geotag.photos
Why Google Earth?
A flat map shows where your photos were taken. Google Earth shows what it felt like to be there.
The 3D terrain is the difference. Standing at the rim of a canyon, on a Kilimanjaro ridge, or at the top of the Amalfi coast road — the elevation and topography of Google Earth match what you actually saw. Your photo's location is a point in a real landscape you can rotate, tilt, and fly through, not a dot on a grid.
Click any pin and a balloon opens with the full photo, title, and date. Add a route line and the sequence of the journey becomes visible too: where each photo was taken, and how you got between them.
The KMZ file format keeps it all portable. Photos, route line, and metadata in a single archive you can email or archive alongside your originals.
What you need
Your photos need GPS coordinates embedded in their EXIF metadata — that's what "geotagged" means. Smartphones with GPS and cameras with built-in GPS modules write these coordinates automatically. DSLR and mirrorless cameras typically don't. If your photos aren't geotagged yet, see How to Geotag Photos on Mac for every method to add location data before you export.
You also need Google Earth Pro — the free desktop application for Mac, Windows, and Linux, available from google.com/earth/about/versions. The web version of Google Earth and the mobile app do not support KMZ files with embedded photos. For this workflow, the desktop version is required.
How Google Earth Pro displays your photos
Google Earth Pro reads a format called KMZ — a compressed archive that bundles KML markup (the location data and structure) with embedded image previews. When you open a KMZ, Google Earth reads each photo's coordinates and places a pin on the globe at that exact location.
Click a pin and a balloon popup opens showing the photo preview, the title you assigned, and the capture date. The photo itself stays embedded in the file — no external server, no internet connection required once you have the KMZ.
A track log adds a colored line connecting your shots in timestamp order, so the map shows movement rather than a scatter of pins. You can also enable thumbnail markers, which replace the default pins with small photo thumbnails — useful for scanning a dense collection without clicking each one.
Use cases
Travel documentation
Trek reports, expedition logs, and adventure journals. A Kilimanjaro ascent becomes a visual record: each camp, each viewpoint, each summit photo placed on the 3D terrain you actually climbed.
Reliving a trip
Fly around the globe visiting your own photo spots. Google Earth's tour mode lets you animate a journey through your locations in sequence — nostalgia with geography.
Sharing with family
One KMZ file, and anyone can open it in Google Earth (free). No account, no upload, no photo-sharing service. They see exactly what you saw — on the actual terrain.
Real estate
Property photos pinned to the building, with neighborhood context from the 3D satellite view. Show proximity to landmarks, parks, and infrastructure without a separate map.
Professional documentation
Wildlife surveys, fieldwork, journalism, environmental monitoring. The terrain and satellite imagery give each image its geographic context — where exactly you were standing, what was around you.
Creating a KMZ file on Mac
Several Mac applications can export geotagged photos to KMZ. The basic steps are the same in all of them: load the photos, optionally add a GPS track log, export to KMZ.
HoudahGeo
HoudahGeo (Mac) follows a three-step Load / Process / Output workflow. Here's how the Google Earth export fits into it:
Load. Use Load > Add Photos from Files… to import photos from disk. HoudahGeo can also browse your Apple Photos library or a Lightroom Classic catalog directly. Photos with GPS coordinates appear on the map right away.
If you have a GPS track log from a dedicated logger, smartphone, or GPS watch, add it here too via Load > Import Track Logs and Waypoints from Files…. The track log draws the full path between shots, including the stretches where you weren't photographing.
Process (if needed). If some photos have no GPS — say, DSLR shots mixed in with geotagged smartphone photos — use Process > Geocode from Reference Photos… to match them by timestamp. HoudahGeo transfers coordinates from the geotagged photos to the unlabelled ones. Write the result back to the files with Output > EXIF/XMP Export… before exporting.
Output. Choose Output > Google Earth Export… from the menu bar:
- Set a title — this becomes the layer name in Google Earth.
- Choose a template:
Defaultshows photo, title, and date in the balloon;Extended Track Infoadds altitude, speed, and heading if available. - Set altitude mode:
Clamp to Ground(recommended) places pins at ground level;Absoluteuses the GPS altitude from EXIF. - Configure preview image sizes. Smaller previews mean a smaller, faster-opening KMZ. 640 px wide is a practical default.
- Optionally synthesize a track log from the photo locations: set how many minutes before the first photo and after the last to extend the line. If you imported a real GPS track in the Load step, skip this.
- Choose output: Google Earth KMZ file — a single file, easiest to share.
Double-click the saved KMZ to open it in Google Earth Pro. Your photos appear as pins on the 3D globe.
Geotagged smartphone photos mixed with DSLR shots?
A common setup: you carry a smartphone (GPS) and a DSLR (no GPS) on the same trip. Load everything into HoudahGeo via Load > Add Photos from Files…, then use Process > Geocode from Reference Photos…. HoudahGeo matches each DSLR shot to the nearest smartphone photo by timestamp and copies the location. Write the coordinates to the DSLR files with Output > EXIF/XMP Export…, then export to KMZ. Both cameras end up on the same map.
Other tools
- Adobe Lightroom Classic — the Map module shows your geotagged photos on a map. For KML export you'll need a third-party plugin such as LR/Geo; there's no built-in KMZ export.
- GPicSync (free, open source, Mac/Windows/Linux) — syncs GPS tracks to photos by timestamp and exports KML. No graphical map preview, but it works and costs nothing.
- GeoSetter (Windows) — writes EXIF GPS data and exports KML directly.
- ExifTool (command line, cross-platform) — can write GPS coordinates and generate KML from any set of geotagged images. Flexible, but requires scripting.
Google My Maps — sharing without Google Earth
If the people you want to share with won't install Google Earth Pro, Google My Maps is a workable alternative. It runs in a browser, and you can share a link rather than a file.
Create a new project at mymaps.google.com, click Import on a layer, and upload your KMZ. My Maps places the photo pins on a flat satellite map.
Two things to know: My Maps has a 5 MB import limit per layer, so for large collections you'll need to reduce preview image sizes in the export settings or split photos across layers. And My Maps is a flat 2D map — no 3D terrain, no flythrough. The pins and route line are there, but the elevation that makes Google Earth compelling is not.
Further reading
- Tell the Story of Your Photos — geotagging as narrative, maps as context
- GPX Track Logs — how to record a GPS track and sync it to your photos
- How to Geotag Photos on Mac — start here if your photos have no GPS coordinates yet