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EXIFTOOL for quality assurance

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Saved by Monica
on April 22, 2018 at 7:41:36 am
 

Software notes

Exiftool can write to many image-based formats and PDFs; but can only read from some audio and video formats. For complete list see Supported File Types.

Use EXIFTOOL to confirm various technical specs. Specifications will vary by format and project, so it may be helpful to arrange your files into subfolders by format before running report.

 

Common technical specs to confirm

 

PDF files

 

Linearized field values should be Yes. This ensures the PDF has be optimized for fast web display which effects usability (e.g. downloading or online viewing speed). For more PDF tags see http://owl.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/TagNames/PDF.html

 

TIF files

Field

Note

Compression

For master files this value should always be uncompressed (not LZW). Also if LZW, the Jpeg2000 script will not work to auto create this derivative type.

ColorSpaceData

Confirm listed as RGB and not CMYK. Color spaces for printing purposes sometimes are incompatible with downstream functions like the DSpace Media Filter job which auto creates thumbnails

ImageSize

Use to confirm all tiffs within the same object are the same size. This will produce a more consistent PDF

ImageSourceData

This should be blank to confirm tiffs are flat, with no layers.

XResolution

confirm all files were scanned at PPI project specs (min 300 ppi for color)

 

 

Basic command

 

exiftool -common -csv -r folder> out.csv

 

-csv will output common characteristics

-r recursively process subdirectories

> output report to file out.csv

 

Example error messages

 

If there is an error with a file this may be noted in a Warning field. In general, any errors found via exiftool will also be found in jhove as well. Jhove tends to find more errors. Also note that embedded metadata did not appear for those files with errors even if no warning is dedicated. This may be an indicator something is wrong with the file.

 

 

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