How do I stop EXIF Metadata being Written to File by Default

[Reusability]

What a title, huh?

 

Well, you're not quite being tracked - but it's easier for someone to narrow down where your photos have came from. This is due to whenever a .jpeg, .jpg, .jpe, .jfif, .exif, .tiff, .tif is saved using Paint.NET, by default it applies EIFF:software metadata 'paint.net {version}' to the file.

 

I've written a small PowerShell script so that you can verify that when you save one of the said file extensions, metadata is written to your files.

 

File:  Software Metadata Finder.zip

 

How to use Software Metadata Finder:

 

1. Open the folder containing your images that you want to check.
2. Copy the content of `Software Metadata Finder.ps1`.
3. Hold shift and right-click within the folder to open context menu.
4. Press on the 'Open command window here' or 'PowerShell' variant.
5. Type 'powershell' into the terminal then hit enter.
6. Paste the previously copied code and hit enter.
7. Type 'Find-SoftwareMetadata -SkipEmpty' without apostrophe and hit enter.

 

Please may I request from the community a method compatible for Paint.NET 4.3.8 (Windows 7 Version) to prevent the automatic applying of EIFF Metadata to saved files.

 

PS. Thank you for the development and community efforts for Paint.NET. I've used the software for years and appreciate the time that has gone into plugins from the community. I've only just found out about the auto saving of metadata, therefore I no-doubt have thousands of files of which I need to remove the metadata from.

 

Looking forward to your help and support regarding this matter.

 

Thanks all,

- Res

[null54]

17 minutes ago, Reusability said:

Please may I request from the community a method compatible for Paint.NET 4.3.8 (Windows 7 Version) to prevent the automatic applying of EIFF Metadata to saved files.

 

No support is provided for older versions of Paint.NET (other that help installing the latest version). Also, it is not a good idea to be using a Windows 7 computer that is connected to the Internet. Microsoft stopped providing security updates for that operating system on January 14, 2020.

 

17 minutes ago, Reusability said:

Well, you're not quite being tracked - but it's easier for someone to narrow down where your photos have came from. This is due to whenever a .jpeg, .jpg, .jpe, .jfif, .exif, .tiff, .tif is saved using Paint.NET, by default it applies EIFF:software metadata 'paint.net {version}' to the file.

 

There is currently no way to prevent Paint.NET from writing EXIF or other metadata to the image, but you can use another tool to remove it (e.g. exiftool).

[Tactilis]

28 minutes ago, Reusability said:

Well, you're not quite being tracked

No, you are not. So why would you put "You're Being Tracked by Using Paint.NET" in the topic title?  I'm removing those incorrect and misleading words.
 

 

34 minutes ago, Reusability said:

but it's easier for someone to narrow down where your photos have came from

It just says 'paint.net + version number."

 

How is that a problem?

 

[Rick Brewster]

7 hours ago, Reusability said:

Please may I request from the community a method compatible for Paint.NET 4.3.8 (Windows 7 Version)

 

There is no support for that version of any kind. You must be using the latest version, which is currently 5.0.12. Same for Windows 7, which has been out-of-support with Microsoft for a long time as well.

 

To put it simply: no. The answer is no.

 

If you want to make sure EXIF metadata is not present in your images, you can easily find external programs/utilities to do that. Floating conspiracy theories about "being tracked" is disingenuous and counterproductive.

 

In the meantime, you also need to update your OS to Windows 10 v1809 or newer. Using Windows 7 these days is irresponsible, and asking people to support your lack of updating is not respectful of their (our) time. More on this policy.