The readexif package is an R package that allows you to read Exif metadata from jpeg image files.
The existing exifr package can extract more detailed information and can translate more of the “raw” values found in the Exif data but it requires that you also install ExifTool as a system dependency. While readexif is not as full-featured, it does not require this separate program to be installed.
You can install the latest version of readexif from GitHub with:
remotes::install_github("MrFlick/readexif")This package is currently a work-in-progress and is not yet available on CRAN.
The primary useful function for extracting data is exif_df which can
take a list of file names and will return a data.frame containing the
Exif tags for all those images.
library(readexif)
sample_dir <- system.file("extdata", package="readexif")
sample_files <- file.path(sample_dir,
c("Iguana_iguana_male_head.jpg",
"Red-headed_Rock_Agama.jpg"))
transform(exif_df(sample_files), file=basename(file))
#> file Make
#> 1 Iguana_iguana_male_head.jpg Canon
#> 2 Red-headed_Rock_Agama.jpg EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY
#> Model Orientation XResolution YResolution
#> 1 Canon EOS 40D 1 72, 1 72, 1
#> 2 KODAK CX7530 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA 1 72, 1 72, 1
#> ResolutionUnit Software DateTime YCbCrPositioning ExifOffset
#> 1 2 GIMP 2.4.5 2008:07:31 10:38:11 2 214
#> 2 2 GIMP 2.4.5 2008:07:31 10:39:26 1 248
#> GPSInfo ExposureTime FNumber ExposureProgram ISO ExifVersion
#> 1 978 1, 160 71, 10 1 100 30, 32, ....
#> 2 816 1, 250 23, 5 2 NA 30, 32, ....
#> DateTimeOriginal DateTimeDigitized ComponentsConfiguration
#> 1 2008:05:30 15:56:01 2008:05:30 15:56:01 01, 02, ....
#> 2 2005:08:13 09:47:23 2005:08:13 09:47:23 01, 02, 03
#> ShutterSpeedValue ApertureValue ExposureCompensation MeteringMode Flash
#> 1 483328, .... 368640, .... 0, 1 5 9
#> 2 8, 1 22, 5 0, 1 5 24
#> FocalLength UserComment SubSecTime SubSecTimeOriginal SubSecTimeDigitized
#> 1 135, 1 00, 00, .... 00 00 00
#> 2 84, 5 NA <NA> <NA> <NA>
#> FlashpixVersion ColorSpace PixelXDimension PixelYDimension InteropOffset
#> 1 30, 31, .... 1 100 68 948
#> 2 30, 31, .... 1 100, 0 78, 0 786
#> FocalPlaneXResolution FocalPlaneYResolution FocalPlaneResolutionUnit
#> 1 3888000, 876 2592000, 583 2
#> 2 NA NA NA
#> CustomRendered ExposureMode WhiteBalance SceneCaptureType
#> 1 0 1 0 0
#> 2 0 0 0 0
#> ThumbnailCompression ThumbnailXResolution ThumbnailYResolution
#> 1 6 72, 1 72, 1
#> 2 6 NA NA
#> ThumbnailResolutionUnit ThumbnailOffset ThumbnailByteCount MaxApertureValue
#> 1 2 1090 1378 NA
#> 2 NA 972 1918 22, 5
#> LightSource xA215 SensingMethod FileSource SceneType DigitalZoomRatio
#> 1 NA NA NA NA NA NA
#> 2 0 80, 1 2 03 01 0, 1
#> FocalLengthIn35mmFilm GainControl Contrast Saturation Sharpness
#> 1 NA NA NA NA NA
#> 2 102 0 0 0 0
#> SubjectDistanceRange
#> 1 NA
#> 2 0Another useful function is scan_jpeg. This is the function will return
the positions for each of the different sections in the jpeg file.
