- Getting started
- Organizing folders
- Using collections to organize images
- Taking your collections on the road
- Using flags and ratings
- Adding metadata
- Tagging faces in the People view
- Organizing photos by location
- Finding and filtering files
- Reconnecting missing files and folders
- Review questions
- Review answers
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Organizing photos by location
In the Map module, Lightroom Classic CC enables you to leverage geotagging technology so that you can see exactly where your photos were captured on a Google map, and search and filter the images in your library by location.
Note
You need to be online to make use of the Map module.
Photos that were captured with a camera or phone that records GPS coordinates will appear on the map automatically. You can easily add location metadata to images captured without GPS information by dragging them directly onto the map from the Filmstrip, or by having Lightroom match their capture times to a tracklog exported from a mobile device.
In the Library module, click the Import button below the left panel group.
Under Source at the left of the Import dialog box, navigate to the folder LRClassicCIB \ Lessons \ Lesson 4 GPS. Make sure that both images in the folder are checked for import. Set the import options above the thumbnails to Add, type Lesson 4, GPS in the Keywords text box, and then click Import.
TipIf GPS address lookup has not yet been enabled for your catalog, you may see a dialog box asking you to authorize Lightroom Classic CC to exchange GPS location information with Google Maps. Click Enable, then click away from the pop-up notification to dismiss it.
In the Grid view or the Filmstrip, select the image DSC_0449.jpg—a sculpture commemorating Emily, Washington, and John Roebling, the designers and builders of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Click Map in the module picker.
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Working in the Map module
Lightroom has automatically plotted the selected photo’s location by reading the GPS metadata embedded in the image file; the location is marked by a yellow pin.
Tip
If you don’t see the Map Info overlay at the upper right, and the Map Key explaining the color-coding of location pins, choose Show Map Info and Show Map Key from the View Menu.
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Note
What you see on screen may differ from this illustration, depending on the map style and zoom depth set when you last used the Map module.
Dismiss the Map Key by clicking the Close button (x) at the upper right, or by un-checking Show Map Key in the View menu. Right-click / Control-click the map pin and choose Zoom In to focus the map view on that location.
The Navigator panel at the left shows an overview map, with a white rectangle indicating the area visible in the main map view. The Toolbar below the map view offers a Map Style menu, a Zoom slider, and buttons for locking pins and loading GPS tracklogs. The Metadata panel at the right displays embedded location information.
Click repeatedly on the Zoom In (+) button at the right of the slider in the Toolbar, until you can see Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge. In the Map Style menu, select each of the six styles in turn, then set your preference.
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The Location Filter bar above the map lets you highlight just those photos captured at locations currently visible on the map or filter for tagged or untagged shots.
Click each of the four filters in the Location Filter bar in turn, noting the effect on which images are displayed in the Filmstrip.
In the Filmstrip and the Library module’s Grid view, images that have been tagged with a GPS location are marked with a location marker badge (
).
Tip
Click the location marker badge on a thumbnail in the Library module’s Grid view or the Filmstrip to zoom in to the image’s location in Map view.
Geotagging images captured without GPS data
Even if your camera does not record GPS data, the Map module makes it easy to tag your photos with map locations.
In the header of the Filmstrip, click the white arrow to the right of the name of the currently selected image and choose Folder - Lesson 4 from the Recent Sources list in the menu. Select the three photos of the Eiffel Tower.
TipTo check if a photo selected in the Library has GPS metadata, choose the Location preset in the Metadata panel; then, look for coordinates in the GPS field.
In the search box in the Filter bar, type Eiffel Tower; then, press Enter / Return.
The map is redrawn and the new location is marked with a Search Result marker.
Clear the Search Result marker by clicking the X button at the right of the text search box in the Location Filter bar.
Right-click / Control-click the found location on the map and choose Add GPS Coordinates To Selected Photos.
Choose Edit > Select None. Move the pointer over the marker pin on the map to see a preview of the photos captured at that location. Click the marker pin to select the photos attached to that location. Click the white arrows at the sides of the preview thumbnail to cycle through the other images mapped to this location, and then click away from the preview to close it.
Right-click / Control-click the map pin and choose Create Collection. Type Landmarks as the name for the new collection; then, disable all check box options and click Create.
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The new collection appears in the Collections panel, with an image count of 3.
In the header of the Filmstrip, click the arrow to the right of the image source information and choose Previous Import from the source menu. Select the image NY_Marathon.jpg in readiness for the next exercise.
Adding locations using GPS tracklogs
Tip
Lightroom can work with tracklogs exported in GPX format. If your device doesn’t export in GPX format, you can use GPS Babel to convert its output.
Although your camera may not record GPS data, many mobile devices such as phones can export a tracklog that records your location over a given period of time. You can import this information, and then have Lightroom tag your photos automatically by matching their capture times to the locations recorded in the tracklog.
Click the GPS Tracklogs button (
) in the Toolbar and choose Load Tracklog, or choose Map > Tracklog > Load Tracklog. In the Import Track File dialog box, navigate to your LRClassicCIB \ Lessons \ Lesson 4 GPS folder; then, select the file NY_Marathon.gpx and click Open / Choose. Click the small white arrow at the right of the Track date information and choose All Tracks from the menu.
