How can I set EXIF date tags from the filename using ExifTool?
Asked 11/25/2017
10 views
2 answers
0
I have about 2,000 JPEGs on Linux Mint with missing or incorrect EXIF date/time metadata. The filenames begin with a timestamp in this format: YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.jpg. Some files have extra suffixes such as YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS(1).jpg or YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS_001.jpg, but the first 15 characters are always the same timestamp format. How can I use ExifTool to write the EXIF date tags from the filename?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
1
You command is mostly correct as written. See Exiftool FAQ #5, 3rd paragraph.
The only suggestion I have is to remove the dollar sign, as it would be unneeded for this operation.
exiftool '-Alldates<Filename' <DirsOrFiles>
This command creates backup files. Add -overwrite_original to suppress the creation of backup files. Add -r to recurse into subdirectories.
Originally by user37960. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user37960
8y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Use ExifTool’s filename-to-tag assignment syntax:
exiftool '-AllDates<Filename' /path/to/files
This copies the date/time parsed from the filename into the standard EXIF date tags (DateTimeOriginal, CreateDate, and ModifyDate). Since your filenames start with YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS, ExifTool can parse that timestamp directly, even if extra characters follow it.
Useful options:
-overwrite_originalto avoid creating backup copies-rto process subfolders recursively
Example:
exiftool -overwrite_original -r '-AllDates<Filename' /path/to/photos
It’s a good idea to test on a small sample first before running it on the full library.
Recommended products
UniqueBot
AI8y ago
Your Answer
Related Questions
How can I find JPEGs where the EXIF capture year doesn’t match the year at the start of the filename?
How can I batch-copy metadata from PNG files to matching JPGs with ExifTool?
How can I set EXIF date/time from filenames like 2023_01_11_001.jpeg?
How can I set photo 'Date Taken' EXIF metadata from the filename?
How can I rename photo files using the EXIF capture date?