNewValues();      # restore previous new values
    $exifTool->WriteInfo($src, $dst2);  # write previous new values only

Inputs:

0) ExifTool object reference

Return Value:

Count of the number of times this routine has been called (N) since the last time the new values were reset.

RestoreNewValues

Inputs:

0) ExifTool object reference

Return Value:

None.

SetFileModifyDate

    $exifTool->SetNewValue(FileModifyDate => '2000:01:02 03:04:05-05:00',
                           Protected => 1);
    $result = $exifTool->SetFileModifyDate($file);

Inputs:

0) ExifTool object reference

1) File name

2) [optional] Base time if applying shift (days before $^T)

3) [optional] Tag to write: 'FileModifyDate' (default), or 'FileCreateDate'

Return Value:

1 if the time was changed, 0 if nothing was done, or -1 if there was an error setting the time.

Notes:

Equivalent to, but more efficient than calling "WriteInfo" when only the FileModifyDate or FileCreateDate tag has been set. If a timezone is not specified, local time is assumed. When shifting, the time of the original file is used unless the optional base time is specified.

The ability to write FileCreateDate is currently restricted to Windows systems only.

SetFileName

    $result = $exifTool->SetFileName($file);
    $result = $exifTool->SetFileName($file, $newName);

Inputs:

0) ExifTool object reference

1) Current file name

2) [optional] New file name

3) [optional] 'HardLink' or 'SymLink' to create a hard or symbolic link instead of renaming the file, or 'Test' to test renaming feature by printing the old and new names instead of changing anything.

Return Value:

1 on success, 0 if nothing was done, or -1 if there was an error renaming the file or creating the link.

Notes:

Will not overwrite existing files. New directories are created as necessary. If the file is successfully renamed, the new file name may be accessed via $$exifTool{NewName}.

SetNewGroups

    $exifTool->SetNewGroups('XMP','EXIF','IPTC');

Inputs:

0) ExifTool object reference

1-N) Groups in order of priority. If no groups are specified, the priorities are reset to the defaults.

Return Value:

None.

GetNewGroups

    @groups = $exifTool->GetNewGroups();

Inputs:

0) ExifTool object reference

Return Values:

List of group names in order of write priority. Highest priority first.

GetTagID

    $id = $exifTool->GetTagID($tag);
    ($id, $lang) = $exifTool->GetTagID($tag);

Inputs:

0) ExifTool object reference

1) Tag key

Return Values:

In scalar context, returns the tag ID or '' if there is no ID for this tag. In list context, returns the tag ID (or '') and the language code (or undef).

GetDescription

Inputs:

0) ExifTool object reference

1) Tag key

Return Values:

A description for the specified tag.

GetGroup

    # return family 0 group name (eg. 'EXIF');
    $group = $exifTool->GetGroup($tag, 0);

    # return all groups (eg. qw{EXIF IFD0 Author Main})
    @groups = $exifTool->GetGroup($tag);

    # return groups as a string (eg. 'Main:IFD0:Author')
    $group = $exifTool->GetGroup($tag, ':3:1:2');

    # return groups as a simplified string (eg. 'IFD0:Author')
    $group = $exifTool->GetGroup($tag, '3:1:2');

Inputs:

0) ExifTool object reference

1) Tag key

2) [optional] Group family number, or string of numbers separated by colons

Return Values:

Group name (or '' if tag has no group). If no group family is specified, "GetGroup" returns the name of the group in family 0 when called in scalar context, or the names of groups for all families in list context. Returns a string of group names separated by colons if the input group family contains a colon. The string is simplified to remove a leading 'Main:' and adjacent identical group names unless the family string begins with a colon.

Notes:

The group family numbers are currently available:

    0) Information Type         (eg. EXIF, XMP, IPTC)
    1) Specific Location        (eg. IFD0, XMP-dc)
    2) Category                 (eg. Author, Time)
    3) Document Number          (eg. Main, Doc1, Doc3-2)
    4) Instance Number          (eg. Copy1, Copy2, Copy3...)
    5) Metadata Path            (eg. JPEG-APP1-IFD0-ExifIFD)
    6) EXIF/TIFF Format         (eg. int8u, int32u, undef, string)
    

Families 0 and 1 are based on the file structure, and are similar except that family 1 is more specific and sub-divides some groups to give more detail about the specific location where the information was found. For example, the EXIF group is split up based on the specific IFD (Image File Directory), the MakerNotes group is divided into groups for each manufacturer, and the XMP group is separated based on the XMP namespace prefix. Note that only common XMP namespaces are listed in the GetAllGroups documentation, but additional namespaces may be present in some XMP data. Also note that the 'XMP-xmp...' group names may appear in the older form 'XMP-xap...' since these names evolved as the XMP standard was developed. The ICC_Profile group is broken down to give information about the specific ICC_Profile tag from which multiple values were extracted. As well, information extracted from the ICC_Profile header is separated into the ICC-header group.

