Viewing Pictures on a Map

Google+, Organizing, Picasa Comments Off

Jul 182014

We take hundreds of pictures every month and, since we live in an RV, we are constantly traveling. I might look at this picture and have no idea where we were when it was taken. If I’m lucky, the photo includes location information, then Picasa, or Google+ Photos can display the picture on a map:

I may not remember where this picture was taken just by looking at it.

If the photo contains location information (GPS latitude/longitude) then Picasa can show me a map

How does a Picture get Geotagged?

If your camera is equipped with a GPS, there is a setting that allows the camera to tag pictures with that location information. This is most common with smartphone cameras. For example, on my Samsung Galaxy S5 phone, when I’m using the camera, I can tap the gear icon for Settings, find the Location setting and turn it on. If that setting is on, then you will be able to view the picture’s location on a map using Picasa, or Google+ Photos. You need to check this setting often because when you turn off your phone’s GPS, this setting also turns off and you need to manually turn it back on. If your camera does not geotag for you, you can use Picasa to manually set the location information using the Places Pane. (Geeks on Tour members can view the tutorial video on Geotagging)

When this picture is imported to your computer and you see it in Picasa’s library, you will notice a red location marker icon in the lower right . When you see that icon showing on a picture’s thumbnail, it means you can click the same icon in the lower right of Picasa’s screen and the Places Pane will open at the right of your screen. The map that shows here is Google Maps and it comes from the Internet, so this will only work if your computer is online.

When you share your picture to Google+ online, you can click on the picture, click on ”Photo Details” at the right and see a map. If Location data is not stored with the picture, you will see a link to “Add a Location” then you can manually drop a pin on a map to indicate the location of the picture.

Picasa Web Albums Map View

Picasa Web Albums still has the best way of viewing pictures on a map. To get to your uploaded pictures and view them with the old Picasa Web Albums interface, use this link: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos?noredirect=1 Now you’re viewing the same albums as with Google+ Photos, but with the older Picasa Web Albums tools. When you click on an album and look to the right, you should see a map image called “Photo Locations.” There is a link below the map to “View Map” which will show you a map with the pictures showing as little thumbnails right in place on the map.

I love it!

This tip brought to you by Geeks on Tour

Geeks on Tour is a membership website with hundreds of Tutorial Videos on topics of interest to travelers, such as managing digital photos with Picasa, Route-Planning with Streets and Trips, and sharing your travels with a website using Blogger or with friends on Facebook. You can subscribe to our free e-newsletters, orbecome a paid member and be able to view all of the videos in the Learning Library.

Who took that Picture?

Picasa Comments Off

Oct 062010

Do you and your travel partners both take pictures with different cameras? If you import them all to your computer and view them with Picasa, you may want to know who took which picture. It’s easy to do with Picasa’s picture properties panel.

We just returned from taking a cruise on Alaska’s Inside Passage. It was a family trip with 7 people from our extended family. Four of us were taking pictures. I used a Canon Digital Rebel, and sometimes my Droid cellphone. Jim used our Nikon Coolpix, and sometimes his Droid. Debbie used a Fujifilm Finepix. Jo Ellen used a Canon Powershot. I collected all the pictures from Jim’s and my cameras, plus several from Debbie and Jo Ellen.

Picasa’s Information Panel

You can see all sorts of information about any given picture by using Picasa’s Properties panel – indicated by the i – for Information – in the lower right corner of the screen. Click on any picture and then view the Properties panel by clicking on the i.

In the example above, you can see that this picture was taken with a Nikon Coolpix camera, which means that Jim took this one. The sample below shows that the picture was taken with a Canon Digital Rebel, which means that I took it.

Search by Camera Type

What if you wanted to see all the photos taken with a particular camera? That information is searchable. To see all the pictures taken by our Droids, I just type Droid in the search box. Now the only pictures I’m seeing are ones found with that search. It will find all pictures with Droid in the properties, as well as any that have Droid as part of the caption, filename, or tag.

In my particular case, both Jim and I took some pictures with our Droids, so I also used the Tag feature to identify the ones taken by each of us, using a tag like ‘pix-by-jim.’

Photo Properties on Picasa Web Albums

I’ve uploaded some of our Alaska pictures to a Web Album, you can see them at 2010 Alaska Cruise. Some of the properties that Picasa shows you are also viewable on Picasa Web Albums. Just click on any picture, then click on the link for ‘more info’ over in the right sidebar.

GPS Properties

Notice the properties of Latitude and Longitude. Any of the pictures taken with our Droid cell phones are automatically Geotagged with the Latitude and Longitude because the Droid also happens to be a GPS receiver! All pictures that are geotagged will show up in the map on the right sidebar.

This tip brought to you by Geeks on Tour

Geeks on Tour is a membership website with hundreds of Tutorial Videos on topics of interest to travelers, such as managing digital photos with Picasa, Route-Planning with Streets and Trips, and sharing your travels with a website using Blogger or with friends on Facebook. You can subscribe to our free e-newsletters, or become a paid member and be able to view all of the videos in the Learning Library.

