shootsv0.5.0
shoots exif

DocsCommands

shoots exif

Batch read and write EXIF / IPTC / XMP metadata via exiftool.

shoots exif <path> [options]

The command has two modes, chosen automatically:

  • Read mode — the default, when no write flag is given.
  • Write mode — as soon as any --set-*, --set or --config flag appears.

Arguments

Argument Required Description
<path> yes Folder (recursive by default) or a single file

Options

Read mode

Option Default Description
--tags <list> common set Comma-separated tag names to read

The default read set is: FileName DateTimeOriginal Model LensModel ISO FNumber ExposureTime FocalLength Artist Copyright Keywords Rating ImageWidth ImageHeight

Write mode

Option Description
--set-artist <text> Write Artist / Creator
--set-copyright <text> Write Copyright
--set-keywords <list> Write comma-separated Keywords and XMP:Subject
--set <Tag=Value> Write an arbitrary exiftool tag. Repeatable.
--config <file> YAML/JSON file of tags to write
--overwrite-original Skip exiftool's *_original backup files

Both modes

Option Default Description
--no-recursive recursive Do not descend into subdirectories
--dry-run off Show what would be written without touching files (write mode)
--json off Machine-readable JSON on stdout
--verbose off Verbose logging on stderr

Behaviour

Backups are kept by default

exiftool writes a <file>_original backup beside each modified file. shoots keeps that behaviour, and reminds you it did. Pass --overwrite-original to skip it — that is the only way exif modifies a file irreversibly, so it is explicit.

Wrote 3 tags to 482 files (482 image files updated)
Originals preserved as *_original backups (exiftool default).

Once you have verified the write, the backups are ordinary files you can delete.

Flags win over --config

When both are given, the file supplies the base and command-line flags override per key. This makes a shared studio config usable with per-shoot overrides:

shoots exif ./raw --config studio-tags.yaml --set-keywords wedding,smith,2026

--set-keywords writes two places

Keywords are written to both legacy IPTC Keywords and XMP:Subject, because different downstream tools read different ones. Lightroom reads XMP:Subject.

Recursion default

Unlike rename, exif recurses by default. Use --no-recursive to limit it to a single directory level.

exiftool is required

Every operation shells out to exiftool. It is provisioned on first use, or you can point SHOOTS_EXIFTOOL at an existing binary.

Examples

Read: quick inspection

shoots exif ./raw
D:/raw/IMG_0001.CR3  date=2026:07:19 14:30:52  camera=Canon EOS R5  lens=RF24-70mm F2.8 L IS USM  iso=800  f=2.8  t=1/250
D:/raw/IMG_0002.CR3  date=2026:07:19 14:30:54  camera=Canon EOS R5  lens=RF24-70mm F2.8 L IS USM  iso=800  f=2.8  t=1/250

482 files read

Read: a specific tag set as JSON

shoots exif ./raw --tags FileName,ISO,FNumber,ExposureTime,LensModel --json

Read: build a shoot report

# Which lenses did I actually use?
shoots exif ./raw --json | jq -r '.files[].LensModel' | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn

# ISO distribution
shoots exif ./raw --json | jq -r '.files[].ISO' | sort -n | uniq -c

# Frames shot wide open
shoots exif ./raw --json | jq -r '.files[] | select(.FNumber <= 2.0) | .SourceFile'

Write: studio boilerplate

shoots exif ./raw \
  --set-artist "Jane Doe Photography" \
  --set-copyright "© 2026 Jane Doe Photography. All rights reserved." \
  --set-keywords wedding,smith,2026 \
  --dry-run
Would write:
  Artist = Jane Doe Photography
  Copyright = © 2026 Jane Doe Photography. All rights reserved.
  Keywords = wedding, smith, 2026
  XMP:Subject = wedding, smith, 2026
to 482 files (dry run)

Drop --dry-run to apply.

Write: arbitrary tags, repeatable

shoots exif ./raw \
  --set "XMP:City=Rome" \
  --set "XMP:Country=Italy" \
  --set "XMP:Location=Villa Borghese" \
  --set "IPTC:Credit=Jane Doe Photography"

Write: from a config file

studio-tags.yaml:

artist: "Jane Doe Photography"
copyright: "© 2026 Jane Doe Photography. All rights reserved."
keywords:
  - professional
  - jane-doe
XMP:CreatorWorkEmail: "hello@janedoe.photo"
XMP:CreatorWorkURL: "https://janedoe.photo"
IPTC:Credit: "Jane Doe Photography"
shoots exif ./raw --config studio-tags.yaml

Key mapping: artist → Artist, copyright → Copyright, keywords → Keywords. Any other key is passed to exiftool verbatim, so full Group:Tag syntax works. JSON files are accepted too (the YAML parser reads both).

Write: single directory only

shoots exif ./catalog/2026-07-19 --no-recursive --set-keywords day-one

JSON output

Read mode

{
  "command": "exif",
  "mode": "read",
  "files": [
    {
      "SourceFile": "D:/raw/IMG_0001.CR3",
      "FileName": "IMG_0001.CR3",
      "DateTimeOriginal": "2026:07:19 14:30:52",
      "Model": "Canon EOS R5",
      "LensModel": "RF24-70mm F2.8 L IS USM",
      "ISO": 800,
      "FNumber": 2.8,
      "ExposureTime": "1/250",
      "FocalLength": "50.0 mm",
      "ImageWidth": 8192,
      "ImageHeight": 5464
    }
  ]
}

Records are exiftool's own output shape, so any tag you request appears with its canonical exiftool name.

Write mode

{
  "command": "exif",
  "mode": "write",
  "dryRun": false,
  "tags": {
    "Artist": "Jane Doe Photography",
    "Copyright": "© 2026 Jane Doe Photography. All rights reserved.",
    "Keywords": ["wedding", "smith", "2026"],
    "XMP:Subject": ["wedding", "smith", "2026"]
  },
  "files": ["D:/raw/IMG_0001.CR3", "..."],
  "exiftool": "482 image files updated"
}

Exit codes

Code When
0 Read succeeded, or all writes succeeded
1 exiftool reported a write failure
2 Malformed --set (missing =), unreadable --config, or exiftool unavailable

See also

  • rate --write-xmp — writes rating + keyword sidecars, not embedded tags
  • Recipes — metadata as part of a full ingest

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