Working with the Map

The map is where you find places, drop pins and see where your files were taken. This page explains the controls around it; the step-by-step guides show how they fit into a complete job.

Where the map appears

The view switcher at the top of the window offers three arrangements that include the map:

• Map — the map fills the window, with the sidebar on the right.
• Side-by-Side — the map next to a condensed file table; the most convenient layout for tagging a batch.
• Vertical — the file table above the map.

It is the same map in all three views. Pins, the zoom level and the map style carry over when you switch.

Map style: Standard, Hybrid or Satellite

New in version 1.01. The map can show Apple’s standard street map, satellite imagery, or a hybrid of the two with roads and labels drawn over the imagery.

To switch styles, either:

• click the map button in the pill at the bottom-right corner of the map, after the zoom buttons, and pick a style from its menu, or
• choose View → Map Style → Standard, Hybrid or Satellite.

The current style is checked in both menus. There is one setting for all three map views, and the application remembers it between launches.

When is each style useful?

• Standard is the clearest for finding towns, streets and addresses, and it loads fastest.
• Satellite shows the actual terrain: the exact beach, the viewpoint on a ridge, the bend in the trail, the jetty you photographed from. Zoom in on the imagery and drop the pin on the spot itself.
• Hybrid combines the two, so you keep the road network and place labels while looking at the imagery. It is the usual choice when a pin has to go on a specific building or clearing.

Switching styles changes only how the map looks. Pins, selections and search results stay exactly where they are.

Zooming and moving around

• Scroll or pinch on the map, or use the + and − buttons in the bottom-right pill. View → Zoom In (⌘+) and Zoom Out (⌘−) do the same.
• Pins → Zoom to Pin (⇧⌘L) zooms in on the current pin; Pins → Center Map on Pin brings it to the middle without changing the zoom level.
• Navigate → Next Pin and Previous Pin (and the arrow buttons in the sidebar) step through the pins on the map.
• The application keeps your zoom level when you create pins or navigate between them.

Finding a place

Click into the search field on the map — it reads “Search places or enter coordinates” — and type:

• a place name or address — you get the same autocomplete suggestions as in Apple Maps;
• the name of one of your saved places — it is listed first, and picking it drops the pin with your place names already filled in (see the place-names guide);
• coordinates in any common notation: decimal degrees, degrees and minutes, degrees, minutes and seconds, exiftool’s spelling, or an Apple Maps, Google Maps or geo: link pasted straight in.

The map tools

The tools at the top-left of the map decide what a click on the map does. They are also listed in the Pins menu, where the current tool is checked:

Tool	Shortcut	What a click does
Map Move Tool	⇧⌘M	drags the map around
Area Selection Tool	⇧⌘A	drag a rectangle to select every file inside it
Pin Drop Tool	⇧⌘D	drops a new pin on the spot you click
Pin Selection Tool	⇧⌘S	makes the pin you click the current pin
Pin Deletion Tool		removes the pin you click

Pins → Add Pin at Item Location (⇧⌘P) drops a pin at the coordinates of the selected file, which is the quickest way to check where a file’s stored location actually points. Pins → Delete Current Pin (⇧⌘⌫) and Delete All Pins… clear pins without picking a tool.

Pins between sessions

Pins stay on the map when you quit and relaunch the application, so a long trip can be tagged over several sessions. If you would rather start each session with an empty map, turn off Pins → Restore Pins at Launch.

For places you come back to, save the pin as a place with Places → Save Current Pin as Place…; the place-names guide explains saved places in detail.