Installing ExifTool on Dreamhost

December 23rd, 2008. Tagged: images, smush.it, tools

ExifTool looks like a very promising tool to fiddle with all sorts of JPEG metadata (needed for smush.it) but first I had to make sure I can install it on Dreamhost. Although installation didn't go as described on the exiftool site (since I don't have sudo access on Dreamhost), it's still installable and it's actually pretty easy.

  1. ssh to your DH box and go to the directory that will contain the tool, in my case it's my home directory
  2. Download the latest version of the code, e.g.
    wget http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/Image-ExifTool-7.59.tar.gz
  3. Uncompress the code archive
    tar -xf Image-ExifTool-7.59.tar.gz
  4. Delete the original archive
    rm Image-ExifTool-7.59.tar.gz
  5. Rename the newly created Image-ExifTool-7.59 to something shorter to type, e.g. "et"
    mv Image-ExifTool-7.59 et
  6. All done! You can now run it from any directory and show help info like
    ~/et/exiftool - h

You can also test the new installation with some of the images found in the exiftool test directory, like so:

$ ~/et/exiftool ~/et/t/images/IPTC-XMP.jpg

ExifTool Version Number         : 7.59
File Name                       : IPTC-XMP.jpg
File Size                       : 20 kB
File Modification Date/Time     : 2005:12:31 13:05:50-08:00
File Type                       : JPEG
MIME Type                       : image/jpeg
JFIF Version                    : 1.02
Exif Byte Order                 : Little-endian (Intel, II)
Image Description               : A witty caption
Make                            : FUJIFILM
Camera Model Name               : FinePix2400Zoom
Orientation                     : Horizontal (normal)
X Resolution                    : 72
Y Resolution                    : 72
Resolution Unit                 : inches
Software                        : Adobe Photoshop 7.0
Modify Date                     : 2004:02:26 09:36:46
Artist                          : Phil Harvey
Y Cb Cr Positioning             : Co-sited
Copyright                       : Copyright 2004 Phil Harvey
F Number                        : 3.5
Exposure Program                : Program AE
ISO                             : 100
Exif Version                    : 0210
Date/Time Original              : 2001:05:19 18:36:41
Create Date                     : 2001:05:19 18:36:41
Components Configuration        : YCbCr
Compressed Bits Per Pixel       : 1.6
...
... [snip]
...
Encoding Process                : Baseline DCT, Huffman coding
Bits Per Sample                 : 8
Color Components                : 3
Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling            : YCbCr4:4:4 (1 1)
Aperture                        : 3.5
Image Size                      : 100x80
Shutter Speed                   : 1/64
Focal Length                    : 6.0 mm
Light Value                     : 9.6

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