geotag photos user guide 01-2011

7/28/2019 Geotag Photos User Guide 01-2011

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Geotag Photos Pro UserGuide

Geotag Photos is an iPhone/Android and desktop application, which allows you to

geotag photos taken by yourregular camera (this can be any DSLR or compact

camera). It was specially designed for geotagging photos it has all the built in

functions that fit the needs of amateur and professional photographers alike.

Geotag Photos is supported by all of the major operating systems (Windows, Mac OS

X, Linux) and is supports most of the current camera formats (.JPG and various

RAW file formats such as Nikons NEF, Canons CRW and CR2 as well as over20

others).

Geotag Photos for the iPhone runs on any iOS device with the GPS module. It also

utilizes the multitasking functionality of the new iOS 4 (only on supported devices

such as the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4). Geotag Photos Pro for Android runs on any

Android device with GPS chip and with Android 1.6 and above.

We developed Geotag Photos Pro with mind of simplicity, so that we are sure, that

you will be able to use it without this user guide. But to get most of it, we are

recommending to read at least Getting started chapter.

TappyTaps, http://www.geotagphotos.net
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What Is Geotagging Good For?

All pictures taken by any camera contain some metadata information. It helps you to

organize your photos and view details about each photo - like time and date, when

photo was taken, shutter speed etc.

Similarly, image formats used for storing photos also support location information.

This will enable you to send photos to your friends and they will be able to see where

the photo was taken, or you can also display your trip on a map with a preview of the

pictures displayed on the map. Most photo viewing applications work with geotaggedphotos. However, only a small number of cameras have built-in GPS chips and can

store location data right into the pictures you take.

This is where Geotag Photos comes in. You can use your iPhone as a GPS device. You

can store location data in one of many recording modes and use your camera as usual.

Then using our desktop application, photos taken by your camera are geotagged using

location data recorded by your iPhone.

How It Works?

The principle is quite simple. By using your mobile phone and our application, youcan log your current position (automatically or manually, depending on your situation

and needs). Simply take photos with your digital camera (any digital camera will do),

and then by using our desktop application, you can put information from both devices

(mobile phone and camera) together.

How? We know that when you take photos your camera saves the time each picture

was taken, to the metadata information. Similarly, our mobile phone application stores

the time and date of the logged position. Quite simple, isnt it?



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Anatomy of Geotag Photos Solution

Youve probably already downloaded Geotag Photos or Geotag Photos Lite from the

AppStore. This application is just a part of Geotag Photos. Our geotagging solution

consist of 3 parts:

Geotag Photos for iPhone/Android This is an application that logs your

positions in your selected logging mode from trips.

Website www.geotagphotos.net - By using this website, you can log in using

your user name and password and start the Geotagging desktop application

from there, or download your logged data in GPX format.

Geotag Photos desktop application This is a Java based application that

does the geotagging of your photos. It can be started directly from our website,

but it is not a web application. It runs on your computer and it works with the

photos on your computer. No photos are actually uploaded to our website.

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Geotag Photos Getting Started

In this chapter we will describe the basic steps of how to use Geotag Photos. For more

detailed information, please refer to the Detailed User Guide.

iPhone and Android version of Geotag Photos Pro are slightly different. In this case

we will describe how to make each action on both device types.

Preparation

Before you start you MUST ensure that your camera and iPhone/Android phone

are set to the same time. How to do this?

On iPhone - Just start the Geotag Photos on your phone and select Settings &

Uploadand then Setup time on camera. Then set the time displayed on your

iPhone on your camera.

On Android select the Settings tab and then tap on Setup time on camera.Then set the time displayed on your mobile phone on your camera.

Store Location Data Using The iPhone/Android Application

After starting the Geotag Photos Pro application, use theNew Trip button to create a

new trip and then press theRec button to start recording your positions. After you

start recording, you can switch the phone to sleep mode or use any other applications

you wish (in case of using mobile phone with multitasking feature apply for all

Android phones and iPhone 3GS + 4 with iOS 4.0 and above). Now you can simply

set aside the mobile and start taking pictures with your digital camera.

When you are finished with your trip, simply press the Stop button.

Upload Location Data

To be able to geotag photos taken by your camera, you have to upload the location

data from the iPhone to the geotagging application. Thanks to the Geotag Photos

mobile app, it is easy. How to do this?

