Hi all, I want to backup just the EXIF data from a batch of *.JPG files to individual data files before editing the images. And then I restore the EXIF data for each file from the corresponding backup. Any help? Thanks!
Just EXIF data or do you want to back up other sorts of metadata such as IPTC IIM/Legacy (https://exiftool.org/TagNames/IPTC.html), XMP (which includes IPTC Core/Ext) (https://exiftool.org/TagNames/XMP.html), ICC_Profile (https://exiftool.org/TagNames/ICC_Profile.html), MakerNotes, and possibly other metadata? Remember, not all metadata in the file is EXIF data.
There are a variety of ways to do so. For individual tags, you could save the data out as a CSV file and then re-import (see the -csv option (https://exiftool.org/exiftool_pod.html#csv-CSVFILE), FAQ #12 (https://exiftool.org/faq.html#Q12) to export, and FAQ #26 (https://exiftool.org/faq.html#Q26) to import). You could use a sidecar file (see Metadata Sidecar Files (https://exiftool.org/metafiles.html)) and extract the complete EXIF block if that's all you want or convert to XMP data or use exiftool's MIE files.