ExifTool is an open source software program which is used for manipulating, updating, reading and writing metadata of media files. If you are not aware of metadata, it is in simple words, information about data.  ExifTool is developed by Phil Harvey. The program is platform independent and can be deployed in a plethora of digital workflows. ExifTool is available as Perl library as well as a command line application. ExifTool is extremely flexible and is compatible to a humongous collection of file types.

Here is the list of file types supported by ExifTool.

File TypeSupportDescriptionEXIFIPTCXMPICC1Other
3FRRHasselblad RAW (TIFF-based)RRRR
3G2, 3GP2R/W3rd Gen. Partnership Project 2 a/v (QuickTime-based)R/W3R/W3R/W/CR/W QuickTime4
3GP, 3GPPR/W3rd Gen. Partnership Project a/v (QuickTime-based)R/W3R/W3R/W/CR/W QuickTime4
ARUnix static library code ArchiveEXE
AARAudible AudiobookAudible
AAERApple edit information (XML PLIST-based)PLIST
AAXR/WAudible Enhanced Audiobook (QuickTime-based)R/W3R/W3R/W/CR/W QuickTime4
ACRRAmerican College of Radiology ACR-NEMA (DICOM-like)DICOM
AFM, ACFM, AMFMRAdobe [Composite/Multiple Master] Font MetricsFont
AI, AITR/WAdobe Illustrator [Template] (PS or PDF)R/W/C5R/W/C5R/W/C6R/W/C5R/W/C PDF PostScript, R Photoshop
AIFF, AIF, AIFCRAudio Interchange File Format [Compressed]AIFF ID3
APERMonkey’s AudioAPE ID3
ARQR/WSony Alpha Pixel-Shift RAW (TIFF-based)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W Sony SonyIDC
ARWR/WSony Alpha RAW (TIFF-based)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W Sony SonyIDC
ASFRMicrosoft Advanced Systems FormatRASF
AVIRAudio Video Interleaved (RIFF-based)R3RRIFF
BMP, DIBRWindows BitMaP / Device Independent BitmapBMP
BPGRBetter Portable GraphicsRRRBPG
BTFRBigTIFF (64-bit Tagged Image File Format)RRRR
CHMRMicrosoft Compiled HTML formatEXE
COSRCapture One Settings (XML-based)R XML
CR2R/WCanon RAW 2 (TIFF-based) (CR2 spec)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/C CanonVRD2, R/W Canon
CR3R/WCanon RAW 3 (QuickTime-based) (CR3 spec)RR/W/CR/W QuickTime4, R Canon
CRMR/WCanon RAW Movie (QuickTime-based)RR/W/CR/W QuickTime4, R Canon
CRW, CIFFR/WCanon RAW Camera Image File Format (CRW spec)R/W/CR/W/C CanonVRD2, R/W CanonRaw
CS1R/WSinar CaptureShop 1-shot RAW (PSD-based)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CPhotoshop
DCM, DC3, DIC, DICMRDICOM – Digital Imaging and Communications in MedicineDICOM
DCPR/WDNG Camera Profile (DNG-like)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/C
DCRRKodak Digital Camera RAW (TIFF-based)RRRR
DFONTRMacintosh Data Fork FontFont
DIVXRDivX media format (ASF-based)RASF
DJVU, DJVRDjVu image (AIFF-like)RDJVU
DNGR/WDigital Negative (TIFF-based)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/C
DOC, DOTRMicrosoft Word Document/Template (FPX-like)RRFlashPix
DOCX, DOCMROffice Open XML Document [Macro-enabled]XML ZIP
DOTX, DOTMROffice Open XML Document Template [Macro-enabled]XML ZIP
DPXRDigital Picture ExchangeDPX
DR4R/W/C2Canon DPP version 4 RecipeR/W/C CanonVRD2
DSS, DS2RDigital Speech Standard [2]Olympus
DYLIBRMacOS Mach-O executable and library filesEXE
DVRDigital VideoDV
DVBR/WDigital Video Broadcasting (QuickTime-based)R/W3R/W3R/W/CR/W QuickTime4
DVR-MSRMicrosoft Digital Video Recording (ASF-based)RASF
EIPRCapture One Enhanced Image Package (ZIP-based)RR XML ZIP
EPS, EPSF, PSR/W[Encapsulated] PostScript FormatR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/C PostScript, R Photoshop
EPUBRElectronic Publication (ZIP/XML-based)R XML ZIP
ERFR/WEpson RAW Format (TIFF-based)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W Olympus
EXE, DLLRDOS/Windows executable and library filesEXE
EXIFR/W/CExchangeable Image File Format metadata (TIFF-based)R/W/C
EXRROpen EXR (Extended Range)OpenEXR
EXVR/W/CExiv2 metadata file (JPEG-based)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CSupported JPEG Meta Information
F4A, F4B, F4P, F4VR/WAdobe Flash Player 9+ Audio/Video (QuickTime-based)R/W3R/W3R/W/CR/W QuickTime4
