by There are so many things that are attached to one single image that you capture from your mobile phone or camera. Looking into that, you will also get to know that there are so many details attached to that image. One of which you will come across is EXIF data.
Have you ever wondered if you have captured an image in one particular set of your camera for that specific image? Or have you come across an image and what to know about the camera settings which were set for that particular image?
Yes, you can actually see it. That is what EXIF data is.
We know that you want to learn about EXIF data, and we also know that you have come to the right page to learn about it. We have researched everything on it to make it easy for you to understand. But first, let us understand what EXIF data is and what it contains.
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What is EXIF Data?
The full form of EXIF is Exchangeable Image File Format is one of the standards which can help you find out almost all information related to the photograph captured.
If you ever want to know the location of the image, even the date or time, EXIF data of the image will be delivered straight to you. As technology has advanced, the ease of recording information has also increased.
Earlier in the day, you would have to remember the settings you kept in your camera for shutter speed, level of exposure, etc.
But now, the image that you captured in JPEG format has all the information you need about it. Doesn’t it make it easy for you? You don’t have to worry about storing data separately ever again.
It not only helps professional photographers to capture the image with the same settings again, but it also helps newbie photographers to recreate the capture of the same photograph with the same settings.
There are cases when these data even helped in police investigations. If you want to know how a photograph was captured, you can look into its EXIF data.
There are chances that you might be wondering why you need such data. Why is it important? Well, you can actually get to know how the photographer captured their shot with the help of EXIF data.
And that is the reason so many professional photographers choose to remove their EXIF data before they publish their photographs anywhere.
What does the EXIF data contain?
You can find almost everything you need to know about how the image was captured from EXIF data. It helps you understand how you can capture the same shot. Here is the list of things that you can easily find in EXIF data of any image
- You can easily find out which camera was used to capture the image. In addition to that, you can even find out the name of the manufacturer from it.
- You will also get to know which focal length was used and with which lens it was taken.
- Many times, EXIF data also reveals the GPS data of where the image was taken. So if you ever come across a picture that you want to know the location of, you can find it in the image’s EXIF data.
- The data will also show you what was the exposure setting of the lens when the picture was clicked.
- It also includes the time and date of when the shot was captured, and It could also be helpful when you want to recreate the same click.
- You will get to know what the shutter speed was when the shot was taken, plus it will also show you whether the flash was turned on or off to capture the photo.
There is also a few more basic information that you will get to know in EXIF data, but those mentioned above are the ones that hold significant value because it helps you determine suitable camera settings for a similar shot.
How can you view EXIF data?
To get the EXIF data, the foremost thing that you have to do is figure out how to get the EXIF data. Rest easy; we have a few suggestions where you can easily get this data.
Before we look into how you can view the data, let us tell you that there are many different browsers that you can use to get the data, it has to be based on your preferences.
You can just put “Exif data viewer” in your search engine and it will start showing you different websites that you can access to view the data.
If the EXIF data is not removed from the image by the photographer, you will definitely see it.
Another way that you can look for EXIF data in different systems is by going into the “properties” or “details” option. It also depends on the system that you are using. For example, if you are using macOS, you will have to look for it in “properties.”
How can you remove the EXIF data from your image?
Now, Data sharing is always risky; it doesn’t matter whether you are famous or not, but whenever you share an image on social media or anywhere over the internet.
If the EXIF data is not cleared, you will be risking your privacy. Sometimes it might not even be safe depending on the circumstances because you are indirectly sharing your location over the internet.
Here’s how you can remove your EXIF data from the image,
- One way to remove your EXIF data from the image is to ensure that the image that you are sharing anywhere is of low bandwidth. It will remove most of the data, like GPS.
- And one of the preferable ways by professionals is completely removing the data from the image. You simply have to go to the file tab, select export, click on “save for the web,” meanwhile changing the setting to no metadata, and you are good to go.
There are multiple reasons photographers choose to hide their EXIF data. One of the two main reasons is privacy, and the other is secrecy for how they capture the perfect shot.
Conclusion
The world has evolved quite spectacularly, and above that, technology has advanced to match it. Almost all of us use social media on a daily basis and post many images or come across many images.
When these happen, our privacy is compromised with each image we post with EXIF data. We already learned what EXIF data is and what it contains, so you should know what information you will be sharing on the web if you haven’t removed the data from your image and what data will stay if you don’t remove it.
We hope the article helped you understand the EXIF data better and you can easily use it to find out details to learn. And we also hope you understood why it is important to remove EXIF data in some cases.
