Working with photographs in BotanicalMapper

Why photos matter

Photos make your workspace easier to understand. They help you recognise plants, compare seasonal changes, record work, and show others what a place looked like at a particular moment.

BotanicalMapper lets you attach photos to individual records, manage them safely, and decide which ones should appear on a public map.

In short

• Stored and shown in the app: compressed WebP images with no EXIF (GPS or other data) attached in the file
• Downloaded from Manage Photos: JPEG exports with selected EXIF fields added back where supported
• Public map visitors see EXIF-free images
• Exclude from Public Map hides a photo publicly without deleting it privately

Where photos live

Photos can be attached to:

• Plants
• Landmarks
• Areas, on eligible plans

Photos are not attached to shapes or paths.

You manage photos one record at a time using Manage Photos. To browse photos across many records, use the Gallery page.

Opening Manage Photos

You can open Manage Photos from several places.

From the map:

1. Select a plant, landmark, or area
2. Open the details panel
3. Click Manage Photos in the photo area

From Gallery:

1. Open Gallery from the main navigation
2. Find the card you want
3. Use the card actions to open Manage Photos

The panel title shows a count, such as:

Manage Photos 3 / 10

This means the record currently has 3 photos, out of the limit available for that entity on your plan.

Uploading photos

Click Add Photo at the bottom of Manage Photos.

You can select multiple files at once.

Accepted formats include:

• JPEG
• PNG
• WebP
• HEIC
• HEIF
• AVIF

SVG and arbitrary image file types are not accepted.

Before upload, the browser may read useful EXIF from the original file, such as date taken, GPS, and camera details. The image is then resized, with the long edge up to 2000px, and sent as JPEG for processing.

If a photo has no GPS, the app may use browser location as a fallback, especially for in-app capture on mobile.

Plans include different per-record photo limits and storage pools. Check Settings for your current plan and storage use. If your storage is getting high, you may see a workspace photo storage banner with a link to Plan & Storage.

What you can do in Manage Photos

Each photo row includes:

• Thumbnail
• Editable name
• Taken or Uploaded date and time
• Move photo up
• Move photo down
• Rotate menu, 90°, 180°, or 270°
• Download Photo
• Delete Photo

The first photo becomes the cover image in the details panel and Gallery. To change the cover, move the preferred photo to the top.

Rotation is saved as display metadata. The file is not re-encoded just because you rotate it.

At the bottom of the panel, you can also:

• Click Add Photo
• Click Download (N) to download all photos for that record as a ZIP

Public-map visibility

If your workspace plan includes public map publishing, photos can show an Exclude from Public Map checkbox.

• Checked: the photo stays private to your workspace and is hidden from the public map
• Unchecked: the photo can appear publicly, if the record itself is public

New photos added to records that are already public default to excluded until you opt in. This gives you a chance to review them first.

If the entity is already public, only workspace admins can change Exclude from Public Map. Other users may see it locked with a tooltip.

How images are stored

BotanicalMapper does not keep your original camera file as-is for normal browsing.

On upload, it creates several WebP versions for day-to-day use. EXIF is stripped from these files.

Thumbnail

Size - 160 × 160 pixels (cropped to fill)

Typical use - Used for thumbnails, plant lists, and other compact views.

Small

Size - Maximum edge: 320 pixels

Typical use - Ideal for gallery cards and smaller image previews.

Medium

Size - Maximum edge: 720 pixels

Typical use - Used in map detail panels, information cards, and image carousels.

Large

Size - Maximum edge: 2000 pixels

Typical use - Designed for lightbox viewing, full-screen display, and high-resolution images.

GPS, date taken, and camera fields are saved separately as metadata, not embedded in the public browsing files.

That means in-app viewing and public maps use EXIF-free image URLs. Visitors browsing your map do not receive hidden GPS or camera data inside the image file.

Upload photo→ read useful EXIF→ create WebP viewing copies with EXIF stripped→ store selected metadata separately→ re-add selected EXIF only when you download from Manage Photos

Viewing, downloading, and public maps

Viewing images in Details or Gallery

What you see - A WebP display image that has been optimised for viewing.

EXIF behaviour - The displayed image does not contain EXIF metadata.

Downloading from Manage Photos

What you receive - A JPEG export of the image renamed to include entity name and id.

EXIF behaviour - Selected EXIF metadata is restored where available, including any GPS information stored by BotanicalMapper.

Viewing images on the Public Map

What you see

An EXIF-free display image.

