exiv2 is a program to read and write Exif and IPTC image metadata and image comments. Supported image formats are JPEG, Canon CRW and Canon THM. Read-only support is currently available for PNG and TIFF format and includes TIFF-based RAW formats such as Adobe DNG, Canon CR2, Fujifilm RAF, Minolta MRW, Nikon NEF, Pentax PEF, Sony ARW and Sony SR2.

pr | print

Print image metadata. This is the default action, i.e., the command exiv2 image.jpg will print a summary of the image Exif metadata.

ex | extract

Extract metadata to *.exv and thumbnail image files. Modification commands can be applied on-the-fly.

in | insert

Insert metadata from corresponding *.exv 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 option -a time.

mo | modify

Apply commands to modify (add, set, delete) the Exif/IPTC 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. The filename format can be set with -r fmt, timestamp options are -t and -T.

fi | fixiso

Copy the ISO setting from any of the proprietary Nikon makernote ISO tags to the regular Exif ISO tag, Exif.Photo.ISOSpeedRatings. Overwrites an existing Exif ISO tag.

-h

Display help and exit.

-V

Show the program version and exit.

-v

Be verbose during the program run.

-b

Show large binary values (default is to suppress them).

-u

Don't show unknown tags.

-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 timestamp, 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 overwrite).

-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 seconds.

-p mode

Print mode for the 'print' action. Possible modes are: s : print a summary of the Exif metadata (the default) t : interpreted (translated) Exif data (shortcut for -Pkyct) v : plain Exif data values (shortcut for -Pxgnycv) h : hexdump of the Exif data (shortcut for -Pxgnycsh) i : IPTC data values c : JPEG comment

-P cols

Print columns for the Exif taglist ('print' action), allows detailed control of the print output. Valid are: x : print a column with the tag value 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 c : JPEG comment

-i tgt

Insert target(s) for the 'insert' action. Possible targets are the same as those for the -d option. 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.

-r fmt

Filename format for the 'rename' action. The format string follows (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.

   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.

When writing Exif/IPTC 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.

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 prevents you from adding duplicate Exif tags).

del

Delete all occurrences of a tag (requires only a key).

key

Exiv2 Exif or IPTC key.

type

Byte | Ascii | Short | Long | Rational | Undefined | SShort | SLong | SRational | Comment for Exif keys, and String | Date | Time | Short | Undefined for IPTC keys.

A default type is used if none is explicitely 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 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 IPTC Date values is YYYY-MM-DD (year, month, day), that for IPTC Time values is HH:MM:SS+|-HH:MM, where HH:MM:SS refers to local hour, minute and seconds and +|-HH:MM refers to hours and minutes ahead or behind Universal Coordinated Time (+|- means either a + or a - sign is required).