Image Metadata
Metadata is a set of data describing and providing information about a photograph taken with a typical camera and stored with the image.
This data can include attributes such as height and width of the image and the type of compression used to store it. Metadata can also describe the content of an image, the name of the photographer, and the date, time, and location when a photograph was taken.
Your images on Stanford Sites
To ensure privacy and to make your images easier to use on your site, when you upload an image with the extensions png, jpg, or jpeg to a Stanford Sites site, we recommend removing the metadata.
Removing the metadata from images uploaded to Stanford Sites improves privacy by removing latitude and longitude data. It also ensures proper image orientation (horizontal/vertical display) on mobile devices.
Removing metadata from existing images
If you want to remove metadata from images you’ve previously uploaded, you can download the current image from your site onto your local computer (if you no longer have the original), then re-upload the image.
Download an image
To download an image from your site to your local computer:
- Go to a page where the image is displayed.
- Using your mouse, click right on the image to bring up the menu.
- From the menu, select Save image as.... This will bring up a dialog box to assist with saving the image.
- When saving the image, note the name of the directory where the image has been saved.
Replace an image
You can replace images through the Media library.
- Log in to the site.
- Click on All Content > All Media > Media Library.
- Check the image you want to replace.
- Click Remove.
- Click Choose File to browse to the image you want to upload and click Open.
- Click Save.