removing GPS data from a photo
One thing I noticed about photos taken with the iPhone is that they all get automatically tagged with GPS location data.
The exception to this – and this will need verification – is that photos taken while the phone is attached to Wi-Fi rather than the cellular network for some reason seem to lack the GPS data. (One strange thing: the tagged raw photos show a GPS co-ordinate somewhere in the North Pacific – i.e., East/West and North/South have been reversed. However, Flickr certainly seemed to find the right spot on the map here in Wellington. Weird.)
This automatic geotagging is pretty cool, except for those times when you most certainly don’t want that meta-data there.
For example, this morning I took a photo out the window of my sister-in-law’s house in Hataitai with the intention of posting it to Flickr. There’s no reason why I should publicise this location, particularly not without asking her permission first. Her privacy should be respected. So I needed to scrub that data before upload.
I wish I could say I found an easy way to do this. Unfortunately I couldn’t.
What I did was download a set of command-line tools called EXIFTool. I figured out the command to use was the following:
macbook$ exiftool -GPSLatitudeRef= -GPSLongitudeRef= -GPSLatitude= -GPSLongitude= -GPSPosition= IMG_0007.JPG
The “GPSPosition” part might not be needed, YMMV. If I need to use this often I should try and package up an AppleScript droplet to make it easier.
On the other hand if anyone knows an easier way please let me know1.
1 Update 2008-09-27 – as it happens the new version (6.2, released just in the last week) of GraphicConverter, the quite wonderful MacOS shareware app for image manipulation, now has the ability to edit and delete GPS data from photos. Sorted!
Alan
24 August 2008, 17:42 #
Ahhhh, it looks like the reversed co-ordinates may be the result of a bug in the version of iPhoto I’m using. Simply rotating the picture in iPhoto is enough to cause it. Bah!
Heck
24 August 2008, 19:05 #
On Mac OS X, the best tool to handle images of any kind and format, bar none, is GraphicConverter. Shareware, but functional. It has an option to erase EXIF data from any file you save with it, not sure if you want that or erase only the GPS bit.
Also, I found this, which I don’t use myself…
Alan
24 August 2008, 20:21 #
Heck: Thanks! I do use (and have paid for) GraphicConverter, and have done for… well, almost since I started using Macs. It’s always one of the first things to get added if I’m using a different machine.
The app you pointed allows viewing of some EXIF data, but not all (and not the GPS data).
Mike Riversdale
24 August 2008, 21:12 #
If you’re usng Flickr you can hide (but not remove) the EXIF data – it’s a global setting under “Privacy & Permissions” in “Your Account”
Alan
24 August 2008, 21:16 #
Thanks Mike! Yes, I discovered that after I posted this. The data is still there though – what happens if someone downloads your photo? Is the data removed then?
Personally I’d much rather get rid of it before it hits Flickr, if that’s the appropriate thing for the particular photo.
Heck
25 August 2008, 00:37 #
Yep, I paid for GraphicConverter too, and it’s close to ten years that I use it by now. (:
If you have access to a Linux box or have it running somewhere virtualized (maybe not exactly the easier solution you’re looking for) apparently digiKam allows you to edit those tags. And you’ve got me intrigued so I searched a bit more. How about this ?
Alan
25 August 2008, 21:20 #
One thing I’ve discovered is that the Mobile Fotos app, which can be used to upload photos directly to Flickr, allows you the choice of adding the GPS co-ordinates or not to Flickr (and by default does not seem to store them with the photo).
Which is quite a nice solution.
James
18 September 2008, 12:49 #
Hi,
I found your site while looking for New Zealand payment solutions. I noticed this post as I have had a few exif issues my self with bad time stamps on photos. I have not used this for a while but in the past it was helpful in my exif quest.
http://www.friedemann-schmidt.com/software/exifer/
Thanks,
James
=-)
Alan
19 September 2008, 00:07 #
James: thanks! Exifer looks pretty useful (although it is Windows-only).