"Offering free computer help, hints, and tips to the Internet populace." Now with over 3,820 tips!

IrfanView

View Photograph EXIF Metadata Inside IrfanView

SUMMARY: With a plugin, have IrfanView display EXIF metadata stored inside photos taken by digital cameras.

Digital cameras store extra information inside photos called EXIF metadata. Tags may include information such as the name of the digital camera used to take the photo, as well as exposure settings, aperture, metering mode, focal length, and other information when the photo was taken.

Although IrfanView has an option to display such information, trying to access it by default displays a "Can't load PlugIn - EXIF.DLL" error. To install this plugin so you can view EXIF tags:

1. Either install all IrfanView plugins at once or just download iv_misc.zip.

2. Run the plugin setup program, or if you downloaded the ZIP file, open it and extract the "Exif.dll" file to your Irfanview Plugins directory, usually "C:\Program Files\IrfanView\Plugins" or "C:\IrfanView\Plugins".

IrfanView Exif plugin extracted to IrfanView's "Plugins" folder

3. Restart IrfanView.

4. Open an image file containing EXIF tags.

5. Select "Image" - "Information" or press I.

6. When the "IrfanView - Image Properties" dialog box appears, click the "EXIF info*" button.

7. The "EXIF Info" dialog box appears where you can browse through the photo's EXIF tags. If desired, click the "Copy to clipboard" button so the information can be pasted into another application.

8. When done, click "Exit" to close the "EXIF Info" dialog box, and "OK" to close the "IrfanView - Image Properties" dialog box.

This tip was written for IrfanView 4.25 on a Windows XP system. Features, information, and screenshots for other versions and operating systems may differ.