A geotag adds location data or geographical information to a digital photograph. For instance, the camera app on a smartphone can add global positioning system (GPS) coordinates to the photos you take. Nonetheless, you’d have to make a few tweaks in your device’s settings for the feature to work as expected.
If you’re an avid or professional photographer with a large collection of pictures, you might find that geotagging helps record the exact locations in which you took each of your photos. To simplify the process, you can use geotagging software. Case in point, Check This Out to find a good deal on such an application. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves- an in-depth look at geotagging should suffice to give you a better idea of what it entails.
Have you ever gone through your old digital photos and couldn’t seem to trace exactly where you took some of them? I have, and it shows the limitations we have in our memories. Well, what if you could maintain a record of your photos so you can always tell where you took each one? That’s where geotagging comes in.
How Geotagging Works
A geotag can allow you to store location data with every photo you take. In short, it makes it easier for you or other people to pinpoint where you captured a digital image on a map. To do this, a geotag stores location information- latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates- as a set of numbers in the image file’s EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) data.
The image’s EXIF data or contextual information provides a better reference point than the photo’s image data. Some of the data may include:
- The location where you captured the photo (as earlier noted)
- Model of the camera you used to capture the image
- Time and date the image was taken
- The image’s resolution or camera settings as you captured it
Simply put, a geotag offers an intuitive approach to organizing photos. In so doing, you can easily find photos or identify spots on a map where you took a particular snapshot. That means even if you can’t recall where you captured a photo; a geotag lets you see the exact spot on the map upon checking the image’s properties.
Once you’ve geotagged your photos, you need a medium for transferring them into a physical location to be visible on a map. To do that or to create a customized web map, you may need to use geotagging software. Also, such an app comes in handy if your device-phone or camera- doesn’t sport a built-in GPS receiver.
Geotagging Software
Generally, geotag software lets you add location data to a digital image. With the help of such an app, you can upload multiple images and geotag them. Plus, integration with Google Maps makes light work of searching and finding a photo’s exact location. Some apps let users convert images automatically to other file formats, such as PNG to JPG.
Besides, most geotag apps interface with image management software on various devices. They also work well with file-sharing services, offering enhanced functionality.
You may use various ways to insert an image’s geographic location into its metadata. For instance, you can synchronize a GPS receiver to your camera and, with the help of geotagging software, tag your images with exact locations. GPS works by logging the location data, while the app syncs the data with the corresponding images. Such software works best for geotagging numerous photos, as doing so by hand would be challenging.
Some geotag programs let you insert GPS coordinates, a city name, and other descriptive notes for effortless tagging after capturing your images. Other apps do all the work after dragging an image onto a location. If you’re working with a large batch of photos, some applications may let you edit them in one go.
Manual Tagging
If you need to enter your coordinates manually into a geotag app, you can use various ways to get position data. For instance, you can use an app that displays location data on your phone and record the information manually. Alternatively, you can note down a physical location or mailing address of a structure close to the spot where you took your snaps. And, with the help of a map program, you can pull a coordinate of the address to help you geotag the images.
Whichever option you settle for, the idea is to simplify the organization of digital photos for easier retrieval or identification. For instance, geotagging allows other users to find relevant images online. If you search for images in a particular region, the photos taken in the area will pop up. As a result, publicly tagged images can have multiple applications for businesses (search engine optimization) and even law enforcement (evidence gathering).
With the right geotagging tool, you can be on your way to adding vital data to your photos. If you need to add contextual information to multiple images, it might help to use bulk image geotagging software to simplify your work.
