Retrieving EXIF Metadata as a Dictionary in Python

In image processing, extracting metadata from images like EXIF data can provide valuable information. This article explores how to access EXIF data stored in an image using the Python Imaging Library (PIL).

How to Convert EXIF Data to a Dictionary Using PIL

To obtain EXIF data as a dictionary in PIL, follow these steps:

Step 1: Open the Image

First, import the Image module from PIL and open the image of interest:

import PIL.Image
img = PIL.Image.open('image.jpg')

Step 2: Access EXIF Data

Next, utilize the protected method _getexif() to extract the EXIF data:

exif_data = img._getexif()

This results in a dictionary with keys representing EXIF numeric tags and values representing corresponding data.

Step 3: Map EXIF Tags to Strings (Optional)

To obtain a dictionary indexed by human-readable EXIF tag names, map the numeric tags to their corresponding strings from the PIL.ExifTags module:

import PIL.ExifTags
exif = {
    PIL.ExifTags.TAGS[k]: v
    for k, v in exif_data.items()
    if k in PIL.ExifTags.TAGS
}

This gives you a more user-friendly representation of the EXIF metadata in dictionary form.