Geo-tag your images and locate them on a map with open source software GeoTag

Geo-tag your images and locate them on a map with open source software GeoTag: "

You may not realize it, but the pictures that you take with your GPS-enabled camera or smartphone (such as your iPhone), and many of the images that you download from the internet contain location information that identify precisely where the snapshots were taken (typically, in the form of longitude and latitude coordinates).

This means that you could easily plot your images locations on a map, place them into Google Earth, or translate these coordinates into an identifiable location/city/country and store it in your photos’ metadata. This, in a nutshell, is exactly what free software GeoTag does.

In addition, GeoTag lets you quickly add geo tags to images without messing with coordinates or entering information into fields, by simply dragging and dropping a marker on a map.

Some notes on this one:

• It can place multiple images on a map, which can be kind of cool.

• Will let you drag and drop a marker on a map in order to geo tag an image. So easy to do and sure beats trying to figure out coordinates and entering them manually.
• If you also download a tool called ExifTool, GeoTag automatically can add location data to your images’ metadata (i.e. it will translate GeoTag 47.6205849 – 122.3497796 i
• nto “Space needle, Washington, USA” and save it into the image file (strangely, it seems to skip ‘Seattle’).
• Can display your images in Google Earth: although I didn’t test this as I did not have that software installed.
• Will let you copy location info from an image and apply it to a number of other images en masse. Which can simplify the process of geo tagging whole libraries of images tremendously.
• Portable: no need to install; download and run.

The verdict: this software is innovative and fun to use. It may not be for everyone, but for those who have an interest in maintaining geo data in their image metadata (or those who are just curious), it is a great tool to have.

Version tested: 0.082

Compatibility: Windows, Linux. Requires Java 6. Will also run on a Mac (but only 64-bit Intel Mac with OS X 10.5 and Java 6, see the FAQ section for more info).

Go to the program home page to download the latest version (approx 2.92 megs).

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