P: Map view/module - Ability to geotag photos

[miked76040984]

I'm probably at the low end of the prosumer category when it comes to photography. I've been using Lightroom for a couple of years. I love the multiple platform feature on the new CC, but geotagging images has always been important for me (enough so that onboard GPS is a mandatory feature when I look for a camera). I had been adding locations to older images in what's now CC Classic. 

Are we going to get that ability in the new CC? 

Even more importantly, will the new AI-based search allow us to do things like pull pictures based on location? And, if so, will we be able to do things like define a radius? This was all possible when we had the maps panel, but seems to be challenging now.

[Nick_J]

It would be good if Lightroom Mobile could display a map of all geotagged photos, either in a collection or globally similar to what Lightroom Desktop does.

[Victoria Bampton LR Queen]

No one can speak of future features, but how about I turn this into a feature request so other people can vote on it too?

[miked76040984]

Please do. Same with any of my other posts, if appropriate.

[fuerstchristian]

why should we?? this new lightroom is a pure amateur tool, and all the brilliant features of previous version seem to have gone.

[miked76040984]

For someone like me - just starting to move up from amateur - there's huge potential (granted, mostly unrealized) in the new software. I'm not trying to sell images (and won't be for the foreseeable future), and learning the old Lightroom was proving to be a challenge given my limited available time. 

[Julie Kmoch]

Hi Mike,

We do have reverse geocoding working in Lr CC. If your photos have GPS coordinates on them, they will get tagged with the location name (city/state/country) when theyreach our servers. You can search for photos by location using the search box or the filter icon to the right of it at the top of the screen. Does that help, or is it the ability to add GPS coordinates in the first place, a la the Map module, that you're missing?

[Jao vdL]

>or is it the ability to add GPS coordinates in the first place, a la the Map module, that you're missing?

Yes that is badly missing. Precious few current DSLRs have GPS built in. I generally record a gpx track through Gaia GPS or similar on my phone and auto tag all my images from a hike in Classic all automatically (great feature) or if I don't have a track, drag images onto the map. This is missing in LR CC. Not all images people will want to have in CC come from cell phones.

[miked76040984]

Hi Julie,

I was thinking in terms of map module-type functionality, particularly when it comes to adding information. 

As far as the search goes, I was playing with it earlier, and I think it could also benefit from more map-module-like functionality. It's fairly restricted by whatever maps it's using, and doesn't have a lot of things (like neighborhoods) available. 

By way of example, I've got a lot of geotagged pictures taken in Europe that I was just using as a test bed for the search. Based on my searches, I'm pretty confident that "Eifel Tower" is not a location. A search on that brings back only two of my (many) pictures of the Tower, and it doesn't bring back several geotagged shots taken looking up from directly under the center of the tower. Similarly, a search for "Old Sarum" (a historic site in Salisubry, UK) brings back only an image which I'd previously keyworded. Searching on Salisbury will return that image, but the city is too large, and too many unrelated images are returned to make that search helpful.

Since I'm painfully early in the laborious process of rating and keywording tens of thousands of images (many taken in multiple trips to the same location), I'd find map module functionality to be very helpful, particularly as an adjunct to the new search, to help locate photos taken near an image found through Sensi's magic. 

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Yes, I'm not professional photographer so new Lightroom CC is great for me but unfortunately inability to add geolocation keeps me going back to Lightroom Classic now. So I'd really like to see 'add geolocation' added to Lightroom CC. And I hope it will be added also to iOS versions as I mostly like to edit with my iPad Pro.

[nzswedespeed]

Yes importing of GPX files is essential to me. The old Map module was clunky, but being able to add GPX files on desktop AND iPad would awesome!

[Ecran rj]

This used to work but suddenly not any more.
In the info panel you could see the map location.

[kristiana97049009]

I use the Map Moduke in Classic all the time, but I don’t seem to be able to find this functionality in the new Cloud-based CC version. Am I missing something or did this feature get nixed?

[Akash Sharma]

Hi kristiana97049009,

Lightroom CC does not have the Map module as of now. This is a new application and we'd love to extend its feature list and capabilities based on feedback from valuable users like you. Please add your vote and comments to this ongoing discussionLightroom CC: Ability to geotag photos | Photoshop Family Customer Community

Regards,

Akash

[Bill Sprague]

Part of what I like about the new, cloud based Lightroom CC is that it is sleek, lean and simple.  It has a clean user interface.  

My wish is that Adobe does not bulk it up as a cloud based clone to the old, file based Lightroom Classic CC.    

[Neox99]

Amen that!

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Manual geotagging is badly missing from new Lightroom CC.

[tomjhun]

I totally agree that this is a needed feature. Ironically, the images that I had geotagged in older versions of LR in the Map module retained their GPS information when I migrated them into Lightroom CC. I just took some pictures, imported them into LR Classic, geotagged them in Classic, and then imported them into LR CC using LR CC's Add Photos feature (based on what I have read, I am keeping the two Lightrooms as separate catalogs and not syncing between them.) Unfortunately, it appears the GPS info got stripped when I added them to the LR CC catalog. I was hoping I could use this as a workaround but I'm guessing that GPS info is kept in the LR Classic database files. It does work if I export them from LR Classic to another location as DNG files then add them to LR CC. That is a lot of pain for a workaround. Please add the ability to geotag photos!

[nzswedespeed]

Yes keep the iOS and desktop version as near to identical as possible please

[Jao vdL]

Tom,

the trick with this is to first "write metadata to file" from Lightroom Classic before you import the images in Lightroom CC. This way the edits and metadata will be written in the file's xmp metadata file (or section in the file if this is not a raw file) and should get picked up by CC.

[tomjhun]

Thanks! I kind of got all wrapped up reinventing the wheel and didn’t think that there might be a feature already in Classic to solve this. I appreciate you taking the time to help me out!

[magnus919]

This is a killer feature in Lightroom Classic CC. As a travel & documentary photographer, I really depend on being able to explore my images based on location. Please, Adobe, bring this to the mobile platform!

[photosam]

The map module is something I use every time I add photos, and is the only thing stopping me using the new Lightroom CC for my whole workflow.

[99jon]

Obviously you can’t drag photos on to a map but if a photo already has GPS co-ordinates the map is displayed in the LRCC info panel - see image below. Clicking on the map opens the location in a full-size browser window.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

adding my support to this feature request. 

Specifically:

- ability to geotag
- ability to view geotagged photos on a map (not just one photo at a time as currently)
- ability to search by location
- ability for photos to be separated automatically based upon date and location - e.g. to automatically make a folder named 'holiday in X' - similar to the 'moments' feature in apple photos

[photosam]

That functionality is very nice, but on a basic level I need the ability to add locations to photos. As well as the ability to do this to a single image at a time, Lightroom CC would be really useful if it could do the following:

1. Upload a GPX file, and find all photos taken during this time period.

2. Search my entire catalogue on a map, the same as you can in Photos for iOS.

Having my entire photo library online is potentially really powerful, and I would hate to see location relegated to just a little info box.