09-18-2022, 07:15 PM
A statement in my original post is "... bit depth which is flat out wrong (i.e., Bits per sample: 8 8 8 in the case of an image file with 16 bit precision).". I have now pretty conclusively determined that this problem occurs consistently when producing output files in .png format. Output files produced in .tiff format seem to be consistently correct in this respect.
With that said, Makernotes are a consistent mess at least in the case of output files produced in both .png and .tiff format. Unfortunately, requesting Exif metadata seems to necessarily include the messed up Makernotes. Since GIMP does properly adjust a few things that might get revised, such as ImageWidth, ImageHeight, X & Y Resolution, by editing operations it is desirable to include this basic Exif data (possibly referred to by the Group Name of IFD0) in the image files it produces. However, it would be MUCH better if GIMP simply excluded Makernotes from the output files it produces if it cannot do it correctly.
With that said, Makernotes are a consistent mess at least in the case of output files produced in both .png and .tiff format. Unfortunately, requesting Exif metadata seems to necessarily include the messed up Makernotes. Since GIMP does properly adjust a few things that might get revised, such as ImageWidth, ImageHeight, X & Y Resolution, by editing operations it is desirable to include this basic Exif data (possibly referred to by the Group Name of IFD0) in the image files it produces. However, it would be MUCH better if GIMP simply excluded Makernotes from the output files it produces if it cannot do it correctly.