FFFR/WHasselblad Flexible File Format (TIFF-based)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/C
FFFRFLIR Systems thermal image File FormatFLIR
FLARMacromedia/Adobe Flash project (FPX-like)RRFlashPix
FLACRFree Lossless Audio CodecFLAC ID3
FLIFR/WFree Lossless Image FormatR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CFLIF
FLVRFlash VideoRFlash
FPFRFLIR Public image FormatFLIR
FPXRFlashPix imageRRFlashPix
GIFR/WCompuserve Graphics Interchange FormatR/W/CR/W/CR/W/C GIF
GPRR/WGoPro RAW (DNG-based)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/C
GZ, GZIPRGNU ZIP compressed archiveZIP
HDP, WDP, JXRR/WWindows HD Photo / Media Photo / JPEG XR (TIFF-based)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/C
HDRRRadiance RGBE High Dynamic-RangeRadiance
HEIC, HEIFRHigh Efficiency Image Format (QuickTime-based)RRQuickTime
HTML, HTM, XHTMLR[Extensible] HyperText Markup LanguageHTML
ICC, ICMR/W/C1International Color Consortium color profileR/W/C
ICS, ICALRiCalendar ScheduleVCalendar
IDMLRAdobe InDesign Markup Language (ZIP/XML-based)R XML ZIP
IIQR/WPhase One Intelligent Image Quality RAW (TIFF-based)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W PhaseOne
IND, INDD, INDTR/WAdobe InDesign Document/TemplateR/W/C
INSVRInsta 360 Video (QuickTime-based)RQuickTime
INXRAdobe InDesign Interchange (XML-based)R
ISORISO 9660 disk imageISO
ITCRiTunes Cover Flow artworkITC
J2C, J2K, JPCRJPEG 2000 codestreamR3R3RRJpeg2000 Photoshop3
JP2, JPF, JPM, JPXR/WJPEG 2000 image [Compound/Extended]R/W/C3R/W/C3R/W/CRR/W/C Jpeg2000, R Photoshop3
JPEG, JPG, JPER/WJoint Photographic Experts Group imageR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CSupported JPEG Meta Information
JSONRJavaScript Object NotationJSON
K25RKodak DC25 RAW (TIFF-based)RRRR
KDCRKodak Digital Camera RAW (TIFF-based)RRRRKodak
KEY, KTHRApple iWork ’09 Keynote presentation/ThemeXML ZIP
LARLossless Audio (RIFF-based)R3RRIFF
LFP, LFRRLytro Light Field PictureLytro
LNKRMicrosoft Shell Link (Windows shortcut)LNK
LRVR/WLow-Resolution Video (QuickTime-based)R/W3R/W3R/W/CR/W QuickTime4
M2TS, MTS, M2T, TSRMPEG-2 Transport Stream (used for AVCHD video)M2TS H264
M4A, M4B, M4P, M4VR/WMPEG-4 Audio/Video (QuickTime-based)R/W3R/W3R/W/CR/W QuickTime4
MAXR3D Studio MAX (FPX-like)RRFlashPix
MEFR/WMamiya (RAW) Electronic Format (TIFF-based)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/C
MIER/W/CMeta Information Encapsulation (MIE specification)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/C MIE
MIFF, MIFRMagick Image File FormatRRRRMIFF Photoshop
MKA, MKV, MKSRMatroska Audio/Video/SubtitleMatroska
MOBI, AZW, AZW3RMobipocket electronic book (Palm-based)Palm MOBI
MODDRSony Picture Motion metadata (XML PLIST-based)PLIST
MOIRMOD Information fileMOI
MOSR/WCreo Leaf Mosaic (TIFF-based)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CLeaf
MOV, QTR/WApple QuickTime MovieR/W3R/W3R/W/CR/W QuickTime4
MP3RMPEG-1 layer 3 audioMPEG ID3 APE
MP4R/WMotion Picture Experts Group version 4 (QuickTime-based)R/W3R/W3R/W/CR/W QuickTime4
MPCRMusepack AudioMPC ID3 APE
MPEG, MPG, M2VRMotion Picture Experts Group version 1 or 2MPEG ID3
MPOR/WExtended Multi-Picture format (JPEG with MPF extensions)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CSupported JPEG Meta Information
MQVR/WSony Mobile QuickTime VideoR/W3R/W3R/W/CR/W QuickTime4
MRWR/WMinolta RAWR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W MinoltaRaw Minolta
MXFRMaterial Exchange FormatMXF
NEFR/WNikon (RAW) Electronic Format (TIFF-based)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W Nikon NikonCapture
NMBTEMPLATERApple iWork ’09 Numbers TemplateXML ZIP
NRWR/WNikon RAW (2) (TIFF-based)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W Nikon NikonCapture
NUMBERSRApple iWork ’09 Numbers spreadsheetXML ZIP
ORUnix compiled code ObjectEXE
ODB, ODC, ODF, ODG,
ODI, ODP, ODS, ODT
ROpen Document Database/Chart/Formula/Graphics/
Image/Presentation/Spreadsheet/Text (ZIP/XML-based)
R XML ZIP
OFRROptimFROG audio (RIFF-based)R3RRIFF
OGG, OGVROgg bitstream containerFLAC ID3 Theora Vorbis
