IPTC Tags

The tags listed below are part of the International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC) and the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) Information Interchange Model (IIM). This is an older meta information format, slowly being phased out in favor of XMP -- the newer IPTCCore specification uses XMP format. IPTC information may be found in JPG, TIFF, PNG, MIFF, PS, PDF, PSD, XCF and DNG images.

IPTC information is separated into different records, each of which has its own set of tags. See http://www.iptc.org/std/IIM/4.1/specification/IIMV4.1.pdf for the official IPTC IIM specification.

This specification dictates a length for ASCII (string or digits) and binary (undef) values. These lengths are given in square brackets after the Writable format name. For tags where a range of lengths is allowed, the minimum and maximum lengths are separated by a comma within the brackets. When writing, ExifTool issues a minor warning and truncates the value if it is longer than allowed by the IPTC specification. Minor errors may be ignored with the IgnoreMinorErrors (-m) option, allowing longer values to be written, but beware that values like this may cause problems for some other IPTC readers. ExifTool will happily read IPTC values of any length.

Separate IPTC date and time tags may be written with a combined date/time value and ExifTool automagically takes the appropriate part of the date/time string depending on whether a date or time tag is being written. This is very useful when copying date/time values to IPTC from other metadata formats.

IPTC time values include a timezone offset. If written with a value which doesn't include a timezone then the current local timezone offset is used (unless written with a combined date/time, in which case the local timezone offset at the specified date/time is used, which may be different due to changes in daylight savings time).

Note that it is not uncommon for IPTC to be found in non-standard locations in JPEG and TIFF-based images. When reading, the family 1 group name has a number added for non-standard IPTC ("IPTC2", "IPTC3", etc), but when writing only "IPTC" may be specified as the group. To keep the IPTC consistent, ExifTool updates tags in all existing IPTC locations, but will create a new IPTC group only in the standard location.

Record Tag Name Writable Values / Notes 1 IPTCEnvelope - --> IPTC EnvelopeRecord Tags 2 IPTCApplication - --> IPTC ApplicationRecord Tags 3 IPTCNewsPhoto - --> IPTC NewsPhoto Tags 7 IPTCPreObjectData - --> IPTC PreObjectData Tags 8 IPTCObjectData - --> IPTC ObjectData Tags 9 IPTCPostObjectData - --> IPTC PostObjectData Tags 240 IPTCFotoStation - --> IPTC FotoStation Tags

IPTC EnvelopeRecord Tags

Tag ID Tag Name Writable Values / Notes 0 EnvelopeRecordVersion int16u:   5 Destination string[0,1024]+   20 FileFormat int16u 0 = No ObjectData 1 = IPTC-NAA Digital Newsphoto Parameter Record 2 = IPTC7901 Recommended Message Format 3 = Tagged Image File Format (Adobe/Aldus Image data) 4 = Illustrator (Adobe Graphics data) 5 = AppleSingle (Apple Computer Inc) 6 = NAA 89-3 (ANPA 1312) 7 = MacBinary II 8 = IPTC Unstructured Character Oriented File Format (UCOFF) 9 = United Press International ANPA 1312 variant 10 = United Press International Down-Load Message 11 = JPEG File Interchange (JFIF) 12 = Photo-CD Image-Pac (Eastman Kodak) 13 = Bit Mapped Graphics File [.BMP] (Microsoft) 14 = Digital Audio File [.WAV] (Microsoft & Creative Labs) 15 = Audio plus Moving Video [.AVI] (Microsoft) 16 = PC DOS/Windows Executable Files [.COM][.EXE] 17 = Compressed Binary File [.ZIP] (PKWare Inc) 18 = Audio Interchange File Format AIFF (Apple Computer Inc) 19 = RIFF Wave (Microsoft Corporation) 20 = Freehand (Macromedia/Aldus) 21 = Hypertext Markup Language [.HTML] (The Internet Society) 22 = MPEG 2 Audio Layer 2 (Musicom), ISO/IEC 23 = MPEG 2 Audio Layer 3, ISO/IEC 24 = Portable Document File [.PDF] Adobe 25 = News Industry Text Format (NITF) 26 = Tape Archive [.TAR] 27 = Tidningarnas Telegrambyra NITF version (TTNITF DTD) 28 = Ritzaus Bureau NITF version (RBNITF DTD) 29 = Corel Draw [.CDR] 22 FileVersion int16u   30 ServiceIdentifier string[0,10]   40 EnvelopeNumber digits[8]   50 ProductID string[0,32]+   60 EnvelopePriority digits[1] 0 = 0 (reserved) 1 = 1 (most urgent) 2 = 2 3 = 3 4 = 4 5 = 5 (normal urgency) 6 = 6 7 = 7 8 = 8 (least urgent) 9 = 9 (user-defined priority) 70 DateSent digits[8]   80 TimeSent string[11]   90 CodedCharacterSet string[0,32]! (values are entered in the form "ESC X Y[, ...]". The escape sequence for UTF-8 character coding is "ESC % G", but this is displayed as "UTF8" for convenience. Either string may be used when writing. The value of this tag affects the decoding of string values in the Application and NewsPhoto records. This tag is marked as "unsafe" to prevent it from being copied by default in a group operation because existing tags in the destination image may use a different encoding. When creating a new IPTC record from scratch, it is suggested that this be set to "UTF8" if special characters are a possibility) 100 UniqueObjectName string[14,80]   120 ARMIdentifier int16u   122 ARMVersion int16u

