Orientation: What This Metadata Tag Means
Orientation tells software how to rotate a photo for display, for example Rotate 90 CW for a picture taken with the camera held upright.
Last updated: November 13, 2026
What it means
Cameras often save the pixels in the sensor’s landscape layout and set Orientation instead of rotating the image. Viewers read the tag and turn the picture the right way up.
Example
- Tag
- Orientation
- Group in ExifMeta
- EXIF
- Example value
- Rotate 90 CW
This is how the tag appears in ExifMeta’s results. The value in your file will differ.
Typical values
Common values are Horizontal (normal), Rotate 90 CW, Rotate 180, and Rotate 270 CW. Mirrored variants such as Mirror horizontal also exist but are rare.
Where it comes from
The camera writes it from its tilt sensor at capture. Editors usually rotate the pixels on export and reset it to Horizontal (normal).
What it is useful for
It explains why a photo appears sideways in one program and upright in another, and it tells you how the camera was held when the picture was taken.
Watch out for
A program that ignores Orientation shows the photo sideways. Removing all metadata from a file can do the same, because the rotation instruction goes with it.
Find it in your file
Upload a file to ExifMeta, then type Orientation into the “Search tags and values” box under All metadata. If nothing matches, the file does not contain this tag.
Learn more in the guide: How to See What Camera Settings a Photo Used
See the tags in your own file
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