On the Photo Trail, GPS Style

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They don’t make GPS devices with built-in cameras yet, but they still make great companions for photo shoots in town and country. Not only will a GPS device lead you to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it can also lead you to the best vantage point for photographing the rainbow... and track the route you took to get there as well. Most GPS devices can also record a log of that route—a tracklog. In Zoner Photo Studio, you can use a tracklog to assign information to your photos regarding where they were taken.

When you use tracklog information in your photo archive, it’s easy to later return to the sites with the best shots and seek other good shots in their surroundings.

Taken some great photos, but don’t know their coordinates? If you did not happen to have a GPS device on hand during a shoot or you’ve lost the tracklog from it, all is not lost! You can find the shot location on an online map from inside Zoner Photo Studio and assign that location’s GPS coordinates to a photo
by clicking on it.

To assign GPS coordinates to a group of photos using the data in a tracklog, use Information -> GPS -> Assign GPS Data in the Browser menu. In this window you can also search for coordinates and assign them to photos using on-line maps.

Don’t forget to set the time on your camera precisely. Set it based on the GPS tracker itself if you can!

Integration with Google Earth

Zoner Photo Studio 13 is a great supplement to Google Earth, Google’s map-data tool that gives you easy access to maps or satellite views of any location in the world. If you have both Google Earth and Zoner Photo Studio on your computer, then you can use Google Earth to find shot locations and assign them to your photos. For this, use the Browser’s Information -> GPS -> Assign GPS Data from Google Earth... command. After you select a batch of photos in the Browser and use this command, Google Earth is launched automatically, along with a special Zoner Photo Studio add-in that shows a window with a preview of the first photo in the batch and two arrow buttons for moving among those photos. The most important button, Assign Coordinates to Picture, reads in the current coordinates from the map and assigns them to the selected photo.

You can display a whole set of photos in Google Earth, including their descriptions and GPS data. Use the Show in Google Earth… and Show in Google Earth (Advanced)… commands for this. The photos are shown at the spots on the map where they were taken, in the form of thumbnails with place names. You can click the thumbnails to show larger versions of the pictures, including descriptions. Zoner Photo Studio’s tools for communication with Google Earth use the KML/KMZ formats that are standard for Google Earth. These files contain names, descriptions, and any EXIF values you have set.

Putting Photos’ GPS Data to Work

You can use GPS data to look through photos in your archive and find ones taken within a radius of your choice from any coordinates of your choice. You can also include GPS coordinates in your slideshows and your photo print jobs.

Perhaps the most impressive way you can use shot locations in Zoner Photo Studio is for publishing web photo galleries in which each photo includes a Google Maps link showing where the photo was taken. To create a gallery in Zoner Photo Studio, use Create Web Gallery... in the Publish menu. The wizard makes this job quick and easy.

Create your own web gallery to show off beautiful places... and just where to go to see them in person!

By combining digital photos with digital maps, you can create a photo gallery that will bring your audience closer to the wonders of nature. In short, you can use GPS data to compose your own guide to the world’s most interesting spots and share them with just about anyone.

Tip: Now you can easily use Zoner Photo Studio to share photos with your friends and family on a photo sharing community. Create your own family photo album for free at www.zonerama.com

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