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Updated Oct 13, 2007 by francois.schnell
Labels: Featured
GettingStarted  

Getting started with GPicSync

  • 1) Set your GPS receiver and your camera
  • 2) Go outside and shoot
  • 3) Come back home and sync
  • 4) Enjoy your geolocalized pictures
  • 5) Configuration file and optional tools

1) Set your GPSr and camera

Two possibilities here.

a) Universal way

If you didn't change its setting, your GPSr records the track log with the GMT time (Greenwich Meridian Time) also know as UTC (Universal Time Co-ordinated). Set the time of your camera to GMT. You can see the actual GMT time at the bottom of this webpage (be precise at the second level):

http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/

Setting your camera to GMT is practical since you won't have problems for summer/winter time or when you travel through time zones. Also set the camera date if necessary.

b) Local way

Set the local time of the camera precisely to the same local time indicated by the GPSr. Also set the camera date if necessary.

2) Go outside and shoot

Take your GPSr with you and make sure that it is recording a track log. Keep your GPSr ON during all the time you take pictures.

3) Come back home and sync

Put the pictures you want to geolocalize in a folder. With the software of your choice (for example EasyGPS on Windows) retrieve the track log as a .gpx file (a list of GPX capable software). Put the .gpx file preferably in the folder containing the pictures. You can also use a NMEA track (give a .txt extension) instead of the GPX file.

Install GPicSync from Sourceforge:

  • download the .exe installer on Windows.
  • download the tar.gz file on Linux if available (or directly make a SVN checkouk and read the readme.txt)

Launch GPicSync, then:

  • select the pictures folder
  • select the .gpx or NMEA file
  • depending of the way you've set your camera and GPSr indicate the UTC Offset:
    • +1 in France, 0 in the UK, -8 for PST, -5 for EST,etc, You may need to add an hour for summer local time depending of your country policy
    • 0 if your camera is at GMT time
  • if you want to add geonames and geotags metada check "add geonames and geotags" but be sure to have an internet connection
  • hit the "synchronize !" button

You should now see a line per picture with the file name found and the localization that has been written in the EXIF part of the picture (each geolocalization takes 1 to 3 seconds to process).

There's also an indication of the time difference between the nearest trackpoint and the picture (you should see a few seconds difference). If this difference is important (above a hundred seconds) there's probably something wrong in your time setting. In particular check that you've indicated the right UTC offset (and maybe add an hour if you are in a summer daylight saving zone).

By default GPicSync doesn't Geocode photos if the time difference is above 300 seconds but you can adjust this threshold in the interface ("Geocode only if time difference is less than (seconds)="). This could be useful on some GPS if you make a pause and the GPS stops recording because you don't move anymore.

You can directly verify your photos in Google Earth (just click the "View in Google Eath" button at the end of the process).

By default a backup of you pictures is made in your pictures folder.

If there's no location showing:

  • use "Tools"->"GPX Inspector" to quickly see the data GPicSync finds in it.
  • use "Tools"->"EXIF Reader" and check if your photos contain a Date/Time Original field like (Date/Time Original : 2007:04:06 14:41:02). Some image processing software erase metadata (Picasa for example keeps the metadata)

If you forgot to set the local time for your camera you can take this into account in "Options" -> "Locale time correction".

4) Use your geolocalized pictures

You can directly view your pictures and track log in Google Earth by clicking on "View in Google Earth" button at the end of synchronization. A doc.kml file has been created in your pictures folder so you can also directly launch Google Earth by double clicking on it.

You may want to export your geolocalized pictures in a single kmz file for sharing or to put on a server ("Tools"->"KMZ Generator").

You can also use your pictures with any software or website which can read the latitude/longitude informations. For example:

a) Flickr

In the setting of your account you must first authorize the use of this information ("Your Account">"Privacy & Permissions">"Import EXIF location data: Yes").

When you upload your pictures you will see a "map" link near each picture to open Yahoo Maps which will point to the location.

If you've checked "add geonames and geotags" your pictures will also have the following keywords metadata:

  • geonames: country, region, nearest place with distance (in Km)
  • goetags: "geotagged", "geo:lat=48.167358", "geo:lon=7.294641"...

When you upload your pictures to Flickr the tags will appear in the tags section of the photo.

You mustn't allow Flickr Uloadr tool to resize your pictures before uploading (your geonames/geotags won't be kept, If needed you could resize them before with Picasa for example).

