GPS Tags

These GPS tags are part of the EXIF standard, and are stored in a separate IFD within the EXIF information.

ExifTool is very flexible about the input format when writing lat/long coordinates, and will accept from 1 to 3 floating point numbers (for decimal degrees, degrees and minutes, or degrees, minutes and seconds) separated by just about anything, and will format them properly according to the EXIF specification.

Some GPS tags have values which are fixed-length strings. For these, the indicated string lengths include a null terminator which is added automatically by ExifTool. Remember that the descriptive values are used when writing (eg. 'Above Sea Level', not '0') unless the print conversion is disabled (with '-n' on the command line or the PrintConv option in the API, or by suffixing the tag name with a # character).

When adding GPS information to an image, it is important to set all of the following tags: GPSLatitude, GPSLatitudeRef, GPSLongitude, GPSLongitudeRef, and GPSAltitude and GPSAltitudeRef if the altitude is known. ExifTool will write the required GPSVersionID tag automatically if new a GPS IFD is added to an image.

Tag ID Tag Name Writable Values / Notes 0x0000 GPSVersionID int8u[4]:   0x0001 GPSLatitudeRef string[2] (tags 0x0001-0x0006 used for camera location according to MWG 2.0. ExifTool will also accept a number when writing GPSLatitude -- positive for north latitudes, or negative for south) 'N' = North 'S' = South 0x0002 GPSLatitude rational64u[3]   0x0003 GPSLongitudeRef string[2] (ExifTool will also accept a number when writing this tag -- positive for east longitudes or negative for west) 'E' = East 'W' = West 0x0004 GPSLongitude rational64u[3]   0x0005 GPSAltitudeRef int8u (ExifTool will also accept a signed number when writing this tag, beginning with "+" for above sea level, or "-" for below) 0 = Above Sea Level 1 = Below Sea Level 0x0006 GPSAltitude rational64u   0x0007 GPSTimeStamp rational64u[3] (when writing, date is stripped off if present, and time is adjusted to UTC if it includes a timezone) 0x0008 GPSSatellites string   0x0009 GPSStatus string[2] 'A' = Measurement Active 'V' = Measurement Void 0x000a GPSMeasureMode string[2] 2 = 2-Dimensional Measurement 3 = 3-Dimensional Measurement 0x000b GPSDOP rational64u   0x000c GPSSpeedRef string[2] 'K' = km/h 'M' = mph 'N' = knots 0x000d GPSSpeed rational64u   0x000e GPSTrackRef string[2] 'M' = Magnetic North 'T' = True North 0x000f GPSTrack rational64u   0x0010 GPSImgDirectionRef string[2] 'M' = Magnetic North 'T' = True North 0x0011 GPSImgDirection rational64u   0x0012 GPSMapDatum string   0x0013 GPSDestLatitudeRef string[2] (tags 0x0013-0x001a used for subject location according to MWG 2.0) 'N' = North 'S' = South 0x0014 GPSDestLatitude rational64u[3]   0x0015 GPSDestLongitudeRef string[2] 'E' = East 'W' = West 0x0016 GPSDestLongitude rational64u[3]   0x0017 GPSDestBearingRef string[2] 'M' = Magnetic North 'T' = True North 0x0018 GPSDestBearing rational64u   0x0019 GPSDestDistanceRef string[2] 'K' = Kilometers 'M' = Miles 'N' = Nautical Miles 0x001a GPSDestDistance rational64u   0x001b GPSProcessingMethod undef (values of "GPS", "CELLID", "WLAN" or "MANUAL" by the EXIF spec.) 0x001c GPSAreaInformation undef   0x001d GPSDateStamp string[11] (when writing, time is stripped off if present, after adjusting date/time to UTC if time includes a timezone. Format is YYYY:mm:dd) 0x001e GPSDifferential int16u 0 = No Correction 1 = Differential Corrected 0x001f GPSHPositioningError rational64u

<-- ExifTool Tag Names