如何使用exiftool移除文件夹图片元数据并保留拍摄日期？

Absolutely, ExifTool handles this kind of targeted metadata removal perfectly—let’s walk through exactly how to set this up for your folder of images.

Core Command to Keep Shooting Date & Delete All Other Metadata #

The key trick is using -all= to wipe all metadata, then explicitly excluding the date tags you want to keep with the -- prefix (this tells ExifTool to skip deleting those specific tags).

Here’s the base command for a folder (it works recursively, so it hits subfolders too):

exiftool -r -all= --DateTimeOriginal --CreateDate --ModifyDate /path/to/your/image/folder

Breakdown of Each Parameter:

• -r: Recursively process all images in subfolders under your target directory
• -all=: Delete every piece of metadata attached to the images
• --DateTimeOriginal: Keep the original shooting date (this is the primary EXIF tag for when the photo was captured)
• --CreateDate: Retain the file’s creation date (useful for maintaining consistent file timelines)
• --ModifyDate: Preserve the file’s last modified date (optional but recommended for keeping file system consistency)

Adding Custom Exception Rules #

If you ever need to keep other metadata tags down the line (e.g., camera make/model, specific GPS data), simply add more --[Tag Name] parameters. For example, to keep camera info alongside dates:

exiftool -r -all= --DateTimeOriginal --CreateDate --ModifyDate --Make --Model /path/to/your/image/folder

Target Specific Image Formats #

If you only want to process certain file types (e.g., JPG, PNG, RAW), add the -ext flag for each format:

exiftool -r -ext jpg -ext png -ext cr2 -all= --DateTimeOriginal --CreateDate --ModifyDate /path/to/your/image/folder

Important Notes #

• Backups: ExifTool automatically creates backup files (e.g., photo.jpg_original) by default. Once you verify the metadata removal worked as expected, you can delete all backups with:

  exiftool -delete_original /path/to/your/image/folder
  

• Test First: Always test the command on a single image before running it on your entire folder. For example:

  exiftool -all= --DateTimeOriginal test-image.jpg
  

  Then run exiftool test-image.jpg to confirm only the date tags remain.
• RAW Files: Some RAW formats (like CR2, NEF) might have additional date-related tags, but DateTimeOriginal is universally supported across most image types.

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者s3voch7