GeoTag: A macOS Application to tag photo locations

GeoTag is a free macOS application that allows you to update image metadata with geolocation tags by panning and zooming in a map window and then clicking on the location where a photo was taken. It is a good way to add location information to photos or fine tune existing location information.

Image file updates are performed using Phil Harvey’s ExifTool. This allows geolocation data to be modified an unlimited number of times with no image degradation as ExifTool modifies metadata without changing the image data. See https://exiftool.org for information regarding ExifTool.

GeoTag Version 5.1

GeoTag Version 5 Operating Instructions

GeoTag 5.1 requires macOS Ventura (13) or later. Use Version 4.15 if you are running an earlier version of macOS.

App Store Link

The same (free) app that is available via the following download link is also available in the Mac App Store. Get the app whichever way you like. App compiled for both intel and Apple Silicon Macs.

Download link

Version 5.1 download Requires macOS 13 or later. The file is about 6.5 MB in size. Open the dmg file. Drag the GeoTag application into your Applications folder.

Updated in 5.1

• Add option to always create sidecar (XMP) files when updating images.
• Update both images of a raw/jpeg pair when the location of one of the paired images changes. This only applies if both images of the pair were opened and enabled or if updates are written to a sidecar file.
• Add “Report a bug…” to the help menu. Selecting this will open the GeoTag github issues page in your browser.
• ExifTool version 12.62

Bug Fixed in 5.1

• Performance improvement when opening large number of images.
• Do not clear window changed indicator when there are save errors.
• GPS Timestamp written to sidecar files sometimes included a timezone instead of being a UTC/GMT relative timestamp.
• Crash that could occur when opening the Setting window.
• Sidecar file backups would sometimes fail.
• image thumbnail could fail to show until the selection changed.

Known Bugs

• After loading tracks the “Discard tracks” menu item will not be activated until any item is selected.
• performance is still an issue. When opening 1200 images, for example, it takes 15-20 seconds on a 3.6 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9. When selecting an image from the table it takes 4-5 seconds before the selected image is rendered. The performance issue is related to number of images. The selection delay is barely noticeable when 120 images are open.

History

A change log for earlier versions can be found on the history page.

GeoTag source code is available on github [link]

Don’t see a feature you want? Know how to code? Grab the code and dig in.

Notes:

• Photos (OSX 10.10.3 and later) will let you modify existing location metadata but not add location data to an image. If necessary use GeoTag to add location metadata before importing the images into Photos. This may also hold true for other image editing applications.

• Please use the GeoTag Help -> Report a bug... menu item to report bugs, ask for new features, or make other comments.