In this post Lisa Newton from Travelin’ Local and MLAPA looks at a great new service that merges Flickr with virtual mapping.

map-flickr.pngThere’s a great new site I recently found, that makes the process of merging Flickr images with virtual mapping, much quicker and easier; and takes the entire process to the next level. Although I’m a big fan of Flickr, for a long time one of its major drawbacks was that I couldn’t embed Flickr maps.

That was then, this is now; you’re able to easily create embeddable maps by combining Flickr and Map Flickr, a “powerful tool to create an interactive map with geolocated images on it using the Google Maps and Flickr API.”

First things first, to use Map Flickr, you have to be a Flickr member first. Indeed, DPS recently had a wonderful new beginner’s guide to Flickr, so I hope you’ve already joined. BTW, a pro membership of Flickr isn’t required for Map Flickr, but for $25.00 per year, it’s a reasonable price if you’re a professional, or are involved with, downloading and storing a large amount of bandwidth for your photos.

map-flickr-2.pngAfter you download your photos into Flickr, you need to create a set, which is basically a grouping of your photos by whatever criteria or category you determine works best for you. For me, I prefer to group my photos by the location where I took them– like I did with my Fine Arts Building story and shoot.

After you create your set, use the mapping feature on Flickr, and add them to your Flickr map.

Now comes the fun part.

Go to Map Flickr and register, which is free.

As soon as you hit the “Find my Sets” button on the registration page, Map Flickr will automatically connect to your Flickr account, and a list of all of your Flickr photo sets will be available for you to view, and work with. From that point, all you have to do is to is just click Create Map,” and watch the magic begin. From this point forward, you’re able to customize your maps as well as being able to incorporate other features into your efforts, such as its sizing, the photo’s height, width, and so forth.

After you’re done with customizing you, hit the “Finish and Share” button to publish your masterpieces. That’s it, from that point, all you have to do is link to the map– or better yet– embed it into your website like I did.

With the foregoing in mind, I hope that you’re able to have as much fun using Map Flickr and all of its features, as I do, for anything and everything that may be beneficial for your photographic and mapping needs.

Because I’m both a photojournalist, and currently involved in the Mapping Los Angeles Public Art (MLAPA) project, it’s great to be able to just add a quick picture to my Flickr map, and then have it easily appear on my sites, with just a few clicks of the mouse.

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