Comparison of metadata editors

This article presents a comparison of metadata viewers and metadata editors.

A metadata editor is a computer program that allows users to view and edit metadata tags interactively on the computer screen and save them in the graphics file. Usually a metadata viewer is preferred over a metadata editor for viewing tags.

A number of metadata editors for various platforms exist. Users choose among them based on factors such as the availability for the user's platform, the feature set and usability of the user interface (UI).

The Metadata Working Group (MWG) is a consortium of leading companies in the digital media industry. The MWG publishes technical specifications that describe how to effectively store metadata into digital media files. These royalty-free specifications are made available to software developers, manufacturers and service providers so that they may create products that use metadata in a consistent way, and that allow consumers to better describe, organize and find their media. Where possible, these specifications rely on existing standards, and aim to create a unified and cohesive approach to applying these standards.

Features

Software

Platform

License

Latest version

Last release year

Size, MB

Description

Number
(*1)

Supported metadata standards
(*2)

Exif

GPS

Auto ISO Tool1

Windows

Freeware

2007

0.2

GUI for ExifTool to patch Canon ISO information.

0

W

-

AvPicFaceXmpTagger2

Windows
Linux

Freeware

1.7

2010

3.7

Write Picasa face recognition information as XMP to your images.

0

-

-

Description Explorer3

Windows

Freeware

0.5.2

2009

10.7

Collection of tools for XMP metadata.

15

-

-

Easy Exif Delete4

Windows

Freeware

1.0

2010

0.8

Clean any Exif unwanted data from your digital pictures.

0

D

D

EXIF-O-Matic5

Windows
MacOS
Linux

Freeware

1.2

2012

0.2

View Exif tags.

0

R

R

ExifAuto6

Windows

Freeware

2.2

2007

0.4

GUI front-end for ExifTool to perform simple operations.

5

EW

-

EXIF Browser7

Windows

Freeware

0.9

2007

0.9

Extract Exif information from image files.

0

R

R

Exif Copier8

Windows

Freeware

0.9

2010

5.0

Copy metadata between sets of multiple images using ExifTool.

0

W

W

ExifCleaner9

Windows

Shareware

1.6

2011

1.2

Lets you to erase/remove photographic metadata.

0

D

D

EXIF Date Changer10

Windows

Shareware

2.52

2011

3.7

Allows you change the time and date information stored in the metadata of your photos.

7

EW

-

ExifDropper11

Windows

Freeware

0.9

2009

0.1

Graphical front-end for ExifTool with drag-and-drop and command-line parameters.

>200

EW

EW

ExifMixer12

Windows

Freeware

0.50

2008

0.4

GUI extension for the ExifTool with command-line parameters.

>200

EW

EW

Exif Pilot13

Windows

Freeware

4.4

2011

2.1

Software for viewing, editing, and creating metadata.

26

REW

REW

Exif Stats14

Windows

Freeware

2006

2.0

Extract some tags using ExifTool.

0

R

R

Exif Tag Remover15

Windows

Shareware

4.1

2011

3.5

Allows you to easily delete all metadata tags.

0

D

D

ExifTool16

Windows
MacOS
Linux

Freeware

8.75

2012

3.3

Powerful command line utility.

>200

REW

REW

ExifTool GUI17

Windows

Freeware

4.26

2011

0.7

GUI for the ExifTool with some editing features.

64

REW

REW

EXIFutils18

Windows
MacOS
Linux

Shareware

3.1.4

2011

3.5

Set of command line utilities that extract, add, remove, copy, and replace metadata.

>200

REW

REW

ExifyMe19

Windows

Freeware

1.0

2010

3.3

Restore Exif metadata from an original image.

0

W

W

Exiv220

Windows
Linux

Freeware

0.22

2011

1.6

Command line utility.

>200

REW

REW

ExposurePlot21

Windows

Freeware

1.14

2009

0.6

Analyze your usage of the focal length of your lenses, ISO, shutter speed and aperture.

0

R

-

Free EXIF Eraser22

Windows

Freeware

1.1

2011

0,8

Allows you to easily and effectively delete entire Exif/IPTC/XMP information from image files.

0

D

D

GUI223

Windows

Freeware

1.3

2010

15.7

GUI extension for the ExifTool.

12

R

REW

Image Info Toolkit24

Windows
MacOS

Shareware

3.0

2012

4.9

Editor for IPTC and XMP metadata.

36

R

R

IPTC-PLUS Photo metadata Toolkit25

Windows

Freeware

4

2011

1.2

Editor for IPTC and PLUS photo metadata with Adobe CS3 to CS5.

150

-

-

iTag26

Windows

Shareware

478

2011

9.1

A tool that adds title, description and keyword tags to photos.

10

-

-

JExifViewer27

Windows
Linux

GPL

1.8

2010

5.3

View Exif information stored in JPG files.

0

R

R

JPEG & PNG Stripper28

Windows

Freeware

1.5.4

2012

0.1

A tool for stripping/cleaning/removing unnecessary metadata.

0

D

D

MetadataFox29

Windows

Shareware

1.1

2010

0.4

A tool to explore files by their XMP metadata.

0

-

-

MetadataTouch30

Windows

Shareware

5.2

2011

0.6

A tool to view and edit IPTC and XMP metadata.

70

-

-

MetaEditor31

Windows

Freeware

3.2.6.0

2011

6.3

Allows you read and edit metadata within your digital photos.

>200

REW

REW

MetaLith32

Windows

Shareware

4.02

2012

11.3

Allows you read, analyze and edit metadata. The main feature of the program is the ability to simultaneously edit any number of files.

>200

REW

REW

PhotoME33

Windows

Freeware

0.79

2009

3.0

Powerful tool to show and edit the metadata of image files. Thanks to the well organized layout and intuitive handling, it's possible to analyze and modify Exif and IPTC-NAA data as well as analyze ICC profiles.

>200

REW

REW

PowerExif34

Windows

Shareware

1.2

2010

1.6

A tool to edit Exif data in images.

~100

REW

REW

Notes

  • *1

    Number of editable tags

  • *2

    Exif  - Exchangeable image file format for digital still cameras
    GPS   - The global positioning system
    IPTC  - IPTC-NAA Information Interchange Model
    XMP   - Extensible Metadata Platform
    Maker - Proprietary Maker Notes
    Other - Other standards, for example: IRB Adobe Photoshop image resource blocks, MPF - Multu-Picture Format
     R - Can Read tags
     E - Can Edit tags
     W - Can Write tags
     D - Can Delete tags

  • *3

    JPG   - JPEG, ISO/IEC  IS 10918-1 1993(E)
    TIF   - TIFF, Tagged Image File Format
    RAW   - Proprietary RAW formats
    Other - Other formats, for example: PSD Adobe Photoshop, DNG Digital Negative, JP2 JPEG2000
      Yes - Format is supported

See also

  • Digital photography
  • Exchangeable image file format (Exif)
  • IPTC Information Interchange Model
  • eXtensible Metadata Platform (XMP)
  • Image file formats