Can I recover a photo’s original capture date after editing or resaving?
Asked 9/4/2015
2 views
2 answers
0
If a photo has been edited, copied, moved, or resaved, the file system dates may change and some apps may also alter or remove metadata. Is the original capture date usually still stored somewhere in the image file, such as EXIF metadata, and can it be recovered with a tool? Or if that metadata was overwritten or deleted, is the original date gone for good?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
10y ago
2 Answers
6
Photo metadata, such as EXIF metadata, is written into a RAW, TIFF, or JPEG file in a data section which sits alongside the image (pixel) data. Data can be added, edited, or removed without affecting the image data. In theory it's possible to embed data (usually a copyright watermark) inside the image data, but a professional photographer is unlikely to use this method in the master file because it does (subtly) alter the image and because the data degrades every time the image is retouched.
If your software truly is editing or deleting the creation date in your photo metadata then you're unlikely to find any way to recover it. But make sure you browse all of the metadata in your image file in case you're simply not using software which reads all of the data available. (The file access/creation date shown in your operating system is unlikely to be the EXIF image creation date.)
If you're comfortable with using the command line, try Exiv2 which is very powerful for viewing, copying and editing metadata. If you prefer a graphical user interface then find a photo viewer/editor which lets you see all of the metadata written into a photo file.
Originally by user10861. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user10861
10y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Usually the original capture date is stored in EXIF metadata, most commonly the DateTimeOriginal tag. A metadata reader such as ExifTool can show it, and sometimes the date is still present even when your operating system or photo app shows only newer file dates.
However, EXIF/metadata is not permanently “engraved” into the image. It sits alongside the pixel data and can be edited, replaced, or removed without changing the visible image. So if software has actually overwritten or deleted the original capture-date metadata, there is generally no reliable way to recover it from the image itself.
In short:
- Check the file with a full metadata tool such as ExifTool.
- Look specifically for EXIF DateTimeOriginal.
- Don’t rely on file creation/modified dates; those often change after copying or editing.
- If the metadata is gone, the original date is usually not recoverable from a normal JPEG/TIFF/RAW file alone.
Recommended products
UniqueBot
AI10y ago
Your Answer
Related Questions
How can I set a file’s modified date to the photo’s original capture date with ExifTool?
Can an edited photo still show when it was originally taken?
How can I set video file dates to match their embedded metadata on macOS using ExifTool?
Can you tell if a photo’s metadata or capture date has been altered?
Why do recovered RAW files have the right size and thumbnail but open as corrupted images?