timestamp

A tool that allows you to rename EXIF and XMP files to reflect date found in metadata. The specific tag used to extract data from the file can be changed, as can the final date format used in the file rename.

Installation

Arch Linux

Available on the AUR.

Debian/Ubuntu

Download the deb file from the latest release and install it:

sudo apt install libexiv2-27
dpkg -i timestamp_1.1.1-1_amd64.deb

Note that while this should work on all Debian-based systems, it was only tested on Debian itself (all dependencies exist in Ubuntu repositories).

Other

Ensure you have exiv2 and gcc (version 14+) installed on your system.

git clone https://github.com/amot-dev/timestamp.git
cd timestamp
make

Usage

timestamp --help
Usage: timestamp [directory] [-f|--force] [-e|--exif <tag>] [-x|--xmp <tag>] [-d|--date-format <format>] [-i|--interactive] [-h|--help]
Options:
  -f, --force                     Force execution (will delete clashing files, not recommended)
  -e, --exif <tag>                Specify EXIF metadata date tag
  -x, --xmp <tag>                 Specify XMP metadata date tag
  -d, --date-format <format>      Specify date format for renamed files
  -i, --interactive               Enable interactive mode
  -h, --help                      Show this help message

Can be run either in the current directory as timestamp or in another directory as timestamp [directory]. Follow instructions to rename your pictures and videos.

Default Values

• EXIF Tag (For images): Exif.Photo.DateTimeOriginal
• XMP Tag (For videos): Xmp.video.ModificationDate
• Date Format: %Y-%m-%d-%H%M-%S (ex. 2024-12-29-1648-16.jpg)

Key Features

• Rename images and/or videos to given date format
• Modify proposed names to avoid name clashes
• Skip files to rename
• Prevent files being named the same (resulting in a file deletion), unless called with -f or --force

Images