README file for PEL: PHP Exif Library.  A library with support for
reading and writing Exif headers in JPEG and TIFF images using PHP.

Copyright (C) 2004, 2005, 2006  Martin Geisler.
Licensed under the GNU GPL, see COPYING for details.


Description
***********

The PHP Exif Library (PEL) makes it easy to develop programs that will
read and write the Exif metadata headers found in JPEG and TIFF
images.  See the file INSTALL for an introduction to how PEL can be
used by your application.

PEL is a library written entirely in PHP 5, which means that it does
not have any dependencies outside the core of PHP, it does not even
use the Exif module available for PHP.

Please note that the API for PEL is not yet frozen, and it will remain
changeable until version 1.0 is reached. Read the NEWS file for
important information about API changes.

Also, please go to the PEL development mailing list (look below) and
share your ideas about how the API should look like.


Documentation Overview
**********************

* README: gives you a short introduction to PEL (this file).

* INSTALL: explain how to install and get going with PEL.

* NEWS: contains important information about changes in PEL.

* examples/: small self-contained examples of how to use PEL.

* doc/: the API documentation with a short tutorial and more examples.

* AUTHORS: list of people who have helped.


Features of PEL
***************

* Reads and writes Exif metadata from both JPEG and TIFF images.

* Supports reading and writing all Exif tags.

* Supports internationalization.

* Extensible object-oriented design.

* Unit-tested with SimpleTest (http://sf.net/projects/simpletest).

* Documented with PhpDocumentor (http://phpdoc.org/).


Getting Support
***************

The first place you should consult for support is the documentation
supplied with PEL, found in the doc/ directory.  There you will find a
complete API documentation with descriptions of all classes and files
in PEL.

The scripts found in the examples/ directory are also a good source of
information, especially the edit-description.php file which has tons
of comments.

PEL is hosted on SourceForge and uses the tools found there for
support.  This means that all questions, bug reports, etc. should be
directed there (and not directly to Martin Geisler).

The preferred way of getting support is the development mailing list:

  http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/pel-devel

After you have subscribed (do not worry, it is a low volume list) you
can post by sending your question to

  <pel-devel@lists.sourceforge.net>

If you have a specific support request, a bug report, a feature
request, or maybe a patch, please use the corresponding tracker:

  http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=108380

Please try the latest version before reporting bugs --- it might have
been fixed already.  The latest code can be found in the Subversion
repository, please see this SourceForge page for more information:

  http://sourceforge.net/svn/?group_id=108380

It is very helpful if you try out the latest code from the Subversion
repository before submitting a bug report. The code found there is
generally very stable.


Contributing Test Images
************************

To make PEL as stable as possible, it is tested with images from a
number of different camera models.  Those test images have been split
out into a separate download, to make the core PEL as small and quick
as possible to download.  Download the test images from the PEL
homepage:

  http://pel.sourceforge.net/

New test images are very much appreciated --- please download the
existing test images and read the README file found there for
instructions.


Credits
*******

Please see the AUTHORS file for a list of people who have contributed
to PEL.
