Conversation with Gemini

You said

Where do I report an ExifTool bug?

Gemini said

Here are the best ways to report an ExifTool bug, depending on what type of issue you're facing:

1. Official ExifTool Forum (Best & Preferred Method)

The primary place to submit bug reports and feature requests is the ExifTool Forum under the "Bug Reports / Feature Requests" board.

  • Maintainer activity: Phil Harvey (the main creator/maintainer) is extremely active on the official forum and usually responds quickly.

  • Requirements: You'll need to create a free forum account to create a post.

2. Email Phil Harvey Directly

If you are unable to register for the forum or have a sensitive bug, you can email Phil Harvey directly at philharvey66 at gmail.com (replace at with @).

3. GitHub Issues (If applicable)

Although Phil Harvey manages the project primarily via his own site and forum, ExifTool has a GitHub presence (e.g., exiftool/exiftool). However, checking the official forum first is recommended, as issues raised directly on the ExifTool forum typically get faster turnaround times.

Tips for a Great Bug Report

To help get your bug resolved as fast as possible, include:

  1. ExifTool Version: Output of exiftool -ver.

  2. Command Used: The exact command line or API call you ran.

  3. Sample File: A link to (or attachment of) an image or file that triggers the bug, as file-specific metadata parsing issues often require reproduction.

  4. Console Output: The full error message or unexpected output.

You said

Where is the exiftool documentation?

Gemini said

ExifTool documentation is available across several official online and local sources:

1. Official Web Documentation

  • Command-Line Application Page: exiftool.org/exiftool_pod.html

    • Details options, flags, usage syntax, and practical command line examples.

  • Tag Names Database: exiftool.org/TagNames/index.html

    • Complete listing of supported EXIF, IPTC, XMP, MakerNote, and metadata tags categorized by group and format.

  • Perl Library API: exiftool.org/ExifTool.html

    • Comprehensive API documentation for using ExifTool programmatically via Perl (Image::ExifTool).

  • FAQ & Examples: exiftool.org/faq.html

    • Covers common usage scenarios, file structure explanations, and edge cases.

2. Built-in Local Documentation (Terminal/Command Line)

If ExifTool is installed on your system, you can access the full manual directly from your terminal:

  • Unix/Linux/macOS:

    Bash
    man exiftool

    (Or run exiftool -h for a shorter help summary).

  • Windows:

    DOS
    exiftool -h

3. Repository Source Code

  • GitHub Repository: github.com/exiftool/exiftool

    • The /html folder in the repository contains the HTML source for all official documentation pages, including sample configuration files like .ExifTool_config.

You said

'man exiftool' does not work. The man page is hidden somewhere.

Gemini said

If man exiftool isn't resolving, it usually means ExifTool was installed manually (or via Perl's Makefile.PL / tarball) into local or non-standard paths like /usr/local/share/man, /usr/local/man, or under Perl's site directory (e.g., site_perl/man1), which aren't in your MANPATH.

Here is how to locate the hidden manual page and render it:

1. Locate the Manual Page File

Search the system for exiftool.1 or Image::ExifTool.3pm:

Bash
find /usr /opt /usr/local -name "exiftool.1*" 2>/dev/null

Or using locate if database indexing is active:

Bash
locate exiftool.1

2. Read the Page Directly with man

Once you find the file path (for example, /usr/local/share/man/man1/exiftool.1), pass the direct path to man:

Bash
man /usr/local/share/man/man1/exiftool.1

If it's gzipped (exiftool.1.gz), man will still handle it directly via the path:

Bash
man /path/to/exiftool.1.gz

3. Render It Manually via nroff / groff

If man refuses to process path arguments on your specific system, format the raw troff source directly using nroff:

Bash
nroff -man /path/to/exiftool.1 | less

4. Fix Your MANPATH Permanently

To make man exiftool work natively without specifying full paths, add the parent directory of the man1 directory to your shell configuration (~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc, or /etc/manpath.config):

Bash
export MANPATH="$MANPATH:/usr/local/share/man"

(Adjust /usr/local/share/man to whichever directory contains the man1/exiftool.1 file on your setup).

Alternative: Embedded Perl POD Documentation

ExifTool contains its entire manual inline as Plain Old Documentation (POD). You can view the full man page directly from the exiftool executable itself using perldoc:

Bash
perldoc exiftool

(Or via path if exiftool isn't in your executable PATH: perldoc /path/to/exiftool)

You said

How do I update my installed exiftool?

Gemini said

How to update ExifTool depends on how it was originally installed on your system:

1. Package Manager (Simplest)

If installed via a system package manager, update using the standard upgrade commands:

  • FreeBSD / OpenBSD / NetBSD:

    Bash
    pkg upgrade p5-Image-ExifTool

    (Or pkg_add -u p5-Image-ExifTool / portmaster graphics/p5-Image-ExifTool)

  • Debian / Ubuntu:

    Bash
    sudo apt update && sudo apt install --only-upgrade libimage-exiftool-perl

  • macOS (Homebrew):

    Bash
    brew upgrade exiftool

2. CPAN / Perl Module (If installed via Perl)

If installed as a Perl module via CPAN:

Bash
cpan -u Image::ExifTool

Or using cpanm:

Bash
cpanm --upgrade Image::ExifTool

3. Manual Installation (From Source Tarball)

If compiled or extracted directly from Phil Harvey's release site:

Bash
# 1. Download the latest tarball
wget https://exiftool.org/Image-ExifTool-13.10.tar.gz

# 2. Extract and enter directory
tar -xzf Image-ExifTool-13.10.tar.gz
cd Image-ExifTool-13.10

# 3. Build and install over the existing installation
perl Makefile.PL
make
sudo make install

(Installing from source via Makefile.PL automatically places the man pages back into Perl's site man directories).

Verifying the Update

Check the running version after updating:

Bash
exiftool -ver
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