Best workflow when uploading a huge batch of photos

After taking 300-400 pictures of storefronts while on a long walking trip I wonder if any of you have some ideas on how to make the easiest workflow for assigning them to the different pins on Google maps.

This is the way I do it:

I let the Google Photo App back all the photos up to my Google account. Then I use my laptop to find the pins and then add photos from the “From mobile”-tab. That way there is almost no waiting time for uploading the pics (since they are already in the cloud).

My problem is that it takes for ever to scroll down to find each picture.

My temporary workaround is to disconnect the wifi on my phone to delay the backing up of pictures so I don’t have so much scrolling to do by splitting the batch into smaller portions.

But there must be a smarter way to do this.

Advise would be highly appreciated.

Cheers and thanks

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I don’t have any tip for that @MortenCopenhagen , but I would like to point out that uploading loads of pictures in a short amount of time might be a risk factor to get your local guides account suspended. I have no proof or official confirmation to support that claim, but I have seen some cases where accounts got blocked shortly after uploading a lot of pics (as that is also something a spammer might do) - even if the intentions were the best (as the suspending is suspected to be done by bots that simply respond according to certain rules/thresholds entered as its instructions).

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Thanks @JanVanHaver

I mix the uploading of pics with also moving pins to more accurate positions and adding missing categories etc. Maybe that protected me from the spam filter. Good to know though. Thanks.

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That sounds like normal human LG activity as I know it, @MortenCopenhagen :smiley:

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Hi @MortenCopenhagen I have to ask why you don’t just do each on the spot? It takjes seconds and is likely more accurate than your home workflow. You could then check and update other details such as phone and hours while you are there.

I would suggest distant external photos are only useful if there is no Street View at that location of the Street View is blocked by something like a truck. Closer in external images that show that a wheelchair could enter the place easily would be useful.

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I will try your suggestion to add directly on the spot. Never tried that before. Thanks. Often pins are very inaccurately placed and I anticipated it would be difficult on a small screen. But I will try. Thanks again @PaulPavlinovich

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Navigation now asks you if the directions took you to a convenient entrance and if you say no it prompts you to move the pin to a convenient entrance. If you are moving pins, I would suggest the main entrance is the right place based on the new behaviour from Maps @MortenCopenhagen

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@PaulPavlinovich

Sure I always move pins to the entrance. Thanks.

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Hi @PaulPavlinovich

I now tried in practice your advice on fixing pins when in the field. Over all I’m happy and plan to continue doing it your way.

I have my Google photos app set up so my pics are backed up only when I on wifi. And I noticed that pics taken and added in the field also gets backed up when I return home. Does that mean the pictures exists in two different spots in the cloud. Or maybe Google has enough storage space to even care about this.

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That is good news @MortenCopenhagen

The photos do exist twice if you’re backing them up into Google Photos and adding them to Maps. Knowing Google it wouldn’t surprise me if they were doing something clever behind the scenes and there is really only one.

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Hi @TorM

I enjoyed learning from you on @JanVanHaver latest podcast on Perfect Pictures.

Especially your tips about posting pictures to a city or large area and taking pictures of the patterns of bottles etc. behind bars were new and useful for me. Thanks.

You mentioned a little about your workflow with taking hundreds of great pictures and only uploading them later. Would you care to elaborate on how you do this? I realize that when I return after a long walk taking maybe 200 pics the time needed to adjust, crop and upload them to their respective places is very time consuming. For me it takes almost as long as walking and taking the pictures.

I often get caught up in the process when I see map markers that need to be moved, a wrong category or a name that needs fixing.

It would be great if you could share what your work flow looks like. If I don’t do the editing and uploading the same or next day it becomes harder to remember where they belong.

I too find it oddly relaxing uploading the pictures, but less time consuming would really be nice.

Cheers

PS: @PaulPavlinovich suggested above to add the pictures while out and about. It works, but when I like to boost brightness and contrast and sometimes also adjust the cropping it gets too much to fix while on the street.

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@MortenCopenhagen

Did write a long detailed replay, but disappear due to problems with internet connection. I answer tomorrow or Monday, as I currently make some troubleshooting…

Thanks, @TorM .

Sorry to hear you have lost work due to internet problems.

Looking forward to learn more. No hurry though.

Cheers

Dear @MortenCopenhagen

in fact there are differences between Android and iOS systems.

The upload via iOS is much quicker, while with Android you can edit with once a lot of information.

When I walking around and taking pictures, I nearly always add one or two “anchor” pictures.

I work in two steps.

  1. Only uploading pictures to the POI. For this I edit on the mobile my pictures, to ensure privacy of people and cutting out trash bins etc…

  2. I check on a desktop if the uploads are at the right place. Means, it could be, that I do an upload to the right POI name, but in a city it is somewhere else. I discover this via the Desktop and do crating new points or correct the existing point.

For me picture upload is like a memory game. In most cases I remember the places I have been, at least when I have 1-2 anchor points as maintained. On iOS is a very nice option with a Map (I think not GoogleMaps :wink: )

On Android is as well a map, but I prefer the iOS solution, while on Android I can better edit details.

Since the pictures are no more displayed in the row, it is much more difficult for me, while I don’t see anymore double uploads to one place and when starting a city and doing an other meanwhile, I’m totally mixed. This is the reason that my upload volume has dramatically dropped in the last months. I’m still not sure if it is a mistake Google will fix or by purpose. I need to bring it to attention to Google again.

This is a short version of my response I lost. In case of any questions contact me.

AND for me it is really outstanding, when creating a new place and make the first picture upload after confirmation.

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@TorM

Thanks a million for your input.

I love the concept of a memory game. I can easily relate to that.

Also anchor pictures could prove useful for me. So are they at the beginning and end of a walk or just some places that are more easy to find and remember? I normally only make one walk per day, so the break between dated in my camera roll is what I normally use. But I will try your concept.

I understand you concern about the sorting order in your picture roll. On Android I sometimes experience a similar problem. That is after going over a batch of photos to fix brightness, contrast and cropping. If I don’t make changes to all pictures they get ordered according to when they were edited and not when they were taken. That is super annoying. But I some how figured out to select a folder/sorting where the order is as I need it to be.

In my camera app I can look up info where the GPS position is shown for a single picture on a map. So that is possible. There is also a map where all my recent pics are shown on one map. So I believe the differences between ios and android are less than you think. Also the upload speed is surprising good. So good that I suspect that Google is having some very smart tricks in play here. Or maybe my 4G is just so much faster than my home broadband.

You mentioned that you upload your pictures to a new place only after it has been approved. It is my experience that the chances for getting a new place added is proportional to how much info I add. Hence I add all the pictures I have when proposing a new place. It seems to work well.

I would suggest that you check again if you might be able to adjust the sorting order to allow easier uploading. Else this should be reported as an important idea in Idea Exchange.

Cheers and thanks again