How to clear GPS coordinates and Location from a file

[clpratt]

Hi all,
I have searched but cannot find a way of resetting a file to a pre-GPS state and also remove Location info.
Every time I try to delete this data in the the metadata panel it returns.


Chris

[jch2103]

I tried this with a sample image, using the Location metadata template. I was able to clear the GPS coordinates and location data without any problems. Results may depend on what tag(s) storeg the GPS coordinates.

[Mario]

Hi all,
I have searched but cannot find a way of resetting a file to a pre-GPS state and also remove Location info.
Every time I try to delete this data in the the metadata panel it returns.
Chris

Which tags did you clear? If you clear the XMP tags and write-back, IMatch will promote these changes to EXIF as well.
I just uses the Default Metadata Panel layout, cleared out the Lat/Long, the City, Country etc. Write-back and the data is gone. The only GPS-related data which remains is the GPS version id. I can clear that too if I like by including this tag in a Metadata Panel layout.

To clear this data for many files, setting up a metadata template as described above is the most convenient solution.

[clpratt]

Thank you both.
I have now succeeded in clearing the GPS data by using the Location metadata template.


But I have a mystery. When I click on the "Save the changes" tick at the top of the Metadata Panel, panel says "updating" but nothing happens. Only when I click on the pending update pencil in the file window does the process complete.
Same thing happens if I try to enter new GPS coordinates using the Location metadata template, "updating" hangs until I click yellow pencil in file window.
I do have "Write-back metadata to files immediately" checked in preferences.
All other metadata changes I make work straight away.


Chris

[Mario]

Only when I click on the pending update pencil in the file window does the process complete.

This happens when you have background write-back enabled and you modify the metadata of a file. The file in this moment becomes "pending" because it will be processed by IMatch in the background. And since writing back metadata will cause changes in what you see in the metadata panel, IMatch indicates this with the "updating..." caption.

If IMatch is currently busy doing other things (writing other files, updating categories, ...), the file may not be written immediately. If you become nervous and click the pencil, you overrule the background processing and write the file immediately. This behavior is normal.

Since you have posted your question in a board which is designated go give other users tips and to write tutorials, I will move it to the General Discussion forum. Please be so kind and read the "What goes into this board" descriptions before posting.

[Aubrey]

I'm reopening this topic as my issue is exactly the same is the title.

i'm unable to delete GPS tags.

I've applied the location metadata template as suggested by John:

I tried this with a sample image, using the Location metadata template. I was able to clear the GPS coordinates and location data without any problems. Results may depend on what tag(s) storeg the GPS coordinates.

but with no success.

Attached is the template that I have setup to clear the GPS data.

Is there an error in my setup,

Thanks,
Aubrey.

[Mario]

What happens when you clear the lat/lon/alt int he Metadata Panel and write back?
This should remove them from XMP and during the XMP->EXIF/GPS mapping also from the GPS record.

[Aubrey]

There appears to be nothing to writeback, the yellow pencil never appears on the image.
While looking at the "GPS details" metadata, nothing changes.

This is why I'm wondering if I've set up meta template correctly.

Thanks,
Aubrey.

[Mario]

What doe the lat/lon in the MD panel show before you delete them?
If they contain a value and you clear the content of the tag in the MD panel, the pen will show up.
I just checked and it works here.

[Aubrey]

OK Solved.
The issue was my understanding of the syntax to delete the metatags.

When there are multiple metatags to be deleted in a template, one has to:
Select each tag individually and then click the box "Delete existing contents"
This must be done on a tag-by-tag basis, one click on the box "delete existing contents" will not cause all tags to be deleted.

Thanks.

[Mario]

The options for the target tag are applied per tag. You an insert/merge/delete individual tags as needed.