# What Metadata Is in a Photo of a Document From a Phone?

- Author: Schema Law (https://www.schemalaw.com/)
- Published: 2023-10-21T18:54:54Z
- Updated: 2026-10-11T19:22:20Z
- Category: Phone scans and photos
- Canonical: https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/what-metadata-is-in-a-photo

> What metadata is in a photo from a phone: capture time, device, location and orientation, how to view each one, and what survives sending and OCR.

The metadata in a photo from a phone is a set of fields stored inside the image file next to the picture: the date and time of capture, the make and model of the device, camera details, the orientation of the frame and, when the camera's location setting is on, the coordinates where it was taken.

A photograph of a lease taken at a kitchen table can therefore say where the kitchen is. That cuts both ways in a law office. The fields can help you put a batch of client pictures in order and date them. They can also travel to people who were only meant to see the page.

## What metadata is in a photo taken with a phone?

A photo taken with a phone records when it was taken, what took it, how the camera was set, which way up the phone was held and, if location was allowed, where. Phones write these fields in a format called Exif, which the image file carries with it when it is copied.

The Library of Congress describes the format in its [reference entry for Exif](https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000146.shtml) as "mainly intended for recording technical details associated with digital photography", and records its adoption in these words: "Supported by almost all digital cameras." The individual fields are called tags. The tag reference published by the Exiv2 project, an open-source library that reads them, gives plain descriptions. The table quotes its [list of standard Exif tags](https://exiv2.org/tags.html).

| Field | Tag name | What the tag reference says it holds |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capture time | DateTimeOriginal | "For a digital still camera the date and time the picture was taken are recorded." |
| File change time | DateTime | "In Exif standard, it is the date and time the file was changed." |
| Device maker | Make | "The manufacturer of the recording equipment." |
| Device model | Model | "The model name or model number of the equipment." |
| Software | Software | "the name and version of the software or firmware of the camera or image input device used to generate the image" |
| Exposure | ExposureTime | "Exposure time, given in seconds (sec)." |
| Orientation | Orientation | "The image orientation viewed in terms of rows and columns." |
| Location | GPSLatitude, GPSLongitude | "Indicates the latitude." and "Indicates the longitude." |

Apple gives the same list in everyday words. Its iPhone guide to [sharing photos and videos](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/share-photos-and-videos-iphf28f17237/ios) carries this note: "Sharing a photo or video includes sharing its associated metadata, such as date and time, location, device, and captions."

### Two dates, not one

The table has two time fields. One records when the picture was taken and one records when the file was changed. A client who crops a page a week after photographing it can produce a file in which those two differ. Neither field is the date on the document itself, and neither is the date the file reached your computer, which your own system records separately.

On a photograph of a lease, those two times can differ if someone crops the page later. Keep the unedited file if you may use the image as documentary evidence. The capture time is a field you can show alongside the image during authentication, and the chain of custody note should say which copy left the phone.

### Fields can be edited

Metadata is information about the picture, written by software, and software can rewrite it. Apple's iPhone guide to [seeing photo and video information](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/see-photo-and-video-information-iph0edb9c18f/ios) says you "can also change certain stored data such as the date, time, and location" and gives the steps: tap Adjust Info, then Adjust Date & Time or Adjust Location. Treat a capture time as a lead to be confirmed, and leave questions about what it proves to the rules of evidence in your jurisdiction.

## How do you see the metadata of a document photo?

You see the metadata of a document photo by opening the file's information panel in whatever program is showing it. On an iPhone that is the info view in Photos, in Google Photos it is Info, and on a Mac it is the Inspector in Preview. Each shows a slightly different selection of the fields.

### On an iPhone

Apple's guide gives the step: in Photos, tap the picture, "then swipe up or tap" the info button. Among the details Apple lists are:

- "What device captured the photo or video"
- "The date and time the photo or video was taken"
- "Camera metadata such as lens, shutter speed, file size, and more"
- "Where the photo or video was taken"

### On Android and in Google Photos

Google's help page on [understanding, finding and editing your photos' locations](https://support.google.com/photos/answer/6153599?hl=en) says a photo "may have a location if your device's camera saves your location with the photo, or if you manually add a location to a photo". On a computer, the page says to open the photo at photos.google.com and click Info. On an Android phone its steps run through the More menu on the open photo. Google also notes that Google Photos "estimates your location from information such as landmarks and locations in your other photos", so a place shown in the app is not always a place stored in the file. Download the file and inspect it on a computer when the difference matters.

### On a Mac

Apple's Preview guide to [viewing information about PDFs and images](https://support.apple.com/guide/preview/view-information-about-pdfs-and-images-prvw9c94f0a4/mac) says to open the file and click the inspector button in the toolbar. The General info pane shows general information. The More info pane lets you "View information about an image in different formats, and about where a photo was taken."

### On Windows

This post cites no Microsoft documentation for Windows, so it gives no Windows steps as Microsoft's. Look in the properties of the image file for a details view, and check Microsoft's help for your version of Windows. Then confirm with a test picture of your own that the view shows the capture time, device and location you know to be in the file.

### A reading routine for a batch of client photos

1. Copy the files to the matter folder before opening any of them, so the copies you inspect are not the only ones.
2. Open the first and last picture and note the capture times. That gives the span of the session.
3. Sort the batch by capture time, not by file name, and check that the page order makes sense.
4. Note the device model. Two models in one batch means two phones, and perhaps two people.
5. Note whether a location is present. If it is, decide who else will receive these files before you forward anything.

## Turning off or removing location before a photo is shared

Location can be dealt with at three points: before the photo is taken, on the stored photo, and at the moment of sharing. Apple documents all three for the iPhone. Google documents the camera setting for Android phones and says location written by the camera cannot be removed inside Google Photos.

### Location on an iPhone

Apple's Personal Safety guide page on [managing location metadata in Photos](https://support.apple.com/guide/personal-safety/manage-location-metadata-in-photos-ips0d7a5df82/web) explains that coordinates "are embedded into each photo and video so that you can later search for them in the Photos app based on the location they were taken". It also warns that when such photos are shared, "the people you share them with may be able to access the location metadata and learn where it was taken". It gives three routes.

| When | Apple's documented step |
| --- | --- |
| Before taking pictures | "Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Camera, then tap Never." |
| On a photo already taken | "Tap Adjust Info, tap Adjust Location, then tap No Location." |
| When sharing one photo | Tap the share button, "then tap Options. Turn off Location." Apple adds: "Location Not Included is shown above the Options button." |

The third route is the one to teach a client. It leaves the original untouched on the phone and sends a copy without the coordinates.

### Location on an Android phone

Google's help page on [changing your camera location settings](https://support.google.com/photos/answer/9921876?hl=en) says the switch lives in the camera's own settings and goes by different names on different makes. For Google devices it reads: open the camera's settings and "Turn on or off Save location." The page lists the wording for other manufacturers.

For photos already taken, Google's location page draws a firm line: "You can only update or remove estimated locations. If the location of a photo or video was automatically added by your camera, you can't edit or remove the location." Inside Google Photos, then, a camera-written location stays. Google adds that when you download a photo and email it, "the original location your device saved shows without any edits you made in Google Photos."

### Should a firm strip location from what it receives?

That depends on what the file is for. A picture that may become evidence is safer left exactly as received, with a working copy made for everything else. A picture that is only a way of getting a page into the file can lose its location in the working copy before the copy goes to an expert, a co-counsel or the other side. Whether you may or must remove or disclose metadata in a production is a question for the rules and orders that govern your matter.

## Which ways of sending a photo strip its metadata?

No sending method can be assumed to strip metadata. Apple says sharing a photo from an iPhone includes its metadata unless you switch fields off. For messaging apps, screenshots and PDF conversion, the documentation cited here does not say, so the received file has to be inspected.

### What the documentation does say

- **iPhone share sheet.** Apple: "Sharing a photo or video includes sharing its associated metadata, such as date and time, location, device, and captions." The Options screen lets the sender turn off Location, and an All Photos Data switch shares "the original file with edit history and metadata", which Apple marks as "available with AirDrop only".
- **Google Photos sharing.** Google says location "may be shared if you added it, changed it, or if it was provided by your camera", and that an estimated location "won't be shared".
- **Download and email from Google Photos.** Google says the original location the device saved "shows without any edits you made".

### What it does not say

**Messaging apps.** WhatsApp's help articles [about HD photos and videos](https://faq.whatsapp.com/759301289012856) and on [sending media, contacts or location](https://faq.whatsapp.com/453914586839706) say nothing about Exif fields. Do not assume a chat app removed a location, and do not assume it kept a capture time. Save the received picture and read its details.

**Screenshots.** A screenshot is a new picture made by the phone at the moment the buttons are pressed. Its capture details describe the screenshot, not the photograph shown on the screen. A client who screenshots a photo to "send it smaller" has replaced the camera's record with a new one and reduced the pixels as well.

**PDF conversion.** A PDF made from photos is a new file with its own properties. Whether the app that built it copied any of the photo's fields is something to check in the PDF's document properties.

The post on [how to send photos without losing quality](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/how-to-send-photos-without-losing-quality) covers what each channel does to the pixels, and its table is a fair guide to which channels pass the file through untouched.

### A test of your own channels

Take a photo of a blank sheet with location on. Send it to yourself by each route your firm uses. Save each received copy under the name of the route. Read the capture time, device and location of each. Write the results on one page and keep it with your intake instructions. Repeat the test when a phone or an app gets a major update.

## Why a document photo turns sideways after upload

A document photo turns sideways after upload when the program showing it ignores the orientation tag. The camera sensor records every frame the same way round and writes a tag saying how the picture should be turned for viewing. Software that reads the tag shows the page upright. Software that does not shows the raw frame.

The tag reference describes the field as "the image orientation viewed in terms of rows and columns". In practical terms, a page photographed with the phone held upright can be stored as a wider-than-tall grid of pixels plus an instruction to rotate it a quarter turn. The phone's own gallery follows the instruction, so the sender never sees a problem.

### How to confirm the tag is the cause

- The picture is upright on the phone and sideways on one program on the computer.
- A second program on the same computer shows it upright.
- The pixel dimensions reported for the file are wider than tall although the page is taller than wide.

### How to fix it for good

Open the picture in an image editor, rotate it until the text reads normally, and save. That rewrites the pixels themselves in the upright position, so every program agrees from then on. Use the highest quality setting when saving a JPEG, and do it once, on a copy, so the file as received stays in the matter folder.

A sideways page is worth fixing before recognition and not after. Check the first page of the converted result as well: if the text came out as scattered letters or nothing at all, look at which way up the picture was when it went in.

## Does photo metadata survive conversion to text or PDF?

Whether photo metadata survives conversion depends on the output. A plain text or Word export holds recognized words and not the photograph, so camera fields that lived inside the image file have nowhere to sit. A PDF is a new file with properties of its own, and those need checking separately.

Think of it as three containers.

| Output | What it holds | What to check |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Plain text | Characters only | Nothing from the camera; the words on the page are all there is |
| Word, Excel and similar | Recognized content in a new office file | The new file's own properties, such as author and creation time, which describe the conversion and your computer |
| PDF | A new document, which may contain the page picture | Document properties, and any hidden content |

Two points follow from the table.

First, conversion does not remove what is visible. If the page in the photograph shows a home address, the address is in the text. Metadata is the smaller risk; the content is the larger one.

Second, a new file collects new metadata. The PDF or Word file that leaves your office says something about your software and when you made it. The post on [hidden text in a PDF](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/hidden-text-in-a-pdf) covers what travels inside a PDF besides the visible page and how to look for it before the file goes out.

### Keeping the original beside the conversion

The original photo file is the only copy that still holds the camera's record. Keep it, unedited, with the converted output:

- Store the files as received in a subfolder that nobody edits.
- Name the converted file so it points back to the pictures it came from.
- Record how the pictures arrived: who sent them, by what channel, on what date.
- If a client will be sending their own pictures over the life of a matter, give them written instructions once. The post on [how to photograph documents for your lawyer](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/how-to-photograph-documents-for-your-lawyer) has a checklist to start from.

When you upload a photo to Schema Law, it reads the page into text and tables and you export the result in the format you need. The site's commitments on handling, including "Delete any document whenever you choose", are listed in the [security section of the homepage](https://www.schemalaw.com/#security). None of that changes the advice here: inspect the original for what it carries, and inspect each file you create before it leaves the firm.

## Try it on a real document

Upload a scanned PDF and export it as Word, a searchable PDF or plain text on the free plan. Your documents are never used to train an AI model. [Start free](https://www.schemalaw.com/api/auth/google)