Basically, Exif file format is the same as JPEG file format. Exif inserts some of image/digicam information data and thumbnail image to JPEG in conformity to JPEG specification. Therefore you can view Exif format image files by JPEG compliant Internet browser/Picture viewer/Photo retouch software etc. as a usual JPEG image files.
JPEG format and Marker
Every JPEG file starts from binary value '0xFFD8', ends by binary value '0xFFD9'. There are several binary 0xFFXX data in JPEG data, they are called as "Marker", and it means the period of JPEG information data. 0xFFD8 means SOI(Start of image), 0xFFD9 means EOI(End of image). These two special Markers have no data following, the other Markers have data with it. Basic format of Marker is below.
Data size(2 Bytes) has "Motorola" byte align, starts from bigger digits. Please notice that "Data" contains Data size descriptor, if there is a Marker like this;
FF C1 00 0C
It means this Marker(0xFFC1) has 0x000C(equal 12)bytes of data. But the data size '12' includes "Data size" descriptor, it follows only 10 bytes of data after 0x000C.
In JPEG format, some of Markers describe data, then SOS(Start of stream) Marker placed. After the SOS marker, JPEG image stream starts and terminated by EOI Marker.
SOI Marker
Marker XX size=SSSS
Marker YY size=TTTT
SOS Marker size=UUUU
Image stream
EOI Marker
FFD8
FFXX
SSSS
DDDD......
FFYY
TTTT
DDDD......
FFDA
UUUU
DDDD....
I I I I....
FFD9
Marker used by Exif
The marker 0xFFE0~0xFFEF is named "Application Marker", not necessary for decoding JPEG image. They are used by user application. For example, older olympus/canon/casio/agfa digicams use JFIF(JPEG File Interchange Format) for storing images. JFIF uses APP0(0xFFE0) Marker for inserting digicam configuration data and thumbnail image.
Also Exif uses an Application Marker for inserting data, but Exif uses APP1(0xFFE1) Marker to avoid a conflict with JFIF format. Every Exif file formats starts from this format;
SOI Marker
APP1 Marker
APP1 Data
Other Marker
FFD8
FFE1
SSSS 457869660000 TTTT......
FFXX SSSS DDDD......
It starts from SOI(0xFFD8) Marker, so it's a JPEG file. Then APP1 Marker follows immediately. All the data of Exif are stored in this APP1 data area. The part of "SSSS" on upper table means the size of APP1 data area (Exif data area). Please notice that the size "SSSS" includes the size of descriptor itself also.
After the "SSSS", APP1 data starts. The first part is a special data to identify whether Exif or not, ASCII character "Exif" and 2bytes of 0x00 are used.
After the APP1 Marker area, the other JPEG Markers follows.
Exif data structure
Roughly structure of Exif data (APP1) is shown as below. This is a case of "Intel" byte align and it contains JPEG format thumbnail. As described above, Exif data is starts from ASCII character "Exif" and 2bytes of 0x00, then Exif data follows. Exif uses TIFF format to store data. For more datails of TIFF format, please refer to "TIFF6.0 specification".
FFE1
APP1 Marker
SSSS
APP1 Data
APP1 Data Size
45786966 0000
Exif Header
49492A00 08000000
TIFF Header
XXXX. . . .
IFD0 (main image)
Directory
LLLLLLLL
Link to IFD1
XXXX. . . .
Data area of IFD0
XXXX. . . .
Exif SubIFD
Directory
00000000
End of Link
XXXX. . . .
Data area of Exif SubIFD
XXXX. . . .
IFD1(thumbnail image)
Directory
00000000
End of Link
XXXX. . . .
Data area of IFD1
FFD8XXXX. . . XXXXFFD9
Thumbnail image
Structure of TIFF header
First 8bytes of TIFF format are TIFF header. First 2bytes defines byte align of TIFF data. If it is 0x4949="I I", it means "Intel" type byte align. If it is 0x4d4d="MM", it means "Motorola" type byte align. For example, value '305,419,896' is noted as 0x12345678 by sixteenth system. At the Motrola align, it is stored as 0x12,0x34,0x56,0x78. If it's Intel align, it is stored as 0x78,0x56,0x34,0x12. It seems that most of digicams uses Intel align. Ricoh uses Motorola align. Sony uses Intel align except D700. Kodak DC200/210/240 use Motorola align, but DC220/260 use Intel align though they are using PowerPC! Therefore when we need the value of Exif data, we MUST check byte align every time. Though JPEG data uses Motorola align only, Exif allows both alignment. I can't understand why Exif didn't fix a byte align to Motorola.
