MetadataExtractor .NET

You can install the MetadataExtractor library using the NuGet Package Manager in Visual Studio, the Package Manager Console, or by manually adding a PackageReference to your project file.

Using Package Manager Console

PM> Install-Package MetadataExtractor

Using Project File (.csproj)

Add the following to your <ItemGroup>:

<PackageReference Include="MetadataExtractor" Version="2.9.1" />

To run the performance benchmarks for MetadataExtractor against .NET Framework alternatives, navigate to the directory containing the README file and use the dotnet run command with the Release configuration.

dotnet run -c Release

If you are certain the input is JPEG data and you only need Exif metadata, you can optimize performance by passing a specific reader to JpegMetadataReader.ReadMetadata. This approach ignores other metadata types in the file. Note that this will throw an exception if the file is not actually a JPEG.

var directories = JpegMetadataReader.ReadMetadata(_stream, new[] { new ExifReader() });
var subIfdDirectory = directories.OfType<ExifSubIfdDirectory>().First();
var dateTime = subIfdDirectory.GetDateTime(ExifDirectoryBase.TagDateTimeOriginal);

The most general and recommended solution for most use cases is ImageMetadataReader.ReadMetadata(_stream). This method automatically determines the file type and returns all found metadata. It will throw an exception if the file does not contain a supported file type.

var directories = ImageMetadataReader.ReadMetadata(_stream);
var subIfdDirectory = directories.OfType<ExifSubIfdDirectory>().First();
var dateTime = subIfdDirectory.GetDateTime(ExifDirectoryBase.TagDateTimeOriginal);

To retrieve all available metadata from a JPEG file, use JpegMetadataReader.ReadMetadata(_stream). This method will throw an exception if the file does not contain JPEG data.

var directories = JpegMetadataReader.ReadMetadata(_stream);
var subIfdDirectory = directories.OfType<ExifSubIfdDirectory>().First();
var dateTime = subIfdDirectory.GetDateTime(ExifDirectoryBase.TagDateTimeOriginal);

To retrieve a specific value, identify the correct directory type (e.g., ExifSubIfdDirectory) and use the GetDescription method with the appropriate tag constant.

Example for accessing the Exif DateTime tag:

var subIfdDirectory = directories.OfType<ExifSubIfdDirectory>().FirstOrDefault();
var dateTime = subIfdDirectory?.GetDescription(ExifDirectoryBase.TagDateTime);

To extract metadata from a file, use ImageMetadataReader.ReadMetadata(imagePath). This returns an IEnumerable<Directory> containing various metadata directories (e.g., Exif, IPTC, XMP) found in the file.

You can iterate through all directories and all tags within them to print every available piece of metadata:

IEnumerable<Directory> directories = ImageMetadataReader.ReadMetadata(imagePath);

foreach (var directory in directories)
foreach (var tag in directory.Tags)
    Console.WriteLine($"{directory.Name} - {tag.Name} = {tag.Description}");

The library is distributed via a single NuGet package that targets the following frameworks:

• .NET 8.0 (net8.0): Includes support for NativeAOT.
• .NET Standard 2.1 (netstandard2.1): Uses newer APIs where possible.
• .NET Standard 2.0 (netstandard2.0): Provides compatibility for .NET Framework and .NET Core.

MetadataExtractor supports a wide range of metadata formats and file types:

Metadata Formats

• Exif
• IPTC
• XMP
• JFIF / JFXX
• ICC Profiles
• Photoshop

Supported File Types

• Images: AVIF, BMP, DNG, EPS, GIF, HEIF/HEIC, ICO, JPEG/JFIF, Netpbm, PCX, PNG, PSD, TGA, TIFF/BigTIFF, WebP, and various Camera Raw formats (3FR, ARW, CRW/CR2/CR3/CRX, GPR, KDC, NEF, ORF, PEF, RAF, RW2, RWL, SRW).
• Movies: AVCI, AVI, MOV, MP4.
• Audio: WAV, MP3.

Additionally, the library decodes camera-specific "makernote" data for many manufacturers including Apple, Canon, DJI, Nikon, Sony, and others.