Remove metadata from product images before you list them

What a seller’s image files can carry

• Location. A phone photo taken at home stores GPS coordinates unless location tagging was off.
• Camera and lens serial numbers. A camera body can write its serial number into the EXIF block, and a lens can write its own. Both are the same on every file from that gear, so they link your photos together.
• Time, software, and names. When it was shot, which editor exported it, and an artist or copyright string if you set one.
• AI mockup data. A generator or an editor can add a C2PA manifest (Content Credentials), an AI source type in XMP, or a text chunk with the prompt and settings.

Which of these your files hold depends on the camera, the editor, and the app. The tool’s Before list names every field it finds, so you do not have to guess.

What we tested

We made 12 listing-style images: six phone JPEGs with GPS, three camera JPEGs with body and lens serial numbers, two AI mockup PNGs, and one AI mockup WebP. The three AI mockups carry a C2PA manifest that we signed with a test certificate, and the PNGs also carry generator text. They are synthetic, so no real person, place, or serial number is involved. We ran them through this tool in headless Chrome on a server, then checked the downloads with ExifTool 13.25 and the C2PA reader (c2pa-python 0.38).

Test 1: a phone photo with GPS

Before (what the tool listed)	After (re-scan of the download)
GPS / location: 31.23040, 121.47370 EXIF: Apple iPhone 14 · 17.5.1 Camera: Apple iPhone 14 Software: 17.5.1	Nothing found. Banner: “Cleaned. 4 fields removed — your picture is unchanged.”

• Download: JPEG, 2400x1800, 811 KB.
• Second opinion (ExifTool 13.25): 20 metadata tags before, 0 after.
• Pixels: decoded RGB values identical to the original (compared in Python).
• Time in the tool: 186 ms in headless Chrome on a server CPU. A phone will be slower.

The location, camera, and software rows were gone, ExifTool agrees, and the decoded pixels are identical.

Test 2: a camera photo with serial numbers

This one checks the field a seller is least likely to know about. ExifTool reported a body serial number and a lens serial number on the original (SerialNumber and LensSerialNumber) and neither on the download.

Before (what the tool listed)	After (re-scan of the download)
EXIF: Canon Canon EOS R6 · Adobe Lightroom Classic 13.5 Camera: Canon Canon EOS R6 Software: Adobe Lightroom Classic 13.5 XMP metadata: APP1 XMP (3037 bytes) IPTC / Photoshop IRB: APP13 (58 bytes)	Nothing found. Banner: “Cleaned. 5 fields removed — your picture is unchanged.”

• Download: JPEG, 3000x2000, 1.27 MB.
• Second opinion (ExifTool 13.25): 21 metadata tags before, 0 after.
• Pixels: decoded RGB values identical to the original (compared in Python).
• Time in the tool: 155 ms in headless Chrome on a server CPU. A phone will be slower.

Everything the tool lists was removed, including the copyright notice. The sRGB profile stayed, so colours do not shift.

Test 3: an AI mockup with a C2PA manifest

Before (what the tool listed)	After (re-scan of the download)
C2PA (caBX): 184237 bytes AI-related text (parameters): parameters	Nothing found. Banner: “Cleaned. 2 fields removed — your picture is unchanged.”

• Download: PNG, 1200x1200, 2.88 MB.
• Second opinion (ExifTool 13.25): 9 metadata tags before, 0 after.
• C2PA reader (c2pa-python 0.38): manifest valid in the original, “no manifest” in the download.
• Pixels: decoded RGB values identical to the original (compared in Python).
• Time in the tool: 244 ms in headless Chrome on a server CPU. A phone will be slower.

The manifest and the prompt text were removed; the C2PA reader opened the original and found nothing in the download. This is the file record only.

Before (what the tool listed)	After (re-scan of the download)
C2PA chunk (C2PA) AI / provenance XMP: DigitalSourceType XMP: 3101 bytes	Nothing found. Banner: “Cleaned. 3 fields removed — your picture is unchanged.”

• Download: WebP, 1600x1200, 301 KB.
• Second opinion (ExifTool 13.25): 11 metadata tags before, 0 after.
• C2PA reader (c2pa-python 0.38): manifest valid in the original, “no manifest” in the download.
• Pixels: decoded RGB values identical to the original (compared in Python).
• Time in the tool: 119 ms in headless Chrome on a server CPU. A phone will be slower.