Next 2bytes are always 2bytes-length value of 0x002A. If the data uses Intel align, next 2bytes are "0x2a00". If it uses Motorola, they are "0x002a". The last 4bytes of TIFF header are an offset to the first IFD(Image File Directory, described in next chapter). Includes this offset, all the offset value used in TIFF format counts offset bytes from the first of TIFF header("I I" or "MM"). Usually the first IFD starts immediately next to TIFF header, so this offset has value '0x00000008'.
Byte align
TAG Mark
Offset to first IFD
"I I" or "MM"
2A00
0x00000008
IFD : Image file directory
Next to TIFF header, there is the first IFD:Image File Directory. It contains image information data. At the chart below, the first 2bytes('EEEE') means the number of directory entry contains in this IFD. Then directory entry (12bytes per entry) follows. After last directory entry, there is a 4bytes of data('LLLLLLLL' at the chart), it means an offset to next IFD. If its value is '0x00000000', it means this is the last IFD and there is no linked IFD.
EEEE
No. of directory entry
TTTT
ffff
NNNNNNNN
DDDDDDDD
Entry 0
TTTT
ffff
NNNNNNNN
DDDDDDDD
Entry 1
. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . .
TTTT
ffff
NNNNNNNN
DDDDDDDD
Entry EEEE-1
LLLLLLLL
Offset to next IFD
'TTTT'(2bytes) of above chart is Tag number, this shows a kind of data. 'ffff'(2bytes) is data format, 'NNNNNNNN'(4bytes) is number of components. 'DDDDDDDD'(4bytes) contains a data value or offset to data value.
Data format
Data format ('ffff' at the above chart) is defined as below. "rational" means a fractional value, it contains 2 signed/unsigned long integer value, and the first represents the numerator, the second, the denominator.
Value
1
2
3
4
5
6
Format
unsigned byte
ascii strings
unsigned short
unsigned long
unsigned rational
signed byte
Bytes/component
1
1
2
4
8
1
Value
7
8
9
10
11
12
Format
undefined
signed short
signed long
signed rational
single float
double float
Bytes/component
1
2
4
8
4
8
You can get the total data byte length by multiplies a 'bytes/components' value (see above chart) by number of components stored 'NNNNNNNN' area. If total data length is less than 4bytes, 'DDDDDDDD' contains the value of that Tag. If its size is over 4bytes, 'DDDDDDDD' contains the offset to data stored address.
IFD data structure
At Exif format, the first IFD is IFD0(IFD of main image), then it links to IFD1(IFD of thumbnail image) and IFD link is terminated. But IFD0/IFD1 doesn't contain any digicam's information such as shutter speed, focal length etc. IFD0 always contains special Tag Exif Offset(0x8769), it shows an offset to Exif SubIFD. Exif SubIFD is IFD formatted data also, it contains digicam's information.
1
2
3
0000:49492A0008000000-02001A0105000100
0010:0000260000006987-0400010000001102
0020:0000400000004800-000001000000
If the first part of TIFF data is above, it can read as;
The first 2bytes are "I I", byte align is 'Intel'.
Address 0x0004~0x0007 is 0x08000000, IFD0 starts from address '0x0008'
Address 0x0008~0x0009 is 0x0200, number of directory entry of IFD0 is '2'.
Address 0x000a~0x000b is 0x1A01, it means this is a XResolution(0x011A) Tag, it contains a horizontal resolution of image.
Address 0x000c~0x000d is 0x0500, format of this value is unsigned rational(0x0005).
Address 0x000e~0x0011 is 0x01000000, number of components is '1'. Unsigned rational's data size is 8bytes/components, so total data length is 1x8=8bytes.
Total data length is larger than 4bytes, so next 4bytes contains an offset to data.
Address 0x0012~0x0015 is 0x26000000, XResolution data is stored to address 0x0026
Address 0x0026~0x0029 is 0x48000000, numerator is 72, address 0x002a~0x002d is 0x0100000000, denominator is '1'. So the value of XResoultion is 72/1.
Address0x0016~0x0017 is 0x6987, next Tag is ExifOffset(0x8769). Its value is an offset to Exif SubIFD
Data format is 0x0004, unsigned long integer.
This Tag has one component. Unsigned long integer's data size is 4bytes/components, so total data size is 4bytes.
Total data size is equal to 4bytes, next 4bytes contains the value of Exif SubIFD offset.
Address 0x001e~0x0021 is 0x11020000, Exif SubIFD starts from address '0x0211'.
This is the last directory entry, next 4bytes shows an offset to next IFD.
Address 0x0022~0x0025 is 0x40000000, next IFD starts from address '0x0040'
Thumbnail image
Exif format contains thumbnail of image (except Ricoh RDC-300Z). Usually it is located next to the IFD1. There are 3 formats for thumbnails; JPEG format(JPEG uses YCbCr), RGB TIFF format, YCbCr TIFF format.
JPEG format thumbnail
If the value of Compression(0x0103) Tag in IFD1 is '6', thumbnail image format is JPEG. Most of Exif image uses JPEG format for thumbnail. In that case, you can get offset of thumbnail by JpegIFOffset(0x0201) Tag in IFD1, size of thumbnail by JpegIFByteCount(0x0202) Tag. Data format is ordinary JPEG format, starts from 0xFFD8 and ends by 0xFFD9. It seems that JPEG format and 160x120pixels of size are recommended thumbnail format for Exif2.1 or later.
TIFF format thumbnail
If the value of Compression(0x0103) Tag in IFD1 is '1', thumbnail image format is no compression(called TIFF image). Start point of thumbnail data is StripOffset(0x0111) Tag, size of thumbnail is the sum of StripByteCounts(0x0117) Tag.
If thumbnail uses no compression and PhotometricInterpretation(0x0106)Tag in IFD1 has a value '2', thumbnail uses RGB format. In that case, you can see thumbnail image by simply copy data to computer's RGB format(such as BMP format, or copy to VRAM directory). Kodak DC-210/220/260 use this format.
If that tag has a value '6', thumbnail uses YCbCr format. If you want to see thumbnail, you must convert it to RGB. Ricoh RDC4200/4300, Fuji DS-7/300 and DX-5/7/9 use this format(newer RDC5000/MX-X00 series use JPEG). Next section is brief description to conversion of Fuji DS's thumbnail. For more details, refer to TIFF6.0 specification.
At DX-5/7/9, YCbCrSubsampling(0x0212) has values of '2,1', PlanarConfiguration(0x011c) has a value '1'. So the data align of this image is below.
The numerics in parenthesis are pixel coordinates. DX series' YCbCrCoefficients(0x0211) has values '0.299/0.587/0.114', ReferenceBlackWhite(0x0214) has values '0,255,128,255,128,255'. Therefore to convert from Y/Cb/Cr to RGB is;
Horizontal subsampling is a value '2', so you can calculate B(1,0)/R(1,0)/G(1,0) by using the Y(1,0) and Cr(0,0)/Cb(0,0). Repeat this conversion by value of ImageWidth(0x0100) and ImageLength(0x0101).
Tag number used by Exif/TIFF
Tag numbers used by Exif/TIFF are shown as below. If the Tag has upper limit of components number, CompoNo column has numeric value. If it has no value, there is no limitation.
Tags used by IFD0 (main image)
Tag No.
Tag Name
Format
CompoNo
Desc.
0x010e
ImageDescription
ascii string
Describes image
0x010f
Make
ascii string
Shows manufacturer of digicam
0x0110
Model
ascii string
Shows model number of digicam
0x0112
Orientation
unsigned short
1
The orientation of the camera relative to the scene, when the image was captured. The start point of stored data is, '1' means upper left, '3' lower right, '6' upper right, '8' lower left, '9' undefined.
0x011a
XResolution
unsigned rational
1
Display/Print resolution of image. Large number of digicam uses 1/72inch, but it has no mean because personal computer doesn't use this value to display/print out.
0x011b
YResolution
unsigned rational
1
0x0128
ResolutionUnit
unsigned short
1
Unit of XResolution(0x011a)/YResolution(0x011b). '1' means no-unit, '2' means inch, '3' means centimeter.
0x0131
Software
ascii string
Shows firmware(internal software of digicam) version number.