On iPhone just select Settings & Uploadand then the Upload Logged Data

function. After you click on the Start uploadbutton, your logged data will be

transferred to the geotagging application. On Android the Uploadbutton is on main tab. Just click on it to start

transferring of data.

Registration on Geotagphotos.net

To be able to geotag your photos on your home computer, you have to run our

geotagging desktop application from the getotagphotos.net server.

How to make it?



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On iPhone - to register there, select Settings & Uploadand thenLink with

Geotagphotos.net. On the next screen, simply enter your email and we will

send you a link that will guide you through the registration process.

On Android you will be asked for username & password after the first

upload of data. You can do it manually as well using Settings tab and YourGeotagphotos.net accountfunction.

We take privacy very seriously all communication with geotagphotos.net is secured

and we dont collect any personal data from you (just the user name and password).

Password is stored in encrypted form on our server, so that even we don't know it.

You can also remove all of your trips using www.geotagphotos.net web interface.

Geotagging Your Photos

Final step after you finish uploading the location data and registering on the

geotagphotos.net server, you can start to geotag your photos. Just sign in onwww.geotagphotos.net and click the run the application button.

Using the Geotag Photos desktop application is very easy. Select the folder with the

photos you want to geotag and click the geotag button. Our application will add the

GPS metadata to your photos. Then you can view them in any application you like,

such as iPhoto, Aperture or Picasa and use the Places function of those applications.

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Geotag Photos iPhone Application Detailed UserGuide

In this chapter, we will show you how to get most from Geotag Photos Pro. We will

show you the whole process; from the setup of Geotag Photos, to taking pictures,

uploading logged data, and finally how to geotag your pictures.

Lets start!

Setup Your Camera

The first thing you have to do before you start taking pictures and recording locations,

is to sync the time on your camera to be the same as

on your iPhone. Why is this needed? Our Geotag

Photos for iPhone is recording your location in real

time. You camera is also placing a time stamp on

every photo you take. Later we add location basedinformation to your photos metadata by comparing

the time the photo was taken and the time the

location was logged. To make this process accurate,

the time has to be the same on both devices (the

iPhone/Android and the camera). Dont forget to

change the time on your camera if you travel across

the time zones. The time has to always be the same

on the iPhone and the Camera. Time zone is not

stored within the photos metadata by most cameras,

so this is really important.

Our Geotag Photos Pro mobile phone application

even helps you to set up the time on your camera.

How to find this function?

On iPhone - Just start the Geotag Photos on your phone and select Settings &

Uploadand then Setup time on camera. Then set the time displayed on your

iPhone on your camera.

On Android select the Settings tab and then tap on Setup time on camera.

Then set the time displayed on your mobile phone on your camera.Now just open the time / date settings on your camera and set it to the same time.

Creating A New Trip

To help organize it better, we are storing location data into trips. It is up to you how

you will use this feature. For example, you can create one trip for your 2 week long

vacation, or you can create a separate trip for every day. Geotag Photos Pro supports

muti-days trips.

After first starting Geotag Photos Pro on the mobile phone, you have to create new

trip before you start logging your location. Later on, you can continue on in yourcurrent trip or create a new one.



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Starting Position Recording

After adjusting the time settings on your camera and creating your first trip, you are

now ready to use Geotag Photos. First, you have to select the logging mode. Geotag

Photos Pro has different logging modes, each is best suited for different situations. We

will describe those situations now briefly:

Auto logging Mode:

Off When auto logging is off, you can log your position

manually using the Update now (green pin) button. This

mode is mostly used when you are in one place for an

extended time, or when you are not taking photos frequently.

This mode is also best for extending your iPhone battery life.

Continuous In continuous mode, every position change will be logged.This makes it the most accurate mode, however it is drains the battery the



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most. Use this mode when you are moving quickly, (such as when you are

taking photos from a car or train) or when you need to geotag your photos

very precisely.

Time Based This mode will log your position every specific time interval

(like 30 seconds, 2 minutes or so). This is a good compromise betweenaccuracy and saving the battery. Your position will be logged at the selected

interval. This mode is good for most of situations, and when you set the time

interval to 5 minutes or more, it will provide sufficient accuracy and will not

drain the mobile phone battery.