Family 2 classifies information based on the logical category to which the information refers.

Family 3 gives the document number for tags extracted from embedded documents, or 'Main' for tags from the main document. (See the "ExtractEmbedded" option for extracting tags from embedded documents.) Nested sub-documents (if they exist) are indicated by numbers separated with dashes in the group name, to an arbitrary depth. (eg. 'Doc2-3-1' is the 1st sub-sub-document of the 3rd sub-document of the 2nd embedded document of the main file.) Document numbers are also used to differentiate samples for timed metadata in videos.

Family 4 provides a method for differentiating tags when multiple tags exist with the same name in the same location. The primary instance of a tag (the tag extracted when the Duplicates option is disabled and no group is specified) has no family 4 group name, but additional instances have family 4 group names of 'Copy1', 'Copy2', 'Copy3', etc. For convenience, the primary tag may also be accessed using a group name of 'Copy0'.

Family 5 is experimental, and gives the complete path for the metadata in the file. Generated only if the "SavePath" option is used when extracting.

Family 6 is currently used only for EXIF/TIFF metadata, and gives the format type of the extracted value. Generated only if the "SaveFormat" option is used when extracting.

Family 7 is used for tag ID's. The group names are "ID-" followed by the tag ID with characters other than [-_A-Za-z0-9] converted to hex. Numerical tag ID's are given in hex if the "HexTagIDs" option is set. When specifying a family 7 group name, numerical ID's may be in hex or decimal, and non-numercal ID's may or may not have characters other than [-_A-Za-z0-9] converted to hex. Note that unlike other group names, family 7 group names are case sensitive (except for the leading "ID-").

See "GetAllGroups [static]" for complete lists of group names.

GetGroups

    @groups = $exifTool->GetGroups($info, 2);
    @groups = $exifTool->GetGroups('3:1');

Inputs:

0) ExifTool object reference

1) [optional] Info hash ref (default is all extracted info)

2) [optional] Group family number, or string of numbers (default 0)

Return Values:

List of group names in alphabetical order. If information hash is not specified, the group names are returned for all extracted information. See "GetGroup" for an description of family numbers and family number strings.

BuildCompositeTags

Inputs:

0) ExifTool object reference

Return Values:

(none)

Notes:

Tag values are calculated in alphabetical order unless a tag Require's or Desire's another composite tag, in which case the calculation is deferred until after the other tag is calculated.

Composite tags may need to read data from the image for their value to be determined, and for these "BuildCompositeTags" must be called while the image is available. This is only a problem if "ImageInfo" is called with a filename (as opposed to a file reference or scalar reference) since in this case the file is closed before "ImageInfo" returns. Here the Composite option may be used so that "BuildCompositeTags" is called from within "ImageInfo", before the file is closed.

GetTagName [static]

Note: "static" in the heading above indicates that the function does not require an ExifTool object reference as the first argument. All functions documented below are also static.

    $tagName = Image::ExifTool::GetTagName($tag);

Inputs:

0) Tag key

Return Value:

Tag name. This is the same as the tag key but has the instance number removed.

GetShortcuts [static]

Inputs:

(none)

Return Values:

List of shortcut tags (as defined in Image::ExifTool::Shortcuts).

GetAllTags [static]

    @tagList = Image::ExifTool::GetAllTags($group);

Inputs:

0) [optional] Group name, or string of group names separated by colons

Return Values:

A list of all available tags in alphabetical order, or all tags in a specified group or intersection of groups. The group name is case insensitive, and any group in families 0-2 may be used except for EXIF family 1 groups (ie. the specific IFD).

