When sorting into folders does Exiftool modify the image's metadata in any way?

Question

When using Exiftool

exiftool "-Directory<DateTimeOriginal" -d "%Y%m%d"

in this manner - that is to sort a folder full of images, into subfolders, based on their date of shooting.

Does Exiftool modify the image metadata in any way, or is the file moved exactly the same as the original?

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 20 '15 at 16:33

6

Using Exiftool in this manner will not change any of the metadata inside the file. Depending upon the filesystem, some of the filesystem based items (System:All tags in Exiftool) may change, such as FileCreationDateTime but these would change anyway no matter how you moved them.

answered Aug 20 '15 at 16:33

StarGeek

3,803
11
21

I was only interested in camera created EXIF data. – Rook Aug 21 '15 at 12:29
@Rook: Don't forget there are also camera created IPTC data and camera created XMP data. I believe Exiftool changes none of them in such a case. – hippietrail Jul 25 '19 at 13:50

When sorting into folders does Exiftool modify the image's metadata in any way?

1 Answers1