After you select the logging mode, you can start to record your positions. Just click on

theRec button to start. Then the GPS will activate and your positions will start to be

logged.

Note: In some circumstances, it can take a long time to get the first position. This

is especially true when you move for a significant amount of time with the phoneswitched off (for example when traveling by plane from Asia to Europe). Some

people think that the GPS doesn't work on the iPhone when data roaming is off. This

is not true. It only means that to get the first position can take 10 20 minutes. This

is a problem with all the GPS related apps for the iPhone. But when that first location

is recorded, this issue will not happen any more (at least in the same country). The

best way to get the first position when this happens is to open the building Maps

app and check for your actual position. It is good idea to be in a place with clear

visibility to the sky.

How To Use Your Mobile Phone in Logging Mode

With the iOS 4, Geotag Photos can run in the background. You can just press theRec

button, then put the iPhone into sleep mode or start any other application and

Geotag Photos will still run in the background.

Dont forgot to switch to the Geotag Photos application and press the Stop button

when you finish your trip. The recording of locations and the usage of the GPS is

using your iPhone battery, so it is always a good idea to stop it when not in use.

On Android Geotag Photos Pro runs perfectly on background. Only in case if you are

using some 3rd party so called task killers, please don't forgot to configure them

properly to include Geotag Photos Pro into applications, that should not be killed by

this app.

Information and Functions in Logging Mode

When recording positions is started and the GPS location is detected, you can use

several functions to control or check logging:

Stop / Start Logging using the stop and start buttons.



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Log Position Immediately It doesn't matter

which auto logging mode youve selected, by

using this button your position is logged

immediately. This is useful when you have set

up time-based auto logging and you want to

take a photo from a specific location right then.

You dont have to wait until the time passes to

the next position update, simply press the

update now green pin button.

Change Trip Name Simply click on a trip

name to change it.

Change Auto Log Mode You can change the

automatic logging mode even when logging is

already in progress.

Trips Log You can display details about your trips

and logged positions.

Trips Log

To check and view logged data, you can select the Trips Log

function from the main screen on iPhone. Same function can be

accessed on Android usingHistory tab. Trips Log displays all

your trips with date and time information. For every trip there is

also a status icon indicating if the trip was already uploaded ornot.

Map View of Trip

To check if everything was logged properly, you can click on

any trip part to display the logged track on the map. On the map

view you can see the track path including the first and last

logged position.

Deleting of Trips (iPhone Only)

You can also delete trips in the Trips log. By clicking theEditbutton the selection mode is enabled and you can select which

trips you want to delete. You can confirm this action by clicking

theDelete button.

Note: Trips are deleted only on your mobile phone, this doesnt effect already

uploaded trips on geotagphotos.net server.



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Trip Operations Screen

You can display trip operations screen using blue arrow

button near side to name of every trip. Using this

menu, you can do various operations:

you can rename trip

you can delete selected trip

you can export selected trip into standard GPX file

format and send exported file to any email

Upload of Your Logged Data to the geotagphotos.net Server

To be able to geotag your photos, you need to transfer the logged location information

where the desktop application will be able to use them. Fortunately, it is very easy to

do this in the Geotag Photos Pro app.

On iPhone, simply select Settings & Uploadand then Upload logged data. If there is

any data to upload (if you have logged new positions since the last upload), you will

be able to click on Start upload. You need a working Internet connection for your

iPhone to perform this function (Wifi or GSM data network).

On Android you can find Uploadfunction on main (Logging) tab.

Accuracy SettingsYou can find Accuracy settings in Settings tab on Android

or using Settings & Uploadscreen on iPhone.

Min. Position Change New position will be

logged after you move to a specified location. If

the distance between the last location and the new

location is smaller than the value set by this option

the original value will be used as a logged value.

Get location using (Location provides)

depending on your situation, we can get your

current position using only GPS chip or we can

also use alternative (less accurate methods). We

suggest to left GPS only value in this option,

because alternative methods can be really inaccurate (like 10 km away from

your position).



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GPX Export of Trips

Although we included desktop geotagging application with Geotag Photos Pro free of

charge, some users wants raw data of their trips. For this case, we prepared ways, how

to export trips to standard GPX file format.