GetWritableTags [static]

    @tagList = Image::ExifTool::GetWritableTags($group);

Inputs:

0) [optional] Group name, or string of group names separated by colons

Return Values:

A list of all writable tags in alphabetical order. These are the tags for which values may be set through "SetNewValue". If a group name is given, returns only writable tags in specified group(s). The group name is case insensitive, and any group in families 0-2 may be used except for EXIF family 1 groups (ie. the specific IFD).

GetAllGroups [static]

    @groupList = Image::ExifTool::GetAllGroups($family);

Inputs:

0) Group family number (0-4)

Return Values:

A list of all groups in the specified family in alphabetical order.

Here is a complete list of groups for each of these families:

Family 0 (Information Type):

AFCP, AIFF, APE, APP0, APP1, APP11, APP12, APP13, APP14, APP15, APP4, APP5, APP6, APP8, ASF, Audible, CanonVRD, Composite, DICOM, DNG, DV, DjVu, Ducky, EXE, EXIF, ExifTool, FITS, FLAC, FLIR, File, Flash, FlashPix, Font, FotoStation, GIF, GIMP, GeoTiff, GoPro, H264, HTML, ICC_Profile, ID3, IPTC, ISO, ITC, JFIF, JPEG, JSON, Jpeg2000, LNK, Leaf, Lytro, M2TS, MIE, MIFF, MNG, MOI, MPC, MPEG, MPF, MXF, MakerNotes, Matroska, Meta, Ogg, OpenEXR, Opus, PDF, PICT, PLIST, PNG, PSP, Palm, Parrot, PanasonicRaw, PhotoCD, PhotoMechanic, Photoshop, PostScript, PrintIM, QuickTime, RAF, RIFF, RSRC, RTF, Radiance, Rawzor, Real, Red, SVG, SigmaRaw, Stim, Theora, Torrent, Trailer, UserParam, VCard, Vorbis, WTV, XML, XMP, ZIP

Family 1 (Specific Location):

AC3, AFCP, AIFF, APE, ASF, AVI1, Adobe, AdobeCM, AdobeDNG, Apple, Audible, CIFF, CameraIFD, Canon, CanonCustom, CanonRaw, CanonVRD, Casio, Chapter#, Composite, DICOM, DJI, DNG, DV, DjVu, DjVu-Meta, Ducky, EPPIM, EXE, EXIF, ExifIFD, ExifTool, FITS, FLAC, FLIR, File, Flash, FlashPix, Font, FotoStation, FujiFilm, FujiIFD, GE, GIF, GIMP, GPS, GeoTiff, GlobParamIFD, GoPro, GraphConv, H264, HP, HTC, HTML, HTML-dc, HTML-ncc, HTML-office, HTML-prod, HTML-vw96, HTTP-equiv, ICC-chrm, ICC-clrt, ICC-header, ICC-meas, ICC-meta, ICC-view, ICC_Profile, ICC_Profile#, ID3, ID3v1, ID3v1_Enh, ID3v2_2, ID3v2_3, ID3v2_4, IFD0, IFD1, IPTC, IPTC#, ISO, ITC, Insta360, InteropIFD, ItemList, JFIF, JFXX, JPEG, JPEG-HDR, JSON, JVC, Jpeg2000, KDC_IFD, Keys, Kodak, KodakBordersIFD, KodakEffectsIFD, KodakIFD, KyoceraRaw, LNK, Leaf, LeafSubIFD, Leica, Lyrics3, Lytro, M2TS, MAC, MIE-Audio, MIE-Camera, MIE-Canon, MIE-Doc, MIE-Extender, MIE-Flash, MIE-GPS, MIE-Geo, MIE-Image, MIE-Lens, MIE-Main, MIE-MakerNotes, MIE-Meta, MIE-Orient, MIE-Preview, MIE-Thumbnail, MIE-UTM, MIE-Unknown, MIE-Video, MIFF, MNG, MOBI, MOI, MPC, MPEG, MPF0, MPImage, MS-DOC, MXF, MacOS, MakerNotes, MakerUnknown, Matroska, MediaJukebox, Meta, MetaIFD, Microsoft, Minolta, MinoltaRaw, Motorola, NITF, Nikon, NikonCapture, NikonCustom, NikonScan, Nintendo, Ocad, Ogg, Olympus, OpenEXR, Opus, PDF, PICT, PNG, PNG-pHYs, PSP, Palm, Panasonic, PanasonicRaw, Pentax, PhaseOne, PhotoCD, PhotoMechanic, Photoshop, PictureInfo, PostScript, PreviewIFD, PrintIM, ProfileIFD, Qualcomm, QuickTime, RAF, RAF2, RIFF, RMETA, RSRC, RTF, Radiance, Rawzor, Real, Real-CONT, Real-MDPR, Real-PROP, Real-RA3, Real-RA4, Real-RA5, Real-RJMD, Reconyx, Red, Ricoh, SPIFF, SR2, SR2DataIFD, SR2SubIFD, SRF#, SVG, Samsung, Sanyo, Scalado, Sigma, SigmaRaw, Sony, SonyIDC, Stim, SubIFD, System, Theora, Torrent, Track#, UserData, UserParam, VCalendar, VCard, Version0, Vorbis, WTV, XML, XMP, XMP-DICOM, XMP-Device, XMP-GAudio, XMP-GDepth, XMP-GFocus, XMP-GImage, XMP-GPano, XMP-GSpherical, XMP-LImage, XMP-MP, XMP-MP1, XMP-PixelLive, XMP-aas, XMP-acdsee, XMP-album, XMP-apple-fi, XMP-aux, XMP-cc, XMP-cell, XMP-creatorAtom, XMP-crs, XMP-dc, XMP-dex, XMP-digiKam, XMP-drone-dji, XMP-dwc, XMP-exif, XMP-exifEX, XMP-expressionmedia, XMP-extensis, XMP-fpv, XMP-getty, XMP-ics, XMP-iptcCore, XMP-iptcExt, XMP-lr, XMP-mediapro, XMP-microsoft, XMP-mwg-coll, XMP-mwg-kw, XMP-mwg-rs, XMP-pdf, XMP-pdfx, XMP-photomech, XMP-photoshop, XMP-plus, XMP-pmi, XMP-prism, XMP-prl, XMP-prm, XMP-pur, XMP-rdf, XMP-swf, XMP-tiff, XMP-x, XMP-xmp, XMP-xmpBJ, XMP-xmpDM, XMP-xmpMM, XMP-xmpNote, XMP-xmpPLUS, XMP-xmpRights, XMP-xmpTPg, ZIP

