Help

How to upload a photo?

• Use the link “Upload”.
• If you are already registered, just select the photos from your hard disk. If not, you will need to sign-up before.
• Optionally you can use the option “map this photo” and then locate the photo.
• When you have finished uploading photos, just click on “Finish”.

Notice:

• If you want to upload more photos, please, don't press the "finish" button, but select more photos without waiting for the full upload.
• When photos are from the same place you don't need to find the location in the map for each photo. The mapping system remembers the position of the previous mapped photo.
• Photos with coordinates in EXIF are mapped automatically. Please, don't use the option "map this photo".
• The photo is resized automatically, you can upload the photo in original size (max. 5 MB)
• We recommend to map the photo in the place where it was taken, not over the subject of the photo.

How to place a photo on the map?

During uploads: You can place a photo on the map while it is uploading. After using the 'upload' link, use the button 'map this photo' and follow the steps below.

After uploading: To locate a photo you have previously uploaded, go to the photo page and then use the link “map this photo” on the right and follow the steps below.

There are three ways to place a photo on the map:

a) Searching for the name of the place

1. You can search for streets in some countries: Third Avenue, New York, Ramblas, Barcelona. You can search for landmarks: Eiffel Tower, Mount Fuji or Cape of Good Hope. Search for names in different languages: Saragossa/Zaragoza, Nueva York/New York, Köln/Cologne or Leipzig/Lipsia. Add the name of province/state/country to the location to find places with common names: Cox, Spain, Cox, California or Cox, England.
2. Use the map controls to find the right place.
3. Press “Save position” to finish.

b) Giving the coordinates

You can supply latitude and longitude information in both decimal and sexagesimal formats, for instance: 40.56345 -3.45678. Remember to add a "-" for West latitude and South longitude. Alternatively, you can type them in sexagesimal format 37º 4' 39.11",-110º 57' 53.09".

The exact place will be shown in the map. Press “Save position” to finish.

c) Including coordinates in EXIF

If a photo already has coordinates in EXIF (internal information), it will automatically be placed on the map. You don't need to do anything, just upload the photo, but don't press “map this photo”.

How many photos can I upload?

As many as you want, up to 2 Gigabytes. That is approximately 3.000 photos taken with 4 megapixels camera.

How can I upload and map photos massively?

You can upload an unlimited number of photos simultaneously, just select more photos without waiting for the full upload. Don't press the "finish" button. The mapping system remembers the position of the last mapped photo, so you don't need to find the same place more than once.

I have problems to upload my photos

Sometimes the uploading process is stuck at 0% and nothing happens. Usually this problem is caused for your security settings of your browser, antivirus or firewall. The following instructions may help.

First, set your browser settings (Privacy) to accept cookies from Panoramio and try to sign-in. If that doesn't help, check your antivirus settings and add Panoramio.com to your list of trusted sites and try to sign-in again.

What is the copyright status of posted photos?

Posting pictures in Panoramio doesn't mean any change in copyright status. Photos are under the copyright their owners decided previously: standard copyright, copyleft, Creative Commons license, etc. When you post photos in Panoramio, you just are granting Panoramio the right to use them (we need that right in order to host and display your photos) and include them in Panoramio API, so third parties can display your photos but not download or copy them. They also need to include your name as author under the photo. More information in the API page and the Terms of Service

How to correct the location of a photo

Your photos: If you want to correct the location of a photo you previously uploaded, sign in with your username and password. On your photo page(s) you have two options:

• Use the “change position” button located under the two maps.
• In the satellite map, drag the red bubble to the new, correct, location. Changes are saved automatically when you drop the bubble.

Other people's photos: If you find a wrongly located photo and you know the correct location, use the link "Suggest new location" located under the two maps. We will send your suggestion to the author of the photo. If you can't find the link "Suggest new location" send us the photo-ID number located below the photo and the coordinates of the correct position at .

Notice: In Google Earth it may take a couple of weeks (approx.) until the position of the photo is corrected. Therefore you may find a misplaced photo in Google Earth, but the location has already been corrected on Panoramio's website.

Why can't I correct the position of some photos?

