exiftool

A node.js wrapper around exiftool, a commandline utility that can extract metadata from many different filetypes, including JPEG, PNG, PDF, WMV, MOV. For a full list see the exiftool list of supported filetypes.

Installation

To make use of exiftool you will need to download and install the appropriate exiftool package for your system.

Mac OS X:

sudo brew update
sudo brew install exiftool

Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libimage-exiftool-perl

For other systems or for information on how to compile exiftool from source refer to the official documentation for exiftool.

Usage

var exif = require('exiftool');
var fs   = require('fs');

fs.readFile('./tests/resources/chvrches.jpg', function (err, data) {
  if (err)
    throw err;
  else {
    exif.metadata(data, function (err, metadata) {
      if (err)
        throw err;
      else
        console.log(metadata);
    });
  }
});

var exif = require('exiftool');

exif.metadata('./tests/resources/chvrches.jpg', function (err, metadata) {
  if (err)
    throw err;
  else
    console.log(metadata);
});

The properties and contents of the metadata dictionary returned by exiftool will vary widely depending on the filetype but you can expect dictionaries that look similar to this:

From a JPG:

{ exiftoolVersionNumber: 9.58,
  fileType: 'JPEG',
  mimeType: 'image/jpeg',
  jfifVersion: 1.01,
  resolutionUnit: 'None',
  xResolution: 1,
  yResolution: 1,
  imageWidth: 620,
  imageHeight: 413,
  encodingProcess: 'Baseline DCT, Huffman coding',
  bitsPerSample: 8,
  colorComponents: 3,
  yCbCrSubSampling: 'YCbCr4:2:0 (2 2)',
  imageSize: '620x413' }

From a MOV:

{ exiftoolVersionNumber: 9.58,
  fileType: 'MOV',
  mimeType: 'video/quicktime',
  majorBrand: 'Apple QuickTime (.MOV/QT)',
  minorVersion: '2005.3.0',
  compatibleBrands: 'qt',
  movieHeaderVersion: 0,
  createDate: '2012:09:18 17:18:25',
  modifyDate: '2012:09:18 17:18:25',
  timeScale: 2997,
  duration: '0:02:31',
  preferredRate: 1,
  preferredVolume: '100.00%',
  previewTime: '0 s',
  previewDuration: '0 s',
  posterTime: '0 s',
  selectionTime: '0 s',
  selectionDuration: '0 s',
  currentTime: '0 s',
  nextTrackID: 4,
  trackHeaderVersion: 0,
  trackCreateDate: '2012:09:18 16:24:43',
  trackModifyDate: '2012:09:18 17:18:25',
  trackID: 1,
  trackDuration: '0:02:31',
  trackLayer: 0,
  trackVolume: '0.00%',
  imageWidth: 320,
  imageHeight: 136,
  cleanApertureDimensions: '320x136',
  productionApertureDimensions: '320x136',
  encodedPixelsDimensions: '320x136',
  graphicsMode: 'ditherCopy',
  opColor: '32768 32768 32768',
  compressorID: 'avc1',
  vendorID: 'Apple',
  sourceImageWidth: 320,
  sourceImageHeight: 136,
  xResolution: 72,
  yResolution: 72,
  compressorName: 'H.264',
  bitDepth: 24,
  videoFrameRate: 23.976,
  audioFormat: 'mp4a',
  audioChannels: 2,
  audioBitsPerSample: 16,
  audioSampleRate: 44100,
  purchaseFileFormat: 'mp4a',
  matrixStructure: '1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1',
  mediaHeaderVersion: 0,
  mediaCreateDate: '2012:09:18 17:18:25',
  mediaModifyDate: '2012:09:18 17:18:25',
  mediaTimeScale: 2997,
  mediaDuration: '0:02:31',
  genMediaVersion: 0,
  genFlags: '0 0 0',
  genGraphicsMode: 'ditherCopy',
  genOpColor: '32768 32768 32768',
  genBalance: 0,
  textFont: 'Unknown (1024)',
  textFace: 'Plain',
  textSize: 12,
  textColor: '0 0 0',
  backgroundColor: '65535 65535 65535',
  fontName: 'Lucida Grande',
  handlerClass: 'Data Handler',
  handlerVendorID: 'Apple',
  handlerDescription: 'Apple Alias Data Handler',
  otherFormat: 'tmcd',
  handlerType: 'Metadata Tags',
  audioGain: 1,
  trebel: 0,
  bass: 0,
  balance: 0,
  pitchShift: 0,
  mute: 'Off',
  brightness: 0,
  color: 1,
  tint: 0,
  contrast: 1,
  playerVersion: '7.6 (7.6)',
  version: '7.6.0 (1290) 0x7608000 (Mac OS X, 10.5.6, 9G71)',
  'comment(err)': 'Encoded and delivered by apple.com/trailers/',
  'copyright(err)': '� 2012 Warner Bros. Pictures. All Rights Reserved',
  'userDataDes(err)': 'In theaters 2012',
  windowLocation: '45 21',
  playSelection: 0,
  playAllFrames: 0,
  movieDataSize: 8636129,
  movieDataOffset: 98160,
  comment: 'Encoded and delivered by apple.com/trailers/',
  copyright: '� 2012 Warner Bros. Pictures. All Rights Reserved',
  userDataDes: 'In theaters 2012',
  avgBitrate: '457 kbps',
  imageSize: '320x136',
  rotation: 0 }

Filtering metadata

You can also provide an optional list of extra parameters to pass into exiftool, if you want it to return only specific metadata keys:

var exif = require('exiftool');
var fs   = require('fs');

fs.readFile('./tests/resources/chvrches.jpg', function (err, data) {
  if (err)
    throw err;
  else {
    exif.metadata(data, ['-imageWidth', '-imageHeight'], function (err, metadata) {
      if (err)
        throw err;
      else
        console.log(metadata);
    });
  }
});