WebP works the same way. The download is smaller because the manifest, which was most of the original file, is gone.

Test 4: the whole set in one run

We put all 12 files in one run on All metadata mode, with Pro switched on in a test browser.

• Input: 12 files, 16.06 MiB, containing GPS on 6 files, body and lens serial numbers on 3, a C2PA manifest on 3, and a prompt text chunk on 2.
• Output: one ZIP of 14.61 MiB, banner “Cleaned. 12 files are in one ZIP — the pictures are unchanged.”
• Time: 1.0 second from the click to the ZIP in headless Chrome on a server CPU. A phone or an old laptop will be slower.
• ExifTool on the 12 outputs: no GPS, serial, camera, XMP, IPTC, or text-chunk tags in any of them; only the colour profile and the file structure were left.
• C2PA reader: opened the three signed originals, found no manifest in any of the three outputs.
• Pixels: all 12 decoded to the same values as their originals.

Steps for a listing batch

1. Export the final images from your editor or phone. Keep the originals; the tool writes new copies.
2. Clean one image first. It is free. Read the After list: the GPS, serial, and C2PA rows should be gone.
3. Choose All metadata and run the set. With Pro it returns one ZIP.
4. Spot-check one file in the viewer, then upload the -cleaned files.

Marketplaces: what this page does and does not claim

AI-made mockups: clean the file, still disclose

Removing a C2PA manifest and prompt text stops the file from carrying them. It is a clean-up of what the file says, not a change in how the image was made. If a marketplace asks you to disclose AI-generated or AI-assisted images, do that in the listing. A pixel-level watermark such as SynthID is not metadata and stays; see Can you remove SynthID?

If the mockup came from a generator, the guides for ChatGPT, Midjourney, and ComfyUI describe what each one writes.

What stays

• The pixels, including any visible text, logo, or watermark in the picture.
• Copies you already uploaded or shared. Cleaning a file does not edit a page that hosts the old one.
• The file name, apart from the added -cleaned.
• Not tested here: HEIC, animated files, and runs of hundreds of images.

Questions

Does Etsy, Amazon, eBay, or Shopify remove this data for me?

We do not know, and we did not test it: checking would mean publishing real listings and downloading the served images, and each marketplace can change how it handles uploads. This page does not depend on the answer. It cleans the file you control before it leaves your computer.

Will cleaning the file stop me needing to disclose AI-made images?

No. Removing C2PA or prompt text from a file changes what the file says about itself. It does not change what you made. Etsy’s Seller Policy says that if an item is created through the use of AI, you must disclose that in the relevant listing. Follow the disclosure rule of the marketplace you sell on.

What was in the test files?

Phone-style JPEGs with GPS, camera-style JPEGs with body and lens serial numbers and an editor name, and AI mockups (PNG and WebP) with a C2PA manifest we signed with a test certificate plus generator text. All 12 files are synthetic and made for this page. None is a real person’s photo or a real place.

Does cleaning change how the product looks?

No. We decoded every original and every cleaned file and compared the pixels value by value: all 12 matched exactly. The sRGB profile in the JPEGs was kept, so colours do not shift.

Do I lose my copyright notice?

In All metadata mode, yes: Artist, Copyright, and IPTC fields are removed along with the rest. If you want credit, put it on the listing or in the picture itself, or keep a separate copy with the notice for your records.

Can I clean a whole shop’s worth of images?

One image is free. Pro is a one-time unlock for unlimited images and one ZIP. We measured 12 mixed files in one run; we did not test hundreds in one run and a browser has memory limits, so split a big shop into several runs.

Is the file name changed?

The tool adds -cleaned to the name. A file name is not metadata inside the file, so if your names carry something private, rename the files yourself.

Related

For a camera folder in general, see bulk EXIF remover and remove EXIF and GPS. For client delivery, see delivery metadata and XMP and IPTC.

Related guides

• Bulk EXIF remover, measured
• Remove EXIF and GPS
• View image metadata online
• All metadata-removal guides by file type and device
• Open the Remove AI metadata tool on the homepage if you want the general cleaner.
• Short Instagram upload workflow if you only need the four-step version.