IPTC ApplicationRecord Tags

Tag ID Tag Name Writable Values / Notes 0 ApplicationRecordVersion int16u:   3 ObjectTypeReference string[3,67]   4 ObjectAttributeReference string[4,68]+   5 ObjectName string[0,64]   7 EditStatus string[0,64]   8 EditorialUpdate digits[2] 01 = Additional language 10 Urgency digits[1] 0 = 0 (reserved) 1 = 1 (most urgent) 2 = 2 3 = 3 4 = 4 5 = 5 (normal urgency) 6 = 6 7 = 7 8 = 8 (least urgent) 9 = 9 (user-defined priority) 12 SubjectReference string[13,236]+   15 Category string[0,3]   20 SupplementalCategories string[0,32]+   22 FixtureIdentifier string[0,32]   25 Keywords string[0,64]+   26 ContentLocationCode string[3]+   27 ContentLocationName string[0,64]+   30 ReleaseDate digits[8]   35 ReleaseTime string[11]   37 ExpirationDate digits[8]   38 ExpirationTime string[11]   40 SpecialInstructions string[0,256]   42 ActionAdvised digits[2] 01 = Object Kill 02 = Object Replace 03 = Object Append 04 = Object Reference 45 ReferenceService string[0,10]+   47 ReferenceDate digits[8]+   50 ReferenceNumber digits[8]+   55 DateCreated digits[8]   60 TimeCreated string[11]   62 DigitalCreationDate digits[8]   63 DigitalCreationTime string[11]   65 OriginatingProgram string[0,32]   70 ProgramVersion string[0,10]   75 ObjectCycle string[1] 'a' = Morning 'b' = Both Morning and Evening 'p' = Evening 80 By-line string[0,32]+   85 By-lineTitle string[0,32]+   90 City string[0,32]   92 Sub-location string[0,32]   95 Province-State string[0,32]   100 Country-PrimaryLocationCode string[3]   101 Country-PrimaryLocationName string[0,64]   103 OriginalTransmissionReference string[0,32] (now used as a job identifier) 105 Headline string[0,256]   110 Credit string[0,32]   115 Source string[0,32]   116 CopyrightNotice string[0,128]   118 Contact string[0,128]+   120 Caption-Abstract string[0,2000]   121 LocalCaption string[0,256] (I haven't found a reference for the format of tags 121, 184-188 and 225-232, so I have just make them writable as strings with reasonable length. Beware that if this is wrong, other utilities may not be able to read these tags as written by ExifTool) 122 Writer-Editor string[0,32]+   125 RasterizedCaption undef[7360]   130 ImageType string[2]   131 ImageOrientation string[1] 'L' = Landscape 'P' = Portrait 'S' = Square 135 LanguageIdentifier string[2,3]   150 AudioType string[2] '0T' = Text Only '1A' = Mono Actuality '1C' = Mono Question and Answer Session '1M' = Mono Music '1Q' = Mono Response to a Question '1R' = Mono Raw Sound '1S' = Mono Scener '1V' = Mono Voicer '1W' = Mono Wrap '2A' = Stereo Actuality '2C' = Stereo Question and Answer Session '2M' = Stereo Music '2Q' = Stereo Response to a Question '2R' = Stereo Raw Sound '2S' = Stereo Scener '2V' = Stereo Voicer '2W' = Stereo Wrap 151 AudioSamplingRate digits[6]   152 AudioSamplingResolution digits[2]   153 AudioDuration digits[6]   154 AudioOutcue string[0,64]   184 JobID string[0,64]   185 MasterDocumentID string[0,256]   186 ShortDocumentID string[0,64]   187 UniqueDocumentID string[0,128]   188 OwnerID string[0,128]   200 ObjectPreviewFileFormat int16u 0 = No ObjectData 1 = IPTC-NAA Digital Newsphoto Parameter Record 2 = IPTC7901 Recommended Message Format 3 = Tagged Image File Format (Adobe/Aldus Image data) 4 = Illustrator (Adobe Graphics data) 5 = AppleSingle (Apple Computer Inc) 6 = NAA 89-3 (ANPA 1312) 7 = MacBinary II 8 = IPTC Unstructured Character Oriented File Format (UCOFF) 9 = United Press International ANPA 1312 variant 10 = United Press International Down-Load Message 11 = JPEG File Interchange (JFIF) 12 = Photo-CD Image-Pac (Eastman Kodak) 13 = Bit Mapped Graphics File [.BMP] (Microsoft) 14 = Digital Audio File [.WAV] (Microsoft & Creative Labs) 15 = Audio plus Moving Video [.AVI] (Microsoft) 16 = PC DOS/Windows Executable Files [.COM][.EXE] 17 = Compressed Binary File [.ZIP] (PKWare Inc) 18 = Audio Interchange File Format AIFF (Apple Computer Inc) 19 = RIFF Wave (Microsoft Corporation) 20 = Freehand (Macromedia/Aldus) 21 = Hypertext Markup Language [.HTML] (The Internet Society) 22 = MPEG 2 Audio Layer 2 (Musicom), ISO/IEC 23 = MPEG 2 Audio Layer 3, ISO/IEC 24 = Portable Document File [.PDF] Adobe 25 = News Industry Text Format (NITF) 26 = Tape Archive [.TAR] 27 = Tidningarnas Telegrambyra NITF version (TTNITF DTD) 28 = Ritzaus Bureau NITF version (RBNITF DTD) 29 = Corel Draw [.CDR] 201 ObjectPreviewFileVersion int16u   202 ObjectPreviewData undef[0,256000]   221 Prefs string[0,64] (PhotoMechanic preferences) 225 ClassifyState string[0,64]   228 SimilarityIndex string[0,32]   230 DocumentNotes string[0,1024]   231 DocumentHistory string[0,256]   232 ExifCameraInfo string[0,4096]   255 CatalogSets string[0,256]+ (written by iView MediaPro)

