Most of us take a photo, save it or share it, perhaps do a little tweaking, editing, and filter enhancements, and that’s the end of it. That’s photography in the 21st century. What most photographers don’t know is that our modern smartphone and DSLRs capture all kinds of data with each photograph, everything from GPS location to camera type, lens, exposure, shutter speed, time, date, and more. Officially, that data is called EXIF- metadata in the exchangeable image file format- and it’s embedded into most photos whether stuffed into the Mac or iPhone’s Photos app or shared online.
How can you delete or edit the EXIF data in a photo?
Mac and iPhone users enjoy dozens of apps which can view and delete and even edit EXIF data. Why would you want to? Isn’t some of that data beneficial? The answers to both questions depend much on your photo needs, and what kind of evidence could be obtained from a photos metadata. Do you want predators to know where you live? They can find that out by viewing EXIF data on images you share or post online. At the other end of the scale, incriminating evidence is only evidence if it can be obtained.
One of the simplest and most elegant Mac apps that can find and delete the EXIF data found in your photos is called Photo Zapper. It’s inexpensive and does what you think it does. It zaps photo EXIF data. One photo at a time. Or in a batch of photos. Drag and drop.
Drag and drop. It’s that simple and easy to remove unwanted data from your photos.
The original photo’s quality remains while the EXIF data is removed. That makes the photos a bit lighter for uploads, and the app works with most any photo your iPhone is capable of creating and many others, too, including JPEG, TIFF, PNG, CR2, CRW, NEF, PEF, ORF, DNG, PGF, EXV, SRW, etc.
The only thing Photo Zapper removes is the EXIF data, and it retains your original photos.
What I like about Photo Zapper, in addition to the entry-level price tag, is the pop up window which displays captured EXIF data. Not only can you see the basic photo file information in the General tab, but the EXIF data and GPS data have tabes of their own, each of which contains more detail.
What’s lacking is an option to delete specific EXIF data or to edit the data, but considering the price point Photo Zapper does what most of us require. It zaps EXIF data from photos. Maybe it should be called EXIF Blaster or EXIF Zapper instead.
While I consider Photo Zapper a decent value for the few bucks you’ll spend, there are a dozen or so similar apps on the Mac App Store- similarly priced or even more expensive- that do much the same thing.
Sometimes competition is a good thing, and sometimes it’s not. This is a good example of what I call ‘abandonware.’ Mac apps that made it to the Mac App Store, seem to be priced well and work as expected, but haven’t seen an upgrade beyond version 1.0 in nearly a year. The app developer’s website is Twitter. If I have to spend money on an app I want to buy one whose developer- and the app- will be around awhile for upgrades and improvements.
This is an ongoing problem with software, but specifically the Mac App Store.