sample_file <- system.file("extdata", "Iguana_iguana_male_head.jpg", package="readexif")
toc <- scan_jpeg(sample_file)
toc
#> marker section id offset length other
#> [[1]] 0xFFE0 APP0 JFIF 4 16 Yes (7)
#> [[2]] 0xFFE1 APP1 Exif 22 2476 Yes (3)
#> [[3]] 0xFFE2 APP2 ICC_PROFILE 2500 3160
#> [[4]] 0xFFDB DQT NA 5662 67
#> [[5]] 0xFFDB DQT NA 5731 67
#> [[6]] 0xFFC0 SOF0 NA 5800 17 Yes (4)
#> [[7]] 0xFFC4 DHT NA 5819 26
#> [[8]] 0xFFC4 DHT NA 5847 54
#> [[9]] 0xFFC4 DHT NA 5903 24
#> [[10]] 0xFFC4 DHT NA 5929 33
#> [[11]] 0xFFDA SOS NA 5964 12
toc[[6]]
#> SECTION SOF0 -- (offset: 5800, length: 17)
#> .$marker : 0xFFC0 (65472)
#> .$section : SOF0
#> .$Precision : 8
#> .$ImageHeight : 68
#> .$ImageWidth : 100
#> .$NumberOfComponents: 3
toc[[2]]$tags
#> EXIF TAGS -- (count: 47)
#> [[1]] Make : Canon
#> [[2]] Model : Canon EOS 40D
#> [[3]] Orientation : 1
#> [[4]] XResolution : 72, 1
#> [[5]] YResolution : 72, 1
#> [[6]] ResolutionUnit : 2
#> [[7]] Software : GIMP 2.4.5
#> [[8]] DateTime : 2008:07:31 10:38:11
#> [[9]] YCbCrPositioning : 2
#> [[10]] ExifOffset : 214
#> [[11]] GPSInfo : 978
#> [[12]] ExposureTime : 1, 160
#> [[13]] FNumber : 71, 10
#> [[14]] ExposureProgram : 1
#> [[15]] ISO : 100
#> [[16]] ExifVersion : <4 byte(s)>
#> [[17]] DateTimeOriginal : 2008:05:30 15:56:01
#> [[18]] DateTimeDigitized : 2008:05:30 15:56:01
#> [[19]] ComponentsConfiguration : <4 byte(s)>
#> [[20]] ShutterSpeedValue : 483328, 65536
#> [[21]] ApertureValue : 368640, 65536
#> [[22]] ExposureCompensation : 0, 1
#> [[23]] MeteringMode : 5
#> [[24]] Flash : 9
#> [[25]] FocalLength : 135, 1
#> [[26]] UserComment : <264 byte(s)>
#> [[27]] SubSecTime : 00
#> [[28]] SubSecTimeOriginal : 00
#> [[29]] SubSecTimeDigitized : 00
#> [[30]] FlashpixVersion : <4 byte(s)>
#> [[31]] ColorSpace : 1
#> [[32]] PixelXDimension : 100
#> [[33]] PixelYDimension : 68
#> [[34]] InteropOffset : 948
#> [[35]] FocalPlaneXResolution : 3888000, 876
#> [[36]] FocalPlaneYResolution : 2592000, 583
#> [[37]] FocalPlaneResolutionUnit: 2
#> [[38]] CustomRendered : 0
#> [[39]] ExposureMode : 1
#> [[40]] WhiteBalance : 0
#> [[41]] SceneCaptureType : 0
#> [[42]] ThumbnailCompression : 6
#> [[43]] ThumbnailXResolution : 72, 1
#> [[44]] ThumbnailYResolution : 72, 1
#> [[45]] ThumbnailResolutionUnit : 2
#> [[46]] ThumbnailOffset : 1090
#> [[47]] ThumbnailByteCount : 1378
toc[[2]]$tags[[2]]
#> TAG -- (offset: 52, length: 12)
#> .$code : 0x0110 (272)
#> .$name : Model
#> .$fmt : 2 (ascii string)
#> .$count: 14
#> .$value: Canon EOS 40D
#> [tag data offset: 182, length: 14]This package was created using the helpful information from the following resources
- JPEG File Layout and Format
- The Metadata in JPEG files
- ExifTool list of EXIF tags
- Description of Exif file format
This package includes sample images from ianare/exif-samples. Some images originally were from Wikimedia Commons. Those images are
- Positive_roll_film.jpg by Ianaré Sévi,
- Ducati749.jpg by Monster1000,
- Red-headed_Rock_Agama.jpg by Chris_huh and
- Iguana_iguana_male_head.jpg by Ianaré Sévi.
Note that these images were scaled down to reduce file size.