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HoudahGeo was at version 1.4.2 when I last looked at it in a Mac geotagging software showdown. A license costs $US30 (50% less for students; also TrailPay option) although this is a free upgrade for those with a 1.x license. The following is a largely visual tour of HoudahGeo 2.1, illustrating its ability to perform both automatic and manual geotagging via an outstanding 3-step interface, and to share geotagged images with users of Google Earth, Flickr, and Locr—or any service/ software than can read EXIF metadata or CSV/ GPX files.

Disclosure: A single user license for HoudahGeo was provided by Houdah Software for the purposes of this evaluation.

You should be geotagging

Geotagging—surely you've heard the term? The geotagging 'ABC' post here on bioneural.net is rather popular, and since the software showdown post was published geotagging in general, and on the Mac in particular, has seen a number of exciting developments.

CDFinder has been updated with significant geotagging functionality (e.g. export of variable-size images to KMZ). GraphicConverter can edit geotags and create them using Google Earth. Geotag is a cross-platform tool seeing active development. An update to Nikon ViewNX brings free manual geotagging functionality. Even Apple have got in on the act with the release of iPhoto '09, which supports manual geotagging and sharing of geotagged images to Flickr Map (there are options for older iPhoto versions too). Of course the iPhone can geotag images taken with that device's camera, and track logging apps are available via the App Store.

The range of Mac-compatible data loggers is increasing, as are the capabilities of great Mac software like RouteBuddy, TrailRunner, and myTracks in manipulating your geodata.

You can geotag your blog posts and feeds and use browsers like iCab and Firefox or feed readers like FeedDemon (on Windows) for geo-discovery. If you're still not convinced geotagging is going "mainstream", check out the recent location-sharing services from Yahoo! Fire Eagle and Google Latitude.

Competition roundup

In the aforementioned showdown HoudahGeo scored a very respectable 7/10 and was cited as best for interface and reverse geocoding utility. The showdown also looked at several other apps:

• GPSPhotoLinker (free) has moved out of beta but remains at version 1.6.0. Original score: 9/10 (best overall)
• PhotoGPSEditor (£10-30 or TrailPay) remains at 1.5.4. Original score: 4.5/10
• GeoPhoto ($US25) has been bumped up from 2.1.1 to 2.3.1. Original score: 3/10

So how does the new version of HoudaGeo stack up against its former self in terms of the "business end" of geotagging? Furthermore, given they weren't considered last time, what sharing features does it offer?

Step 1: Adding images for geotagging

HoudahGeo offers three ways to import images in preparation for geotagging:

1. Firstly you can drag-and-drop a selection of images from the Finder or from within another app (e.g. iPhoto or CDFinder), releasing them either into the HoudahGeo project window or its Dock icon.
2. Secondly you can use a standard file browser to make a selection from the Finder.
3. Thirdly you can open the Media browser which gives you access to images already stored in iPhoto (as well as those in other source folders).

Adding images to HoudahGeo

Adjusting time offset

At the start of the import process HoudaGeo will prompt you to specify a time zone to match that used by your camera. Geotagging only works if the timestamp on your images is known relative to the time encoded in the track points. There is no user preference to always use a particular offset, so even if you always have your logger and camera set to use UTC, or if you'll only be geotagging manually and offset is irrelevant, this dialogue will still pop up on every import:

That said, the last used timezone is stored in Preferences, meaning you only need to acknowledge the dialogue.

Seeing red

Once your imported images are loaded into the project window they are shown in red type, indicating they have not yet been associated with location data. From this stage you can helpfully review loaded images using the View > Show Preview menu option:

We're now ready for step 2.

Step 2: Adding geodata

The next task is to acquire geodata, and HoudahGeo does a great job in giving you options here. If you have a data logger HoudahGeo will assist you with either automatic geotagging using track logs, or automatic or accurate manual geotagging using GPS waypoints. There are two ways to acquire data from your logger:

Import data direct from your GPS device if supported:

Unfortunately HoudahGeo didn't seem to like my Holux M-241—but told me so ever so politely:

Import pre-acquired data from a file (GPX, NMEA, CSV, or Sony LOG formats):

When you import a track log coordinates and altitude (if recorded) are associated with your images. Oddly, however, reverse geocoding is not automatically performed (see below). If you need to import additional track logs to match up to the images in the project window, this can be done via the Track Inspector (View menu).

