topic Re: Attaching photos to features in ArcMap when imported from KMZ/L or shapefile that was exported from Avenza in ArcMap Questions

Attaching photos to features in ArcMap when imported from KMZ/L or shapefile that was exported from Avenza

TylerLarson — Tue, 15 Jun 2021 16:44:50 GMT

I was wondering if there is any help documentation on how to export layers from Avenza as either a shapefile or a KMZ and bring that into ArcMap WITH the attachments/photos? Or if anyone has recommended work flows?

I’ve been able to export both a KMZ or shapefile and successfully add it to ArcMap. My question is, is there a workflow for getting the photos attached to the attributes in ArcMap? I can see the photo attachments in Google/ArcGIS Earth but don’t know how to get them attached to the features in ArcMap. Because when you export as a shapefile or convert the KMZ to a layer in ArcMap the images are not attached, they come in a separate folder.

I would think this is a common process used by many people but I have not found any workflows for doing this.

Thanks for your time.

Exported Shapefile

KMZ/L to layer result

Re: Attaching photos to features in ArcMap when imported from KMZ/L or shapefile that was exported from Avenza

RomiCopado — Mon, 16 May 2022 19:58:11 GMT

This is the standard procedure.

Create a gdb (if going from shp to feature class...when you go from kml the conversion creates one for you)

import your data

click on point/line/poly and enable attachments (manage option)

then add them to your map and edit

follow: Desktop Help 10.0 - Adding attachments to features (arcgis.com)

good luck!

Re: Attaching photos to features in ArcMap when imported from KMZ/L or shapefile that was exported from Avenza

Douglas_Sauer — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 18:31:13 GMT

Enabling attachments and editing on them requires manually adding each individual photo as an association with a map feature. Is there anyway to automate this?

My attempts to create attachments based off of file names and image output folder fell short.

Avenza now makes available .gpkg file format at export. These contain features and media tables with file name attribution but again, I had no luck.

Has anyone found a solution to automated processing of Avenza data with associated field pics?