Processing of Metadata on Multimedia Using ExifTool: A Programming Approach in Python

The exchange image file format (Exif) standard defines the specification for how to store metadata and ancillary tags for multimedia files. These tags are useful in documenting information about how the content in the multimedia file was collected, stored, and modified. The list of available tags are constantly being updated, with one of the most notable updates being the Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates being automatically applied by digital recording equipment. The ExifTool is one of several systems that are available for reading and modifying these metadata. This research provides historical insight into the use and application of Exif data, its manipulation, and evolution. A programming example using the ExifTool application and application programming interface (API) is also provided to demonstrate how the Exif toolset can be integrated into systems for scraping websites and reporting on specific tags that are contained within the images extracted from the website.