About GeoMeta Pro
GeoMeta Pro is a browser-based toolkit for inspecting, mapping, and managing the hidden metadata inside photo files. It was built to solve a specific gap: most people have no easy way to see what information is stored inside their images before sharing them — and no quick way to generate structured location reports from a batch of field photos without installing desktop GIS software.
The tool handles both sides of that problem. It reads the EXIF data embedded in JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and WebP files, displays it in an organised panel, maps any GPS coordinates on an interactive view, and exports structured reports. For privacy, it can strip all metadata from an image and save a clean copy — all without sending any file to a server.
Why it was built
Two use cases drove the design. The first is field documentation: surveyors, engineers, site inspectors, drone operators, and environmental consultants routinely take geotagged photos on site visits and then need to turn those photos into spatial records — maps, KML files, GIS layers, or structured reports. Doing this previously required desktop GIS software or manual coordinate entry. GeoMeta Pro handles the extraction and export in the browser, with no installation.
The second use case is privacy: a large number of people share photos from their homes, workplaces, and private visits without realising the images contain precise GPS coordinates in the file metadata. This is not obvious from the image itself, and most people do not check. GeoMeta Pro's privacy exposure summary and scrub feature give anyone a straightforward way to review and remove location data before a photo is shared or published.
What GeoMeta Pro does
- Reads EXIF metadata from JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and WebP images loaded in the browser.
- Displays metadata grouped by category: device identity, capture settings, timestamps, and GPS location.
- Shows a privacy exposure summary flagging which categories of sensitive data are present in each file.
- Plots GPS-tagged photos on an interactive Leaflet map with marker clustering for large batches.
- Connects image points in timestamp order to reconstruct a walk path across a site or route.
- Exports data in four formats: CSV for spreadsheets and databases, KML for Google Earth, GeoJSON for web GIS, and PDF for shareable reports.
- Scrubs metadata from images by re-rendering to a clean canvas and saving a new copy — preserving visual content while removing all EXIF fields including GPS coordinates.
Privacy and data handling
All EXIF reading and processing happens locally in your browser using JavaScript. Your photo files are never uploaded to any server — the tool reads them from your device's memory and processes them client-side. GeoMeta Pro does not require account creation, and no image data is logged, stored, or transmitted by the application itself.
The one exception is optional address resolution: if you choose to look up a human-readable place name from GPS coordinates, those coordinates are sent to the mapping provider's geocoding service as part of that specific lookup request. This is an optional step and is not triggered automatically.
Who uses GeoMeta Pro
The toolkit is used across several professional contexts: GIS teams and survey professionals who need to map and export field photo locations, construction and engineering firms documenting project progress with geotagged images, drone operators verifying that image locations match flight logs, and environmental consultants linking field photos to survey coordinates. Privacy-focused users — journalists, researchers, and individuals concerned about location data in shared photos — make up a significant portion of regular users as well.
About the developer
GeoMeta Pro is developed and maintained by Aswin Murugalingam, an IT and systems professional with a background in technical infrastructure, web development, and engineering support environments. The project is focused on making metadata tools that are genuinely useful in professional field workflows and accessible to non-GIS users without requiring software installation.
For questions, feedback, or to report an issue, use the contact page.