Image Metadata Cleaner#

Clean privacy-sensitive metadata from user-owned images by writing sanitized copies. Designed for legitimate privacy hygiene, file preparation, and reproducible publishing workflows.

Use only for: images you own or are authorized to process, for privacy protection, file-size optimization, and clean publishing.

What it does#

• Re-encodes image pixels into a fresh output file — all metadata discarded
• Writes copies instead of modifying originals in place
• Defaults folder output to metadata-cleaned/ subdirectory
• Refuses output paths that resolve to the same file as the input
• Reopens outputs and scans for residual metadata keys and provenance markers
• Produces a human-readable summary and optional JSON manifest

Usage#

Single file#

text

User: clean metadata from this image: photo.png
User: remove EXIF data from IMG_2024.jpg

Folder batch#

text

User: clean metadata from all images in "C:\Users\me\Downloads"
User: remove privacy data from /path/to/folder

Steps#

1. Confirm the task is for privacy hygiene on images the user owns or is authorized to process.

2. Preview with dry-run (optional): bash

   uv run --with "pillow>=10.0" scripts/strip.py "<path>" --dry-run
   
   

3. Run the cleanup: bash

   uv run --with "pillow>=10.0" scripts/strip.py "<path>" --manifest
   
   

   Options:

   • -o <path> — Output file path (single file only)
   • --output-dir <dir> — Output directory (batch mode)
   • -f preserve|jpg|png — Output format (default: preserve — JPEG stays JPEG, others become PNG)
   • -q <1-100> — JPEG quality (default: 95)
   • --recursive — Process subdirectories
   • --overwrite — Overwrite existing output (only after user confirmation)
   • --dry-run — Preview without writing files
   • --manifest [path] — Write JSON manifest

If uv is not available: bash

pip install "pillow>=10.0" && python scripts/strip.py "<path>" --manifest

1. Report results:

   • Files processed, failed, or dry-run previewed
   • Output filenames and location
   • File size before → after
   • Dimensions preserved
   • Verification scan results (any residual metadata keys or provenance markers)

Note: this removes file-level metadata only. Pixel-level watermarks and external platform records are outside the scope.

Error Handling#

ErrorCauseFix"No supported image files found"Folder has no matching extensionsCheck input path and file types"Output already exists"Explicit output path existsUse --overwrite after user confirmation"Refusing to overwrite input file"Output path = input pathChoose a different output path"Unsupported image extension"File extension not in supported listUse PNG, JPEG, WebP, BMP, or TIFF"cannot identify image file"Corrupted or non-image fileSkip and continue with other filesPillow ImportErrorMissing dependencyRun pip install "pillow>=10.0"

What gets removed#

Metadata TypeNotesEXIFCamera, GPS, device tags. Orientation applied before saving.XMPAdobe and application metadataIPTC/PhotoshopPress and photo metadataICC ProfileColor profile (not copied to output)C2PA/JUMBFProvenance containers removed by re-encoding

Output behavior#

• Format: Default preserve — JPEG inputs stay JPEG, others written as PNG
• Naming: {name}-clean.{ext} (e.g., photo-clean.png)
• Folder mode: Outputs go to metadata-cleaned/ subdirectory
• Single file: Sibling copy next to the original
• Never overwrites input — script refuses if output resolves to input

Supported inputs#

.png, .jpg, .jpeg, .webp, .bmp, .tiff, .tif

Known limitations#

• Does not remove pixel-level watermarks, fingerprints, or invisible signals
• Does not affect external platform records or server-side provenance
• Removing ICC profiles may affect color management in some workflows
• JPEG output is lossy; PNG preferred for pixel fidelity
• Transparent images written as JPEG are composited onto white background