Module 05 Tutorial · Image Upload & Thumbnails Track

What You'll Have at the End

Definition of Done

Extract image width, height, format, color profile using Sharp.
Extract EXIF data (camera model, timestamp, location) using exifparser or piexifjs.
Store core metadata in images table: width, height, format, upload_timestamp.
Store rich EXIF in JSONB column: camera, focal_length, location.
Strip sensitive EXIF before storage (GPS, embedded thumbnails).
GET /images/:id returns dimensions and metadata.
Ability to query by upload date or dimensions.

The Steps

Build It

STEP 1

Extract and store image metadata

Install: npm install exifparser

Create src/utils/metadataExtractor.ts:

import sharp from 'sharp';
import ExifParser from 'exifparser';

export async function extractMetadata(buffer: Buffer) {
  const sharpImage = sharp(buffer);
  const metadata = await sharpImage.metadata();

  let exif = {};
  try {
    const parser = ExifParser.create(buffer);
    const result = parser.parse();
    exif = {
      camera: result.tags.Model || result.tags.Make,
      timestamp: result.tags.DateTime,
      focal_length: result.tags.FocalLength,
      iso: result.tags.ISOSpeedRatings,
      aperture: result.tags.FNumber
    };
  } catch (err) {
    // No EXIF data
  }

  return {
    width: metadata.width,
    height: metadata.height,
    format: metadata.format,
    colorspace: metadata.space,
    hasAlpha: metadata.hasAlpha,
    exif
  };
}