Editing EXIF is not only for hiding things. Cameras have wrong clocks, scanned prints have no date, and photographers want their name and copyright to travel with their work. This guide shows when editing is the right move, how to do it, and where to draw the line.
Good reasons to edit
- Fix a wrong date. A camera that was never set to local time files photos under the wrong day.
- Add authorship. Put your name and copyright into the file so the credit stays with it.
- Describe the picture. A short description helps libraries and search.
- Remove the location but keep the rest.
- Standardise. Give a batch of scans the same software and artist fields.
How to do it with the EXIF Editor
- Open the EXIF Editor and choose a JPEG. It is read in your browser and not uploaded.
- Each box shows what the photo says now. Change what you need. Clear a box to remove that field.
- Press Download edited photo.
- Open the result in the EXIF Viewer to confirm.
One thing to know: saving deletes every tag that is not in the boxes. The editor removes all old EXIF, XMP, IPTC, comments and thumbnails first, then writes only the fields you provided. That avoids leaving a stale thumbnail or a hidden field behind, but it also means the exposure values are not kept. If you need to keep every technical tag and change only one, use a command-line tool such as ExifTool on your computer.
Dates and time zones
EXIF dates have no time zone in the basic field. They record the camera’s clock as a plain local time. When you correct a date, enter the local time at the place where the photo was taken.
Where to draw the line
If you only want the location gone
Use the Photo GPS Location tool. It shows where the photo says it was taken and offers a button that removes only the location while keeping the author, camera and date.