Introduction

A common source of needless bloat is the metadata added by cameras and image editing software. Invisible to the user, it can still add double digit percentage to the filesize for no benefit whatsoever. Tooling should remove unnecessary data from web facing content. Emphasis on “unnecessary”. In light of European Union Directive 790, we want to ensure that copyright owners are being properly attributed, and are not being accidently removed from their works by overzealous optimizations.

The Test

We process a ridiculously bloated image. We then check if the metadata of the file was removed. If any was removed, we check if the image's license is in tact. If it is, then we get a full pass.