What is the exported file useful for? You can export your trip and then display the

track on a map, using a service like GPSvisualizer.com or Google Earth. Or you can

use some analytics software, that will give you statistics about your trip; how fast you

went, how many calories you burned and so on. Some photo organizations

applications (like Apple Aperture) can import those GPX files, display them and

geotag photos accordingly.

GPX Export from iPhone Application

There are 2 ways, how to export GPX file from iPhone application:

send GPX file for each trip by email. Just open Trips Operations screen andselectExport to Email. GPX with selected trip will be send to entered email.

Get GPX files using iTunes file sharing function. This is probably easiest

way and you don't need internet network for this. Just connect your iPhone to

computer using wire cable and open iTunes. Then:

1. click on your iPhone

2. select Apps tab

3. scroll down, until you find File Sharing section

4. Select Geotag Photos Pro GPX files for all trips are there!



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GPX Export from Android Application

There are 2 ways how to get GPX files from Android application:

send GPX file for each trip by email. Just open Trips Operations screen and

selectExport to Email. GPX with selected trip will be send to entered email.

GPX file for each trip is also stored on memory card on your Android phone.

So that you can simply connect your phone to computer and browse memory

card. You can find GPX files in GPX Exports folder.



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Services Available on Geotagphotos.net Website

There are many ways to geotag photos using data logged by an external device. To

make it easy for you, we developed our own Geotagging desktop application that

works hand in hand with our Geotag Photos iPhone application. This desktop

application is free of charge for all Geotag Photos users. This doesnt mean that youcannot use another application. Thanks to the GPX export function, you can get

logged data and do whatever you want with it.

Linking Your iPhone and Geotagphotos.net

To be able to run the Geotag Photos desktop application, you

will need to register on the geotagphotos.net web site. Why is

this needed? When you upload your location data, it is securely

stored on our geotagphotos.net server. Using your iPhone /

Android, we will enable access for you on this server. From thisserver you will be able to run the geotagging desktop

application, export logged data to GPX format, and more.

Linking youriPhone and Geotagphotos.net is quite simple. Just

selectLink with Geotagphotos.netfrom the Settings & Upload

menu. On this screen, enter your email and we will send you an

activation link. Using this link, you will be able to select your user name & password.

On Android, linking is done with first upload of your trips.

Geotagphotos.net FunctionsWhen you sign in to the client section of the geotagphotos.net web site, you will have

access to two main functions. First you will be

able to start our Geogagging desktop application.

Although this application is started from your web

browser, it runs on your computer. Second you

can view your trips archive, look on logged tracks

using map view, export trips into GPX or delete

them.

To sign in to the geotagphotos.net server, open www.geotagphotos.net and then click

on the Geotag your photos now button. You will be asked for your user name &

password, that you chose during the registration

process.

Geotagging Application

To run the Geotag Photos application, just click on

the Run the application button. Java 1.6 is

required to run it. Java is installed by default on

Mac OS X, in Windows and Linux you can

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download it for free from http://www.java.com.

Geotagging application is described in detail later in this User Guide.

Your Trips

Together with free geotagging application you can also use your own free private trips

archive. Every trip, that is transferred to GeotagPhotos.net by you is accessible

through Your Trips tab.

What you can do in your trips archive?

You can search in your trips archive by trip

name

You can display your trip on map

You can export selected trips to GPX file

format

And you can also delete any of your trip

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Geotag Photos Desktop Application

The Geotag Photos desktop application is the core of our geotagging solution. With

this application, you will be able to geotag all the photos taken during your trip, using

data that you recorded by using our Geotag Photos iPhone application.

The current version of Geotag Photos Pro desktop application is supported by all the

major operating systems (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux). It supports geotagging of

JPG files and various RAW formats (more than 20 types).

The Geotag Photos desktop application is a Java Web Start application. That means,

that you need to have Java installed on your computer in order to run it. If you are

using a Mac OS X, you dont have to worry about anything, Java is already there.

Windows and Linux users can easily download and install Java by visiting http://

www.java.com and following the instructions there.

Before You Start With Geotagging

The Geotag Photos desktop application uses location data that you logged using the

Geotag Photos iPhone/Android application. Dont forgot to upload logged data before

you start geotagging your photos. Uploading the data is easy, just tap on Settings &

Uploadand then Upload logged data (on Android - click on UploadonLoggertab).

