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

`js
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);
});
}
});
`

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:__

`js
{ 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:__

`js
{ 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:

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

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