this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2025
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Looking for photo geotagging software that does NOT destroy EXIF data (lemmy.ca)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by Showroom7561@lemmy.ca to c/foss@beehaw.org
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Here's the problem:

I have photos with embedded HDR data (similar to Google's Ultra HDR), that do not have GPS location tagged on them, so I need to add those locations manually.

The problem is, no matter which software I use, once GPS is added, it breaks the HDR.

Editing in Google Photos will apparently preserve the HDR data, but that requires that photos are sent to their servers as a "back up", which I'm not willing to do.

Are there any FOSS software, preferably on Linux or self-hosted, that can geotag without messing up these files?

I'm not looking for sidecar GPS data, it needs to be contained within the image (JPG).

UPDATE: An interesting observation... if I edit the location on a photo from a Pixel 9a, the HDR info remains untouched and continues to work. However, if I edit the location on my OnePlus 13 or my older action camera, HDR stops working. So, the way that vendors implement HDR could be causing this issue. I'll continue to test!

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[–] dap@lemmy.onlylans.io 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'm not sure if Immich does this but it is a self-hostable Google photos replacement. It does geotagging but I'm not sure if it will break HDR for you. Might be worth while to check out.

[–] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago

Thanks. I use Immich, but when I tagged a photo then saved it back to my computer, the geotagging was gone (but HDR was still intact). It's as if it saves it to its own database, and I can't find any settings to confirm.

[–] xylem@beehaw.org 2 points 1 week ago

If you're comfortable on the command line, exiftool is pretty flexible and can likely do what you want

[–] Tagen_AllAss@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I use Digikam to geotag, facetag, rate, arrange, manage albums, change date&time Then in options > write metadata to files.

This will embed all changes in images.

Just make sure to check the box inside settings that allow to write geodata to exif data.

[–] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago

Thanks, I'll give Digikam a try!

I've updated my OP with some interesting new details!

[–] schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Do you only want to geotag, without editing the files any further? If yes, you can do this on the command line with exiftool or exiv2.

If you are also going to edit your photos, then AFAICT darktable preserves all EXIF data, though I am not familiar specifically with the HDR data you refer to. It allows geotagging by dragging on a map.

[–] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Thanks, I use darktable, but will give it a try!

I've updated my OP with some interesting new details!

[–] schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 week ago

your first sentence not all verbs :D