Free online JPG to GPX converter

What the JPG format is

JPG, also called JPEG, is a lossy raster-image format used for photographs, scans, screenshots, and map images. Cameras, smartphones, scanners, web browsers, and editors such as Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, and Preview create or save JPG files.

A camera JPG may contain EXIF metadata such as latitude, longitude, altitude, capture time, and camera direction. Image editors, messaging apps, social networks, screenshots, and privacy tools often remove GPS EXIF data. A location that is visible in the picture is not geographic data that conversion software can automatically use.

What the GPX format is

GPX is an XML-based GPS exchange format used by Garmin devices, QGIS, Google Earth, BaseCamp, OsmAnd, Gaia GPS, and many navigation and fitness applications. It stores wpt waypoints, rte routes, and trk tracks, usually with latitude and longitude in decimal degrees and optional elevation, timestamps, names, and extensions.

GPX is suitable when software must display, calculate, navigate, or edit geographic points. Unlike JPG, it contains geographic objects rather than a visual representation of a map.

Convert geotagged JPG photographs

1. Check the original files for GPS EXIF data. With ExifTool, run exiftool -GPSLatitude -GPSLongitude -GPSAltitude -DateTimeOriginal photo.jpg. Both latitude and longitude must be present.
2. Install ExifTool and obtain its GPX print-format template, commonly named gpx.fmt, from the ExifTool documentation or distribution. Put the template in the same working folder as the photographs.
3. Generate a GPX file with exiftool -p gpx.fmt -if 'defined $GPSLatitude and defined $GPSLongitude' *.jpg > photos.gpx. The template converts each qualifying photograph into a GPX waypoint; the exact fields and labels depend on the template.
4. Open photos.gpx in the destination application and verify the positions, names, timestamps, and ordering. If the application needs a track, confirm that it accepts waypoints or convert the points into a track inside a GPS or GIS application.

For a graphical workflow, a geotagging application such as GeoSetter can display the photographs on a map and provide an export command where supported by the installed version. For a no-install attempt, upload the geotagged JPG to 101convert.com, select GPX, and download the result; an online converter can extract existing coordinates but cannot infer missing locations or reconstruct a route from the image itself.

Convert a JPG map or route drawing

A scanned map, screenshot, or photograph of a route has no GPX geometry, so direct format conversion is not reliable. Use QGIS to georeference the image with several identifiable control points whose real coordinates are known, then create a point or line layer and trace the waypoints or route over the image.

1. Load the image in QGIS and use the Georeferencer to assign control points. Distribute the points across the image and choose a suitable transformation; inaccurate control points produce shifted geometry.
2. Create a point layer for locations or a line layer for a route or track, then digitize the visible features.
3. Export the completed layer with Layer → Export → Save Features As, choose GPX, and select the appropriate geometry and GPX feature type.
4. Open the exported file in the target GPS application and inspect it against the original map.

Quality and compatibility limits

One geotagged JPG normally produces one waypoint, not a navigable track. A series of photographs can provide sample points, but it does not reconstruct the path between them. Accuracy depends on the camera's GPS receiver, the photograph's metadata, capture frequency, and the order used during export.

Preserve the original files when location data matters, because saving through an editor or uploading to a service may strip EXIF fields. Sort photographs by capture time rather than filename when creating an ordered set, and check for duplicate or incorrect coordinates.

GPX applications do not all support the same GPX version, extensions, or feature types. A device may require a track instead of a route, or may reject unsupported XML extensions. If a file fails to import, check that it has valid XML, the expected GPX namespace, decimal-degree coordinates, latitude from -90 to 90, longitude from -180 to 180, and valid timestamps.