Zoeken
Translate this page
Nederlands

The development and support of this program has been discontinued!
It is still available for download, see below.

FotoGeoTag

FotoGeoTag is a program to add GPS data (position and elevation) to photos using a track from a GPS device. FotoGeoTag offers the following possibilities:

screenshot

Usage

Add photos by dragging them from the Finder (macOS) or Windows Explorer to the FotoGeoTag main window. Using the "+" button on the top right you can add a whole folder with photos (or use menu > File > Open folder with photos).

Next drag the file with the track to the FotoGeoTag window (or use menu > File > Open track). Choose the correct track when the file contains several ones.
Tracks are indicated with date and time of the first and last track point, corrected for the proper time zone (FotoGeoTag will do this using the coordinates of the first point of the track). Time zone and DST are determined automatically; see Preferences. It is manadatory that you always set the time on the camera to the local time. If you don't, you have to choose the correct time zone (and daylight savings time) yourself using the button "Change".

Background: normally you set the time on the camera to the local time. On the contrary GPS devices always register the UTC time in the track log. (The time displayed on the GPS device is corrected for the time zone, but that information isn't stored in the track log). Because of this it is neccessary to know the difference between the time on the camera (and in the photos) and the UTC time.

You can see the file names of the photos, shooting date/time and the by FotoGeoTag calculated coordinates.
Shooting date and time are read from the EXIF data. When the photo doesn't contain EXIF data, nothing will be displayed. In that case it is not possible to determine coordinates automatically, but it is still possible to assign them manually. When date and time are out of range of the chosen track no coordinates are calculated.
Photos that already contain GPS data are shown in green, and photos that have coordinates assigned manually in pink.
When you select a photo a miniature will be shown bottom left (Can be switched off for really large photos)

In the ideal situation the clock of the camera is exactly on time, in which case you only have to click "Update photos". However, usually this won't be the case. Contrary to the GPS clock the camera clock isn't very accurate; in most cases it will not even be possible to see or set the seconds.
So we need the possibility to determine the deviation of the camera clock somehow (remember that at walking speed you will travel some 80 metres per minute). There are several methods for this. One opion is to take a snapshot of the GPS display, enabling you to see the deviation afterwards. Not every GPS device won't show seconds though, or they don't have a display at all. FotoGeoTag has several correction methods for those situations.

Clicking the button shows some metadata of the selected photo, and clicking "Create KMZ file" will create a file with the track and (resized versions of ) the photos; more about this here.

When you click "Update photos" the calculated coordinates will be saved in the EXIF data of the photos. When the clock of the camera wasn't correct you will be asked whether you want to update file dates/times too or not; this is optional.

You can remove selected photos with the "-" button on the top right.

Correction functions

There are several methods to correct the clock deviation of the camera. Of course you could enter the number of seconds the clock is too early/late; usually not very practical. With FotoGeoTag you can correct the clock using the map, Google Earth, or by entering the correct time. Select a photo you know where it's taken, and use one of the following methods:

Map

Using the map is the easiest one. A new window with an aerial view will be opened which shows the by FotoGeoTag determined position of the photo, the track and any available waypoints. When you click the track at the position where the photo should be you will get a dialog box that shows the deviation and a button to correct it.

FotoGeoTag will calculate the deviation in seconds, and modifies the coordinates of the photos accordingly.

Google Earth

The Google Earth method requires some manual labour, but can be handy when the zoom rangw of the map isn't sufficient. This method creates a KML file that will be opened in Google Earth. This file contains evenly spaced markers; every marker is labeled with the time deviation of the (corrected) photo dates in seconds.
The concept is to select the marker that correlates the best with the true position of the photo. This can be done using geographical features visible in Google Earth, or a waypoint you created on the same spot where you took a photograph.
When the correct marker is labeled e.g. -45, change the setting in the FotoGeoTag main screen that the clock is running 45 seconds behind.
The only limitation is that the number of markers is limited (from +5 to -5 minutes); however, the deviation already filled in on the main screen of FotoGeoTag will be taken into account in the calculation. When the deviation is larger than 5 minutes you can enter a rough value, and use Google Earth to refine it. Add/subtract the Google Earth value to/from the value in FotoGeoTag.

Correct manually

When you have a GPS device that does show seconds, taking a picture of the device display is a practical option. This option will open a window that helps you to calculate the deviation in seconds by entering both dates/times.

Create KMZ file

You can create a KMZ file with FotoGeoTag and view the result in Google Earth. The file will contain the track, resized versions of the photos (max. widht/height 500 pixels) and any available waypoints.
Clicking this button alters the resized versions of the photos, not the original ones!

Assign coordinates manually

When the photos don't contain EXIF data with capturing date/time, FotoGeoTag cannot assign coordinates automatically. It is still possible to assign coordinates yourself by clicking the button.

You can use several formats when entering coordinates:

format (latitude/longitude)sample
{N|S} dd mm ss.s {E|W} ddd mm ss.sN 52° 05' 26.6" E 005° 07' 16.8"
{N|S} dd mm.mmm {E|W} ddd mm.mmmN 52° 05.443' E 005° 07.279'
{N|S} dd.ddddd {E|W} ddd.dddddN 52.09072° E 005.12132°
{-}dd.ddddd,{-}ddd.ddddd52.09072,5.12132 (or 52.09072 5.12132)
(Symbols for degrees, minutes and seconds and leading zeros are optional; spaces are mandatory!)

Preferences

FotoGeoTag can adjust the settings for time zone and daylight savings time automatically, based on location and date/time of the first point of the selected track.
Here you can choose the preferred method: automatically for any place on earth (the program will contact www.javawa.nl for this), or only for the part of Europe that adheres to the same daylight savings rules (built into FotoGeoTag ; at the bottom of this page you can find a map that shows the relevant part of Europe).
In the second case you have to enter the time zone and DST yourself when the track is located outside Europe.

You can also choose the method of location determination. Using the option "Interpolate" positions the photo proportionally along the nearest track segment.
Using "Nearest track point", well, does what it says...

Finally you can choose whether FotoGeoTag will directional info to the photos or not. Of course the program doesn't know which direction you pointed the camera, but it can determine the direction of the track. This option is meant for users that have a camera attached to their vehicle, and take pictures while driving/riding. You can choose how the camera is positioned relative to the direction of movement.
This options works best when you choose "Interpolate" for the method of location determination.

Supported file formats

By using ExifTool 9.85 a large range of image file formats is supported:

The following tracklog formats are supported:

Credits

This program uses ExifTool by Phil Harvey for reading and modifying the EXIF data in the photos; the Windows version of FotoGeoTag also uses 7-Zip for compressing KMZ files.

FotoGeoTag uses the web service of GeoNames to determine the correct time zone for the selected track.

Licence

This software is free to use at your own risk. You may give it to your friends, but commercial or non-commercial distribution by means of physical media or through the Internet (the Web, newsgroups or other distribution systems) is prohibited. You may not modify, adapt, translate or create derivative works based upon the software. Please link to the page on my website rather than directly to the file(s).

Area built in automatic time zone and DST correction

This not the world wide correction using an internet connection! Click the map for a larger version.
Time zone map

This software is unsupported!

Download FotoGeoTag for Windows

Download FotoGeoTag for MacOS

FotoGeoTag is a 32-bit program, and therefore not
compatible with MacOS Catalina and above!
Last updated: 2023-11-03
Copyright © 2008-2024 JaVaWa | terms of use | contact