By default there is also an HTML summarize which is written in the IPTC caption of the picture. The summarize shows the latitude/longitude and the nearest Geoname and country with a link to the Geonames map. Flickr will show the summarize in the description of your picture. If you don't want this use change the geonames options in the interface.

If you prefer to see your Flickr pictures on google maps you can use this neat geocoding bookmarklet which will point to the location in loc.alize.us webiste which uses google maps.

b) Picasa / Google Earth

If you select your pictures with picasa you can ask to show them on Google Earth (in Picasa : something like "Tools">"Geolocalize">"Display in Google Earth").

c) Google Maps

To create your own Google Maps check this tutorial.

d) Audio and Video localization

You can also automatically associate audio or video files to geolocalized pictures in Google Earth and Google Maps (a link will appear below the picture).

For this you must put your audio or video file in your pictures directory and give them the same name as the picture.

5) Configuration file and optional tools

A configuration file is available to set main preferences as default (like the UTCOffset, Google Map base URL, Geonames, etc). You can edit it and save it from "Options" -> "Configuration file". The "Quit and save settings" button of GPicSync will also write in this file.

A certain number of tools are available in "Tools" -> "Options".

WARNING: GPicSync is beta software. Please report any bug or problem and remember there's no guarantee : don't use it for critical missions and always check on maps if the results are correct.


Comment by UliMrose, Feb 01, 2008

Can I enter GPS data of my own to a picture, so I could tag older pictures taken before tracking directly. I.e. I took a picture last year of the marketplace in Brusssel and I pick the coordinated from the map and add them to the picture? Can I change/correct GPS data of a picture in the same way? Thanks Uli ulrichm@verizon.net

Comment by francois.schnell, Feb 01, 2008

Yes UliMrose? you can.

Go to the "tools" menu and select "exif writer". Enter latitude / longitude and then select one or many photos. It will write manually the location in the picture(s) EXIF.

Comment by vicsiu, Feb 07, 2008

Can gpicsync auto-rotate the thumbnails?

Comment by francois.schnell, Feb 09, 2008

Hi vicsiu. No it can't yet. For my part I use Picasa first, I select and maybe retouch the pictures I want, then export my selection (so Picasa is doing the autorotate automatically for me).

Comment by lijun.hxcc, Feb 16, 2008

ok

Comment by george.mantaring, Feb 18, 2008

I'm curious - what does GPicSync look up to determine the Geoname it will use to describe a particular latitude/Longitude? It seems to work pretty well, but I recently came back from a trip to a foreign country and have discovered that some of the locations it has looked up have only partially correct names. Can anyone help answer this question?

Thanks :)

Comment by francois.schnell, Feb 21, 2008

George, GPicSync uses the Geonames webservice (it is a Free Creative Commons-BY collaborative database).

Assuming your picture is at lat=48.123456 and long=7.123456, GPicSync will query the websevice like this:

http://ws.geonames.org/findNearbyPlaceName?lat=48.123456&lng=7.123456&style=full

You can copy/paste the URL above in your browser and you will see it returns informations in an XML format.

Depending of the initial databases sources the informations are not always precise (especially the case in Europe where most geographical informations are not in the public domain). So what you can do before geocoding is to look at the region you've been to and eventually correct some geonames. It is very easy to do.

For example for the given lat/long (or use the search box on the geonames website): http://www.geonames.org/maps/google_48.123_7.123.html

You will see a google map you can edit. You can click on an existing geonames on the map and see the options you have: move, history, etc On the left of the map there are small icons where you can add new geonames. Geonames.org is a great project, a kind of wikipedia for geographical names.

Comment by shejun.coer, Apr 27, 2008

The GPS I use is Holux M241. The GPX file is as below: <?xml version="1.0"?> <gpx version="1.0" creator="Holux Utility" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/0" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/0 http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/0/gpx.xsd"> <wpt lat="30.310816" lon="120.080971"> <time>2008-04-26T00:51:38Z</time> <ele>149.22</ele> <name><!0?]></name> </wpt> <wpt lat="30.310869" lon="120.080879"> <time>2008-04-26T00:51:43Z</time> <ele>148.04</ele> <name><!1?]></name> </wpt> ......

