# Install exiftran with Homebrew, apt, MacPorts

Transform digital camera jpegs and their EXIF data. Version 2.14 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-19. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install exiftran.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:exiftran
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install exiftran
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install exiftran
```

  Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: graphics/exiftran/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install exiftran
```

  Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: exiftran from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:exiftran
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 2.14
- **Source summary:** Transform digital camera jpegs and their EXIF data
- **Homepage:** <https://www.kraxel.org/blog/linux/fbida/>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-19T12:30:06-07:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- exiftran (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 2.14
## Project history and usage

exiftran is the command-line EXIF-aware JPEG transformation tool in Gerd Hoffmann's fbida project. It performs lossless rotations and flips like jpegtran while also updating EXIF orientation, image dimensions, and the embedded EXIF thumbnail.

### Project history

The exiftran manual identifies the tool as EXIFTRAN 2.09 with copyright dates 2002-2012. The fbida repository groups several photo-oriented image tools together because they share code, with fbi and ida giving the project its name and exiftran provided as the JPEG transformation utility.

### Adoption history

The supplied package metadata lists exiftran packages in Homebrew, Debian, MacPorts, and Ubuntu, which reflects its role as a small Unix-style utility packaged across desktop and server-oriented systems.

### How it is used

The manual documents batch operation on one or more JPEG files, automatic rotation from the EXIF orientation tag, in-place editing with optional backups, timestamp preservation, JPEG comment editing, EXIF dumping, and thumbnail regeneration.

### Why package nerds care

Package maintainers care about exiftran because it is a narrow, scriptable image utility with behavior that jpegtran does not cover: it preserves and updates camera metadata and thumbnails during lossless JPEG transforms.

### Timeline

- 2002-2012: exiftran manual copyright range.
- 2012: fbida tag 2.09 includes the exiftran 2.09 manual.
- 2020: fbida project appears on GitLab under kraxel/fbida.
- 2026: GitLab tags show fbida-2.15-1 activity.

### Related projects

- fbida bundles fbi, fbpdf, ida, exiftran, and thumbnail.cgi.
- The exiftran manual compares its lossless JPEG transforms with jpegtran and notes that exiftran also handles EXIF data.

### Sources

- <https://gitlab.com/kraxel/fbida/-/blob/master/README.md>
- <https://gitlab.com/kraxel/fbida/-/blob/master/man/exiftran.1>
- <https://www.kraxel.org/blog/linux/fbida/>
- source_facts.package-manager


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - exiftran - 2.14-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: exiftran from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | digital camera JPEG image transformer | https://www.kraxel.org/blog/linux/fbida/
- Ubuntu apt - exiftran - 2.10-4ubuntu4: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: exiftran from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | digital camera JPEG image transformer | https://www.kraxel.org/blog/linux/fbida/
- MacPorts - exiftran: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: graphics/exiftran/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/exiftran.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/exiftran.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph