WHAT IT DOES
See what a photo records beyond its pixels.
A photograph can record a camera model, capture time, software, serial number, or GPS location independently of its filename. This read-only inspector recognizes JPEG EXIF segments, PNG eXIf chunks, WebP EXIF chunks, and classic TIFF directories. It groups the readable fields, derives decimal GPS coordinates when complete, and offers a JSON report without modifying the source image.
Why use it?
A photo can reveal a location, capture time, device identifier, or recorded author independently of its visible scene and filename. Inspect those fields before sharing, or use them to investigate rotation and date discrepancies.
How to use this tool
- Choose a JPEG, PNG, WebP, or classic TIFF, or select Inspect sample to try dummy metadata.
- Read the grouped fields and coverage warnings. A missing offset is not a known time zone, and no EXIF found is not a privacy clearance.
- Copy individual fields or export the JSON report if needed. Treat that report as potentially sensitive; inspection never removes metadata from the source image.
Details and limitations
- Choose one file within the size limit shown in the workspace. Format detection uses file signatures rather than trusting the extension. HEIC, AVIF, camera RAW, and BigTIFF are not supported.
- The report is bounded to 192 fields, eight EXIF blocks, and limited directory traversal. Long strings and numeric arrays are abbreviated with explicit warnings.
- Dates remain as recorded; a missing time-zone offset is unknown. Orientation is reported, not applied to the pixels.
- JPEG inspection stops at the first compressed image scan. PNG checksums, image pixels, and embedded thumbnails are not validated or decoded.
- Recognized XMP, IPTC-containing, and text containers are counted but not decoded. Proprietary MakerNotes and binary comments are not interpreted. No EXIF found is not a privacy clearance.
Read a photo's metadata without confusing inspection with removal
Try the sample before a personal photograph
Choose Inspect sample in the EXIF inspector. It builds an original one-pixel TIFF with deliberately synthetic camera and location fields. You should see Demo Camera, Example 01, orientation 6, and a recorded original timestamp of 2026:01:02 03:04:05 with +00:00 in a separate offset field. These values do not establish a real camera or event. Your own file is read locally, but its report may be sensitive once copied or downloaded.
Expected sample location: 10.500000, -20.250000
Expected orientation: 6 — Rotated 90° clockwiseRead location and time as separate claims
The sample's latitude is 10 degrees 30 minutes north: 10 + 30/60 = 10.5. Its longitude is 20 degrees 15 minutes west, so the result is negative. The inspector derives a decimal pair only when coordinates and hemisphere references are complete and in range. A capture date without an offset is not automatically UTC or your current local time. Inspect the matching original-time offset before comparing photographs taken in different time zones.
Separate display orientation from saved pixels
An orientation tag can tell an image viewer to rotate or mirror stored pixels. The inspector reports that instruction; it does not rotate the file. If an image appears sideways in another program, compare its handling of orientation before changing the pixels. Re-exporting an image can change both its pixel layout and its metadata, so inspect the exported copy rather than assuming the original report still applies.
Do not treat an empty EXIF result as an all-clear
A PNG may have text chunks without any eXIf chunk. WebP can carry XMP, and a JPEG may contain comments or an APP13 segment. This version lists recognized containers without decoding all their contents; proprietary MakerNotes and embedded thumbnails are also outside its interpretation. JPEG inspection stops at the first image scan. Unsupported files and invalid offsets produce errors, not a misleading clean result. A filename and the visible scene remain separate sources of information even when no supported EXIF fields are found.
Review the file you will actually publish
Inspection changes nothing. If you use a separate metadata-removal or image-export workflow, reopen that resulting file, review its pixels, and repeat the metadata check. A hash can confirm whether two files have identical bytes, but cannot certify that either is private or authentic. Keep the source private and treat the JSON report as a second sensitive file: it contains the filename and whichever recorded details the inspector could read.