Programs to View Image Metadata

Many users don't know that behind a photograph (digital file) a large amount of information is hidden, and it can be very useful. This information is provided by EXIF, IPTC, and XMP and tells us the shutter speed, aperture, focal length, pixels, flash usage, and other information. To make your job easier, we're going to introduce four programs to view image metadata.

Exif Pilot

We'll start with one of the most powerful programs to view image metadata: Exif Pilot. The tool lets you view EXIF, IPTC, and XMP metadata. One of its main advantages is the ability to edit metadata (EXIF and IPTC), which is not common in many of these programs. Exif Pilot is a free program available for Windows, both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

PhotoME

PhotoME is also a powerful tool, but to a lesser extent than Exif Pilot. Its interface is very similar to the previous utility. It supports Exif and IPTC-NAA metadata, from which you can view all information and export data to text or other formats. One of its main advantages is GPS support and location in Google Earth, Maps, and other mapping services. PhotoME is a free program available for Windows. The platform hasn't been updated in years, but in our tests it has worked perfectly and is free of malicious software.

Photo Data Explorer

Photo Data Explorer is a very good metadata viewer from the list, because the tool lets you view metadata and the image at the same time. You can also edit data or add new information. If you need basic photo editing or format conversion, you can do it from its interface. Photo Data Explorer is a free program available for Windows.

exif2xml

We'll finish with exif2xml, an XML converter that lets you easily check the EXIF information of a JPG file. As you can see, the tool is very basic and its interface is too; you can't perform advanced tasks, but if you need to convert a JPG file to XML or view EXIF metadata, it's a lightweight and easy-to-use tool. exif2xml is a free program available for Windows.

If you're a professional photographer or an enthusiast and need to know how that striking photo was taken, these metadata viewers will be of great help.