ExifToolGui V5 vs V6: Original vs Maintained Fork

Two different programs share the name ExifToolGui, and telling them apart explains most version confusion around this software. V5 is the original: Bogdan Hrastnik’s Windows front-end for Phil Harvey’s ExifTool, documented on the GUI pages of exiftool.org. V6 is the maintained fork: Frank Bijnen’s continuation of Hrastnik’s program on GitHub, currently at V6.3.12. They are related by lineage, not by authorship, licence or era — and one thing this page will not do is repeat the claim, common on download sites, that the original ended at a neat final version number. The primary source does not support one. The platform and version series is in the Platforms & Versions hub; current files are on the download page.

The original: Bogdan Hrastnik’s GUI, documented to 2012

The facts the primary source supports are these. Hrastnik published the first ExifToolGUI, v1.00, on May 27, 2007, writing on exiftool.org/gui that he had made it for his own private use. The official GUI page documents the program as ‘ExifToolGUI for Windows v5.xx’ and its footer was last modified in May 2012. That is where the verifiable trail of the original line ends in this site’s fact base: the page states no final version number for the 5.x line, and no primary source confirming a specific last release was found — so this site describes the original’s 5.x line as documented up to 2012 on exiftool.org/gui, and nothing stronger. What the v5 program was, the page does document: a Windows GUI to view all metadata ExifTool recognises, edit the frequently used tags, and modify multiple selected files at once, with Filelist, Metadata, ExifTool direct and GoogleMap panels. Its requirements were of its era — Windows XP through Windows 7-64bit — and its preparation ritual is the one still quoted today: unzip the Windows ExifTool package, rename exiftool(-k).exe to exiftool.exe, and place it where the GUI expects, on pain of a startup error. The GUI itself needed no installation, kept settings in ExifToolGUI.ini beside the executable, and used UTF-8 for all metadata display and editing.

The fork: Frank Bijnen’s V6, the current program

The GitHub repository, created in July 2023, describes itself as ‘an updated version of the ExifToolGui program created by Bogdan Hrastnik’ — a continuation, openly credited. Its licence is verified and specific: GPL-3.0, per the repository’s licence detection and Bijnen’s updated licence statement of March 23, 2024. (Note the asymmetry: no licence for Hrastnik’s v5 is stated on the original’s page, so GPL-3.0 belongs to the fork and must not be projected backwards onto v5.) The current release is V6.3.12, updated May 8, 2026, and ExifTool’s own site now links this fork as the current Windows GUI. Documented platform support moved with the times: Windows 7/8 runnable, Windows 10 or 11 highly recommended. The fork’s practical additions over the documented v5 picture include an installer that can fetch ExifTool during setup (the original ritual, automated), an OpenStreetMap map rendered via WebView2 with MapTiler layers in place of the v5 GoogleMap panel, and active release maintenance — V6.3.12 alone updated the Japanese translation, improved HEIC handling, added SubjectArea to the Regions tab and fixed a style-change crash, as itemised in What’s New in V6.3.12.

Side by side

  • Author: V5 — Bogdan Hrastnik. V6 — Frank Bijnen (continuing Hrastnik’s program, credited in the repo).
  • Home: V5 — exiftool.org/gui, page last modified May 2012. V6 — github.com/FrankBijnen/ExifToolGui, releases ongoing (V6.3.12, May 2026).
  • Licence: V5 — none stated on the original’s page (unverified). V6 — GPL-3.0, verified.
  • Windows: V5 — XP to Win7-64bit era. V6 — Win7/8 documented, Win10/11 highly recommended.
  • ExifTool setup: both need ExifTool separately; V5 made the rename fully manual, V6’s installer can fetch and rename it for you, and V6’s portable builds keep the manual ritual.
  • Map: V5 — GoogleMap panel. V6 — OpenStreetMap via Edge WebView2, MapTiler layers (V4 in V6.3.12).
  • Settings: both keep an .ini beside the program (ExifToolGUI.ini; ExifToolGUIV6.ini for the fork).

Which should you use?

On a current Windows PC there is no real contest, and the original’s own ecosystem says so: exiftool.org links Bijnen’s fork as the current Windows GUI. V6 is maintained, licensed clearly, documented for Windows 10/11, and pairs with current ExifTool versions — the choice of which one is its own question, answered in Which ExifTool Version Should You Pair. The original line matters as history and as the source of the pairing ritual every user still performs; if you are following an old tutorial that assumes v5 — including its GoogleMap panel or its Win7-era requirements — translate it through the differences above, or work from the V6 material in the Platforms & Versions hub. And if you meet a page stating a definitive final version for the original with a date and a hash attached, treat it the way this site does: as a claim still waiting for a primary source.

Frequently asked questions

Is V6 made by the same author as V5?

No. V5 is Bogdan Hrastnik’s program. V6 is Frank Bijnen’s continuation of it, hosted on GitHub since 2023 and credited as such in its own README. Phil Harvey, author of ExifTool itself, is a third person — he makes the engine both GUIs drive.

What was the final version of the original ExifToolGui?

This site cannot tell you, because the primary source does not: exiftool.org/gui documents the v5.xx line and was last modified in May 2012, without stating a final version number. Claims of a specific final 5.x release circulate on third-party sites but are not verified from the author’s page, so they are not repeated here as fact.

Can V6 read my old V5 setup?

The kept-through-lineage pieces are the concepts: the pairing with a renamed exiftool.exe, settings in an .ini beside the program (named ExifToolGUIV6.ini in the fork), and the Workspace way of defining tag panels. For a fresh start on a modern PC, install V6.3.12 from the download page and pair a current ExifTool — the migration that matters is versions, not settings archaeology.

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