ExifTool Verbose Option

With the Verbose option enabled, ExifTool prints a verbose log to the console as it extracts the meta information from a file.

The -v option of the exiftool application allows control of the Verbose setting. A number between 0 and 4 may be specified with the -v option to set a specific Verbose level. For example, -v2 sets Verbose = 2. Without a number, -v increments the current Verbose level by one. Multiple -v options are allowed, so the following two examples give the same result:

exiftool -v -v -v test.jpg

exiftool -v3 test.jpg

Below are example outputs for different Verbose settings.

Verbose = 1

Prints tag names and extracted values. For unknown tags, the tag numbers are printed instead of a name. Also printed are details of the file and directory structure:
  ExifToolVersion = 4.03
  FileName = ExifTool.jpg
  FileSize = 3589
  FileType = JPEG
JPEG APP1 (2556 bytes):
  + [IFD0 directory with 9 entries]
  | 1)  Make = Canon
  | 2)  Model = Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL
  | 3)  Orientation = 1
  | 4)  XResolution = 180
  | 5)  YResolution = 180
  | 6)  ResolutionUnit = 2
  | 7)  ModifyDate = 2003:12:04 06:46:52
  | 8)  YCbCrPositioning = 1
  | 9)  ExifOffset (SubDirectory) -->
  | + [ExifIFD directory with 31 entries]
  | | 1)  ExposureTime = 4
  | | 2)  FNumber = 14
  | | 3)  ISO = 100
  | | 4)  ExifVersion = 0221
  | | 5)  DateTimeOriginal = 2003:12:04 06:46:52
  [etc...]

Verbose = 2

Prints all of the information from Verbose = 1, plus additional information about the tag number, data size and format:
  ExifToolVersion = 4.03
  FileName = ExifTool.jpg
  FileSize = 3589
  FileType = JPEG
JPEG APP1 (2556 bytes):
  + [IFD0 directory with 9 entries]
  | 1)  Make = Canon
  |     - Tag 0x010f (6 bytes, string)
  | 2)  Model = Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL
  |     - Tag 0x0110 (24 bytes, string)
  | 3)  Orientation = 1
  |     - Tag 0x0112 (2 bytes, int16u)
  | 4)  XResolution = 180
  |     - Tag 0x011a (8 bytes, rational32u)
  | 5)  YResolution = 180
  |     - Tag 0x011b (8 bytes, rational32u)
  | 6)  ResolutionUnit = 2
  |     - Tag 0x0128 (2 bytes, int16u)
  | 7)  ModifyDate = 2003:12:04 06:46:52
  |     - Tag 0x0132 (20 bytes, string)
  | 8)  YCbCrPositioning = 1
  |     - Tag 0x0213 (2 bytes, int16u)
  | 9)  ExifOffset (SubDirectory) -->
  |     - Tag 0x8769 (4 bytes, int32u)
  | + [ExifIFD directory with 31 entries]
  | | 1)  ExposureTime = 4
  | |     - Tag 0x829a (8 bytes, rational32u)
  | | 2)  FNumber = 14
  | |     - Tag 0x829d (8 bytes, rational32u)
  | | 3)  ISO = 100
  | |     - Tag 0x8827 (2 bytes, int16u)
  | | 4)  ExifVersion = 0221
  | |     - Tag 0x9000 (4 bytes, undef)
  | | 5)  DateTimeOriginal = 2003:12:04 06:46:52
  | |     - Tag 0x9003 (20 bytes, string)
  [etc...]

Verbose = 3

Adds a hex dump of the binary data associated with each tag. If the data is very long, only the first few lines of the dump are printed:
  ExifToolVersion = 4.03
  FileName = ExifTool.jpg
  FileSize = 3589
  FileType = JPEG
JPEG APP1 (2556 bytes):
  + [IFD0 directory with 9 entries]
  | 1)  Make = Canon
  |     - Tag 0x010f (6 bytes, string):
  |         007a: 43 61 6e 6f 6e 00                               [Canon.]
  | 2)  Model = Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL
  |     - Tag 0x0110 (24 bytes, string):
  |         0080: 43 61 6e 6f 6e 20 45 4f 53 20 44 49 47 49 54 41 [Canon EOS DIGITA]
  |         0090: 4c 20 52 45 42 45 4c 00                         [L REBEL.]
  | 3)  Orientation = 1
  |     - Tag 0x0112 (2 bytes, int16u):
  |         002a: 01 00                                           [..]
  | 4)  XResolution = 180
  |     - Tag 0x011a (8 bytes, rational32u):
  |         00a0: b4 00 00 00 01 00 00 00                         [........]
  | 5)  YResolution = 180
  |     - Tag 0x011b (8 bytes, rational32u):
  |         00a8: b4 00 00 00 01 00 00 00                         [........]
  | 6)  ResolutionUnit = 2
  |     - Tag 0x0128 (2 bytes, int16u):
  |         004e: 02 00                                           [..]
  | 7)  ModifyDate = 2003:12:04 06:46:52
  |     - Tag 0x0132 (20 bytes, string):
  |         00b0: 32 30 30 33 3a 31 32 3a 30 34 20 30 36 3a 34 36 [2003:12:04 06:46]
  |         00c0: 3a 35 32 00                                     [:52.]
  | 8)  YCbCrPositioning = 1
  |     - Tag 0x0213 (2 bytes, int16u):
  |         0066: 01 00                                           [..]
  | 9)  ExifOffset (SubDirectory) -->
  |     - Tag 0x8769 (4 bytes, int32u):
  |         0072: c4 00 00 00                                     [....]
  | + [ExifIFD directory with 31 entries]
  | | 1)  ExposureTime = 4
  | |     - Tag 0x829a (8 bytes, rational32u):
  | |         0386: 04 00 00 00 01 00 00 00                         [........]
  | | 2)  FNumber = 14
  | |     - Tag 0x829d (8 bytes, rational32u):
  | |         038e: 0e 00 00 00 01 00 00 00                         [........]
  | | 3)  ISO = 100
  | |     - Tag 0x8827 (2 bytes, int16u):
  | |         00e6: 64 00                                           [d.]
  | | 4)  ExifVersion = 0221
  | |     - Tag 0x9000 (4 bytes, undef):
  | |         00f2: 30 32 32 31                                     [0221]
  | | 5)  DateTimeOriginal = 2003:12:04 06:46:52
  | |     - Tag 0x9003 (20 bytes, string):
  | |         023e: 32 30 30 33 3a 31 32 3a 30 34 20 30 36 3a 34 36 [2003:12:04 06:46]
  | |         024e: 3a 35 32 00                                     [:52.]
  [etc...]

Verbose = 4

This gives the same output as Verbose = 3, except that there is no limit on the length of the binary and ASCII dumps. Note that the output may be very long at this level of verbosity.