hexalab.cleanclient-side metadata cleaner
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Inspect and remove hidden metadata from images.

Strip C2PA Content Credentials, IPTC AI markers, GPS coordinates, and camera serials without losing image quality. Pure byte-level rewriting in your browser. No server uploads.

Drag and drop images here, paste from clipboard (Ctrl+V), or

Supports JPEG, PNG, WebP. Batch up to 50 files, max 50 MB each. 100% in-browser.

Preset:
Removes C2PA manifests, IPTC digital source types, XMP AI metadata, and PNG generation workflows while preserving your camera EXIF settings and color profiles.

How byte-level cleaning beats canvas re-encoding

Most online image cleaners load your image into an HTML5 canvas element and export it back as a lossy JPEG at around 95% quality. This discards your embedded ICC color profile, shifts nuanced color tones, introduces compression artifacts, and alters every pixel in your photograph.

clean.hexalab operates directly at the binary stream level. Our TypeScript parsers walk JPEG segments, PNG chunks, and WebP RIFF headers in a client-side Web Worker. We remove only the specific metadata structures you choose to drop, copying your compressed image bytes and entropy scan lines verbatim. Your pixels remain 100% bit-identical.

What gets inspected and removed

  • AI and Provenance Markers: C2PA Content Credentials manifests (APP11 in JPEG, caBX in PNG), IPTC DigitalSourceType (trainedAlgorithmicMedia), XMP algorithmic attributes, and PNG generation parameters (Stable Diffusion, ComfyUI workflows).
  • Geographic Location (GPS): Latitude, longitude, altitude, and GPS timestamps recorded automatically by smartphone and camera sensors.
  • Device and Camera Hardware: Camera serial number, lens model and serial number, body unique ID, and proprietary manufacturer MakerNotes.
  • Preserved by Default: Embedded ICC color profiles (sRGB, Adobe RGB, Display P3) and EXIF orientation tags are safely retained so your images display with accurate colors and orientation on all screens.

Technical boundaries and ethical use

This utility is designed for privacy protection and resolving erroneous "Made with AI" labels applied to authentic camera photos retouched with minor generative adjustments.

Important limits: This tool modifies file metadata headers only. It does not alter image pixels, cannot defeat invisible watermarks embedded directly into pixel frequency distributions (such as Google DeepMind SynthID), does not remove visible watermarks or logos, and does not add artificial noise. Where a platform, marketplace, or jurisdiction requires AI disclosure, disclose it.