Panoramio Help

Sharing and community

Panoramio is about sharing photos and it's a community-driven site.

Choosing and removing favorites

You can use a Favorites list to keep track of favorite photos or favorite photographers. When you mark photos or photographers as favorites, links appear on your personal (Your Photos) page so you can easily return to them.

To add a photo to your Favorites list:

  • Click the star over the photo, or click Add to Favorites. The star changes to yellow.

To add a photographer to your Favorites:

  1. Display the photographer's Panoramio page. If you aren't already on that page, you can get there by finding and clicking one of the photographer's photos.
  2. Click the star next to the title above the photo, Photos by. If the photographer's name is buenavista, click the star next to Photos by buenavista.

On the Your photos page, the items you selected appear under Favorites. You'll receive an email when any of your favorite photographers add a new photo.

To remove a favorite:

  1. Display the page where you first marked the favorite, whether it's another user's personal page or an individual photo page.
  2. Click the yellow star that marks the favorite. The star will lose its yellow color.

To disable notifications about new photos from a favorite photographer, refer to Enabling and disabling email alerts.

Finding other people's photos

Panoramio doesn't yet have the ability to search by name. To find the photos of a particular Panoramio photographer:

  1. Find one photo by that photographer.
  2. Click the photographer's name to display his or her personal page.
  3. Add the photographer to your favorites.

Enabling and disabling email alerts

As a Panoramio user, you'll automatically receive a daily email when one of these events occurs:

  • Someone leaves a comment on one of your photos.
  • One of your favorite photographers adds a new photo.

You will receive only one email daily, with both types of information.

To disable emails, do one of the following:

  • Click the link at the end of the email.
  • Go to Settings, look under E-mail alerts, and deselect the options.

Contacting another user

When you comment on a photo, the photographer receives an email with your comment and can respond. Panoramio doesn't disclose the email addresses of its users.

To use, copy, print, or download a photo from Panoramio, you must get explicit permission from the photographer. To contact a photographer to ask for permission, add a comment to the photo. The owner of the photo will receive an email with your comment and can contact you back.

Suggesting a change to someone else's photo

To suggest a change to a photo, add a comment explaining the change that you suggest. The author will get an email with your comment.

Discussing Panoramio online

Panoramio community members exchange a lot of information in the Panoramio forum. The forum is a place where you can ask questions, share tips, report bugs, or make feature suggestions.

Identifying incorrect information or inappropriate photos

Here are some suggestions for helping to fix problems in Panoramio.

Problem What can you do?
Incorrect information in Google Earth or Google Maps, such as incorrect street, town, and so on Please see the help center for Google Earth or Google Maps.
Incorrect location for someone else's photo, when the Suggest New location link is available in the map area If the Suggest new location link is visible, you are the first person to dispute the location of the photo. Click the link, provide the correct place for the photo, and write an explanation for your suggestion. The photographer will get your suggestion and can decide to accept your suggestion or keep the location as it is. A photographer has an indefinite time to respond to your suggestion.

As soon as you submit your suggestion:

  • Panoramio temporarily removes the photo from the Panoramio map.
  • Panoramio schedules the photo for removal from Google Earth if the photo was already transferred.
  • Panoramio removes the Suggest new location link from the photo. The link is available for use only once.
  • The message The position of this photo has been disputed appears under the photo.

When the photographer responds by accepting or rejecting your suggestion:

  • Panoramio restores the photo to the Panoramio map.
  • Panoramio schedules the photo for the next transfer to Google Earth if it was previously removed.
  • The message The position of this photo been disputed disappears from under the photo.
  • The message under the map is changed to, This position has already been corrected.

Transfers between Panoramio and Google Earth do not happen instantly. Therefore there can be a lag between events in Panoramio and events in Google Earth, as follows:

  • The photo might appear in Google Earth for a short time after it has been disputed and removed from the Panoramio map.
  • The photo might be restored to the Panoramio map before it reappears in Google Earth.
  • The photo might simply be removed from the Panoramio map for a short time, and then restored, if the photographer responds before a transfer to Google Earth takes place.

Photos that are removed from the maps continue to appear on a photographer's home page but after the location is disputed once, the Suggest new location no longer appears.
Incorrect location for someone else's photo, when the Suggest new location link does not appear in the map area If someone previously made a suggestion for this photo, the Suggest new location link is missing. However, if you feel sure that the location is wrong, contact the Panoramio administrator at corrections@panoramio.com. Include the following information:
  • The ID of the photo. You can find the ID under the photo or in the URL.
    • If the ID for the photo is 6064400, the text under the photo would be this:
      This photo is selected for Google Earth [?] - ID: 6164400
    • If the ID for the photo is 6064400, the URL would be this: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/6164400
  • The coordinates of the correct position. To find the coordinates, center Panoramio's Map in the right location. Look for the coordinates in the left corner of the map.
An inappropriate or offensive photo Under Flag photo, click inappropriate or offensive. If a number of different users flag a photo, the Panoramio administrator will review the photo and take further action. You can flag a photo only once; repeated clicks are ignored.

Because thousands of Panoramio users participate in community moderation, inappropriate photos are quickly identified and removed.
An offensive photo title Check the Acceptance Policy for titles and comments. If the photo title is not acceptable, flag the photo as Inappropriate or offensive and the Panoramio administrator will review it.
Photos that are acceptable according to the Panoramio policy, but that you don't like Just upload your own great photos to Panoramio! If the good photos become more popular than the photos you don't like, they'll also be more visible.

Responding to the suggestions of other users

If another Panoramio member suggests that you change the location of one of your photos, you'll get an email. Follow the link in the email to Panoramio, where you can choose to move the photo to the suggested location or keep it where it is.

Until you respond to the suggestion:

  • Panoramio removes the photo from the Panoramio map.
  • Panoramio schedules the photo for removal from Google Earth on the next transfer date.
  • Panoramio removes the Suggest new location link from the photo. The link is available for use only once.
  • The message The position of this photo has been disputed appears under the photo.

When you accept or reject the suggestion:

  • Panoramio restores the photo to the Panoramio map.
  • Panoramio schedules the photo for restoration to Google Earth on the next transfer date.
  • The message The position of this photo has been disputed disappears from under the photo.
  • The message under the map is changed to, This position has already been corrected.

Because information exchange with Google Earth does not happen instantly:

  • The photo might appear in Google Earth for a short time after it has been disputed and removed from the Panoramio map.
  • The photo might be restored to the Panoramio map before it reappears in Google Earth.

If you respond quickly, the photo might simply be removed from the Panoramio map for a short period of time.