Metadata management now in ImageRecycle!

ImageRecycle is a tool that lets you upload and optimize your images, but the new update does much more than that, allowing you further freedom in securing your files. In fact, the latest version of ImageRecycle achieves this by allowing you to remove some or all of the so-called image metadata.

Image Metadata

An image is not simply a collection of pixels. Most modern image file formats, such as .jpeg, .tiff and .psd, are made up of different components, one of which is the actual color. In fact, an image may be imagined as a number of sections, each one dedicated for specific content.

The compartments that don’t deal with the colors making up the image usually give information about the picture. For example, the IPTC metadata describes the images, whereas the PLUS metadata provides information about copyright and licensing. Occasionally, this metadata may be separate from the file if the image uses the XMP format. ImageRecycle’s latest update, however, focuses just on the Exif metadata - data with information about the picture and how it was taken.

Exif metadata contains information about different settings used to take the picture, including exposure, aperture settings, shutter settings and the location where it was taken. It thus follows that there are various reasons why some or all of this metadata would not be included with the images.

ImageRecycle and Exif

Removing Exif metadata has various legitimate reasons. For example, you may want to hide the location of your images if you took them at home, or you may simply be looking to reduce the image’s size. Alternatively, you may want to keep your photography secrets under wraps by hiding the different settings you used to snap your pictures. And now, ImageRecycle offers you the tools to remove this.
From the latest version of ImageRecycle, the process is as simple as selecting what metadata you want to retain or remove from your pictures. By default, all the metadata is removed, but the clean metadata dropdown allows you to remove no data, or retain a selection of Exif attributes.

If you want to remove only a few metadata parameters, on the other hand, choose the preserve selected option. From here, you can select the attributes that you want ImageRecycle to hold on to, including date and time, location, copyright, orientation and the color profile.

The rest of the process is the same as usual. Drag-and-drop the images in the area beneath the metadata dropdown, or click on it and upload the images of your choice. ImageRecycle then takes care of the metadata for you!

What's next?

We'll integrate the Metadata cleaner in all our plugins for CMS.