Photos can receive only one suggestion for relocation. If the position of the photo has been already corrected, but you still believe the position to be incorrect, please send us the photo-ID number located below the photo and the coordinates of the correct position at If the photo is yours, don't send any e-mail, please sign-in and you will be able to change the position of the photo immediately

Notice: Before reporting a mistake, check the position of the photo in Panoramio.com. If the position is already correct in Panoramio, but incorrect in Google Earth, it means that it has been already corrected. Please, wait until next update around May 25th 2008 to see the position corrected in Google Earth.

How to change a photo's title

Sign-in with the same user name you used to upload the photo.

Click on the photo's title and then you can edit the text. To save the changes just press enter, tab or click somewhere else. Press Esc to undo any changes to the text.

If the photo belongs to someone else, you can add a comment to that photo explaining why you suggest the change. The author will get an e-mail with your comment.

How to delete a photo

Sign-in with the same user name you used to upload the photo.

Click on the photo to open the photo page. Under the photo you will find the link “Delete”.

If the photo is not yours, but you believe it should be deleted, please, send us the ID number located under the photo to

Why a deleted photo is still in Google Earth?

Google Earth is not updated immediately, it might take some weeks. Your deleted photo will be removed from Google Earth in the next update around May 25th 2008.

How do I find the ID number of my photos?

The ID number can be found under the image in the photo-page and at the end of the URL address of that page. Example: The URL http://www.panoramio.com/photo/123456 is for photo with ID number 123456.

I can't sign-in, how can I fix this problem?

Usually when your browser doesn't accept cookies from Panoramio, you have problems to sign-in. In order to fix this problem you have two options. First, set your browser settings (Privacy) to accept cookies from Panoramio and try to sign-in. If that doesn't help, check your antivirus settings and add Panoramio.com to your list of trusted sites and try to sign-in again.

I can't sign-up, what can I do?

The most common problem in the sign-up process happens with the username you try is already used by someone else. Most of common names and family names are already in use, please, try to find a less common username and try again.

In other cases the sign-up problems happen because your browser doesn't accept cookies from Panoramio. In order to fix this problem you have two options. First, set your browser settings (Privacy) to accept cookies from Panoramio.com and try to sign-up again. If that doesn't help, check your antivirus settings and add Panoramio.com to your list of trusted sites and try to sign-up again.

How to change your user name, e-mail or password?

In the right-upper side of your personal area you will find the link "Settings". Under this link you can change your user name, your e-mail or your password. If you can't see this link, please, sign-in.

Did you forget your password or e-mail?

Forgot password: Go to this page to receive instructions to get a new password.

Forgot e-mail: Please, send us an e-mail including the username you registered to

How to find a place

There are three different ways:

• Search engine: Write the name of the place (e.g. Paris, Mount Everest, Sardinia) in the search engine and click the “Find Location” button. Often there are several places with the same name. You will be asked to choose the correct one.
• Drag and drop with your mouse to move around in the map. Use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out.
• Map buttons: Use the arrows on the upper-left side of the map to pan left, right, up and down. The plus (+) lets you zoom in and the minus (-) is for zooming out.

How can I report some incorrect information in the map (street, name, town..)?

At Panoramio.com we use the maps from Google Maps and TeleAtlas. These maps are continually updated, but they may occasionally display incorrect locations or directions. You can report the mistakes you found at TeleAtlas website.

If your request is related with Google Earth satellite images and maps, you can contact the the Google Earth Help Center.

Someone copied my photo without my permission, what can I do?

Just send us an e-mail to with the photo ID-number located under the photo in Panoramio and any probe of your authorship (original URL, original photo file...). We will delete the illegally copied photo immediately. Also, instead of deleting that photo, we can add your name as author. In that case, please tell us your username in Panoramio.com (signup required).

Do I place the photo where it was taken or over the subject?

Most of the time it makes more sense to place the photo where it was taken, as that gives others the possibility of going back to that point and see the same landscape. There may be exceptions, however, and we trust you as the best judge to know where should a photo be placed.

What's the maximum file size for images? Do I need to resize images before uploading?