0x0132
DateTime
ascii string
20
Date/Time of image was last modified. Data format is "YYYY:MM:DD HH:MM:SS"+0x00, total 20bytes. In usual, it has the same value of DateTimeOriginal(0x9003)
0x013e
WhitePoint
unsigned rational
2
Defines chromaticity of white point of the image. If the image uses CIE Standard Illumination D65(known as international standard of 'daylight'), the values are '3127/10000,3290/10000'.
0x013f
PrimaryChromaticities
unsigned rational
6
Defines chromaticity of the primaries of the image. If the image uses CCIR Recommendation 709 primearies, values are '640/1000,330/1000,300/1000,600/1000,150/1000,0/1000'.
0x0211
YCbCrCoefficients
unsigned rational
3
When image format is YCbCr, this value shows a constant to translate it to RGB format. In usual, values are '0.299/0.587/0.114'.
0x0213
YCbCrPositioning
unsigned short
1
When image format is YCbCr and uses 'Subsampling'(cropping of chroma data, all the digicam do that), defines the chroma sample point of subsampling pixel array. '1' means the center of pixel array, '2' means the datum point.
0x0214
ReferenceBlackWhite
unsigned rational
6
Shows reference value of black point/white point. In case of YCbCr format, first 2 show black/white of Y, next 2 are Cb, last 2 are Cr. In case of RGB format, first 2 show black/white of R, next 2 are G, last 2 are B.
0x8298
Copyright
ascii string
Shows copyright information
0x8769
ExifOffset
unsigned long
1
Offset to Exif Sub IFD
Tags used by Exif SubIFD
Tag No.
Tag Name
Format
CompoNo
Desc.
0x829a
ExposureTime
unsigned rational
1
Exposure time (reciprocal of shutter speed). Unit is second.
0x829d
FNumber
unsigned rational
1
The actual F-number(F-stop) of lens when the image was taken.
0x8822
ExposureProgram
unsigned short
1
Exposure program that the camera used when image was taken. '1' means manual control, '2' program normal, '3' aperture priority, '4' shutter priority, '5' program creative (slow program), '6' program action(high-speed program), '7' portrait mode, '8' landscape mode.
0x8827
ISOSpeedRatings
unsigned short
2
CCD sensitivity equivalent to Ag-Hr film speedrate.
0x9000
ExifVersion
undefined
4
Exif version number. Stored as 4bytes of ASCII character (like "0210")
0x9003
DateTimeOriginal
ascii string
20
Date/Time of original image taken. This value should not be modified by user program.
0x9004
DateTimeDigitized
ascii string
20
Date/Time of image digitized. Usually, it contains the same value of DateTimeOriginal(0x9003).
0x9101
ComponentConfiguration
undefined
Unknown. It seems value 0x00,0x01,0x02,0x03 always.
0x9102
CompressedBitsPerPixel
unsigned rational
1
The average compression ratio of JPEG.
0x9201
ShutterSpeedValue
signed rational
1
Shutter speed. To convert this value to ordinary 'Shutter Speed'; calculate this value's power of 2, then reciprocal. For example, if value is '4', shutter speed is 1/(2^4)=1/16 second.
0x9202
ApertureValue
unsigned rational
1
The actual aperture value of lens when the image was taken. To convert this value to ordinary F-number(F-stop), calculate this value's power of root 2 (=1.4142). For example, if value is '5', F-number is 1.4142^5 = F5.6.
0x9203
BrightnessValue
signed rational
1
Brightness of taken subject, unit is EV.
0x9204
ExposureBiasValue
signed rational
1
Exposure bias value of taking picture. Unit is EV.
0x9205
MaxApertureValue
unsigned rational
1
Maximum aperture value of lens. You can convert to F-number by calculating power of root 2 (same process of ApertureValue(0x9202).
0x9206
SubjectDistance
signed rational
1
Distance to focus point, unit is meter.
0x9207
MeteringMode
unsigned short
1
Exposure metering method. '1' means average, '2' center weighted average, '3' spot, '4' multi-spot, '5' multi-segment.
0x9208
LightSource
unsigned short
1
Light source, actually this means white balance setting. '0' means auto, '1' daylight, '2' fluorescent, '3' tungsten, '10' flash.
