Remove Image Metadata

Besides EXIF and GPS coordinates, the tool strips XMP, IPTC, and the C2PA manifest (Content Credentials). The image itself stays the same: only what the eye can't see changes.

Here is how it works. The file is unpacked into a set of pixels, the pixels are redrawn onto a <canvas>, and encoded again. Only the colors of the dots make it into the new file, so there is nothing for anything foreign to hitch a ride on: same principle as taking a screenshot of your screen. The checksum changes in the process, and the SHA-256 values before and after are shown in the result card.

Before removal, the original file is parsed by its internal structure, by JPEG segments, PNG and WebP chunks, HEIC boxes, and the "What was in the file" row lists the tags that were found. The "What's left" row is computed from the finished file, so it is a check of the result.

C2PA tags deserve a separate word. The embedded manifest is cut out completely, together with the signature and the edit history. But C2PA has a second binding form, an invisible watermark in the pixels themselves. It is built to survive recompression, cropping, and screenshots, so this removal does not strip it: from it, Content Credentials can be restored from the cloud. The tool warns about this when it finds a manifest.

Along the way, a few more things are available:

• Format and quality. The output is PNG, JPEG, or WebP, so you can also reduce the file size.
• Scale and maximum width come in handy when the image also needs to be made smaller for an article or a presentation.
• Uniquizing. Imperceptible noise and a one-pixel crop at the edge change the image at the byte level while leaving it visually the same.
• Styling. A shadow with padding or a browser window frame, if the screenshot is headed for an article.
• HEIC from an iPhone. Only Safari and Edge open Apple's format; for other browsers the tool supplies its own decoder, so a phone shot can be dropped in as is.

You can drop several files at once, paste an image from the clipboard, or drag it in with the mouse.