Guides / Learn
Photo Metadata Guides
Plain-English explanations of the invisible data inside every photo.
Guide
What is EXIF? A plain-English guide to camera metadata
EXIF is the invisible data your camera writes into every photo. Here's what it contains and why it matters.
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What is IPTC metadata?
IPTC is the caption, credit, and rights layer used by journalists, agencies, and stock libraries.
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What is XMP metadata?
Adobe's extensible metadata standard powers Lightroom edits, ratings, and star ratings.
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How GPS metadata is written into your photos
Your phone's location chip encodes latitude, longitude, altitude and heading with meter-level accuracy.
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How to remove location data from a photo
Three ways to strip GPS: at the OS level, in an editor, or with a tool like ExifVision.
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Why photo metadata matters (for good and ill)
Metadata powers photo libraries, forensic investigations, copyright enforcement — and doxxing.
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Camera metadata, tag by tag
Make, model, serial number, firmware — what each camera tag actually reveals about you.
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Lens metadata: what your glass says about you
LensModel, LensInfo, and LensSerialNumber all end up in your EXIF. Here's what they leak.
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The privacy risks of photo metadata
From location tracking to device fingerprinting: the specific threats hidden in every unshared EXIF field.
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How smartphones store image metadata
iPhone HEIC and Android JPEG both use EXIF, but the details — and defaults — differ.
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ExifTool vs ExifVision: command-line power vs browser-local privacy
How Phil Harvey's ExifTool compares to ExifVision — when to use the CLI, when to use a browser-local viewer, and why privacy changes the calculus.
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Connect Claude to ExifVision via MCP
Add ExifVision as a custom MCP server in Claude Desktop to analyze photo metadata with natural language.
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How to remove EXIF data from photos (free, browser-local)
Step-by-step guide to remove EXIF data from JPG, PNG, HEIC and RAW images — free, private, and no upload required.
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Remove metadata from a photo online (free, no upload)
Free online metadata remover — clear EXIF, IPTC, and XMP from any image in your browser. No account, no server upload.
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Free online metadata viewer for photos (EXIF, IPTC, XMP)
Free online metadata viewer — read EXIF, IPTC, XMP, GPS, and camera data from any image. Runs in your browser. No signup.
Guide
How to Geolocate a Photo With No GPS Data
Three checks to run before assuming a photo can't be located, and how AI-assisted visual geolocation fills the gap when metadata is gone.