Family 2 (Category):

Audio, Author, Camera, Device, Document, ExifTool, Image, Location, Other, Preview, Printing, Time, Unknown, Video

Family 3 (Document Number):

Doc#, Main

Family 4 (Instance Number):

Copy#

Family 5 (Metadata Path):

eg. JPEG-APP1-IFD0-ExifIFD

Family 6 (EXIF/TIFF Format):

int8u, string, int16u, int32u, rational64u, int8s, undef, int16s, int32s, rational64s, float, double, ifd, unicode, complex, int64u, int64s, ifd64

Family 7 (Tag ID):

ID-xxx (where xxx is the tag ID. Numerical ID's are given in hex with a leading "0x" if the HexTagIDs option is set, as are characters in non-numerical ID's which are not valid in a group name)

GetDeleteGroups [static]

    @delGroups = Image::ExifTool::GetDeleteGroups();

Inputs:

None.

Return Values:

A list of deletable group names in alphabetical order. The current list of deletable group names is:

AFCP, APP0, APP1, APP10, APP11, APP12, APP13, APP14, APP15, APP2, APP3, APP4, APP5, APP6, APP7, APP8, APP9, Adobe, Audio, Author, CIFF, Camera, CanonVRD, Document, Ducky, EXIF, ExifIFD, ExifTool, File, FlashPix, FotoStation, GPS, GlobParamIFD, ICC_Profile, IFD0, IFD1, IPTC, Image, InteropIFD, JFIF, Jpeg2000, Location, MIE, MPF, MakerNotes, Meta, MetaIFD, NikonCapture, Other, PDF, PDF-update, PNG, PNG-pHYs, PhotoMechanic, Photoshop, Preview, PrintIM, Printing, RMETA, RSRC, SubIFD, Time, Trailer, Video, XML, XML-*, XMP, XMP-*

To schedule a group for deletion, call "SetNewValue" with a tag name like 'EXIF:*' and an undefined tag value.

Deleting a family 0 or 1 group will delete the entire corresponding block of metadata, but deleting a family 2 group (eg. Audio, Author, Camera, etc.) deletes the individual tags belonging to that category.

