Workflow tips / Using Map Locations

[cg]

Hi, Everyone.

I just started using iMatch and it's really impressive! I'm still trying to figure out a good work flow for the images I would like to catalog. I have over 100,000 personal images, including many taken from cell phones (dated, with GPS metadata), various digital cameras (dated, no GPS), and scans of old family photographs (no date, no location). It's most important to me that I have general dates, locations, and people tagged in the file's metadata for posterity.  I anticipate my workflow being something like this:

1. Assign locations to batches of photos (including specific addresses where known) to make working batches easier going forward
2. Assign dates (or known partial dates) to scans, create events where applicable
3. Scan for faces (birth/death dates against the subject created metadata date would help with performance)

I've run into some issues, though, on step #1. It seems most efficient to use the Addresses in the Map function (rather than typing in address location or clicking the pen to propagate it across multiple files, for instance). However, after reading through the documentation, I may still be misunderstanding some of the functions.

I created a location in Maps called "My Office"

(By the way, for some reason, a new marker gets dropped wherever the cursor is when a dialog box closes).

I have "Update only empty fields in target file" checked, as I do not want to overwrite the existing GPS data in the photograph. I entered the location fields. I unchecked "Snap image coordinates to location coordinates" as I don't want to overwrite the more accurate GPS coordinates in the image with less accurate address-based coordinates.

Does the checkbox in the upper left corner have the same function as the checkbox when you right-click the location? The wording is different, and it looks like the right-click function is intended to write more metadata back?

When I use the right-click "Apply Location coordinates to all selected files..." the address is not filled in as I had hoped, and the Altitude is now 0. I've included a comparison of the original metadata and after this operation.

What is the best way to add Address (Location/City/State/Country) metadata fields to multiple files without modifying existing GPS metadata?

Thank you!

[jch2103]

What is the best way to add Address (Location/City/State/Country) metadata fields to multiple files without modifying existing GPS metadata?

The simplest way is to create a set of Metadata Templates with the locations you want to assign. (That is, create a template that fills in Country/State/City/Location, as in the attached screen shot; you have to change the 'Fill the tag from this data' to fit the metadata tag you're filling.) This won't affect GPS data in any way.

Once you've done that, just select a group of images and choose the specific metadata template you want to use. You should also be able to assign the templates to Favorites https://www.photools.com/help/imatch/#fav_basics.htm.

[Mario]

I have "Update only empty fields in target file" checked, as I do not want to overwrite the existing GPS data

The purpose of Locations in IMatch is to assign GPS coordinates. And optionally add country, city location and other tags.
The "update only empty" does not apply to the coordinates, only to the secondary fields.

[thrinn]

Assign locations to batches of photos (including specific addresses where known) to make working batches easier going forward

If you do not want to assign locations in the sense IMatch uses them (i.e. including GPS coordinates) but instead only assign country, city, etc. to a batch of photos, you could also simply use the Metadata Panel. Make sure the photos you want to change are selected, enter country, city, etc. in the Metadata Panel and confirm. Done.
The difference to the Metadata Template approache is that you have to enter each field (City, Country, Location) individually and manually. But you can streamline this task by using the Thesaurus to store the Cities etc. you use frequentally.

[Jingo]

Yes.. metadata presets are fantastic for this - coupled with favorites and you have a one click option!  I use favorites all the time with pre-build keywords and metadata templates.. for example, my cats...  they are always in my "home" so, one click and I get keywords with their names, locations, geo coordinates, copyright details, etc.

[cg]

I can see that a metadata template/favorite to write only Location tags (not GPS tags) can be very useful and efficient.

But I'm a little confused about the metadata template using Location. If iMatch always intends to write GPS data, what is the "Assign GPS coordinates of location" for? (attached)  It's off, so, according to the tool tip, it seems like it should not replace the GPS coordinates in the image with the GPS coordinates of the location.

[Mario]

This option is available when you set the location to the "automatic" mode - where IMatch tries to find a location based on the GPS coordinates in the file.
You can then decide whether IMatch keeps the coordinates in the file, or "snaps" them to the location found (to ensure consistent coordinates).

If you use a hard-coded location, this makes no sense - the GPS coordinates of the location you selected will be applied.