Note: ExifTool does not need to be installed to run. Just download and extract either the full Perl distribution on Mac/Linux, or the Windows EXE version on Windows, and run it directly. [But note that if you move the Perl "exiftool" application, you must also move its "lib" directory to the same location. This doesn't apply to the Windows version which unpacks the libraries into a temporary directory.]
However, the benefits of installation are:
- Makes ExifTool available to all users.
- Saves typing on the command line (by placing "exiftool" in your PATH).
- Installs the ExifTool documentation and API libraries (full Perl version only).
See the appropriate section below with instructions for installing or uninstalling ExifTool on your specific platform:
Also see these instructions for help running ExifTool.
In Windows, there is a choice of two different versions of ExifTool to install. The Perl distribution requires Perl to be installed on your system. (A good, free Perl interpreter can be downloaded from activeperl.com.)
If you don't already have Perl, it is easier to install the stand-alone ExifTool executable, but note that the stand-alone version doesn't include the HTML documentation or some other files of the full distribution.
exiftool-12.30.zip".)exiftool(-k).exe" from the
".zip" file, and place it on your Desktop.
exiftool-12.30.zip" to open
the archive, then drag "exiftool(-k).exe" to your Desktop.)You can now double-click on "exiftool(-k).exe" to read the
application documentation, or drag-and-drop files and folders to run exiftool on
selected files. To install exiftool for use from the command line,
continue with the following steps:
exiftool(-k).exe" to "exiftool.exe".
exiftool(-k)" to "exiftool" if file name
extensions are hidden on your system)exiftool.exe" to the "C:\WINDOWS" directory
(or any other directory in your PATH).You can now run exiftool by typing "exiftool" at the command
prompt. (To get to the command prompt, select "Run..." from the Windows "Start"
menu, then type "cmd" and press Return.)
Notes:
exiftool(-k).exe" (or "C:\WINDOWS\exiftool.exe")
into the Recycle bin.par-XXX" from your temporary directory to
the Recycle bin. Here "XXX" is your user name (in ASCII-hex for
ExifTool 10.21 or later) and the location of the temporary directory depends on
the value of the TEMP environment variable (typically
"C:\Documents and Settings\USER\Local Settings\Temp"
for Windows XP, or "C:\Users\USER\AppData\Local\Temp" for Windows 7
or later). Alternately, this command may be used to delete these files:
for /D %d in (%TEMP%\par-*) do rmdir /s /q %dYou must have Perl installed to use this version. (A free version of Perl can be downloaded from activeperl.com.)
Image-ExifTool-12.30.tar.gz".)exiftool" to "exiftool.pl"
in the exiftool distribution.exiftool.pl" and the "lib"
directory from the exiftool distribution to "C:\WINDOWS"
(or any other directory in your PATH).Now, if you have made the proper Windows associations for the
".pl" extension (an option in the ActivePerl installation), you
can run exiftool by typing "exiftool.pl" at the
"cmd.exe" prompt. Otherwise you should type
"perl c:\windows\exiftool.pl".
C:\WINDOWS\exiftool.pl" and
"C:\WINDOWS\lib" into the Recycle bin. You should first confirm
that "C:\WINDOWS\lib" contains only the "File"
and "Image" sub-directories. Do not delete it if it
contains anything else.If you have installed the BSDSDK package from the Xcode Developer Tools
(ie. if you have the "make" utility), you should
follow the install procedure for Unix platforms in the next
section instead of the steps below. The Unix install has the advantage of making
the ExifTool library available for your Perl scripts, as well as installing the
man pages and POD documentation.
Otherwise, you have a choice of two packages to install: The MacOS package, or the full Perl distribution. Both of the procedures below install the ExifTool files in the same location. Installing from the MacOS package is easier, but the full distribution includes HTML documentation and some other files not included in the MacOS package. Both versions run natively on PPC and Intel Macs.
ExifTool-12.30.dmg".)You can now run exiftool by typing "exiftool" in a Terminal window.
If this doesn't work, then it is likely you have an older version of MacOS for which /usr/local/bin isn't in the default PATH. To fix this, add the following line to your ~/.profile settings using a text editor:
export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/binImage-ExifTool-12.30.tar.gz".) cd ~/Desktop
tar -xzf Image-ExifTool-12.30.tar.gz
cd Image-ExifTool-12.30
sudo cp -r exiftool lib /usr/local/bin
(Note: The last step above will require you to enter your
password.)You can now run exiftool by typing "exiftool" in a Terminal window.
Notes:
make install" described below puts "exiftool" in
/usr/local/bin and the individual libraries in /Library/Perl/#.#.#, where "#.#.#" is
your Perl version. If both sets of libraries exist, /usr/local/bin/lib takes
precedence for exiftool, but /Library/Perl/#.#.# is the default for any other
Perl scripts."ExifTool-12.30.pkg" can't be opened because it is from an unidentified developer.The solution is to control-click on the pkg then select "Open" from the pop-up menu instead of just double-clicking. An alternative is to lower the security settings by changing "Allow applications downloaded from" to "Anywhere" in the General "Security & Privacy" System Preferences. (Read here or here for a full description.)
open /usr/local/bin" (without the quotes) in the Terminal
window, then press RETURN. (This opens a folder that you normally can't access
from MacOS.)exiftool" and "lib" into the trash from the
"bin" folder you opened. You should first confirm that
"lib" contains only two sub-folders: "File" and
"Image". If it contains anything else, don't trash it because you
have the wrong "lib" folder.Image-ExifTool-12.30.tar.gz".) cd <your download directory>
gzip -dc Image-ExifTool-12.30.tar.gz | tar -xf -
cd Image-ExifTool-12.30
(At this point you may run exiftool by typing
"./exiftool <image file name>".)
perl Makefile.PL
make test
sudo make install
(Note: The "make test" step is not required, but
useful because it runs a full suite of tests to verify that ExifTool is working
properly on your system. The "sudo make install" command requires
that you have su access, and will prompt for your password. This will make
ExifTool and its documentation accessible to all users on your system. If you
don't have su access, you can run ExifTool in your own account by moving
"exiftool" and its "lib" directory to any convenient
location, preferably somewhere in your PATH.)You can now run exiftool by typing "exiftool". Also, you can
consult the ExifTool documentation with commands like:
perldoc exiftool perldoc Image::ExifTool perldoc Image::ExifTool::TagNames
or
man exiftool man Image::ExifTool man Image::ExifTool::TagNames
sudo make uninstall" from the distribution directory.