The maximum file size for images is 5 Mb. Unless your photos are bigger than 5 Mb we don't recommend you to resize photos, just upload the photo in original size and the system will resize automatically your image.

Panoramio e-mail alerts

Once you are registered in Panoramio, you will receive alerts in two cases:

• If someone comments on any of your photos
• If any of your "favorite users" upload new photos

You will receive one e-mail alert per day with the new comments on your photos and with new photos from your favorite users.

If you don't want to receive any e-mail alerts, just click on the link at the end of the e-mail alert or uncheck the "e-mail alerts" in your "Settings" (on your personal area when signed in).

How to contact a user from Panoramio?

We don't disclose the e-mails of our users, but if you add a comment to any photo, the user that owns that photo will receive an e-mail with your comment.

How to show your photos to your friends?

You can show your photos to your friend by sending them the link to all your photos in your personal area by e-mail, for example, this is Eduardo's personal area http://www.panoramio.com/user/7, check the address bar of your browser to find it. In your personal area there is a KML lik for Google Earth that display your photos inside Google Earth

Can I use, copy, print or download a photo from Panoramio.com?

You can do it only if you get explicit permission by the author of the photo. However you can use Panoramio API to display photos from panoramio in your site as long as you fulfill the requirements, see API page, but you can't copy nor download those photos

We don't disclose the e-mails of our users, but if you add a comment to any photo, the user that owns that photo will receive an e-mail with your comment.

Adding and removing "Favorites"

Favourites is a list of users or single photos you like and you want to find easily again. You can use favorites to track your friends or a good photographer.

You can add any photo or any user to favorites by clicking on the gray star beside the photo's title or the user's name. The star will change to yellow. You can find your list of favourites in your personal area. You can access your personal area through the link under your username located at the top of all pages in Panoramio

You will receive an e-mail alert when any of your favorites upload a new picture, unless you uncheck the option in your personal area.

If you want to remove anything from your favorites, just go to the page of the user or photo that you want to remove and click on the yellow star (it's at the left of the user's name or the photo's title).

How can I report inappropriate or offensive photos?

You can click on the "inappropriate or offensive" link on the right sidebar of the photo.

How to insert a mini-panoramio in your site?

Example of mini-panoramio

This is what you need to write in your site to insert a mini-panoramio frame:

Follow these steps to substitute all the “XXX” with the right value.

1. Find, in Panoramio World Map, the area of the map you want to show. In the url of the browser you will find the values you should use for latitude lt, longitude ln, zoom level z and kind of map k
2. If you want to show only the photos from any single user, you need to include their user number. You can find their user number in the url of their personal page. For instance if you want to show the photos of user http://www.panoramio.com/user/7, you should add user=7.
3. The width and height attributes are used to specify the size of the frame in pixels (or % of total available size).

For example, to show the world in a mini-panoramio you can use:

Example including photos from only one specific user:

Blogger users: Write the code above in the “Edit HTML” tab.

The mini-panoramio will only show the photos inside the visible area of the map. If you browse the map out of this area, no photos will be shown. The number of photos is limited to 20

Photo acceptance policy

Logos, mini-images and copyrighted photos copied from some web page are not acceptable because of legal issues.

Sexual explicit pictures are not allowed until we can develop a filter for this kind of content. Discriminative, xenophobic or racist photos will be deleted. Picture of children are especially sensitive, if we have the shadow of a doubt about the intention of the photo it will be immediately deleted.

Can I help translating Panoramio to another language?

Sure, it will be great!! Just follow these steps:

1. Contact us at and we will send you by e-mail the most updated translation file.
   
2. Download one translation editor, for instance Poedit.
3. Open the translation file with Poedit.
4. Translate the file. Write the translation in the down-left window.
5. Send to us the translated file to
6. Visit the translator forum for help and updates

You will be mentioned in the site credits and will gain unlimited bragging rights!

Poedit's tips:

1. Translations status for each sentence is indicated by color. Blue means not translated, white means translated, yellow means "fuzzy" translation, i.e. there was a translation for that entry, but the original English has changed since then. If the fuzzy translation doesn't need to be changed, just click on the "rain" icon in the toolbar.
2. Don't translate the placeholders (%d, %s, %.0f, ...).
3. If you get an error message when you save, read the details and check the variables at the indicated lines.

