You can add latitude and longitude coordinates to your photos with just a few simple clicks, allowing any software that is aware of this geographic data to plot your images on a map. PC users can do this with Picasa, while Geotagger gets the job done for Mac users.
Many photo sharing sites have built their own interfaces for placing photos on a map. While these solutions work, they are a waste of time. When you manually drag your photos onto a map on Flickr, you only plot the version of the photo that has been uploaded to the web. The original copy that resides on your computer remains unchanged. Were you to add your photo to other sites, you would need to repeat this process on each one. I’m sure you have better things to do with your time.
Using one of the geotagging solutions described in this article adds the geographic data directly to the original files. In addition to the actual picture, image files also have hidden “meta data” fields for storing data such as exposure settings, copyright information, keywords, and yes, geographic coordinates.
PC Geotagging with Picasa and Google Earth
PC users can geotag their photos with Picasa and Google Earth. Select your photos in Picasa, click “Tools -> Geotag”, choose “Geotag with Google Earth”, and away you go. If you need more detailed instructions see “How do I Geotag my photos?” by Google.
Mac Geotagging with Google Earth and Geotagger
Mac users should download and install both Google Earth and Geotagger, then place the Geotagger icon in their dock. Position Google Earth over the location where your photos were taken, then drag them from the Finder and drop them onto the Geotagger dock icon.
What then?
With geotagging in both Picasa and Geotagger, latitude and longitude are attached directly to your image file and will persist across whatever uses you dream up for your photos. Upload a geotagged image file to Flickr or Zooomr, and it will automatically be placed on a map.
Caveat: Flickr will not use your geotags until you explicitly ask it to do so.
Sources: Geotagger upon the recommendation of Thomas Hawk, Picasa via the Flickr help forum.