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Starting of Geotag Photos Application

To start the Geotag Photos application, sign

in to www.geotagphotos.net and click on the

blue Geotag your photos now button.

Geotag Photos is a Java web startapplication, which means you must have

JAVA in order to run it.

In most internet browsers, the Geotag Photos

application will be started after the click of a

button. The Google Chrome browser will

download a small file named

RunGeotagphotos.jnpl. Please open this file

to start the application. The Firefox browser

will display an Opening dialog. Just click on the OK button in this dialog to startthe application.

Then Java Webstart downloading windows will be displayed (this will only happen

the first time you use Geotag Photos, or when there is n update released) and you are

asked if you trust publisher iSarson. SelectAllow, if you want to use the Geotag

Photos application.

Geotagging Your Photos

Using the Geotag Photos Pro desktopapplication is easy and straightforward.

After starting the open window is

displayed. You can select from a list of

recently opened folders, or you can

select new folder, where the application

will load the photos from.

Afterselecting the folder all photos are

loaded and location information is displayed (if available). Then simply click on the

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Geotaggingbutton to save the location information to the EXIF metadata of the

pictures. The pictures are altered, not copied and saved to another location.

And you're done! Your photos are geotagged and you can import them to your

favorite photo viewing application such as iPhoto, Aperture or Picasa. We recommend

to geotag photos before you import them to your favorite photo viewing applicationas sometimes the photo library is not readily accessible in external applications (for

example, it is difficult to geotag pictures, after they are imported to iPhoto). Geotag

Photos supports geotagging directly on your memory card, so that you can geotag

them first, and then import them without any problems. Best way, how to geotag

photos on memory card is to use card reader, because not all cameras supports USB

mass storage service.

Enabling of RAW file Format Support

Geotag Photos comes with two different image-processing engines. The first one isreliable and fast, but it only supports the JPG file format. This option is enabled by

default, because most users will take photos in the JPG format. However, if you are

an advanced user, or a professional, and you want to get the most from your camera,

you are probably using the RAW format. The good news is that Geotag Photos

supports more than 20 native RAW file formats by taking advantage of the Exiftool

plugin.

The only thing you need to do to enable RAW file format support, is install the

plugin.. This is a very easy procedure, simply use the Settings button, located in the

Geotag Photos toolbar and follow the step-by-step instructions. If you are using

Windows, just click on the Install button, if you are using the Mac OS X, download &

run the installation package.

By using the Exiftool plugin, Geotag Photos supports the following file formats: jpg,

nef, cr2, crw, dcr, ciff, erf, orf, k25, kdc, mef, mrw, nrw, pef, raf, tif, tiff, raw, arw,

rw2, srf, sr2, srw, x3f, dng.

Running Geoatag Photos Desktop Application as StandaloneApplication

Geotag Photos dont have to be started from our website - you can install it as astandalone application. It is easy to do this - first time, when application is started,

you are asked, if you want to make Desktop integration of Geotag Photos. What

does it mean? Simply, we will add entry to Start menu(in case you are usingWindows) or toApplications(in case you are using Mac OS X).



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You can enable this function later as well, using Setupbutton and checking System

integration checkbox.

When Time on Phone & Camera Dont Match

It can happen, that you realize after return from trip, that the time on your camera and

mobile phone dont match. Maybe you set wrong day, maybe you traveled to differenttimezone and you didnt changed new time on your camera. But nothing is lost!

Thanks toFix camera time function, you can still geotag photos without problems.

This function is disabled by default (because we want to have Geotag Photos simple

by default), so that you have to enable it in Setup window. Just check theEnable fix

camera time function.

Now new button will appear on status bar of application.

When you click onEditbutton, you can simply set difference between your phone

time and camera time (the difference in time when you took the pictures).



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Geotag Photos Blog and Contact Information

We hope that this user guide helps you understand how the Geotag Photos app works,

and how you can use it to best fit your needs. We are still making improvements, so

be sure to subscribe to our blog http://www.geotagphotos.net/blog to keep up to date

on this cutting edge software.

We would really appreciate any feedback that you can give us.

Please feel free to contact us at [email protected], look on our other products

on web site http://www.tappytaps.com.

Yours Jindrich and Jan Sarson, authors, designers and programmers of Geotag Photos

Pro.
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geotag photos user guide 01-2011

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