The map is updated to a view of New York, with the recorded GPS track shown as either a blue or yellow line on the map, depending on your choice of map style.
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This tracklog was generated by a sports watch that was set to a different time zone than the camera used to capture our lesson photo, so you may need to offset the times recorded. The offset will depend on the time zone setting on your computer.
Click the GPS Tracklogs button (
) in the Toolbar and choose Set Time Zone Offset, or choose the same command from the Map > Tracklog menu. Use the slider in the Offset Time Zone dialog box, or type a number in the adjacent text box, to shift the starting time for the tracklog to 11:27 AM; then, click OK.Set the map to a style other than Satellite. Select the image NY_Marathon.jpg in the Filmstrip, and then choose Map > Tracklog > Auto-Tag Photos.
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Lightroom matches the capture time of the selected image to the corresponding location on the marathon route recorded by the tracklog.
Move the pointer over the new marker pin on the map—or double-click the marker—to see a preview of the tagged image.
Zoom into the map close enough to read the street names around the new marker pin. As you can see, the photo was taken near the corner of 4th Avenue and Dean Street. Click Library in the module picker at the top of the workspace and double-click the New York marathon thumbnail in the Grid view to enter Loupe view. Zoom into the upper right corner of the image; the street sign confirms that the photo has been correctly placed.
Click Map in the module picker to return to the Map module.
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Saving map locations
In the Saved Locations panel, you can save a list of your favorite places, making it easy to locate and organize a selection of related images. You could create a saved map location to encompass a cluster of places that you visited during a particular vacation, or to mark a single location that you used for a photo shoot for a client.
Zoom out in the map view until you can see all of the GPS track.
Expand the Saved Locations panel, if necessary; then, click the Create New Preset button (
) at the right of the header.In the New Location dialog box, type New York Marathon as the location name. Under Options, set the Radius value to 9.5 miles; then, click Create.
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Tip
Marking a saved location as Private in the New Location and Edit Location dialog boxes ensures that the GPS information will always be removed when photos from that location are exported or shared, without deleting the location from the images in your catalog. This is useful for protecting your privacy at locations such as your home address. For photos that are not in a saved location, you can choose to omit GPS metadata when you set up an export. For more detail, see Lesson 11
Your new listing appears in the Saved Locations panel; the image count shows that there are two tagged images that fall within the specified radius. On the map, the saved location has a center pin that can be repositioned, and a second pin on the border for increasing or decreasing the radius of the target area.
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Selecting or deselecting a location in the Saved Locations panel shows and hides the circular location overlay, and makes the location active for editing. To add photos to a saved location, you can either drag them directly from the Filmstrip onto the location’s entry in the Saved Locations panel, or select the images in the Filmstrip and click the check box to the left of the location name.
Click the white arrow button that appears to the right of the location name when you move your pointer over the location in the Saved Locations panel to move to that saved location on the map. To edit a location, right-click / Control-click its entry in the Saved Locations panel and choose Location Options from the menu.
Once your photos are tagged with locations, you can search your library using the filter picker and search box in the Location Filter bar above the map, the Saved Locations panel, and the Library Metadata filters set to GPS Data or GPS Location.
Click Library in the module picker to return to the Library module.
Using the Painter tool
Of all the tools Lightroom Classic CC provides to help you organize your growing image library, the Painter tool (
) is the most flexible. By simply dragging across your images in the Grid view with the Painter tool you can “spray on” keywords, metadata, labels, ratings, and flags—and even apply developing settings, rotate your photos, or add them to the Quick Collection.
When you pick the Painter tool up from its well in the Toolbar, the Paint menu appears beside the empty tool well. From the Paint menu you can choose which settings or attributes you wish to apply to your images. Once you’ve made your choice the appropriate controls appear to the right of the Paint menu.
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Tip
In Keywords mode, the Painter tool can apply entire keyword sets, or any selection from your favorite set. With the Painter tool in Keywords mode, press the Shift key to activate the eyedropper and access the Keyword Set picker.
In this exercise you’ll use the Painter tool to mark images with a color label.
Click the Vacation folder in the Folders panel. If necessary, press G to switch to the Grid view; then, make sure that none of the images are currently selected. If you don’t see the Painter tool in the Toolbar, click the triangle at the right side of the Toolbar and choose Painter from the tools menu.
Click the Painter tool to pick it up from its well in the Toolbar and choose Label from the Paint menu beside it; then, click the red color label button.
The Painter tool is now “loaded.” Move the pointer over any of the thumbnails in the Grid view and a red spray can icon appears.
Click the thumbnail in the Grid view and the Painter tool applies the red label. Whether you see the color as a tint in the image cell depends on your Library View Options settings, and whether the image is currently selected (our example is not). If you don’t see the red color label marker (circled in the illustration at the right), choose View > Grid View Style > Show Extras.
Move the pointer back over the same thumbnail, and then hold down the Alt / Option key and; the cursor changes from the Painter tool spray can to an eraser. Click the thumbnail with the eraser cursor and the red color label is removed.
Release the Alt / Option key and click the image once more—but this time drag the spray can across several photos to apply the red color tag to multiple images with one stroke. Hold down the Alt / Option key again, and then remove the label from all but one of the photos.
Click Done at the right side of the Toolbar, or click the Painter tool’s empty well, to drop the Painter tool and return the Toolbar to its normal state.
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