Locusify Tutorial for Beginners: First Travel Map in 10 Minutes

Start with one minimal route

A common beginner mistake is importing years of photos across several trips at once, which creates noise and makes troubleshooting harder. Use one trip for the first run and aim to export a readable replay within ten minutes.

Skip filters, music, and complex transitions initially. A readable route with stable pacing and a shareable export is the right definition of done.

Finish your first map in ten minutes

Prefer original HEIC/JPEG files that contain GPS metadata. Inspect location data in a few samples before importing the full album.

1. Create an album or folder containing one trip only.
2. Import the photos and order them by capture time.
3. Remove dense duplicate bursts and keep photos that represent a change of place.
4. Inspect the map for outlier jumps and correct obvious errors.
5. Choose the target aspect ratio and export a 30–60 second version.
6. Preview the draft, then add captions, templates, and audio iteratively.

Troubleshoot a first draft

Missing map points usually mean a photo has no GPS EXIF data. Cross-city jumps usually point to timeline or coordinate errors. A frozen-looking replay usually comes from too many burst shots at one place.

Fix the data and route before visual styling, and do not keep obviously wrong nodes just to make the map look complete.

Export and improve the next version

Confirm the target aspect ratio before export and check that labels and markers stay inside the safe area. Remove homes, hotels, and other sensitive stops before sharing.

After the first route works, continue with video export and missing-GPS recovery. Reuse the same assets to create tutorial, comparison, and case-study versions.