Advanced users will appreciate that HoudahGeo now permits easier adjustment of parameters for automatic geotagging (previously not exposed to users, requiring a Terminal trick—to which the Help still exclusively refers). See Geocode > Geocode from Tracks & Waypoints:

Similarly there are two ways to perform manual geotagging:

Manually geotag single or multiple images using Google Maps:

Manually geotag single or multiple images using Google Earth:

This facility is without a doubt the best implementation of Google Earth integration I've yet come across.

Finally, there's the option of reverse geocoding (GPS coordinates are used to query a server for place name, state, and country) of any image that has been geotagged previously, but lacks IPTC header metadata (more on this here). This includes any image you have geotagged manually using Google Maps or Google Earth as above, and annoyingly is a mandatory extra step even if you have performed 'automatic' geotagging.

Click the Reverse geocode images button and choose an online data source:

To review the metadata that has been retrieved choose View > Show Inspector:

These data can be edited on a per-image or multi-image basis, and there are additional fields for adding an image title and comments. Very impressive.

Step 3: Export geodata to EXIF-GPS/ IPTC headers

Clicking the button to write EXIF tags will open the following window:

Notice that IPTC data are selected by default, which seems a bit incongruous since these data are not added by default. The other important toggle in this window is the option to write to EXIF in your original images, or to create duplicate copies. Once exported you can verify the presence of EXIF-GPS and IPTC metadata using Preview:

Feel like sharing?

There are four other 'export' buttons at Step 3, as well as two additional options in the Export menu (CSV or GPX waypoints):

In my testing the CSV file I imported into RouteBuddy was totally corrupted (but this may be a RouteBuddy issue); the GPX track HoudaGeo exported was partial (from the first to the last photo) and waypoints were given awful labels e.g.:

/Users/bruce/Desktop/HoudahGeo/Not tagged/DSC0088.jpg

Export to Google Earth KMZ includes a checkbox to specify inclusion of the track log:

The result is a confusing jumble of opaque red dots and timestamps that obscure your image thumbnails and view of the landscape:

The dots represent the timeline. You can turn off their display by de-selecting the tracks within Temporary Places in the Google Earth 5.0 sidebar, then re-checking only the Path checkbox to see your track. Alternatively, uncheck the Include time line default in the above export dialogue.

Export to Google Earth KML uses the same export dialogue as for KMZ. If you want to share the entire track of your journey don't export the track, just the images alone, and once in Google Earth import the full GPX track log for a complete record:

At this point you can right-click Temporary Places in Google Earth to combine the images and full track log for re-export to KMZ.

Upload to Flickr requires initial account authorization:

The uploader will recognize your sets, but there is no option to add custom tags as with most other Flickr uploaders I've used. Instead HoudaGeo pre-populates the tag field with a string of geodata e.g.:

geotagged geo:tool=HoudahGeo geo:lat=53.24854 geo:lon=-1.51094 geo:long=-1.51094 "geo:country=United Kingdom" "geo:state=Old Brampton" "geo:city=Old Brampton"

These 'machine tags' appear on Flickr like this:

I'm told HoudahGeo does it this way because some Flickr utilities rely on machine tags and may not support reading location information from EXIF (which was supported on Flickr relatively recently).

Upload to Locr is not dissimilar to the Flickr interface, but I did not test this.

Wait—there's more?

If you select a geotagged image in the project window the Images menu allows you to find nearby images on Locr.com or Panoramio.com via your web browser, and in CDFinder if installed (see here):

The Geocode menu allows you to copy and paste coordinates—very handy if you want to geotag a blog post pertaining to the image for example:

These options are also available from a contexual menu in the project window.

The bottom line

Geotagging on the Mac? Look no further—HoudahGeo is the current app of choice. The few issues noted here in no way detract from the exemplary execution of this Mac app, which gives it a slight edge over the free GPSPhotoLinker (also well worth considering).