Depending on the device used to capture the photos, your photos may or may not have GPS coordinates embedded in the images. Select one of the two workflows below based on whether or not your photos are geotagged. Once your photo collection has been created, you can publish the collection as a feature layer for use in the Photo Survey application.

Create a photo Collection from geotagged photos

If you have collected location-enabled photos, they can be associated with GPS coordinate values embedded in the image and organized in to a photo collection layer that contains a series of points and the respective photos. Survey questions can then be added to the photo collection layer and shared as an ArcGIS service. You can publish multiple photo collection layers that have unique survey questions, or create multiple photo collections for a given location over time to illustrate change.

To create your photo collection layer, complete the following steps:

1. Create a geodatabase to stage your photo collection.
2. Open a blank ArcMap document, or ArcGIS Pro project.
3. In ArcMap browse to PhotoSurvey.tbx in the ArcCatalog window, or add the toolbox in ArcGIS Pro.
4. Double-click the Load Photos tool.
5. In the Select a Workflow parameter, choose Associate Geotagged Photo with Point (photo has location).
6. In the Photos parameter, browse to the folder containing your photos and click Add.
7. In the Staging GeoDatabase parameter, browse to the staging geodatabase you created in Step 1 and click Add.
8. In the Survey Question Template parameter, browse to Application\SurveyConfigurations, choose the geodatabase and click Add.
9. Click OK.

Create a photo collection from non-geotagged photos

If you have collected photos that have no embedded GPS coordinate values, the photos can be associated with a specified location based on provided coordinate values. They can then be organized in to a photo collection layer that contains a series of points and the respective photos located at the specified coordinates. Survey questions can then be added to the photo collection layer and shared as an ArcGIS service. You can publish multiple photo collection layers that have unique survey questions, or create multiple photo collections for a given location over time to illustrate change.

To create your photo collection layer, complete the following steps:

1. Create a geodatabase to stage your photo collection.
2. Open a blank ArcMap document, or ArcGIS Pro project.
3. In ArcMap browse to PhotoSurvey.tbx in the ArcCatalog window, or add the toolbox in ArcGIS Pro.
4. Double-click the Load Photos tool.
5. In the Select a Workflow parameter, choose Associate Non-Geotagged Photo with specified Point (no location).
6. In the Photos parameter, browse to the folder containing your photos and click Add.
7. In the Location parameter, provide X and Y coordinates for the location with which you want to associate the photos. These coordinates must be in decimal degrees.
8. In the Staging Geodatabase parameter, browse to the staging geodatabase created in step 1 and click Add.
9. In the Survey Question Template parameter, browse to Application\SurveyConfigurations, choose the geodatabase and click Add.
10. Click OK.

Publish photo collection

Publishing the photo collection as a feature layer allows it to be accessed using the Photo Survey application. Select a deployment method using ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS for Server or ArcGIS Enterprise and follow the steps below to publish the photo collection service required for the Photo Survey application.

To publish the photo collection layer and add it to ArcGIS Online, complete the following steps:

1. Add your photo collection layer and associated survey question table to ArcMap or ArcGIS Pro.
2. Publish the map using ArcMap as hosted feature service using ArcGIS Online or as a feature service using ArcGIS for Server or ArcGIS Enterprise, or ArcGIS Pro as a shared web feature layer.
3. Browse to the service and edit the item details:
   • Title: PhotoSurvey.
   • Thumbnail image: Your image.
   • Description: Photo collection and survey for the community.
   • Tags: Photo Survey, Photo Collection.
   • Editing: Enable editing and Keep track of who created and last updated features.
   • What kind of editing is allowed: Only update feature attributes.
   • Sync: Disable Sync.
4. Share the service with everyone.