A travel map from your Google Photos
If your photos live in Google Photos, you can still have them on one map of every trip. Google lets you download your whole library with Google Takeout, and ZikZak reads those downloads directly – the archives are never uploaded.
Open ZikZakor explore a sample atlas →
How to do it
- Open Google Takeout. In ZikZak, choose from Google Photos and follow the link – Google Photos is already selected.
- Create the export. Keep the .zip format and choose Create export. Google emails you when it’s ready; a large library can take a while.
- Choose the files in ZikZak. Download every part and choose them all at once. ZikZak opens the archives in your browser and builds your map.
Takeout includes Google’s own location data for each photo, so places come through even when the photo file itself has none. ZikZak uses that to find home and sort your photos into trips, just as with photos from your phone.
Private by default
Your photos are read in your own browser. Without an account nothing leaves your device. If you create a free account and save your atlas to the cloud, the copies we keep have their camera data, including GPS, removed. A shared link is a separate, view-only copy: it rounds locations to about 1 km, leaves out your home and never shows file names. The details are in the privacy policy.
ZikZak doesn’t connect to your Google account to read your photos, and it never sees your Google password. You choose the Takeout files yourself, and they are read on your device.
Questions
Does ZikZak connect to my Google Photos account?
No. You download your library with Google Takeout and choose the files in ZikZak. They are read in your browser and never uploaded. “Continue with Google” is only an optional way to sign in to a ZikZak account.
My Takeout came in several parts – what do I do?
Download every part and choose them all at once in ZikZak. It reads them together, so photos and their location data match up.
Is ZikZak free?
Yes. ZikZak is free, with no ads. You don’t need an account to make your atlas; a free account only adds a cloud copy and sharing.
What if some photos have no location?
ZikZak counts them at the end of the import, and you can place them on the map yourself with “Place them”.