Which programs leave traces like Word, Photoshop etc. in files created with these programs?
I was just wondering whether programs like MS Word, Adobe Photoshop and so on leave traces in files we create with them. By traces I mean things like:
- who created the file (Username on the machine)
- on which computer was it created (Machine name etc.)
and things like that. Are there sites out there which list this stuff?
Solution 1:
Word certainly saves a lot of information about the file. By right clicking on an older Word document (.doc) and selecting the Summary tab I can see the following:
- Author
- Last Saved By
- Revision Number
- Application Name
- Company
- Date Created
- Date Last Saved
- Edit Time
Interestingly an Excel file (.xlsx) and a newer Word doc (.docx) only have the following:
- Source
- Author
- Revision Number
Of course this could be Windows-XP not knowing how to read the rest of the information out the file
So it all depends on the file format and whether it has fields for this sort of information, regardless of whether the program actually updates this information when creating or updating the file
Solution 2:
Especially for office, there are tools to remove the hidden data: http://lifehacker.com/158559/download-of-the-day--microsoft-office-remove-hidden-data-add+in
Solution 3:
Unfortunately, quite a few programs stick some data in there for branding or informational purposes. As far as I know, no real filetype is immune. Photoshop sticks monitor inforation and color profiles inside of PNG files when you save them, and Paint.NET sets the software text block in a PNG file to the version of Paint.NET you used. What's worse is it can be difficult to find out too.
When you check the summary tab for files, I believe any of the information below the file group is generated by Explorer on the fly, so the Owner is who's set as the owner via NTFS and the Computer is showing which comptuer the file is currently located on (for network shares).