Index

# Import images

The first step of creating a HoudahGeo project is to add images. This is the "red step".

## Configuring the camera setting

At the first image you load, HoudahGeo inquires about the clock settings of your digital camera. This information is required for HoudahGeo to correctly display time stamps and for matching the photos with a GPS track log. HoudahGeo assumes this information to be the same for all pictures in a project. You should thus take care to have your camera time set as precisely as possible and not change it over the course of a project.
The camera time zone is the time zone the camera was configured to at the time the photos were taken. Typically this is your home time zone or the time zone you have travelled to.
While digital cameras store the date and time an image was taken, they do not store time zone information. In order to make sense of these timestamps, HoudahGeo needs to know the time zone the camera was set to. Some images may however already hold time zone information. For these, HoudahGeo respects that information and ignores the camera setup settings. Images exported from HoudahGeo include time zone information. You should make sure you give HoudahGeo accurate information or else you will end up with incorrect data embedded in your images.
The clock error is the amount of seconds your camera's clock was fast at the time the photos were taken. If you have accurately set the time on your camera, this value should be 0.
With the menu in the top right cordenr of a HoudahGeo project window you may select which time zone to use for display purposes: camera time zone, computer time zone or GMT. All timestamps displayed by HoudahGeo will obey that setting.

## Adding images from files

Click the first button in the red toolbar tab. You are presented with a file system browser. Select the images you want to load and click the OK button.

## Adding images from a library

You may add images directly from your favorite photo management application. HoudahGeo integrates with iPhoto, Aperture and Lightroom.
The second button opens a floating window where you will find all your photo libraries. Photos may be added to the project by drag-and-dropping them onto the list in the project window.
HoudahGeo offers seamless access to Aperture masters and iPhoto originals.
Publishing operations (Google Earth, Flickr and locr) use images as modified by Aperture, iPhoto or Lightroom. When writing EXIF/XMP, you will be offered the option to write to the Aperture master / iPhoto original. Thus geotags will be carried along as you create new versions of the image.
Photo library applications cache metadata of managed photos. You need to trigger the reloading of metadata. In iPhoto, this feature is named “Rescan for Location”. In Aperture, you will use “Reload Metadata from EXIF” or “Update from Master”. Integration with Lightroom requires Lightroom to store metadata in XMP sidecar files. Once HoudahGeo has updated the sidecar, you will instruct Lightroom to "Reload Metadata from File".
HoudahGeo is able to detect photos managed by iPhoto'09 and offers to notify iPhoto of changes upon writing EXIF tags. For this feature to work, you must:

- Use the latest version of iPhoto'09

- Have iPhoto library pre-loading enabled in HoudahGeo

- Choose to tag masters/originals

- Not have HoudahGeo create copies

- Not have HoudahGeo create XMP sidecars

Also, there should not be any existing XMP sidecars.