Set exiftool path explicitly. (#267)

src/markitdown/_markitdown.py

@@ -892,14 +892,25 @@ class MediaConverter(DocumentConverter):
     Abstract class for multi-modal media (e.g., images and audio)
     """
 
-    def _get_metadata(self, local_path):
+    def _get_metadata(self, local_path, exiftool_path=None):
-        exiftool = shutil.which("exiftool")
+        if not exiftool_path:
-        if not exiftool:
+            which_exiftool = shutil.which("exiftool")
+            if which_exiftool:
+                warn(
+                    f"""Implicit discovery of 'exiftool' is disabled. If you would like to continue to use exiftool in MarkItDown, please set the exiftool_path parameter in the MarkItDown consructor. E.g., 
+
+    md = MarkItDown(exiftool_path="{which_exiftool}")
+
+This warning will be removed in future releases.
+""",
+                    DeprecationWarning,
+                )
+
             return None
         else:
             try:
                 result = subprocess.run(
-                    [exiftool, "-json", local_path], capture_output=True, text=True
+                    [exiftool_path, "-json", local_path], capture_output=True, text=True
                 ).stdout
                 return json.loads(result)[0]
             except Exception:
@@ -920,7 +931,7 @@ class WavConverter(MediaConverter):
         md_content = ""
 
         # Add metadata
-        metadata = self._get_metadata(local_path)
+        metadata = self._get_metadata(local_path, kwargs.get("exiftool_path"))
         if metadata:
             for f in [
                 "Title",
@@ -975,7 +986,7 @@ class Mp3Converter(WavConverter):
         md_content = ""
 
         # Add metadata
-        metadata = self._get_metadata(local_path)
+        metadata = self._get_metadata(local_path, kwargs.get("exiftool_path"))
         if metadata:
             for f in [
                 "Title",
@@ -1036,7 +1047,7 @@ class ImageConverter(MediaConverter):
         md_content = ""
 
         # Add metadata
-        metadata = self._get_metadata(local_path)
+        metadata = self._get_metadata(local_path, kwargs.get("exiftool_path"))
         if metadata:
             for f in [
                 "ImageSize",
@@ -1325,6 +1336,7 @@ class MarkItDown:
         llm_client: Optional[Any] = None,
         llm_model: Optional[str] = None,
         style_map: Optional[str] = None,
+        exiftool_path: Optional[str] = None,
         # Deprecated
         mlm_client: Optional[Any] = None,
         mlm_model: Optional[str] = None,
@@ -1334,6 +1346,9 @@ class MarkItDown:
         else:
             self._requests_session = requests_session
 
+        if exiftool_path is None:
+            exiftool_path = os.environ.get("EXIFTOOL_PATH")
+
         # Handle deprecation notices
         #############################
         if mlm_client is not None:
@@ -1366,6 +1381,7 @@ class MarkItDown:
         self._llm_client = llm_client
         self._llm_model = llm_model
         self._style_map = style_map
+        self._exiftool_path = exiftool_path
 
         self._page_converters: List[DocumentConverter] = []
 
@@ -1549,12 +1565,15 @@ class MarkItDown:
                 if "llm_model" not in _kwargs and self._llm_model is not None:
                     _kwargs["llm_model"] = self._llm_model
 
-                # Add the list of converters for nested processing
-                _kwargs["_parent_converters"] = self._page_converters
-
                 if "style_map" not in _kwargs and self._style_map is not None:
                     _kwargs["style_map"] = self._style_map
 
+                if "exiftool_path" not in _kwargs and self._exiftool_path is not None:
+                    _kwargs["exiftool_path"] = self._exiftool_path
+
+                # Add the list of converters for nested processing
+                _kwargs["_parent_converters"] = self._page_converters
+
                 # If we hit an error log it and keep trying
                 try:
                     res = converter.convert(local_path, **_kwargs)

tests/test_markitdown.py

@@ -277,9 +277,29 @@ def test_markitdown_local() -> None:
     reason="do not run if exiftool is not installed",
 )
 def test_markitdown_exiftool() -> None:
-    markitdown = MarkItDown()
+    # Test the automatic discovery of exiftool throws a warning
+    # and is disabled
+    try:
+        with catch_warnings(record=True) as w:
+            markitdown = MarkItDown()
+            result = markitdown.convert(os.path.join(TEST_FILES_DIR, "test.jpg"))
+            assert len(w) == 1
+            assert w[0].category is DeprecationWarning
+            assert result.text_content.strip() == ""
+    finally:
+        resetwarnings()
 
-    # Test JPG metadata processing
+    # Test explicitly setting the location of exiftool
+    which_exiftool = shutil.which("exiftool")
+    markitdown = MarkItDown(exiftool_path=which_exiftool)
+    result = markitdown.convert(os.path.join(TEST_FILES_DIR, "test.jpg"))
+    for key in JPG_TEST_EXIFTOOL:
+        target = f"{key}: {JPG_TEST_EXIFTOOL[key]}"
+        assert target in result.text_content
+
+    # Test setting the exiftool path through an environment variable
+    os.environ["EXIFTOOL_PATH"] = which_exiftool
+    markitdown = MarkItDown()
     result = markitdown.convert(os.path.join(TEST_FILES_DIR, "test.jpg"))
     for key in JPG_TEST_EXIFTOOL:
         target = f"{key}: {JPG_TEST_EXIFTOOL[key]}"
@@ -341,8 +361,8 @@ def test_markitdown_llm() -> None:
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     """Runs this file's tests from the command line."""
-    test_markitdown_remote()
+    # test_markitdown_remote()
-    test_markitdown_local()
+    # test_markitdown_local()
     test_markitdown_exiftool()
-    test_markitdown_deprecation()
+    # test_markitdown_deprecation()
-    test_markitdown_llm()
+    # test_markitdown_llm()