ComfyUI Save Image (Control Metadata)

Two ComfyUI nodes for saving PNGs with either clean (stripped) metadata or realistic, Lightroom-equivalent EXIF + XMP + IPTC + optional GPS that survives forensic inspection.

What it does

AI-generated PNGs typically ship with no EXIF/XMP or, worse, partial fake metadata that reads as obviously injected (e.g. camera model but no shutter speed). A real Lightroom export carries 40+ EXIF fields and a develop-history XMP block. This repo's node:

1. Strips metadata by default on every save — no matter what — so nothing leaks by accident.
2. (planned) Optionally writes a complete, internally consistent set of camera metadata from a curated profile library, with per-image randomized shutter/aperture/ISO/focal-length/timestamps, timezone-aware dates from a selectable location, and optional GPS.

Nodes

Save Image (Control Metadata)

The save node. Always writes PNGs to ComfyUI's output/ directory.

Inputs (planned signature):

Input	Type	Default	Purpose
images	IMAGE	—	ComfyUI image batch
filename_prefix	STRING	ComfyUI	Filename stem + optional subfolder (e.g. bella/img_)
use_camera_default_filename	BOOLEAN	False	Use the profile's native filename pattern (e.g. IMG_0001_.png). Requires a settings node
strip_all_metadata	BOOLEAN	False	Kill-switch — force clean output regardless of settings
debug_console	BOOLEAN	False	Print a per-file summary to the ComfyUI console
metadata_settings (optional)	METADATA_SETTINGS	—	Attach a ControlMetadataSettings node to enable realistic metadata

Behaviour:

• No metadata_settings connected → clean PNG, all metadata stripped.
• strip_all_metadata=True → clean PNG, even if settings are connected.
• metadata_settings connected + kill-switch off → realistic metadata written.

ControlMetadataSettings (planned)

Produces a METADATA_SETTINGS bundle to feed into the save node. No image I/O.

Widget groups:

• Identity — profile dropdown (or random), location dropdown (or random/custom), GPS on/off.
• Custom location — lat/lon/tz fields, used only when location=custom.
• Exposure — shutter, aperture, ISO, focal length, capture datetime. Each accepts auto (sample from profile) or an explicit value.
• Offset — min/max hours between capture and Lightroom save (default 4–168 hours). DateTimeOriginal is always at least the minimum offset before DateTime / xmp:ModifyDate.
• Author — creator, copyright, and synthetic body-serial toggle.
• Randomization — scope (per-image vs per-batch), edit intensity (light/medium/heavy — controls how much Lightroom develop history is written), and seed.

Camera profiles (planned)

Ships with a curated set covering common body+lens combinations. The settings node lists them in this order, with iPhone 17 Pro selected by default:

• iPhone 17 Pro Max (back camera)
• iPhone 17 Pro (back camera) — default
• iPhone 15 Pro (back camera)
• Canon EOS-1D Mark IV + EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
• Canon EOS 5D Mark IV + EF 24–70mm f/2.8L II USM
• Nikon D850 + AF-S 35mm f/1.4G
• Sony A7R IV + FE 85mm f/1.4 GM

Each profile is a YAML file under data/profiles/. Add your own by dropping a new YAML + XMP templates into that directory — no code changes required. To promote a new profile to the top of the dropdown, add its id to _PROFILE_ORDER in metadata/profiles.py.

Locations (planned)

data/locations.yaml ships with all major US and UK cities (≈50 US metros covering every US timezone, ≈20 UK cities across England/Scotland/Wales/NI), a custom (lat/lon) entry for ad-hoc coordinates, and a random option.

Each location drives:

• Timezone offset on EXIF/XMP timestamps.
• Daylight-hour constraint when sampling DateTimeOriginal (photos "taken" at 4am read as suspicious).
• Optional GPS coordinates (when write_gps=True), fuzzed ±550m around the city centre.

Installation

cd <your ComfyUI>/custom_nodes
git clone <this-repo> comfyui-control-metadata
pip install -r comfyui-control-metadata/requirements.txt   # planned

Restart ComfyUI. Both nodes appear under the image category.

Quick start

Clean output (default)

Drop the Save Image (Control Metadata) node into any workflow. Any existing metadata is stripped on save. That's it.

Realistic metadata (planned)

1. Add a ControlMetadataSettings node.
2. Pick a profile (or leave random), a location (or leave random), optionally toggle write_gps.
3. Connect its output to the metadata_settings socket on the save node.
4. Queue the prompt. The saved PNG carries a full Lightroom-style metadata block — open it in Jeffrey's Exif Viewer or run exiftool -a -G <file> to inspect.

Kill-switch

If you want one batch to go out clean even with settings attached, toggle strip_all_metadata=True on the save node.

Filename behaviour

• Files are saved as <prefix>_<counter:05>_.png with an auto-incrementing counter based on existing files in the destination folder.
• filename_prefix may include subfolders and ComfyUI variables (%year%, %month%, %day%, %width%, %height%).
• (planned) Toggling use_camera_default_filename replaces the leaf name with the active profile's native pattern (e.g. IMG_0001_.png for Canon, DSC_0001_.png for Nikon, DSC00001_.png for Sony — each with the correct digit width). The subfolder portion of filename_prefix is preserved.

Migration from previous versions (planned)

This release changes the save-node input signature:

Old input	New equivalent
remove_any_metadata	strip_all_metadata (renamed; old input was a no-op anyway)
replace_metadata_with_photoshop_export	Attach a ControlMetadataSettings node instead

Existing workflows will fail to load until the save node is replaced and reconnected. The node class name (SaveImageCleanMetadata) is unchanged.

Extending

• New camera profile: drop a data/profiles/<id>.yaml + three templates under data/profiles/templates/<profile_dir>/{light,medium,heavy}.xmp.tmpl.
• New location: add an entry to data/locations.yaml with id, label, lat, lon, tz (IANA), and daylight_hours.

Design notes

• No maker notes. Camera maker notes (Canon/Nikon/Sony proprietary EXIF blocks) are deliberately omitted. Faking them convincingly requires reverse-engineered encoders with checksums; real pros often strip them via Lightroom's export settings anyway.
• GPS off by default. Missing GPS is less suspicious than a present-but-wrong GPS block — many photographers disable location services. The dropdown makes it easy to turn on when you want it.
• Staggered timestamps. xmp:CreateDate (shoot time) is always at least 4 hours before xmp:ModifyDate (Lightroom save) by default — matching a real "shoot, import later" workflow. Develop history entries have intermediate timestamps.
• Breaking changes are deliberate. The repo owner is the only user; one-shot reconnection in their workflows is a fine cost for a cleaner API.