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Checking Image and Video Metadata

We recommend checking the file metadata with Exiftool if some of your pictures are displayed incorrectly (stretched, distorted)1, information seems to be missing (e.g. title or description), or the wrong time and location are shown.

To do this, run the following command within a Docker terminal session or on your host if you have Exiftool installed (-n displays the raw values without changes, -j will format the output as JSON, and -g optionally groups the output by metadata source):

exiftool -n -j [filename]

If the file specified with [filename] contains readable metadata, it will then be displayed to you as JSON-formatted values, for example:

[{
  "SourceFile": "example.jpg",
  "ExifToolVersion": 12.76,
  "FileSize": 200108,
  "FileType": "JPEG",
  "MIMEType": "image/jpeg",
  "Make": "HUAWEI",
  "Model": "ELE-L29",
  "Orientation": 1,
  "ExposureTime": 0.02,
  "FNumber": 1.8,
  "ISO": 100,
  "DateTimeOriginal": "2020:10:17 17:48:24",
  "CreateDate": "2020:10:17 17:48:24",
  "ImageWidth": 500,
  "ImageHeight": 375,
  "Aperture": 1.8,
  "ShutterSpeed": 0.02,
  "SubSecCreateDate": "2020:10:17 17:48:24.950488",
  "SubSecDateTimeOriginal": "2020:10:17 17:48:24.950488",
  "SubSecModifyDate": "2020:10:17 17:48:24.950488",
  "GPSAltitude": 84.47,
  "GPSDateTime": "2020:10:17 15:48:23Z",
  "GPSLatitude": 33.8120962,
  "GPSLongitude": -117.9215491
}]

This allows you to check e.g. the values for Orientation and Rotation if you have problems with the image orientation.

When you post the output on GitHub or in our Community Chat, please format it as follows for better readability:

```json
[{
  "SourceFile": "example.jpg",
  "ExifToolVersion": 12.76,
  ...
}]
```

Thank you very much!

Exif Orientation

The numbers used in Exif metadata to specify the image orientation are defined as follows:

  1. = 0 degrees: the correct orientation, no adjustment is required.
  2. = 0 degrees, mirrored: image has been flipped back-to-front.
  3. = 180 degrees: image is upside down.
  4. = 180 degrees, mirrored: image has been flipped back-to-front and is upside down.
  5. = 90 degrees: image has been flipped back-to-front and is on its side.
  6. = 90 degrees, mirrored: image is on its side.
  7. = 270 degrees: image has been flipped back-to-front and is on its far side.
  8. = 270 degrees, mirrored: image is on its far side.

Learn more ›

Installing Exiftool

Running the following commands will install Exiftool on Debian or Ubuntu Linux if needed:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y exiftool

See the Exiftool documentation for how to install it on other operating systems.

  1. If images are displayed in low resolution or slightly distorted, this may also be due to a problem with the thumbnail cache folder or your quality settings. ↩