Overview

When you take a photo, a lot of information is automatically stored in it that is not directly accessible to viewers. This sort of information is called “metadata tags” and contains various details, such as camera model, date/time image photo was taken, location and several others that sometimes it’s off remoced. Exif Tag Remover will give you the power to erase about 15 different tag formats (like Exif, Exif GPS, IPTC, XMP) from more than 35 image file formats, making sure that all sensitive information is erased before you proceed to publish the photo.

Installation

The installation package that you download has a fairly small size (~4MB) and will finish fast. Run the installer and follow the few series of steps to complete installation. If you can’t or don’t want to install the program in your PC, there is a portable version available in that you can grab and use.

Supported operating systems are Windows 95, 98, Me, NT4, 2000, XP, Vista, 7 and 8.

Interface

The main window is not very big, and its graphics seem a bit outdated. The main screen has 4 buttons on the left hand side (Add Images, Add from Folder, Remove and Clear) and a place to list all the images you added. After picking the images you want to clean you can move to the next screen, where you can choose whether you want to add a prefix/suffix on the images’ filenames, overwrite them or save them on a different directory. In the next screen you will be asked which metadata you want to remove from the image. Just enable the checkboxes of those metadata tags you want removed or check the “All supported” checkbox to remove all the supported tags and completely clean the image. The next screen asks you if you want to obfuscate file dates by generating a new random date or setting a date that you specify. That’s it; your image is now going to be processed.

Pros

The following metadata tags are supported: Exif, Exif GPS, XMP, IPTC, Photoshop, ICC, Jpeg Comment, Tiff IFD0, AFCP, CanonVRD, FotoStation, PhotoMechanic, MIE, Ducky & MakerNote. In addition, thumbnails are also removed and file dates can be changed.

As for the image files, the following formats are supported: ARW, CR2, CRW, CIFF, CS1, DCP, DNG, EPS, EPSF, ERF, HDP, IND, INDD, INDT, JP2, JPX, JPEG, MEF, MIE, MOS, MPO, MRW, NEF, NRW, ORF, PEF, PS, PSD, PSB, RAF, RAW, RW2, RWL, SR2, SRW, THM, TIFF, FFF, VRD & WDP.

By removing the tags, file size is reduced as well. Even though the change in size is not very big (about 10-20KB less than the original), it is enough at crucial times.

Cons

It doesn’t show the original information stored in metadata tags, but only removes it. It would be nice to see this feature implemented in future versions.

Alternatives

ExifTool (free) is an application for Windows, Mac and Linux users that gives you complete control over metadata tags in wide variety of file types. It supports reading, writing and erasing metadata information through its GUI or by using command-line arguments. Another software with the same functions is PhotoMe (free).

Conclusion

Exif Tag Remover is one of the best software for completely erasing all metadata tags saved in photos, quickly and effortlessly. It does nothing more or less than that, so it’s up to you to decide if you’re going to use it or not.