use Image::ExifTool qw(ImageInfo); my $exifTool = new Image::ExifTool; $exifTool->Options(Binary => 1); my $info = $exifTool->ImageInfo('image_file.jpg', 'thumbnailimage'); my $data = ${$$info{ThumbnailImage}}; my $loader = Gtk2::Gdk::PixbufLoader->new(); $loader->write($data); $loader->close(); $pixbuf = $loader->get_pixbuf();