Track Log Workflow

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Today’s Question: I’m interested in the GPS track log option you mentioned in Monday’s email, so that I can have location information for all of my photos without the extra battery drain caused by in-camera GPS. What does the workflow look like in Lightroom [Classic CC] for adding location information to photos based on a track log?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The basic process of synchronizing a GPS track log with your photos in Lightroom is very simple. All you need to do is load the track log and use the synchronization feature to add location information to the photos on the filmstrip that match the capture time range based on the track log.

More Detail: In my opinion, Adobe Lightroom Classic CC provides what is perhaps the simplest approach to adding location metadata to a series of photos based on a GPS track log recorded during the time the photos were captured.

Of course, the first step is to make sure the GPS device (such as a smartphone) and your camera are set to the same time, so that the track log can be accurately used to add location information to the photos. Then you can import the photos into your Lightroom catalog, and navigate to the applicable folder so the images you want to add location metadata to are on the filmstrip.

In the Map module you can then click the Track Log button on the toolbar below the map, and choose “Load Tracklog” from the popup menu. Navigate to the location where you have saved your track log (I recommend saving it in the same folder as the photos to which the track log relates), and select the track log file to load. The path represented by the track log will appear on the map.

Next, select all of the photos on the filmstrip (or the range of photos you want to add location information to). You can then click the track log button on the toolbar once again, and choose the “Auto-Tag Photos” option. This will cause location information on the loaded track log to be added to all of the selected photos. Those photos will then appear on the map, and GPS coordinates will be included in the metadata for the images.