if you use: file --brief --mime "$file" you would get too little practically unusable info. file --brief "$file" would give you what you need when it comes to pdf files (yes, the structure of pdf files depend on their version), but with images it gives you data relating to the specific file, such as:
org/wikipedia/en/Big_Bang_files/16px-He1523a.jpg|JPEG image data, baseline, precision 8, 16x18, components 3 org/wikipedia/en/East_Germany_files/20px-DDR_-_helfer_der_volkspolizei.jpg|JPEG image data, baseline, precision 8, 20x13, components 3 org/wikipedia/en/Country_code_top-level_domain_files/23px-Flag_of_Hong_Kong.png|PNG image data, 23 x 15, 8-bit colormap, non-interlaced org/wikipedia/en/Country_code_top-level_domain_files/45px-Flag_of_Venezuela.png|PNG image data, 45 x 30, 8-bit colormap, non-interlaced is there a way to go: file --brief --no-specifics "$file" to just get: JPEG image data, baseline, precision 8, components 3 PNG image data, 8-bit colormap, non-interlaced
