How to take Geo-tagged photos
- Articles
- June 16, 2021
- Northmore Gordon
As required by the different Energy Efficiency activities that we undertake, geotagged photographs of the different systems that we install and where we put them in are one of the key requirements for the successful registration for the rebate claims.
Geotagged photographs enable the Scheme Administrators to verify the accuracy and veracity of the rebate claims made.
How to Geotag Photos on Your iPhone
Enable Location Services
Ensure location services in turned on for the Phone, Camera and Safari App
Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services
Make sure:
- Location Services is turned ON
- Camera is set to allow location access “While Using the App”
How to Geotag Photos on Your Android
Enable Photo Geotagging
- Click on Settings on your device’s home screen (or in the All Apps menu)
- Scroll until you find “Location” or “Location and Security” (for some versions) then tap the “Location” option.
- Set the toggle at the top to On.
- Then within the same screen, there will be the “App permissions” option just right below it.
- Click on it to proceed then a list of apps will appear. They are separated into 3 groups: ALLOWED ALL THE TIME, ALLOWED ONLY WHILE IN USE and DENIED.
- Scroll down to find the “Camera” app, click on it then set to Allow only while using the app.
When Using the Camera App
- Open the Camera app. At the top left corner (or top right in some versions), you’ll see a “cog” or “gear” icon. Click on it to open the Camera settings.
- In the Camera settings, scroll until you see the “Location tags” option. Click the toggle to On (it will be in blue when enabled).
- If a prompt appears asking “Turn on Improve location accuracy”, just click on Turn on.
- If a prompt appears saying “To continue, turn on device location, which uses Google’s location service”, just lick on OK to enable the geotagging feature.
How to Check if Your Photos are Geotagged
iOS devices
- Go to your Photos app
- Open the photo taken then swipe up
- If there is a map shown, the photo is geo-tagged. Click on the map or address link to see the details
Android
- Open Gallery then click on the photo taken
- Click on the ellipsis icon (three in-line dots) at the upper-righthand corner
- Click on Details then the address and the location map will be displayed if the photo is geo-tagged
Windows Computer
- Open the folder where the photo was saved
- Right-click on the photo then click on “Open with” then select Photos
- A new window showing the photo taken will then appear
- On that image itself, right-click on it then select “File Info”
- Scroll down until you see the Location section showing the location map, if there is no map shown, the photo is not geo-tagged.
How to Download Photos and Send
Our preferred method of sharing photos is via SharePoint, this can be done from both mobile and desktop. Please contact a team member if you require a link or assistance with this.
On Android and iOS Devices
On your email client (e.g. Outlook, Gmail), please make sure to click on the paperclip icon when attaching the photos rather than pasting them directly in the email body (where you type your message) so that the geotagging information will be retained in the photo.
On a Computer
Firstly, you have to connect your phone to your computer via the USB cord that came with it.
On your computer, open your phone’s directory (it would usually have your phone’s model as the folder name) and locate the folder where the photos have been saved (i.e. DCIM or Photos).
From there, highlight all the files that you wanted to download, then right-click on the highlighted file – click on “copy” then “paste” them on your computer’s local directory (i.e. C:\Downloads) to save them.
From here you can drag and drop on to the SharePoint Page in your browser or send via your email client (e.g. Outlook, Gmail), please make sure to click on the paperclip icon to add your photos as attachments.
Please note: Pasting photos directly in-line in the email body will cause the photos to be stripped of their geotagging information.
Please avoid sending the photos via messaging apps like Messenger, WhatsApp, Skype, etc. as these tend to strip the files of all metadata including the geotagging information to protect your privacy, however in this case the geotags are required. Try using native iOS or Android Messaging or Email apps.