Members may want to view the following tutorial videos. Not a member? Join now.

Geotagging

Using Tags aka Keywords

Single Picture View

Searching for Pictures

Upload Photos to the Web

Automatically Geotag Pictures with Droid

Photo, Sharing Photos 3 Responses »

Jun 162010

First, just what is geotagging? It’s attaching the lattitude and longitude coordinates to a picture, a .jpg file, so it can be placed on a map in the location where it was taken. When a photo is geotagged, these coordinates are part of the ‘metadata’ embedded in the file itself, just like the date and time where it was taken.

Picasa displays Geotagged pictures in ‘Places’

In the screenshot of Picasa below, you can tell which pictures have been geotagged by the little red balloon icon in the lower right of the picture. If you open up the ‘Places’ pane, you will see the markers on the map. Click on a marker, and you’ll see the picture.

We all take for granted that the date and time of a photo is stored with the photo. Someday (soon) we will also take for granted that the place of a photo is also automatically stored with the picture.

Manual Geotagging

In previous articles I’ve written about how you can manually geotag a photo. They’ve, made it pretty easy, but it’s still something that takes a bit of time and thought. For me, I’m just too lazy to make the effort. But, if it can be done automatically, now that’s a different story! I’d love to be able to see all my travel pictures pinned to the spot on the map where they were taken. And, now I can as long as I take the picture with my Droid cell phone.

How Droid does Geotagging

I have the Motorola Droid cellphone from Verizon. Other devices have this capability, but Droid is what I know. You see, in addition to being a phone, and a camera, the Droid is also a GPS receiver. It knows exactly where it is, so it can stamp the pictures taken with that information if you turn the setting on.

You’ll find the setting on the camera app. Touch the menu option: then ‘Settings’ and finally ‘Store Location’ and touch ‘Yes.’ From now on, when you take a picture with the Droid, it will include the location. When you import that onto your computer and view it with Picasa, you will see the little red balloon and, if you open the Places pane, you’ll see the picture in place. Here’s a little video:

I’ve even been known to snap a photo at a location when I’m not really taking it for the picture, I’m just taking it for the location. I can later use that picture on the map to navigate back to the same spot.

Other methods to Auto-Geotag

The Droid isn’t the only device that will auto-geotag photos. Other cell phone/cameras have a similar capability and you can also buy SD cards to Geotag. If you use any of these methods, please leave a comment and tell us about it.

This tip brought to you by Geeks on Tour

Geeks on Tour is a membership website with hundreds of Tutorial Videos on topics of interest to travelers, such as managing digital photos with Picasa, Route-Planning with Streets and Trips, and sharing your travels with a website using Blogger or with friends on Facebook. You can subscribe to our free e-newsletters, or become a paid member and be able to view all of the videos in the Learning Library.

Members may want to view the following tutorial videos. Not a member? Join now.

Geotagging

Picasa 3.5 released

Organizing, Picasa, picasa web albums, Special Features 3 Responses »

Sep 232009

Yesterday afternoon, Google announced that they had released a new version of Picasa – version 3.5. Probably the biggest new feature is that Face recognition (that has been part of Picasa Web Albums for a while) is now part of Picasa on your computer.

But, more than Faces, I’m excited about Places. Geotagging has been greatly improved in this version, instead of requiring that you use Google Earth, they have embedded a full Google Maps ‘Places’ pane right into Picasa. Placing a photo at a place on the map is as simple as clicking on the photo and clicking at the place on the map. I show you how to do this in the video below. (Tutorial Videos:Geotagging)

Geotagging Video:

Other welcome new features include the ability to edit captions – you can now insert, delete, copy and paste – whereas, in earlier versions, all you could do is type and backspace. (Tutorial Videos: Add Captions to your Photos)

For some people the new ability to change the date on a photo will be a godsend. Didn’t notice that your camera had the wrong date on it? No problem, just select the affected photos and click Tools, Adjust Date and Time!

You will see a big change in the import feature. ( Tutorial Videos:Import from Camera ) They’ve put all the options on one screen rather than making you click ‘Next’ – and they’ve added the ability to upload to your web albums at the same time you import to your computer. I’m not sure I like all the changes here – my advice is to be careful. Don’t just click ‘OK’ – make sure to read the screen and understand all the options.

One very exciting thing to me is that Picasa now recognizes the 3g2 format of video that my cell phone takes.

Over the next few weeks, Picasa will be prompting you to download the upgrade. If you want it now – and I don’t see any reason why not – you can manually download it at Picasa.Google.com

This tip brought to you by Geeks on Tour

Geeks on Tour is a membership website with hundreds of Tutorial Videos on topics of interest to travelers, such as managing digital photos with Picasa, Route-Planning with Streets and Trips, and sharing your travels with a website using Blogger or with friends on Facebook. You can subscribe to our free e-newsletters, or become a paid member and be able to view all of the videos in the Learning Library.

Members may want to view the following tutorial videos. Not a member? Join now.