However, Raw images (if you don't discard the original Raw files) do preserve the original version automatically (called lossless editing), but JPG does not. IMO, you do want to first archive the original image files, certainly for any important photos. Removing the Exif data may be desirable for images being shared, but those should be copies of the image (written into a new file name), and should Not overwrite your original file.īut regardless, if you have ever once overwritten the original JPG image file from the camera, most if not all of the Exif data will likely be gone - as well as the original version of the image data also will be permanently gone if you have edited and overwritten it. Just saying, consider archiving and preserving your original image files if you might ever need to go back to them. Several photo editors have options for leaving or removing Exif data. Photoshop Bridge has menus to select which few items of the Exif to retain in the JPG file, but its choices do not include leaving the Manufacturers data (this section is also called Makers Data, or MakerNotes, same thing, Manufacturers section). Image editors like Adobe will leave out most of the Exif when they rewrite the image file, and you'll never see most of it after that. To remove all Exif from all JPG files in the current directory, the ExifTool command line option is:įor i in *.jpg do echo 'Processing $i' exiftool -all= '$i' done Preserving the Exif data in your own image fileĪn important factor is that to see all of the Exif (unless it is a Raw image file), any JPG image file likely must be the straight out of the camera original. Some other editors offer a similar option.Įxiftool.exe (discussed below) has an option to remove Exif data from image files. That may be an optimum choice for any image copies going online. The Adobe (Photoshop or Elements) menu File - Save For Web option saves as JPG, but it specifically omits all Exif data. Some photo-sharing web sites that post your pictures for viewing will remove most of the Exif data before showing, but those sites will still have a copy of it. Likewise, GPS location and Copyright info might be included.

Be aware that if you upload or email image files, any comments you many have added to the camera Exif, like your name and address or phone number, might be visible in the Exif data.

Jpeg metadata viewer online