{"id":979,"date":"2008-10-29T23:14:34","date_gmt":"2008-10-29T14:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2008-10-29\/979"},"modified":"2008-10-29T23:14:34","modified_gmt":"2008-10-29T14:14:34","slug":"finally-geoencoding-in-lightroom-announcing-my-gps-support-plugin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2008-10-29\/979","title":{"rendered":"Finally, Geoencoding in Lightroom! Announcing my GPS-Support Plugin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/div>\n\n

The screenshot above shows how I geoencoded<\/span> the images in\nyesterday's post<\/a> about a train<\/span> and boat ride.<\/p>\n\n

\n\n Update: both Lightroom and the plugin mentioned in this post have grown\n and matured considerably since this post was written. See the plugin's home\n page<\/a> for a more-current presentation of this plugin's many powerful\n features.\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Introduction<\/p>\n\n

Today I'm releasing a beta version of a new<\/span>\nplugin for Adobe Lightroom, “Jeffrey's GPS Support”, that adds\nsupport for Geoencoding photos from within Lightroom. There are more\nfeatures yet to add, but it's already polished enough for daily use,\noffering even the ability to geoencode speed and bearing.<\/p>\n\n

Sadly, Lightroom does not allow for a plugin<\/span> to easily update the “real”\nper-image GPS information in the Lightroom database, but this plugin takes\nan approach that should allow geoencoding to be seamless for many. The plugin<\/span> itself maintains its own set of “shadow” GPS data for each image,\nallowing you to view and change the data as you like. On export, the plugin\ninserts the GPS data into the image (into the copies of the images made\nduring the export), so that your exported images are properly geoencoded as\nwell.<\/p>\n\n

Geoencoding<\/p>\n\n

The plugin is simple to use: after installing it (you can download it\nfrom the plugin's\nhome page<\/a>; install instructions are there as well), select the images\nthat you'd like to geoencode, then invoke the “Geoencode” item from the File > Plugin Extras<\/b> menu....<\/p>\n\n

<\/div>\n\n

This brings up the screen shown at the top of this post. You can encode<\/span>\nfrom a tracklog<\/span> (a GPX<\/span> file), or you can specify a static<\/span> location to\nassign to each image. You can also<\/span> geoencode between two endpoints.<\/p>\n\n

It's easiest to geoencode from a GPS<\/span> unit's tracklog, and when done that\nway, speed and bearing are also calculated. When the tracklog datapoint\ngranularity is not to the second, the plugin interpolates between the two\nnearest datapoints. (Personally, I use<\/span> a GPS<\/span> unit<\/a> that allows me\nto keep a tracklog<\/span> updated at one-second intervals.)<\/p>\n\n

If you don't have a tracklog, you can specify locations by pinpointing\nthem in Yahoo! Maps or Google Maps, then cut-n-pasting the url. You can also<\/span> specify a GeoHash<\/a>, or a\nlatitude<\/span>\/longitude pair in one of a variety<\/span> of formats, such as:<\/p>\n

\n    35.011065, 135.782201\n    35° 0' 39.83\" N,  135° 46' 55.92\" E\n    35 0 40, 135 46 56\n<\/pre>\n\n
See the “Help:Locations” tab in the Geoencoding dialog for more examples.<\/p>\n\n
Viewing Geodata<\/p>\n\n
After geoencoding, you can view the results using the “Geoencoding”\nmetadata view preset, as highlighted in this screenshot showing an image\ntaken on a train.<\/span>..<\/p>\n\n
<\/div>\n\n
In the screenshot, the lack of data below the “Real EXIF GPS Data”\nheader means that the image was not geoencoded prior to being loaded into\nLightroom, and so Lightroom's library has no GPS data. If you only<\/span> ever\ngeoencode with this plugin, that section will always be empty. I place<\/span> it\nthere, though, so that those who previously geoencoded their images with\nother methods (prior to loading into Lightroom) will be able to use the\nsame metadata preset to view an image's geoencoded data.<\/p>\n\n
NOTE:<\/b> There seems to be a bug<\/span> in Lightroom that causes the shadow\ndata in the “Geoencoding...” section to sometimes not appear.\nSometimes it does. It's very frustrating<\/span>. (See this\ncomment<\/a>). If it's not showing up, try switching to the “All\nPlug-in Metadata” view.<\/p>\n\n
Exporting, Etc.<\/a><\/p>\n\n
Because the GPS data is kept as “shadow GPS data” by the plugin, it's\nnot included in files on export unless you turn on the “Shadow GPS\nInjector” post-process export action. It's enabled<\/span> turning on the checkmark\nhighlighted in red below, which then includes the section highlighted in\ngreen....<\/p>\n\n
<\/div>\n\n
Once turned on, it is active for every export, including my “Export\nto...” plugins for Flickr, Zenfolio, SmugMug, Facebook, and PicasaWeb (all\navailable on my Lightroom Goodies<\/a>\npage).<\/p>\n\n
Note: if you have export presets, you'll want to rewrite them with this\npost-process action turned on. That means selecting the preset, clicking\nthe checkmark as highlighted in red above, then right-clicking (or\noption-clicking on the Mac) the preset name and selecting “Update with\nCurrent Settings”.<\/p>\n\n
This plugin's geoencoding is understood by my GPS\nProximity Search<\/a> plugin, as of version 20081029.3<\/b>. It still<\/span> understands “real” geoencoding as well, but gives preference to the shadow\ndata when an image has both.<\/p>\n\n
Also, note that I removed the “View location in...” menu items from the\nproximity-search plugin and brought them here, as well as added a bunch<\/span> of\nnew ones: Yahoo! Maps, Google Maps, Google Earth, Flickr, Panoramio, and\nGeoHash.org. These, too, now understand both kinds of GPS data.<\/p>\n\n
Yet to Do...<\/p>\n\n
In the near future I plan on adding some things, including....<\/p>\n\n
    \n  
  • The ability to convert the shadow GPS data into “real” GPS data.<\/strike> (UPDATE:<\/b> this was added in version .9<\/b>)<\/li>\n\n  
  • The ability to read a tracklog<\/span> directly from a GPS<\/span> unit.<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n
    I'd love to hear more ideas as well, if you have them.<\/p>\n\n