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This generates a simple bar chart in the PNG format ( Figure 1).There are many tools for viewing/editing metadata inside image files.
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Plot "focal_length_data.dat" using 1: xtic(2) with histogram Execute the gnuplot command to enter the interactive Gnuplot shell, then run the following commands: set terminal png Gnuplot is a powerful graphing tool that can produce impressive results, but you don't have to master all its advanced features to create simple graphs. Finally, the sed -r 's/ //g s/.0 mm// ' > focal_length_data.dat The sort -g command sorts the values in ascending order, and the uniq -c command counts the number of each focal length value. This command obtains the focal length values, which are then piped through the sort, uniq, and sed tools. The list generated can give you a rough idea of what your most used focal lengths are, but you can massage the data using other tools to produce more meaningful results: exiftool -ext JPG -T -r -focallength. The following command renames the foo.NEF raw file in the current directory using the YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.NEF format (e.g., 19730915-153500.NEF): exiftool -d %Y%m%d-%H%M%S.%%e '-FileName focal_length_data.datīesides the -ext JPG parameter, the command also uses the -T switch, which outputs the result in tabular format, and the -r switch, which instructs ExifTool to process all subdirectories recursively. For example, the tool can read the photo's creation date and time and then use the obtained values to rename the file. Rename and Organize Photos Using Metadataīesides merely reading metadata, ExifTool can perform other useful actions. Run the exiftool -s -G /path/to/foo.jpgĬommand, and you should see a list of tags neatly organized into groups. The former shows the actual tag names, whereas the latter lists all tags organized by groups. The easiest way to find that out is to use the exiftool command with the -s and -G switches. When you need to read or modify a specific tag in metadata, you occasionally need to know the actual name of the tag (as opposed to the human-friendly format used by default) and the group it belongs to.
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Metadata included in a digital photo actually comes from several different groups, including Exif (Exchangeable image file format maintained by the Japanese Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association), IPTC (standard developed by the International Press Telecommunications Council for the purpose of data exchange between newspapers and news agencies), MakerNote data (tags that allow camera manufacturers to add custom metadata), XMP (metadata stored in the XMP format originally created by Adobe Systems Inc.), and Composite (composite tags derived from the values of other tags).ĭespite its name, ExifTool can handle metadata stored in all these formats.
Ubuntu install exiftool full#
Besides JPG, ExifTool can handle a wide range of other formats as well as RAW and video files (see the full list of supported formats on the project's website). To see ExifTool in action, run the exiftool /path/to/foo.jpgĬommand, which generates a long list of metadata tags and their values pulled from the source photo. On Debian and Ubuntu, deploying ExifTool is a matter of running the apt-get install libimage-exiftool-perlĬommand as root.
Ubuntu install exiftool software#
Because the utility is available in the software repositories of many mainstream Linux distributions, it can be easily installed using your distro's package manager. The first step is obviously to install ExifTool on your system. Even if you need to modify a handful of photos, doing so with ExifTool can be more efficient than resorting to your preferred photo management application.
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If you need to process hundreds, or even thousands, of photos on a regular basis, using ExifTool can save you a lot of time and effort. As is often the case, however, even the most powerful graphical applications can't compete with command-line tools in terms of speed and efficiency. Many photo management applications like digiKam and Darktable make it possible to view and edit metadata. Inside almost every digital photo hides a wealth of useful metadata.
Ubuntu install exiftool how to#
In this article, I provide a gentle introduction to ExifTool's capabilities and show how to put this excellent tool to practical use. Despite its comprehensive documentation, however, coming to grips with ExifTool can sometimes be a daunting proposition. Indeed, ExifTool can handle practically every metadata-related task you throw at it: from adding and removing tags to performing advanced actions based on specific values obtained from metadata. ExifTool has the well-deserved reputation of being a flexible and infinitely powerful utility for working with photographic metadata.
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