How to Map Photo Location Automatically in Picasa

Mapping your photos uploaded to Picasa web albums is nothing too new, but not everyone is aware there are more ways to map your photos in Picasa than using simple (and time consuming) geotagging.

You can also map your pictures automatically, but there is a catch: you must have a camera that automatically attaches location information to your picture file. Some new cameras automatically attach longitude and latitude information to each picture, at the time it is taken. Pretty cool eh? If you have such a camera, you can automatically map your pictures in Picasa.

How to include location information automatically

If you don’t mind, or prefer, your friends to see exactly where each picture was taken, you can set it up easily by adjusting some settings in your Picasa web albums:

1. Sign in to your Picasa account.
2. Click Settings at the top right of the page.
3. On the Privacy and Permissions tab, in the ‘Locations’ section, select the option ‘Automatically map photos if they contain location data.’ You can also select the option to “Show my photo locations to others”, or leave that information private if you prefer.
4. Click the Save changes button.
5. And you’re done!

Check with your camera settings to see whether latitude and longitude information is included in your picture files. It is entirely possible that your camera has the capability of including this information, but that by default it has to be enabled first before it works.

This feature definitely comes in handy if you are taking a trip where you have no opportunity to upload photos while on the road and you might not remember exactly where each picture was taken after the fact. When geotagging 1500 shots, an automatic option is worth gold! If your camera does not automatically include the location info, you might be able to get a small GPS unit especially made for your camera (Nikon makes them for their D-SLR models) to do the job. After all, what matters in the end is location….location….location!