0x9209
Flash
unsigned short
1
'1' means flash was used, '0' means not used.
0x920a
FocalLength
unsigned rational
1
Focal length of lens used to take image. Unit is millimeter.
0x927c
MakerNote
undefined
Maker dependent internal data. Some of maker such as Olympus/Nikon/Sanyo etc. uses IFD format for this area.
0x9286
UserComment
undefined
Stores user comment.
0xa000
FlashPixVersion
undefined
4
Stores FlashPix version. Unknown but 4bytes of ASCII characters "0100"exists.
0xa001
ColorSpace
unsigned short
1
Unknown, value is '1'.
0xa002
ExifImageWidth
unsignedshort/long
1
Size of main image.
0xa003
ExifImageHeight
unsignedshort/long
1
0xa004
RelatedSoundFile
ascii string
If this digicam can record audio data with image, shows name of audio data.
0xa005
ExifInteroperabilityOffset
unsigned long
1
Extension of "ExifR98", detail is unknown. This value is offset to IFD format data. Currently there are 2 directory entries, first one is Tag0x0001, value is "R98", next is Tag0x0002, value is "0100".
0xa20e
FocalPlaneXResolution
unsigned rational
1
CCD's pixel density.
0xa20f
FocalPlaneYResolution
unsigned rational
1
0xa210
FocalPlaneResolutionUnit
unsigned short
1
Unit of FocalPlaneXResoluton/FocalPlaneYResolution. '1' means no-unit, '2' inch, '3' centimeter.
0xa217
SensingMethod
unsigned short
1
Shows type of image sensor unit. '2' means 1 chip color area sensor, most of all digicam use this type.
0xa300
FileSource
undefined
1
Unknown but value is '3'.
0xa301
SceneType
undefined
1
Unknown but value is '1'.
Tags used by IFD1 (thumbnail image)
Tag No.
Tag Name
Format
CompoNo
Desc.
0x0100
ImageWidth
unsignedshort/long
1
Shows size of thumbnail image.
0x0101
ImageLength
unsignedshort/long
1
0x0102
BitsPerSample
unsigned short
3
When image format is no compression, this value shows the number of bits per component for each pixel. Usually this value is '8,8,8'
0x0103
Compression
unsigned short
1
Shows compression method. '1' means no compression, '6' means JPEG compression.
0x0106
PhotometricInterpretation
unsigned short
1
Shows the color space of the image data components. '1' means monochrome, '2' means RGB, '6' means YCbCr.
0x0111
StripOffsets
unsignedshort/long
When image format is no compression, this value shows offset to image data. In some case image data is striped and this value is plural.
0x0115
SamplesPerPixel
unsigned short
1
When image format is no compression, this value shows the number of components stored for each pixel. At color image, this value is '3'.
0x0116
RowsPerStrip
unsigned short/long
1
When image format is no compression and image has stored as strip, this value shows how many rows stored to each strip. If image has not striped, this value is the same as ImageLength(0x0101).
0x0117
StripByteConunts
unsignedshort/long
When image format is no compression and stored as strip, this value shows how many bytes used for each strip and this value is plural. If image has not stripped, this value is single and means whole data size of image.
0x011a
XResolution
unsigned rational
1
Display/Print resolution of image. Large number of digicam uses 1/72inch, but it has no mean because personal computer doesn't use this value to display/print out.
0x011b
YResolution
unsigned rational
1
0x011c
PlanarConfiguration
unsigned short
1
When image format is no compression YCbCr, this value shows byte aligns of YCbCr data. If value is '1', Y/Cb/Cr value is chunky format, contiguous for each subsampling pixel. If value is '2', Y/Cb/Cr value is separated and stored to Y plane/Cb plane/Cr plane format.
0x0128
ResolutionUnit
unsigned short
1
Unit of XResolution(0x011a)/YResolution(0x011b). '1' means inch, '2' means centimeter.
0x0201
JpegIFOffset
unsigned long
1
When image format is JPEG, this value show offset to JPEG data stored.
0x0202
JpegIFByteCount
unsigned long
1
When image format is JPEG, this value shows data size of JPEG image.
0x0211
YCbCrCoefficients
unsigned rational
3
When image format is YCbCr, this value shows constants to translate it to RGB format. In usual, '0.299/0.587/0.114' are used.
