Today’s Question: Some of my photos appear in the wrong position on the map in Lightroom Classic, presumably because I didn’t have a good GPS signal when capturing those photos. Is there a way to correct the GPS coordinates for those images?
Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can correct the location information for a photo by either dragging the thumbnail for the photo to a new location on the map or by making sure the map markers are unlocked and then dragging the pushpin marker on the map to the correct location.
More Detail: While GPS receivers are generally quite accurate, there are factors that can cause the location information they provide to be inaccurate at times. This can include things like poor GPS satellite reception, obstructions such as buildings and mountains, and other factors.
If you use a camera with a built-in or accessory GPS receiver, pair your camera to a smartphone for GPS service, or otherwise add GPS coordinates to the metadata for photos, markers will appear on the map in the Map module in Lightroom Classic indicating the location where the photos on the filmstrip were captured.
When the GPS coordinates in metadata aren’t entirely accurate, the marker for the photo will appear in the wrong location on the map. If you want to update the location metadata and the related marker on the map there are two options available.
The first thing you can do is simply drag a photo from the filmstrip onto the correct location on the map. This will update the GPS coordinates for that photo based on the new location on the map, and move the marker associated with the image to the new location. If a photo does not have GPS coordinates in metadata this technique can also be used to add location information to metadata.
The other option is to drag the marker directly on the map to a new location. You just need to be sure that the markers are unlocked. On the toolbar below the map display (press “T” on the keyboard to enable the toolbar if it is hidden) there is a padlock icon. If the shackle of the lock is closed that indicates markers are locked, and you need to click the lock icon to unlock the markers, which will cause the shackle to appear open.
You can then select a photo from the filmstrip to highlight the applicable marker on the map and simply drag that marker to the new location on the map. This will cause the marker itself to be moved and will also update the GPS coordinates for the photo in metadata.
