Having previously discussed geo-tags and getting them into your images, the next step is to review how several of the popular applications use the information.
ACDSee Pro v2.5
Sadly the management tool I use the most does little with the geo-tag information. Other than allowing you to see that it's there (viewing the text from the EXIF portion of the file), there's no special support, no map view, no ability to graphically visualize the information.
Picasa v3
The geo-tag support in Picasa is essentially done through Google Earth. You can view your images overlaid on a Google Earth map, or use a Google Earth map to add geo-tag information to an image (pinpoint a spot and apply). If you use Web albums there are additional features supported such as the ability to apply a location to an album of files. It was nice to see an album of images on the map but the ability to select the images desired still left me wishing for more. For example it was difficult to navigate as the screen capture below shows what a handful of images taken at a specific location look like.
Adobe Photoshop Elements v7
The geo-tag support in Elements is done through Yahoo Maps. The "Show on Map" feature brings up a Yahoo map where you see pins representing the location of your images. Clicking on a pin brings up a single image along with a scrollable area below to move through the images at that location. You can also add geo-tag information to images or remove images from your map. I primarily use Elements as an image editor but with this addition along with some new facial recognition features I'll be looking into the organizer more. When editing images with geo-tag information it is preserved through the edits which is required of any editor I use now.
I like having geo-tag features in PSEv7 and Picasa, though I was only using a small catalog of images to test the features. It'll be interesting to see how they work with thousands of geo-tagged images. In my next blog I'll cover Flickr, iPhoto and Panaramio (as found in Google Earth). As you can already see the support for geo-tags could still use improvements.
Oh and a happy Valentines day to all those who enjoy smiling hearts this weekend!
ACDSee Pro v2.5
Sadly the management tool I use the most does little with the geo-tag information. Other than allowing you to see that it's there (viewing the text from the EXIF portion of the file), there's no special support, no map view, no ability to graphically visualize the information.
Picasa v3
The geo-tag support in Picasa is essentially done through Google Earth. You can view your images overlaid on a Google Earth map, or use a Google Earth map to add geo-tag information to an image (pinpoint a spot and apply). If you use Web albums there are additional features supported such as the ability to apply a location to an album of files. It was nice to see an album of images on the map but the ability to select the images desired still left me wishing for more. For example it was difficult to navigate as the screen capture below shows what a handful of images taken at a specific location look like.
Adobe Photoshop Elements v7
The geo-tag support in Elements is done through Yahoo Maps. The "Show on Map" feature brings up a Yahoo map where you see pins representing the location of your images. Clicking on a pin brings up a single image along with a scrollable area below to move through the images at that location. You can also add geo-tag information to images or remove images from your map. I primarily use Elements as an image editor but with this addition along with some new facial recognition features I'll be looking into the organizer more. When editing images with geo-tag information it is preserved through the edits which is required of any editor I use now.
I like having geo-tag features in PSEv7 and Picasa, though I was only using a small catalog of images to test the features. It'll be interesting to see how they work with thousands of geo-tagged images. In my next blog I'll cover Flickr, iPhoto and Panaramio (as found in Google Earth). As you can already see the support for geo-tags could still use improvements.
Oh and a happy Valentines day to all those who enjoy smiling hearts this weekend!