By using a filter to check the file size, I can quickly see whether any values are surprisingly small or null, which can indicate a corrupt file. The metadata fields I selected above allow me to quickly use filter tools to check whether there are any variations in resolution, bit depth, and color profile settings to ensure they are correct. This text file will be written to whatever directory the command is run from. The information in several metadata fields (specified here in italics) will be pulled for each file it finds and written to a single tab-delimited text file that can then be opened and investigated in a spreadsheet program, such as Excel. This command will carry out what is called a recursive action, where I can point it to a top level folder with many subfolders and it will automatically search all subfolders for the type of file I've specified (tif, in the example). The creator of ExifTool is active on the forum, and helped me troubleshoot the creation of my favorite command:Įxiftool -T -r -ext tif -FileName -XResolution -BitsPerSample -FileSize -ProfileDescription -Directory -w+ %0f.

The Forum is a good place to go for help, as others will be quick to help you write a command if you get lost on the documentation. However, with basic command line familiarity, having an array of pre-set commands to copy-paste into Terminal or Command Prompt will be all you need to work with ExifTool.

The documentation can also be frustrating, as it is dense, not always organized in the best way, and full of jargon. ExifTool is lightweight and powerful, but unfortunately not very intuitive.

Exiftool recursive directories