Geotagging puts your photos on the map

— -- You'll take plenty of photos this summer. Come September, will you remember precisely where you snapped a particular photo? Fortunately, you can embed location data in your photos.

It's called geotagging. You can use it to know exactly where you took a photo. Or, plot your photos on a map for a virtual tour. The coordinates will also help you find photos by location.

Geotagging is still green. But more manufacturers are providing solutions for geotagging photos. Expect to see more options soon. Here's how you can geotag your photos today.

Eye-Fi Explore

A company named Eye-Fi recently announced the Eye-Fi Explore. It's a 2-gigabyte card that works in any digital camera that accepts SD cards.

To determine where the photo is being taken, the card uses Wi-Fi data instead of a GPS chip. The card records nearby Wi-Fi access points when you shoot pictures.

You then upload photos to a computer or photo-sharing site wirelessly. Uploaded photos pass through Eye-Fi's servers. They're compared with a database of Wi-Fi points. Coordinates are then added to the photographs.

The Eye-Fi Explore card is priced at $130. This is pricey considering a generic 2GB SD card runs around $20. If you're snapping a lot of photos in a variety of places, it's worth the extra money.

GPS logs

Your camera may not accept SD cards, even with an adapter. Never fear. All you need is a portable GPS unit that creates a log of where you have traveled. Most GPS units do.

Using the time stamps in the GPS logs, specialized software maps your photos based upon the time they were taken. So, it is important to set your camera's time accurately. And don't forget about time zones when you travel.

Three programs that work with most GPS units are Downloader Pro ($30), PixGPS ($20) and RoboGEO ($40).

GPS units record logs in different formats. You may need to convert the log to use it with the software. GPSBabel is a free program that converts GPS logs to different formats. You'll find a link to it at www.komando.com/news.