However, when I use GPS Inspector to analyse the GPX file, the message is showed as below, Number of valid track points found : 0

Why? Jun

Comment by francois.schnell, Apr 27, 2008

This is because GPicSync searches the trackpoints (trkpt) not the waypoints (wpt) in a GPX: http://code.google.com/p/gpicsync/wiki/TroubleShooting

Waypoints are normally used for POI (point of interested),map features or routes not for tracklogs.

I had a quick look at this: http://scilib.typepad.com/techreviews/2008/01/holux-m-241-gps.html

Maybe you could transform the GPX in NMEA (with the holux software or GPS babel) and retry (GPicSync reads NMEA). If you want you can send me francois.schnell@gmail.com? an holux tracklog and two pictures for tests. I'll see if I can make some modifications in future versions of GPicSync. Thanks.

Comment by arthurmdx, May 01, 2008

I try to sync with about 100 pictures, and GPicSync marks GPS info in all pictures. However, the KML that GPicSync created shows only first few pictures on Google Earth.

Do I miss some steps?

Comment by francois.schnell, May 01, 2008

It should be fine in Google Earth (just google maps actually shows only something like the 50 first pictures). Could you send me the log file and the doc.kml in your pictures folder (francois.schnell gmail DOT com?).

Comment by francois.schnell, May 14, 2008

It could be the case 2 in the TroubleShooting page: http://code.google.com/p/gpicsync/wiki/TroubleShooting Could you try this latest test version: http://francois.schnell.free.fr/gpicsync/temp/latest-build/ It will try to geotag even in case of minor warnings reported by Exiftool (let the backup option checked). Thanks to keep me informed.

Comment by Finn00, May 31, 2008

I use Mobile tracker on my blackberry (using the blackberry GPS) http://www.skylab-mobilesystems.com/en/products/mobiletracker.html

While this program does write a GPX or a KMZ file i have historically only written kmz files.

Any way to use this program to geo tag my old pics using a kmz file? thanks FB

Comment by hksarivan, Jun 21, 2008

Hi, can you also add the "GPSTimeStamp" and "GPSDateStamp" Exif tag at next version? Because I use Nikon D300 which can show the GPS UTC time at photo datail. Thanks.

Comment by geoff.fox, Jul 31, 2008

When I tag my images using GPISYNC and then export them from Picasa to Picasaweb the tags end up being incorrectly interpreted. The actual GPS locations are fine, but the tags are full of weird fields.

http://picasaweb.google.com/geoff.fox/WadsworthFalls/photo#5229398012541373154

Great program. Very helpful.

Geoff Fox

Comment by dound07, Aug 21, 2008

The UTC Offset field does not seem to specify units in the configuration file comment or on the windows GUI. Looking at the source, it appears the offset is in hours which I guess makes sense. It might be nice to permit a shift other that in hours in case someone has photos dated not just with a non-UTC time, but not to an offset in hours either (e.g. wrong time).

Thanks for a great piece of python software!

David Underhill

PS. A comment preview button would be helpful, especially for those not familiar with wiki markup :).

Comment by francois.schnell, Aug 21, 2008

@dound07: Not sure if it answers your question but you can give a decimal value in the UTC offset (I'll add the info in the config file's comments and maybe in tooltips). For example 0.5=30 minutes. Also if the camera and GPSr weren't in sync it's possible to set a precise offset in "Options" > "Local time correction".

@ geoff.fox: Thanks for letting me know, It looks like Picasa Web Album creates a new tag at each space (which is not the case of Flickr). I'll have to see if I can do something about it.

@ Finn00: Sorry I don't support KMZ as a tracklog file input format for now (GPicSync supports GPX and NMEA). Maybe you can extract the kml inside (KMZ is just a Zip file) and transform it to GPX with GPSbabel.

@ hksarivan: I'll look at it when possible.

Comment by patrick.m.bradley, Sep 01, 2008

Hi, Is there any way to include the altitude in the geotag? Thanks Patrick

Comment by francois.schnell, Sep 01, 2008

Hi, the altitude is added in the Exif metadata if it is present in the GPX. It's also possible to add it manually in tools>EXIF writer.

Comment by pet...@posislope.com, Sep 22, 2008

I shoot in RAW only and use Lightroom 2. When I arrive home I import my photos and assign preset meta data such as copyright info. When I geotag the photos it seems to wipe out the existing meta data and I have to reset. My first thought is to geotag while still on flash card and then import to LR2 but that is not exactly safe. Any ideas out there?

Also, is there an LR2 add on/plugin in the works?