OPUSROgg Opus audioFLAC ID3 Opus Vorbis
ORFR/WOlympus RAW Format (TIFF-based)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W Olympus
OTFROpen Type FontFont
PACRLossless Predictive Audio Compression (RIFF-based)R3RRIFF
PAGESRApple iWork ’09 Pages documentXML ZIP
PCDRKodak Photo CD Image PacPhotoCD
PCXRPC PaintbrushPCX
PDB, PRCRPalm DatabasePalm
PDFR/WAdobe Portable Document FormatR3R3R/W/CR3R/W/C PDF, R Photoshop
PEFR/WPentax (RAW) Electronic Format (TIFF-based)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W Pentax
PFA, PFBRPostScript Font ASCII/BinaryFont
PFMRPrinter Font MetricsFont
PGFRProgressive Graphics FilePGF PNG
PICT, PCTRApple Picture fileRPICT Photoshop
PLISTRApple Property List (binary and XML formats)PLIST
PMPRSony DSC-F1 Cyber-Shot imageSony
PNGJNG, MNGR/WPortable/JPEG/Multiple-image Network GraphicsR/W/C3R/W/C3R/W/CR/W/CR/W/C PNG
PPM, PBM, PGMR/WPortable Pixel/Bit/Gray MapR PPM, R/W/C Comment
PPT, PPS, POTRPowerPoint Presentation/Slideshow/Template (FPX-like)RRFlashPix
POTX, POTMROffice Open XML Presentation Template [Macro-enabled]XML ZIP
PPSX, PPSMROffice Open XML Presentation Slideshow [Macro-enabled]XML ZIP
PPTX, PPTMROffice Open XML Presentation [Macro-enabled]XML ZIP
PSD, PSB, PSDTR/WPhotoShop Document / Large Document / TemplateR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CPhotoshop
PSP, PSPIMAGERPaint Shop ProRPSP
QTIF, QTI, QIFR/WQuickTime Image FileR/W3R/W3R/W/CR/W QuickTime4
R3DRRedcode RAW videoRed
RARReal AudioReal ID3
RAFR/WFujiFilm RAW FormatR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W FujiFilm
RAM, RPMRReal Audio/Plug-in MetafileReal
RARRRAR ArchiveZIP
RAWRKyocera Contax N Digital RAWKyoceraRaw
RAWR/WPanasonic RAW (TIFF-based)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W PanasonicRaw Panasonic
RIFF, RIFRResource Interchange File FormatR3RRIFF
RM, RV, RMVBRReal Media/Video [Variable Bitrate]Real
RSRCRMac OS ResourceRSRC Photoshop PostScript Font
RTFRRich Text FormatRTF
RW2R/WPanasonic RAW 2 (TIFF-based)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W PanasonicRaw Panasonic
RWLR/WLeica RAW (TIFF-based)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W PanasonicRaw Panasonic
RWZRRawzor compressed imageRRRRRawzor
SEQRFLIR Systems image SequenceFLIR
SKETCHRSketch design fileJSON ZIP
SORUnix ELF executable and Shared Object filesEXE
SR2R/WSony RAW 2 (TIFF-based)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W Sony
SRFRSony RAW Format (TIFF-based)RRRRSony
SRWR/WSamsung RAW format (TIFF-based)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W Samsung
SVGRScalable Vector Graphics (XML-based)SVG
SWFRShockwave FlashRFlash
THMR/WThumbnail image (JPEG)R/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CSupported JPEG Meta Information
THMXROffice Open XML ThemeXML ZIP
TIFF, TIFR/WTagged Image File FormatR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/C GeoTIFF1, R/W Trailers
TTF, TTCRTrue Type Font/CollectionFont
TORRENTRBitTorrent description fileTorrent
VCF, VCARDRVirtual CardVCard
VOBRVideo Object (MPEG-based)MPEG
VRDR/W/C2Canon DPP Recipe DataR/W/CR/W/C CanonVRD2
VSDRMicrosoft Visio Drawing (FPX-like)RRFlashPix
WAVRWindows digital audio WAVeform (RIFF-based)R3RRIFF
WEBMRGoogle Web Movie (Matroska-based)Matroska
WEBPRGoogle Web Picture (RIFF-based)R3RRIFF
WMA, WMVRWindows Media Audio/Video (ASF-based)RASF
WTVRWindows recorded TV showWTV
WVRWavePack lossless audio (RIFF-based)R3RRIFF
X3FR/WSigma/Foveon RAWR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W/CR/W Sigma, R SigmaRaw
XCFRGIMP native image formatRRRRGIMP
XLS, XLTRMicrosoft Excel Spreadsheet/Template (FPX-like)RRFlashPix
XLSX, XLSM, XLSBROffice Open XML Spreadsheet [Macro-enabled/Binary]XML ZIP
XLTX, XLTMROffice Open XML Spreadsheet Template [Macro-enabled]XML ZIP
XMPR/W/CExtensible Metadata Platform sidecar fileR/W/C
ZIPRZIP archiveZIP

Credit: ExifTool by Phil Harvey

About 

Happiness is that best therapy. Use it to heal yourself and then others!

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.