ExifRead Library

3.5.1 · active · verified Mon Apr 13

ExifRead is a Python library designed to extract Exif metadata from digital camera image files, including JPEG, TIFF, and HEIC/HEIF formats. It provides a straightforward API to access various EXIF tags, maker notes, and thumbnails. The library is actively maintained, with frequent minor releases (typically monthly or bi-monthly) to add support for new camera models, file formats, and address bug fixes. The current version is 3.5.1.

Warnings

breaking Python 2.x compatibility was removed in version 3.0.0. Python 3.5 and 3.6 support was dropped in version 3.1.0. Users on older Python versions must use an older `exifread` version.
Fix: Upgrade to Python 3.7 or newer. If forced to use older Python, pin `exifread` to `<3.0` for Python 2.x or `<3.1` for Python 3.5/3.6.
gotcha Accessing EXIF tags by dictionary key (e.g., `tags['Tag Name']`) will raise a `KeyError` if the tag does not exist in the image's metadata. Not all images contain all possible EXIF tags.
Fix: Always check for the tag's existence using `if 'Tag Name' in tags:` or use the `.get()` method (e.g., `tags.get('Tag Name')`) to safely retrieve values and handle missing tags.
gotcha The values returned from `exifread.process_file` are `IFD_Tag` objects, not raw strings or numbers. To get a human-readable string representation, you typically need to access the `.printable` attribute. Other attributes like `.values`, `.num`, `.den` provide raw data.
Fix: After retrieving a tag object, access its `.printable` attribute for display: `tag_value = tags['Tag Name'].printable`. For specific numerical components, refer to the tag object's other attributes.
gotcha By default (`strict=True`), `exifread.process_file` can raise exceptions for malformed or non-standard maker notes, especially with some camera models. Version 3.5.1 fixed an issue where `strict=False` wasn't always honored.
Fix: Pass `strict=False` to `exifread.process_file()` to attempt to parse data more leniently, avoiding exceptions for potentially unparseable or custom maker notes: `tags = exifread.process_file(f, strict=False)`.

Install

pip install exifread Install latest version

Imports

exifread
```
import exifread
```
The library is typically imported as 'exifread' and its functions are called directly from the module.

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates how to open an image file, process it with `exifread.process_file()`, and iterate through the extracted EXIF tags. It includes an example of accessing a specific tag and recommends using `strict=False` for broader compatibility with potentially malformed maker notes.

import exifread
import os

# Create a dummy image file for demonstration
# In a real scenario, you'd open an existing image.
# For a runnable example, we'll create a placeholder that can be opened.
# This will likely fail to extract *real* EXIF but demonstrates the API.
with open('dummy_image.jpg', 'wb') as f:
    f.write(b'\xff\xd8\xff\xe0\x00\x10JFIF\x00\x01\x01\x00\x00\x01\x00\x01\x00\x00\xff\xdb\x00C\x00\x08\x06\x06\x07\x06\x05\x08\x07\x07\x07\t\t\x08\n\x0c\x14\r\x0c\x0b\x0b\x0c\x19\x12\x13\x0f\x14\x1d\x1a\x1f\x1e\x1d\x1a\x1c\x1c\x20"!\22\"\22\x15\x15\x20\x2f\x36\x28\x30\x3d\x30\x28\x2c\x32\x34\x34\x34\x1f\x27\x39\x3d\x38\x32\x3c\x2e\x33\x34\x30\xff\xc0\x00\x11\x08\x00\x01\x00\x01\x03\x01\x22\x00\x02\x11\x01\x03\x11\x01\xff\xc4\x00\x1f\x00\x00\x01\x05\x01\x01\x01\x01\x01\x01\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x01\x02\x03\x04\x05\x06\x07\x08\t\n\x0b\xff\xc4\x00\xb5\x10\x00\x02\x01\x03\x03\x02\x04\x03\x05\x05\x04\x04\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x01\x02\x03\x04\x05\x06\x07\x08\t\n\x0b\x00\x01\x02\x03\x04\x05\x06\x07\x08\t\n\x0b\x11\x01\x12\x13\x14\x15\x16\x17\x18\x19\x1a\x21\x22\x23\x24\x25\x26\x27\x28\x29\x2a\x31\x32\x33\x34\x35\x36\x37\x38\x39\x3a\x41\x42\x43\x44\x45\x46\x47\x48\x49\x4a\x51\x52\x53\x54\x55\x56\x57\x58\x59\x5a\x61\x62\x63\x64\x65\x66\x67\x68\x69\x6a\x71\x72\x73\x74\x75\x76\x77\x78\x79\x7a\x81\x82\x83\x84\x85\x86\x87\x88\x89\x8a\x91\x92\x93\x94\x95\x96\x97\x98\x99\x9a\xa1\xa2\xa3\xa4\xa5\xa6\xa7\xa8\xa9\xaahundred_times\xff\xda\x00\x0c\x03\x01\x00\x02\x11\x03\x11\x00\x3f\x00\xd2\xcf\x20\xff\xd9')

image_path = 'dummy_image.jpg'

try:
    with open(image_path, 'rb') as f:
        tags = exifread.process_file(f, strict=False)

    if tags:
        print(f"EXIF data for {image_path}:")
        for tag_name, tag_value in tags.items():
            # Filter for some common tags
            if tag_name not in ('JPEGThumbnail', 'TIFFThumbnail', 'Filename', 'EXIF MakerNote'):
                print(f"  {tag_name}: {tag_value}")
        
        # Access a specific tag, handling potential KeyError
        if 'EXIF DateTimeOriginal' in tags:
            print(f"\nOriginal Date/Time: {tags['EXIF DateTimeOriginal'].printable}")
        else:
            print("\n'EXIF DateTimeOriginal' tag not found.")
    else:
        print(f"No EXIF data found in {image_path}.")
except FileNotFoundError:
    print(f"Error: File not found at {image_path}")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"An error occurred: {e}")
finally:
    # Clean up the dummy file
    if os.path.exists(image_path):
        os.remove(image_path)

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