imgmeta-js

A fast, lightweight, Node.js library for reading image dimensions and formats, as well as parsing and editing EXIF metadata.

Built entirely in TypeScript.

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✨ Features

• 🚀 Zero Dependencies — Lightweight, secure, and easy to install.
• ⚡ Fast Image Detection — Detects image formats using magic bytes instead of file extensions.
• 📏 Read Image Dimensions — Supports multiple common image formats.
• 📸 Comprehensive JPEG EXIF Parser — Parses EXIF metadata directly from binary data using a custom TIFF parser.
• ✏️ Byte-Level EXIF Editing — Insert, update, or remove JPEG EXIF metadata while preserving existing tags whenever possible.
• 🛡️ Pure TypeScript — No native bindings, no external binaries, and works anywhere Node.js runs.

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📦 Supported Formats

Format	Read Dimensions	Read EXIF	Write EXIF
JPEG	✅	✅	✅
PNG	✅	✅	✅
GIF	✅	❌	❌
WebP	✅	❌	❌
BMP	✅	❌	❌
TIFF	❌	❌	❌

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📥 Installation

npm install imgmeta-js

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Usage

Reading Image Information and EXIF Metadata

import { read } from "imgmeta-js";

const info = await read("photo.jpg");

console.log(info.format);
console.log(info.width, info.height);

if (info.exif) {
  console.log(info.exif.make);
  console.log(info.exif.model);
  console.log(info.exif.dateTaken);

  const ARTIST_TAG = 0x013B;
  console.log(info.exif.raw[ARTIST_TAG]);
}

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Insert EXIF Metadata

Adds metadata without replacing existing values.

import { insert } from "imgmeta-js";

await insert("input.jpg", "output.jpg", {
  IFD0: {
    Artist: "Alice Smith",
    Copyright: "2026 Alice Smith"
  },
  IFD1: {
    DateTimeOriginal: "2026:07:28 17:00:00"
  }
});

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Update EXIF Metadata

Updates only the specified tags while preserving all others.

import { update } from "imgmeta-js";

await update("input.jpg", "output.jpg", {
  IFD0: {
    Artist: "Bob Jones"
  }
});

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Remove EXIF Metadata

Completely removes EXIF metadata from a JPEG image.

import { remove } from "imgmeta-js";

await remove("input.jpg", "stripped.jpg");

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Limitations

• Writing metadata is currently supported only for JPEG files.
• The custom TIFF merge engine preserves standard ASCII tags. Complex binary structures (such as embedded thumbnails or advanced GPS rational data) are removed unless explicitly rewritten.

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🤝 Contributing

Contributions are always welcome!

Whether it's fixing bugs, improving documentation, adding support for new image formats, optimizing performance, or suggesting new features, every contribution helps make imgmeta-js better.

Please read CONTRIBUTING.md before opening an issue or submitting a pull request. It contains the project's development guidelines, coding standards, and contribution workflow.

If you're unsure where to start, check the open issues or start a discussion—we'd be happy to help.

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📄 License

Released under the MIT License.