IPTC NewsPhoto Tags

Tag ID Tag Name Writable Values / Notes 0 NewsPhotoVersion int16u:   10 IPTCPictureNumber string[16] (4 numbers: 1-Manufacturer ID, 2-Equipment ID, 3-Date, 4-Sequence) 20 IPTCImageWidth int16u   30 IPTCImageHeight int16u   40 IPTCPixelWidth int16u   50 IPTCPixelHeight int16u   55 SupplementalType int8u 0 = Main Image 1 = Reduced Resolution Image 2 = Logo 3 = Rasterized Caption 60 ColorRepresentation int16u 0x0 = No Image, Single Frame 0x100 = Monochrome, Single Frame 0x300 = 3 Components, Single Frame 0x301 = 3 Components, Frame Sequential in Multiple Objects 0x302 = 3 Components, Frame Sequential in One Object 0x303 = 3 Components, Line Sequential 0x304 = 3 Components, Pixel Sequential 0x305 = 3 Components, Special Interleaving 0x400 = 4 Components, Single Frame 0x401 = 4 Components, Frame Sequential in Multiple Objects 0x402 = 4 Components, Frame Sequential in One Object 0x403 = 4 Components, Line Sequential 0x404 = 4 Components, Pixel Sequential 0x405 = 4 Components, Special Interleaving 64 InterchangeColorSpace int8u 1 = X,Y,Z CIE 2 = RGB SMPTE 3 = Y,U,V (K) (D65) 4 = RGB Device Dependent 5 = CMY (K) Device Dependent 6 = Lab (K) CIE 7 = YCbCr 8 = sRGB 65 ColorSequence int8u   66 ICC_Profile no   70 ColorCalibrationMatrix no   80 LookupTable no   84 NumIndexEntries int16u   85 ColorPalette no   86 IPTCBitsPerSample int8u   90 SampleStructure int8u 0 = OrthogonalConstangSampling 1 = Orthogonal4-2-2Sampling 2 = CompressionDependent 100 ScanningDirection int8u 0 = L-R, Top-Bottom 1 = R-L, Top-Bottom 2 = L-R, Bottom-Top 3 = R-L, Bottom-Top    4 = Top-Bottom, L-R 5 = Bottom-Top, L-R 6 = Top-Bottom, R-L 7 = Bottom-Top, R-L 102 IPTCImageRotation int8u 0 = 0 1 = 90 2 = 180 3 = 270 110 DataCompressionMethod int32u   120 QuantizationMethod int8u 0 = Linear Reflectance/Transmittance 1 = Linear Density 2 = IPTC Ref B 3 = Linear Dot Percent 4 = AP Domestic Analogue 5 = Compression Method Specific 6 = Color Space Specific 7 = Gamma Compensated 125 EndPoints no   130 ExcursionTolerance int8u 0 = Not Allowed 1 = Allowed 135 BitsPerComponent int8u   140 MaximumDensityRange int16u   145 GammaCompensatedValue int16u

IPTC PreObjectData Tags

Tag ID Tag Name Writable Values / Notes 10 SizeMode no 0 = Size Not Known 1 = Size Known 20 MaxSubfileSize no   90 ObjectSizeAnnounced no   95 MaximumObjectSize no

IPTC ObjectData Tags

Tag ID Tag Name Writable Values / Notes 10 SubFile no+

IPTC PostObjectData Tags

Tag ID Tag Name Writable Values / Notes 10 ConfirmedObjectSize no

IPTC FotoStation Tags

Tag ID Tag Name Writable Values / Notes [no tags known]

<-- ExifTool Tag Names