EXIF behaviour

Metadata is removed to improve privacy and performance, and any hidden photos are automatically excluded from the public map.

Downloading photos

Downloads are available from Manage Photos.

Single photo download

Click Download Photo for one image.

The download uses the large variant and converts it to JPEG where EXIF is re-added.

Filename pattern:

{EntityName}_{entityId}_photo.jpg

The entity name is cleaned for filenames, with spaces converted and special characters removed.

Selected EXIF fields may include:

• Date taken
• GPS, if captured
• Camera make and model
• BotanicalMapper software and artist tags

This is a reconstruction of key metadata. It is not a byte-for-byte restoration of every original EXIF tag.

Download all photos for one record

Click Download (N).

This creates a ZIP file named:

{EntityName}_{entityId}_photos.zip

Files inside are ordered like this:

{EntityName}_{entityId}_(01).jpg{EntityName}_{entityId}_(02).jpg

Today, bulk download is per entity, for one plant, landmark, or area at a time. Workspace-wide or multi-entity photo download is planned for later, but not available yet. (Contact us if you need to download large numbers of photos).

Viewing photos on the map

Plants, landmarks, and areas (if your workspace allows) can show a photo carousel in the details panel.

You can:

• Move through photos with arrows or swipe
• See a counter, such as 1 / 5
• Open View Fullscreen
• See Taken or Uploaded captions where date metadata exists
• Open Manage Photos from the private app view

The details panel usually shows the medium image variant. Fullscreen viewing uses a larger display version.

Using the Gallery page

Open Gallery from the main navigation.

The Gallery is useful when you want to browse photos across the collection rather than one record at a time.

It includes tabs for:

• Plants
• Landmarks
• Areas

Cards show the photo, type colour, and name. Depending on the record, you can filter, sort, move between photos on a card, open the record on the map, open it in the spreadsheet, open Manage Photos, or view fullscreen.

For large collections, the Gallery uses pagination.

Photos on areas

Areas can have photos on eligible plans.

Use them for:

• Bed overview shots
• Seasonal area views
• Signage
• Habitat or landscape records
• Before-and-after documentation

Area photos use the same Manage Photos flow as plants and landmarks, including reorder, rotate, download, and public-map exclusion where supported.

Copyright

You keep the rights in photos and content you upload. BotanicalMapper does not claim ownership of your garden photos.

You should only upload images you have the right to use, for example:

• Photos you took yourself
• Photos shared with permission
• Images available under a suitable licence

On public maps, you are responsible for what you choose to show. Use Exclude from Public Map for sensitive images.

Map basemap copyright is separate from your plant and garden photos.

Privacy

BotanicalMapper is designed so browsing copies do not expose hidden photo metadata.

• GPS is not embedded in WebP files used for in-app browsing or public maps
• Selected GPS and camera metadata is stored separately for your workspace
• Metadata is re-inserted only when you intentionally download from Manage Photos
• Public map visitors see EXIF-free images
• Excluded photos do not appear on the public entity

In team workspaces, colleagues with access can see photos attached to shared entities in the private app.

For full details on retention and deletion, refer to the Privacy Policy and Terms.

Troubleshooting

Can't upload photos

• Make sure you have a workspace selected.
• Check that the record hasn't reached its photo limit.
• Verify that you have available storage in Manage Photos or Settings.

No Area Photos option

Area Photos are not available on all subscription plans. Check your plan's available features.

No "Exclude from Public Map" option

This feature is only available on plans that include Public Map publishing.

Can't toggle "Exclude from Public Map"

The item may already be public, or you may not have Workspace Admin permissions to change this setting.

Downloaded image has no GPS information

The original image did not contain GPS metadata, or the metadata was not captured when the photo was uploaded.

Rotating a photo didn't change its file

This is expected behaviour. Rotation is stored as display metadata, so the image itself is not re-encoded.

Wrong cover image is displayed

Move the photo you want to use as the cover image to the first position in the photo list.

Photographer’s checklist before publishing

• Check that people are not identifiable unless you have consent
• Move the best image into first position as the cover
• Use Exclude from Public Map for sensitive photos
• Review public entities before sharing the map link

Closing checklist

• Workspace selected
• Photos uploaded in an accepted format
• Cover photo set by moving it to first position
• Exclude from Public Map set where needed
• Downloads taken from Manage Photos if EXIF-bearing copies are required

Photos are one of the most useful ways to enrich your map. With a few simple checks, you can keep your workspace visual, organised, and safe to share.