

Do not use Windows Photo Viewer for any metadata analysis. However, this tool displays fictional metadata fields that do not exist in the file, omits most fields that do exist, rewrites some metadata values, and renames some of the fields that it displays. The default photo viewer under Windows 7 and Windows 8 contains a 'properties' option that lists metadata. Do not use Preview Inspector for any official work. This tool displays a small fraction of the available metadata and can provide misleading analysis results. Preview contains an 'Inspector' to view metadata. The default Apple Mac OS X picture viewer is called Preview. While not as powerful or as complete as Exiv2 and ExifTool, Adobe's viewer does provide the ability to decode XMP, IPTC, Exif, and other types of metadata in a graphical interface. In Photoshop CS5, it is under File → File Info.

In addition, different programs may support different types of metadata.Ī few examples of available image metadata tools: Some of these only support one file type (e.g., JPEG-only), while others support many file formats. There are plenty of open source, free, and commercial solutions available. Viewing metadata requires extracting the information from the file. Many converters omit metadata, and WebP does not have facilities for storing all of the various metadata fields found in JPEG images. Similarly, WebP files are nearly always converted from another file format. Converted PNG files may include metadata from the source file format. unless the image was converted from a JPEG or edited with Photoshop. PNG files typically contain very little information. In contrast, a JPEG from a camera usually contains a wide variety of information, including the camera's make and model, focal and aperture information, and timestamps. Some formats, like BMP, PPM, and PBM contain very little information beyond the image dimensions and color space. Metadata provides information about a picture's pedigree, including the type of camera used, color space information, and application notes.ĭifferent picture formats include different types of metadata. They also contain information (metadata) about the picture. Most image files do not just contain a picture.
