I occasionally need to delete metadata from JPEG photos and wrote an AppleScript for this purpose. The script uses the free ExifTool command-line utility, which can be found at:

https://exiftool.org

The operation of the script is described as follows:

* The script works on a file (or files) selected in a Finder window and creates a new file in the same folder without the specified metadata.

* Entering the word all then selecting the Tag button will remove all deletable metadata except the orientation tag.

* Entering all or a portion of the name of a tag then selecting the corresponding button will remove all matching tags. Some tags cannot be deleted, and some tags can only be removed as part of a group. With a large number of files, this option can be slow.

* Entering the full name of a group (e.g. exif, gps, and jfif) then selecting the corresponding button will remove the group and the deletable tags it contains. Some groups cannot be removed, in which case the script will notify the user.

* The output file name consists of the letters "EE"; the letter T for tag or G for group; the text entered by the user in the dialog; and finally the original file name.

Repeated saves of a JPEG file can degrade image quality but FAQ 13 on the ExifTool site reports:

The following is a listing of tags recognized by ExifTool:

https://exiftool.org/TagNames/

Applescript:

set exifUtil to "/usr/local/bin/exiftool"

tell application "Finder" to set sourceFiles to selection as alias list
if sourceFiles = {} then errorDialog("File not selected.")

repeat with sourceFile in sourceFiles
   if sourceFile as text does not end with ".jpg" then errorDialog("Selected file may not be a JPEG file.")
end repeat

display dialog "Enter metadata to delete:" buttons {"Cancel", "Group", "Tag"} cancel button 1 default button 3 default answer "All" with title "Exif Edit" with icon note
set {dialogButton, dialogText} to {button returned, text returned} of result

if dialogText = "" then
   errorDialog("Metadata not entered.")
else
   set filePrefix to "EE (" & text 1 of dialogButton & space & dialogText & ") "
end if

set targetFiles to {}
set text item delimiters to "/"
repeat with sourceFile in sourceFiles
   set sourceFile to POSIX path of sourceFile
   set targetFile to (text 1 thru text item -2 of sourceFile) & "/" & filePrefix & (text item -1 of sourceFile)
   set end of targetFiles to (quoted form of targetFile) & space
   do shell script "cp " & quoted form of sourceFile & space & quoted form of targetFile
end repeat
set text item delimiters to ""

try
   if dialogText = "All" then
       do shell script exifUtil & " -overwrite_original -all= -tagsFromFile @ -orientation " & targetFiles
   else if dialogButton = "Tag" then
       do shell script exifUtil & " -overwrite_original \"-*" & dialogText & "*=\" " & targetFiles
   else if dialogButton = "Group" then
       do shell script exifUtil & " -overwrite_original -" & dialogText & ":all= " & targetFiles
   end if
on error errorText
   do shell script "rm -f " & targetFiles
   display alert "ExifTool reported the following error:" message errorText as critical
end try

on errorDialog(errorText)
   display dialog errorText buttons "OK" cancel button 1 default button 1 with title "Exif Edit" with icon stop
end errorDialog

Last edited by peavine (2020-05-27 10:06:39 am)