Today’s Question: You suggested it was possible to add location information to photos manually in Lightroom Classic. How can this be done? Does it require me to figure out what the GPS coordinates are for a photo first?
Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes! You can very easily add GPS coordinates to a photo in Lightroom Classic by dragging the photo to the applicable location in the Map module, among other options.
More Detail: It is obviously very convenient to have a camera with a built-in or accessory GPS receiver, so that location information can be embedded in metadata right from the time of capture. However, there are other easy ways to add that information after the capture as well.
One of the simplest options is to simply drag photos to the map in the Map module. With the applicable photos on the filmstrip, you can switch to the Map module and navigate to the specific location on the map where the photos were captured. Note that you can use the search field at the top-right of the map to quickly navigate to a specific location. Also, switching among map views on the toolbar, such as to use the Satellite or Hybrid view options, can make it easier to locate a particular landmark on the map.
Once you have navigated to the correct location on the map, you can select one or more photos on the filmstrip and then drag-and-drop the selected images to the location on the map. The metadata for the images will then be updated to include the GPS coordinates based on the map location.
You could also copy and paste GPS coordinates, such as from the GPS field in metadata from one photo to another, or from another mapping application, for example. You could also record a tracklog on a smartphone or GPS navigator, and then synchronize the tracklog with the applicable photos. But for situations where you didn’t record location information with the camera or another GPS-enabled device, you can easily add photos to the map with a simple drag-and-drop to add GPS coordinates to metadata.