It's important to use the latest version of the language file when you want to update a language.

Popularity and visibility of photos

• Popularity: Each photo in Panoramio.com has a popularity level determined by the combination of more than 20 variables: times viewed, times added to favorites by other users, number of comments received, resolution in pixels, etc. We prefer not to disclose all factors involved in popularity to avoid the people to focus to much on it. The best way to get high popularity is to upload great shots.
• Visibility: Very popular photos are displayed in higher zoom levels in both Panoramio's map and Google Earth. Since popularity correlates good with quality, we believe it is useful to see the most popular photos first when exploring the world.
• Issues: Because the most popular photos are the most visible ones, they get even more popular. In order to fix that bias we are planning to take into account the freshness of the photo in the popularity.
• Popular tab: located in Panoramio's map includes all the photos that have been reviewed and selected for Google Earth ordered by popularity.

Suggestions for misplaced photos: abuse and limitations

The accuracy of the location of the photos is what is makes Panoramio useful. We believe that a photo which receives a suggestion is misplaced and it should be removed from Google Earth until the suggestion is accepted or rejected by the author. We are aware that some people abuse this system sending meaningless suggestions, but in the worst case a photo will be only removed for a few hours/days until the author checks the e-mail.

There is a limitation to one suggestion per photo in order to prevent further abuse. After one suggestion the link to suggest news locations disappears from the photo page.

Why does it take so long to see my photos on Google Earth?

We need to review all photos uploaded to Panoramio in order to select only the ones that are about places. Since thousands of photos are daily uploaded to Panoramio, this process takes some time. We send the selected photos to Google Earth and they will appear in the next update. For example, we will send the selected photos to Google Earth on May 5th 2008 and the next update will be around May 25th 2008. In case your photo has been uploaded after May 5th 2008 it will not be included on May 25th 2008, but one month later in another update

We want to speed up this process and we are planning to create a community based reviewing system. Also we expect to reduce to few days the time between updates of Google Earth in the near future.

I have seen my photos in another website, is that allowed?

If that site is using Panoramio API, yes, that's allowed. Panoramio provides an API, that means that other websites sites can display the photos from Panoramio as long as they fulfill the requirements (mention authorship and link to the original photo page). However external sites can't store a copy of the photos.

The goal of Panoramio is to illustrate the World with shared photos and Panoramio API helps to reach that goal and bring photo-sharing a step further. We believe that most of the people are happy to see their photos getting popular and very much viewed. We don't earn any money with the API service. In the Terms of Use those rights are explained, so when you upload a photo to Panoramio, you keep all the rights over your photo, but you allow Panoramio to display them via services like the Panoramio API.

Is the Panoramio.com site the same as Google Earth?

No. Panoramio was acquired by Google in July 2007, but Panoramio began as an independent photo sharing website that had the ability to geo-locate photos. This led to the inclusion of photos from Panoramio into Google Earth as a default layer.

Is there a faster way to upload photos?

You can upload photos simultaneously without waiting for the first upload to finish. However you need to select photos to upload one by one and there is no way to select a folder to upload. At the moment we prefer not to offer tools for massive uploads because we believe they will decrease the quality of the photos and the accuracy of the geolocation.

Should I resize the photo before uploading it?

No. The system automatically resizes the photo after upload it, so you just can upload the original photo file directly. However you can't upload photos over 5 Mb, in that case you need to resize the file before uploading it.

Can I change the order of my photos?

Currently you can't change the order of the photos in "Your Photos" page. This feature is in our to-do list, but for the moment you only can use tags to sort your photos.

Why do I see the same photo multiple times in Google Earth?

Sometimes when you click on a blue dot in Google Earth you get several copies of the same photo. This caused by a bug in Google Earth, please, update to the latest version of Google Earth. If you see a thumbnail and a blue dot with the same photo, go to the left panel and uncheck the photos on the "Temporary Places", that will remove the thumbnail.

More questions

• Send your questions to the: Help forum
• Or contact us at: