Utilities
Extract metadata from media and documents
Read embedded metadata from hundreds of image, media, and document formats.
overview
What exiftool does
Connect an image, video, audio file, or document and ExifTool writes its discovered metadata to a workflow output file. Enable -json for structured records or -csv for a tabular result.
The optional tag value is passed as an ExifTool tag expression such as -ImageWidth, -Title, or -CreateDate. Leave it empty to return the normal metadata report.
This node reads metadata; it does not expose write operations. The wrapper publishes output atomically, so a failed parse does not leave a partial artifact.
source github.com/exiftool/exiftool
use cases
Where exiftool fits
Inventory image properties
Extract dimensions, format, color type, and file attributes as JSON.
Audit document metadata
Inspect author, creator, timestamps, and software fields before sharing a file.
Read one tag
Request a specific tag when the workflow only needs one metadata value.
reference
exiftool inputs and flags
| Name | Type | Flag | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| input | FILE | · | Image, video, audio, or document file. |
| json | BOOLEAN | -json | Write metadata as JSON. |
| csv | BOOLEAN | -csv | Write metadata as CSV. |
| tag | STRING | · | Optional ExifTool tag expression such as -ImageWidth. |
Showing key inputs. exiftool exposes 4 inputs in total.
example
Run exiftool
exiftool -json image.png[{ "FileName": "output.png", "FileType": "PNG", "ImageWidth": 272, "ImageHeight": 88, "BitDepth": 8}]guidance
Choosing exiftool
Use ExifTool when the workflow needs embedded file metadata. Use ImageMagick to alter image pixels or strip metadata, and pdftotext to extract PDF body text.
imagemagick
Transforms image pixels and can remove profiles and comments.
pdftotext
Extracts visible text from PDF pages rather than metadata fields.
tesseract
Runs OCR when text exists only as pixels.
faq
exiftool questions
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Run exiftool yourself
A PNG fixture feeds ExifTool with -json, producing dimensions, file type, bit depth, and color metadata.
Facts on this page come from the live Trickest tool library.