Comment by francois.schnell, Sep 22, 2008

GPicSync writes only in the GPS EXIF fields. If you select the geonames option it writes also in the EXIF "keywords" field and the IPTC caption-abstract field.

Sorry I don't have Lightroom 2. I imagine you could copy-paste the pictures on your HD, geocode, and then import them with lightroom. Also check the other geocoding tools which could have better support/tests for lightroom: http://code.google.com/p/gpicsync/wiki/OtherGeocodingSoftware

Comment by gjadams, Sep 30, 2008

for lightroom, select pictures in lightroom, save metadata, use gpicsync to add GPS info, read metadata (from lightroom) i do it all the time

Comment by stefan.lvpus, Oct 05, 2008

Hi, I want to use the keyword feature "Nearbyplaces" but I don't want the latidude and longitude values to be written into the keyword field. How can I supress that? Thanks Stefan

Comment by lmbroz, Oct 14, 2008

I am just trying this out with previously taken photos and tracks. I made the adjustment for GMT, but the time on the program is off my some weird fraction of an hour, about .56 hours. Then the program shows all my photos as being taken in the same spot on my track even though it uploads the whole track. When I view the time that the photo was taken (via Picasa) and the time that I was standing in the spot (via Garmin Mapsource) the times match perfectly. Why is the time off by some weird fraction and why won't it mark to different spots on my track?

Comment by nicolas.marin, Dec 25, 2008

No tengo apenas dudas pues todo lo previsto lo he realizado con este inteligente programa. Sólo es para motrar mi agradecimiento por compartir esta utilidad. Fantástica la simpleza de diseño, la eficacia y ese botón para ver el resultado en Google Earth. Un abrazo

Comment by rodney.offord, Feb 13, 2009

When I sync more than 5 photos with a gpx track, it synchronises them all but only the first five photos are shown with an icon in Google Earth. However all the photos are listed in Places on the side bar. Is there a reason for this?Thanks, Rodney

Comment by sferral2...@yahoo.com, Mar 03, 2009

I have an original nmea file that I would like to synch up with some pictures. When I load it and reference the picture folder, I get the message below. GPicSynch creates a gpx file that looks ok, but is still logged in GMT, not CST. I get the message below, and the application just sits there and does nothing else. Any ideas what I am doing wrong?

Beginning synchronization with UTC Offset =-6 hours and maximum time difference = 1 seconds

Creating an 'originals-backup' folder.

Starting to generate a Google Earth file (doc.kml) in the picture folder ...

Starting to generate a Google Map file (doc-web.kml) in the picture folder ...

(Found default.jpg ...

Comment by sferral2...@yahoo.com, Mar 03, 2009

I should not say that it does nothing. It creates a GPX file, but it still has the time field in GMT. Is this a middle step? I tried running it again (it automatically changes the datafile reference to the GPX file), but it still just writes out that it is doing something, then does nothing.

Comment by sferral2...@yahoo.com, Mar 03, 2009

Ok. It is doing something now. I pasted the filepath for the picture folder. IT did not like that.

Comment by c.c.wakefield, Apr 06, 2009

Can't get GpicSync? to 'like' my .gpx track files - they were created with DNRGarmin. Confirmed that they are indeed TRACK records. If I examine a txt file I get a 0 tracks message - If I examine a GPX file I get no response at all. Any ideas? Christopher

Comment by malchughes, Apr 09, 2009

I am manually adding the long and lat data to some older photos by getting the long and lat co-odinates from Google earth. When I go to tools>exif writer and enter the information - all works fine if they are above the equator. When the long and lat is South of the equator or W of greenwich then it says geotaging was unsuccessful. I try to enetr the S or W in to the co-ordinates but it wont except them.

Comment by wolfmark, Apr 15, 2009

@malchughes Have you tried prefixing "-" to the S/W coordinates?

Comment by daniel.t.schmitt, Apr 19, 2009

Syncing the camera clock and GPS time should be possible afterwards as well. I usually take a picture of my GPS before I start the day of taking pictures. It would be great to sync picture like JSOM from OpenStreetMaps?, e.g., open this picture, typing in the time shown on the GPS and GPicSync would determine the Offset from this input.

Comment by dkolegayev, Jul 06, 2009

If you are getting "Found default.jpg..." and nothing happening afterwards do the following

Menu "Options"->"Configuration file" and set the default directory to the path you want to be processed (i.e. c:\files_to_be_converted)


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