ime 1.0.0

A fast, lightweight CLI for reading, writing, and wiping metadata from image files.
ime-1.0.0 is not a library.

🧬 Image Metadata Editor ime

ime is a fast, lightweight, and portable CLI written in Rust for reading, writing, and completely wiping metadata from image files.

Installation

Using Cargo (Recommended for Rust users)

If you have Rust installed, you can easily install the latest version directly from crates.io:

cargo install ime

Pre-built binaries

Alternatively, you can download a pre-built executable for your operating system from the Releases page.

Usage

ime <file> [OPTIONS]
Flag Short Description
--output <path> -o Write result (or modified file) to <path> instead of stdout / in-place
--strip -s Remove all metadata from the file (JPEG & PNG only)
--set Key=Value Inject a metadata tag; repeatable (JPEG & PNG only)
--key <path> -k Extract a single value using a dot-notation path
--version -v Print the semver version number and exit
--help -h Print help and exit

Reading metadata

Outputs all extracted metadata as a flat JSON object (one key per metadata directory).

# Print all metadata to stdout
ime photo.jpg

# Save to a file
ime photo.jpg -o meta.json

Output example

{
  "Exif": {
    "DateTimeOriginal": "2023-08-14 10:20:30",
    "FocalLength": "24/1 (24.0000)",
    "ISOSpeedRatings": "400"
  },
  "Tiff": {
    "Make": "SONY",
    "Model": "DSC-RX100M5A"
  },
  "PngText": {
    "parameters": "beautiful landscape ...",
    "workflow": "{\"nodes\": [...]}"
  }
}

Extracting a single value (-k / --key)

Use dot-notation (same style as jq) to extract a single tag from the metadata.

  • Leading . is optional — both .Tiff.Make and Tiff.Make work.
  • Array indices are supported: nodes[0].type.
  • Smart JSON traversal: if a tag value is itself a JSON string (common in ComfyUI workflow or prompt keys), ime automatically parses it and continues traversal.
# Extract a scalar value (printed as raw text, no quotes)
ime photo.jpg -k Tiff.Make
# Kyocera Visual Phone 

# Same with leading dot
ime photo.jpg -k .Tiff.Model
# VP-210

# Extract the raw generation parameters from a ForgeUI/A1111 PNG
ime image.png -k PngText.parameters

# Enter a ComfyUI workflow JSON embedded inside a tEXt chunk
ime image.png -k PngText.workflow.nodes[0].class_type

# Missing key → exit code 1
ime photo.jpg -k Exif.NonExistent
# Error: Key 'Exif.NonExistent' not found in metadata

When the result is a plain string it is printed without surrounding quotes.
When the result is an object or array it is printed as pretty-printed JSON.

Stripping metadata (-s / --strip)

Removes all EXIF and embedded metadata from the file in-place.
Use -o to write to a new file instead (original is left untouched).

Supported formats: JPEG, PNG.

ime photo.jpg -s              # in-place
ime photo.jpg -s -o clean.jpg # write to a new file

Injecting metadata (--set)

Sets one or more metadata tags. Existing tags that are not mentioned are preserved.
Can be combined with -o to write to a new file.

Supported formats: JPEG, PNG.

# Standard EXIF tag
ime photo.jpg --set "ImageDescription=Sunset at the lake"

# Multiple tags
ime photo.jpg --set "Artist=Jan Kowalski" --set "Copyright=2025 Jan Kowalski"

# Write to a new file
ime photo.jpg --set "Software=ime" -o tagged.jpg

# Custom key (PNG → tEXt chunk; JPEG → UserComment JSON)
ime image.png --set "prompt=a cat sitting on a roof" --set "negative_prompt=blurry"

# Inject multiple tags from a JSON object
ime image.png --set-json '{"prompt":"a cat","steps":30,"cfg":7}'

Supported formats

Category Formats Read Write
Image JPEG, PNG ✅ ✅
Image WebP, HEIC/HEIF, AVIF, TIFF, CR3, RAF, IIQ ✅ ❌
Video MP4, MOV, 3GP, MKV, WebM ✅ ❌

Exit codes

Code Meaning
0 Success
1 Runtime error (I/O error, unsupported format, key not found, corrupt file)
2 Usage error (bad flags, missing file argument)

🧾 Changelog

All notable changes to this project will be documented in the CHANGELOG.md file.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the CC-BY-NC-4.0 License.