0x0212
YCbCrSubSampling
unsigned short
2
When image format is YCbCr and uses subsampling(cropping of chroma data, all the digicam do that), this value shows how many chroma data subsampled. First value shows horizontal, next value shows vertical subsample rate.
0x0213
YCbCrPositioning
unsigned short
1
When image format is YCbCr and uses 'Subsampling'(cropping of chroma data, all the digicam do that), this value defines the chroma sample point of subsampled pixel array. '1' means the center of pixel array, '2' means the datum point(0,0).
0x0214
ReferenceBlackWhite
unsigned rational
6
Shows reference value of black point/white point. In case of YCbCr format, first 2 show black/white of Y, next 2 are Cb, last 2 are Cr. In case of RGB format, first 2 show black/white of R, next 2 are G, last 2 are B.
Misc Tags
Tag No.
Tag Name
Format
CompoNo
Desc.
0x00fe
NewSubfileType
unsigned long
1
0x00ff
SubfileType
unsigned short
1
0x012d
TransferFunction
unsigned short
3
0x013b
Artist
ascii string
0x013d
Predictor
unsigned short
1
0x0142
TileWidth
unsigned short
1
0x0143
TileLength
unsigned short
1
0x0144
TileOffsets
unsigned long
0x0145
TileByteCounts
unsigned short
0x014a
SubIFDs
unsigned long
0x015b
JPEGTables
undefined
0x828d
CFARepeatPatternDim
unsigned short
2
0x828e
CFAPattern
unsigned byte
0x828f
BatteryLevel
unsigned rational
1
0x83bb
IPTC/NAA
unsigned long
0x8773
InterColorProfile
undefined
0x8824
SpectralSensitivity
ascii string
0x8825
GPSInfo
unsigned long
1
0x8828
OECF
undefined
0x8829
Interlace
unsigned short
1
0x882a
TimeZoneOffset
signed short
1
0x882b
SelfTimerMode
unsigned short
1
0x920b
FlashEnergy
unsigned rational
1
0x920c
SpatialFrequencyResponse
undefined
0x920d
Noise
undefined
0x9211
ImageNumber
unsigned long
1
0x9212
SecurityClassification
ascii string
1
0x9213
ImageHistory
ascii string
0x9214
SubjectLocation
unsigned short
4
0x9215
ExposureIndex
unsigned rational
1
0x9216
TIFF/EPStandardID
unsigned byte
4
0x9290
SubSecTime
ascii string
0x9291
SubSecTimeOriginal
ascii string
0x9292
SubSecTimeDigitized
ascii string
0xa20b
FlashEnergy
unsigned rational
1
0xa20c
SpatialFrequencyResponse
unsigned short
1
0xa214
SubjectLocation
unsigned short
1
0xa215
ExposureIndex
unsigned rational
1
0xa302
CFAPattern
undefined
1
Appendix 1: MakerNote of Olympus Digicams
The data below is analyzed at Olympus D450Z(C-920Z) by Peter Esherick.
MakerNote of Olympus Digicam starts from ASCII string "OLYMP". Data format is the same as IFD, it starts from offset 0x07. Example of actual data structure is shown below.
Shows picture taking mode. First value means 0=normal, 1=unknown, 2=fast, 3=panorama. Second value means sequence number, third value means panorama direction, 1=left to right, 2=right to left, 3=bottom to top, 4=top to bottom.
0x0201
JpegQual
Unsigned Short
1
Shows JPEG quality. 1=SQ,2=HQ,3=SHQ.
0x0202
Macro
Unsigned Short
1
Shows Macro mode or not. 0=normal, 1=macro.
0x0203
Unknown
Unsigned Short
1
Unknown
0x0204
DigiZoom
Unsigned Rational
1
Shows Digital Zoom ratio. 0=normal, 2=digital 2x zoom.
0x0205
Unknown
Unsigned Rational
1
Unknown
0x0206
Unknown
Signed Short
6
Unknown
0x0207
SoftwareRelease
Ascii string
5
Shows Firmware version.
0x0208
PictInfo
Ascii string
52
Contains ASCII format data such as [PctureInfo]. This is the same data format of older Olympus digicams which not used Exif data format (C1400/C820/D620/D340 etc).
0x0209
CameraID
Undefined
32
Contains CameraID data, which is user changeable by some utilities