Image Metadata Reader: EXIF, IPTC, XMP & GPS

Read the metadata of many images in one run. Give the Actor image URLs or a key-value store with uploaded image files. You get one row per image with camera details, dates, copyright, creator, keywords, size and colour information.

The Actor also flags two things for audits:

• Privacy: images that carry GPS location, an owner name or a camera serial number.
• Licensing: images that have no copyright notice, usage terms or rights URL.

What data does it read?

Group	Fields
File	format, media type, file size, bytes read, width, height, megapixels, orientation
Colour	colour space, channels, bit depth, transparency, ICC profile name and colour space, DPI
Camera (EXIF)	make, model, lens maker and model, software, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, focal length, flash, exposure program, white balance, metering mode, exposure bias
Dates	date taken, date digitised, date modified
Rights (IPTC and XMP)	title, description, creator, copyright, credit, usage terms, rights URL, keywords
Flags	has EXIF, has IPTC, has XMP, has ICC profile, has GPS, has rights info, privacy flags
All tags	every readable EXIF, IPTC, XMP and ICC tag, grouped by block

It reads JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, HEIC, GIF and TIFF files.

Why is it fast and cheap?

A JPEG keeps all its metadata at the start of the file. The Actor asks the server for the first 64 KB only. It reads more only when the metadata block is larger. A 2.5 MB photo usually costs 64 KB of download. Other formats can store metadata at the end, so they are read in full, up to the size limit you set.

How to use it

1. Paste image URLs into Image URLs, one per line.
2. Or pick a key-value store with your uploaded image files. You can limit the run to some record keys.
3. Leave Include GPS coordinates off unless you need them. See the note below.
4. Click Start. Download the results as JSON, CSV or Excel.

The dataset has three views: Overview, Privacy audit and Rights and licensing.

Input example

{
    "imageUrls": [
        "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Astragalus_alpinus_LC0319.jpg"
    ],
    "includeGps": false,
    "includeAllTags": true,
    "maxItems": 100
}

Output example

This row comes from the input above. The metadata object is shortened here.

{
    "status": "ok",
    "imageUrl": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Astragalus_alpinus_LC0319.jpg",
    "mimeType": "image/jpeg",
    "fileBytes": 2545467,
    "bytesRead": 65536,
    "readMode": "header",
    "format": "jpeg",
    "width": 1600,
    "height": 2400,
    "megapixels": 3.84,
    "orientation": 1,
    "dpi": 300,
    "hasExif": true,
    "hasIptc": true,
    "hasXmp": true,
    "hasIccProfile": true,
    "hasGps": true,
    "hasRightsInfo": true,
    "privacyFlags": ["gps-location", "serial-number"],
    "cameraMake": "OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP.",
    "cameraModel": "E-5",
    "lensMake": "Canon",
    "lensModel": "150.0 mm f/2.8",
    "software": "Adobe Photoshop CS5 Macintosh",
    "dateTaken": "2013-07-04T12:46:44",
    "exposureTime": "1/320",
    "fNumber": 5.6,
    "iso": 100,
    "focalLengthMm": 150,
    "flash": "Flash did not fire",
    "exposureProgram": "Aperture priority",
    "whiteBalance": "Auto",
    "meteringMode": "Pattern",
    "exposureBias": 0,
    "description": "OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA",
    "creator": "Jörg Hempel",
    "copyright": "Joerg Hempel",
    "keywords": [],
    "iccProfileName": "Adobe RGB (1998)",
    "iccColorSpace": "RGB",
    "gpsLatitude": null,
    "gpsLongitude": null,
    "metadata": {
        "exif": { "Make": "OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP.", "Model": "E-5", "ISO": 100, "MeteringMode": "Spot" },
        "iptc": { "Byline": "Jörg Hempel", "CopyrightNotice": "Joerg Hempel" },
        "xmp-photoshop": { "ICCProfile": "Adobe RGB (1998)" },
        "icc": { "ProfileDescription": "Adobe RGB (1998)" }
    }
}

The file carries GPS, so hasGps is true. The coordinates stay empty because Include GPS coordinates was off.

GPS, personal data and lawful use

GPS coordinates in a photo can show where a person lives, works or travels. So the Actor leaves them out by default. Every row still says whether the image carries GPS (hasGps).

Turn on Include GPS coordinates only when you have a lawful reason to process location data. Examples are your own photos, your company's product photos, or a privacy audit you are allowed to run. Laws such as the GDPR treat location data about a person as personal data. You are responsible for how you use it.

Owner names and camera serial numbers are never saved. The row only flags them in privacyFlags, so you can find and clean those files.

Only read images you have the right to process.

Limits and good behaviour

• The Actor reads robots.txt on every host and skips images it does not allow.
• It refuses local and private network addresses.
• It sends at most 2 requests at a time to one host and spaces them out. When a host answers HTTP 429, it pauses that host and slows down.
• Each request is capped at 60 seconds and retried at most twice.
• Files above Maximum file size (default 25 MB, up to 50 MB) are skipped.
• One run reads at most 10,000 images.

Pricing

You pay per image read: $1 per 1,000 images, plus a $0.02 start fee per run. Images that fail (for example HTTP 404 or blocked by robots.txt) are saved with the reason and are not charged.

Related Actor

Need to strip metadata, resize or convert the images after the audit? Use Bulk Image Converter. It removes EXIF and GPS by default and converts to WebP, AVIF, JPEG or PNG.

FAQ

Does it change my images? No. It only reads them.

Why is a date shown without a time zone? EXIF dates have no time zone unless the camera wrote one. The Actor adds the offset only when the file has it.

Why does a JPEG show readMode: header? The Actor read only the start of the file, where all JPEG metadata sits. That saves time and traffic.

Can I read images behind a login? No. Upload them to a key-value store and pick that store instead.