The 'Trailer' group allows all trailers in JPEG and TIFF-format images to be deleted at once, including unknown trailers. Note that the JPEG "APP" groups are special, and are used only to delete application segments which are not associated with another deletable group. For example, deleting 'APP14:*' will delete other APP14 segments, but not the APP14 "Adobe" segment.

GetFileType [static]

    my $type = Image::ExifTool::GetFileType($filename);
    my $desc = Image::ExifTool::GetFileType($filename, 1);

Inputs:

0) [optional] File name (or just an extension)

1) [optional] Flag to return a description instead of a type. Default is undef. Set to 0 to also return types of recognized but unsupported files (otherwise the return value for unsupported files is undef), or 1 to return descriptions.

Return Value:

A string, based on the file extension, which indicates the basic format of the file. Note that some files may be based on other formats (like many RAW image formats are based on TIFF). In list context, may return more than one file type if the file may be based on different formats. Returns undef if files with this extension are not yet supported by ExifTool. Returns a list of extensions for all supported file types if no input extension is specified (or all recognized file types if the description flag is set to 0). Returns a more detailed description of the specific file format when the description flag is set.

CanWrite [static]

    my $writable = Image::ExifTool::CanWrite($filename);

Inputs:

0) File name or extension

Return Value:

True if ExifTool supports writing files of this type (based on the file extension).

CanCreate [static]

    my $creatable = Image::ExifTool::CanCreate($filename);

Inputs:

0) File name or extension

Return Value:

True if ExifTool can create files with this extension from scratch. Currently, this can only be done with XMP, MIE, ICC, VRD, DR4, EXV and EXIF files.

AddUserDefinedTags [static]

    use Image::ExifTool ':Public';
    my %tags = (
        TestTagID1 => { Name => 'TestTagName1' },
        TestTagID2 => { Name => 'TestTagName2' },
    );
    my $num = AddUserDefinedTags('Image::ExifTool::PDF::Info', %tags);

Inputs:

0) Destination tag table name

1-N) Pairs of tag ID / tag information hash references for the new tags

Return Value:

The number of tags added.

Notes

Pre-existing tags with the same ID will be replaced in the destination table. See lib/Image/ExifTool/README in the full distribution for full details on the elements of the tag information hash.

EXIF

A few EXIF tags (UserComment, GPSProcessingMethod and GPSAreaInformation) support a designated internal text encoding, with values stored as ASCII, Unicode (UCS-2) or JIS. When reading these tags, ExifTool converts Unicode and JIS to the external character set specified by the "Charset" option, or to UTF-8 by default. ASCII text is not converted. When writing, text is stored as ASCII unless the string contains special characters, in which case it is converted from the external character set (UTF-8 by default), and stored as Unicode. ExifTool writes Unicode in native EXIF byte ordering by default, but the byte order may be specified by setting the ExifUnicodeByteOrder tag (see the Extra Tags documentation).

The EXIF "XP" tags (XPTitle, XPComment, etc) are always stored as little-endian Unicode (UCS-2), and are read and written using the specified character set.

IPTC

ExifTool may be used to convert IPTC values to a different internal encoding. To do this, all IPTC tags must be rewritten along with the desired value of CodedCharacterSet. For example, the following command changes the internal IPTC encoding to UTF-8 (from Windows Latin1 unless CodedCharacterSet was already 'UTF8'):

  exiftool -tagsfromfile @ -iptc:all -codedcharacterset=utf8 a.jpg

or from Windows Latin2 (cp1250) to UTF-8:

  exiftool -tagsfromfile @ -iptc:all -codedcharacterset=utf8 \
  -charset iptc=latin2 a.jpg

and this command changes it back from UTF-8 to Windows Latin1 (cp1252):

  exiftool -tagsfromfile @ -iptc:all -codedcharacterset= a.jpg

or to Windows Latin2:

  exiftool -tagsfromfile @ -iptc:all -codedcharacterset= \
  -charset iptc=latin2 a.jpg

Unless CodedCharacterSet is 'UTF8', applications have no reliable way to determine the IPTC character encoding. For this reason, it is recommended that CodedCharacterSet be set to 'UTF8' when creating new IPTC.

(Note: Here, "IPTC" Refers to the older IPTC IIM format. The more recent IPTC Core and Extension specifications actually use the XMP format.)

XMP

PNG

JPEG Comment

ID3

PDF

Photoshop

QuickTime

AIFF

RIFF

MIE

Vorbis