When writing about geocaching I mentioned that I'd heard of geotagging—but I hadn't made use of it. I've also posted about various ways to keep track of places you've been, including utilising Google Maps. I like to catalogue my travel pictures in iPhoto, but know of no way to integrate iPhoto and Google Maps. But you can use Google Earth to display geotagged photos in your iPhoto Library—even if you don't have a GPS device to record coordinates.
Add GPS coordinates via Google Earth
- Download Craig Stanton's Geotagger (freeware, Universal) and install it in your OS X Dock;
- Open Google Earth and centre the map on the area with which you wish to associate the photo(s);
- Open iPhoto and drag the photo(s) for tagging onto Geotagger's icon in the dock;
- Geotagger should launch then quit;
- To check that the coordinates were applied drag the photo from iPhoto to Preview in the Dock and use Command-I or the Tools menu to Get Info (Get Info in iPhoto is too limited);
- In the details pane you should now see a GPS Properties section with coordinates.
Note: iPhoto is optional as Craig's app works with photos dragged from anywhere.
The GPs coordinates are approximate. If you zoom in using Google Earth to get as "close" as possible to your location at ground level accuracy should improve! It also helps if you can search Google Earth for a specific location e.g. ""Guilin, China".
But wait: there's more. Now that your images are geotagged you'll want to share them, right? Craig's got that covered too.
Upload from iPhoto to Google Earth
Now that your photos "know" where they were taken you can share them with your Google Earth-loving friends, enabling them to trace your photographic journey. You can even include a link (a blog posting, for example) to a trip report or journal on your website.
- Download and install Craig Stanton's iPhotoToGoogleEarth plugin for iPhoto 6 (freeware, Universal);
- With the photo selected in iPhoto, choose Export from the File menu and navigate to the iPhotoToGoogleEarth tab;
- Name the placemark and in the description include a hyperlink to your online article;
- Click Export to save to a KMZ placemark file (compressed KML files as used by Google Earth).
E-mail the exported KMZ files to your friends. Once loaded into Google Earth they can click on the placemarks to see your photos, and in the sidebar see the links you have included should they wish to follow them:
Very clever Craig. And made in New Zealand too!
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Very cool tip. Maybe one day I'll get around to geotagging my photos. Thanks.
Could involve a lot of work Kevin! At least you can select multiple pics in iPhoto and drag them onto Geotagger. I figure the easiest way to batch-tag a lot of images would be to select (say) all the pics from China with Google Earth centred on a search for "Beijing, China". Do this for each country capital (or city) you have taken pictures in.
To improve the accuracy of using Google Earth, what I did was use the mouse cursor to the exact location on the map I want to have the photos tagged, then while remembering the co-ordinates in my head--don't worry, it's only the decimals that you'll need to remember) move the mouse cursor away from the Google Earth window and then use the cursor keys to match the same co-ordinates I have in my head.
Sounds a bit basic, but I can't find any other way.
If you're using Geotagger download a crosshair to help mark the correct spot; there's a screen capture of it in action here, under manual geo-locating.
Just found a set of crosshairs you can download for Google Earth--it's written on Craig Stanton's website. Much easier!