Importing Imagery From Google

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 Googl You can open GIS imagery files in Google Earth Pro or EC and Phone
e Earth Pro have the files correctly projected over the proper map 4. Pla
 Down coordinates in the 3D viewer. Google Earth Pro and EC support ces of
loads the following types of GIS imagery: Interest
 Build (POIs)
Earth Skills  TIFF (.tif), including GeoTiff and compressed TIFF files 5. Reg
 Galler  National Imagery Transmission Format (.ntf) ionating
y  Erdas Imagine Images (.img) Vector
Data (Pro
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In addition, you can also import the following images. Because only)
munity
they do not contain projection information, you must manually
edit their coordinates for correct positioning: Help resources
 Sup
 Atlantis MFF Raster (.hdr) port options
 PCIDSK Database File (.pix)
 Portable Pixmap Format (.pnm) A list of
 Device Independent Bitmap (.bmp) available
resources
Note - All imagery files must contain the correct projection to help you
information in order to be accurately re-projected by the Google get your
Earth software. fastest
answer
The rest of this section covers:  Goo
gle Earth
 Opening GIS Imagery error
 Saving GIS Imagery messages
Learn more
about an
Opening GIS Imagery error
message
you've
Use any one of the methods below to open the imagery file in encountere
Google Earth Pro or EC: d
 Select Open from the 'File' menu.  Goo

 Drag the desired file from an explorer window and drop it gle Earth
over the viewer. videos
Visit the
Google Earth then attempts to reproject the image to a Simple
Google
Cylindrical, WGS84 coordinate system. From this, it creates an Earth
overlay with the image converted to PNG format. The overlay channel on
edit window appears, and you can set the location of the new YouTube to
overlay in any folder inside the 'Places' panel. You can also set see Google
the properties for the GIS imagery as you would any other Earth in
overlay. action
What's new in
The following should be noted when importing GIS imagery
Google Earth
data:
 The reprojected image is saved as an overlay. The

image is saved under the Google Earth directory on your
hard drive. The name of the PNG file is based on the
source file name and the scaling or cropping parameters
selected when importing the overlay. (See below for
more information on scaling or cropping an image.)
 Images that exceed the maximum texture
dimensions must be either cropped or scaled. A
dimension of 2048x2048 pixels is typically supported by
high-end graphics cards, while on laptop computers, the
maximum dimension can be 1024x1024 or even less.
(Very good cards can support up to 4096x4096.)
Determine the maximum allowable texture dimensions

for your computer by clicking Help > About Google
Earth:
Your image cannot exceed the Max Texture dimension
listed. If you try to import an image file that exceeds the
allowable texture dimensions, a dialog box prompts you
to either scale or crop the image.
o Scale - This option scales and reprojects the
entire image at the same time so that it preserves
the aspect ratio of the input image and fits the
results in texture memory. The typical size for the
resultant image is 2048 pixels along the longest
side.
o Crop - This option preserves the original
resolution of the input image while creating a
subset of the original input file in order to fit it in
texture memory.
When you select the crop option, the viewer flies to the
location of the input image and contains the extents of
the input image. You then select the center point of the
inset image you want to create. The client computes a
maximum area centered from the selected location.
 For larger image files, reprojection can take some

time.
If you have cropped or scaled an input image, or if you

are reprojecting an image that uses more texture
memory, you will see a progress meter while the
reprojection occurs. You can cancel the operation at any
time. Images that contain no projection information
are treated as ordinary overlay files.
In this case, you can position the image manually as you

would an overlay image.
 Images that contain incorrect or unsupported
projection information will not be imported.
In this case, a dialog box indicates that the reprojection
cannot be performed and the image will not be imported.
Note - Currently, files using NAD83 projection are not supported

by Google Earth.
Saving GIS Imagery
Once you have imported imagery data into Google Earth Pro or
EC, you can save content changes made to the imported GIS
data as follows:
 Move the imported imagery to remain in your 'My

Places' folder - If you have already placed the imagery
overlay within the 'My Places' folder, any changes you
make to it are automatically saved and viewable each
time you start Google Earth.
 Save the imagery overlay as a KMZ file - If you wish to
remove the imported imagery from your 'My Places'
folder, you can right-click the item and select Save As...
from the pop-up menu and save the GIS overlay as a
KMZ file to your computer's hard drive or other
accessible file location. After that, you can delete the
overlay from your 'My Places' list and open it later when
you need it.
updated 6/14/2010
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 Select Open from the 'File' menu.  Goo

 The reprojected image is saved as an overlay. The

Determine the maximum allowable texture dimensions

 For larger image files, reprojection can take some

If you have cropped or scaled an input image, or if you

In this case, you can position the image manually as you

Note - Currently, files using NAD83 projection are not supported

Saving GIS Imagery

 Move the imported imagery to remain in your 'My

Was this information helpful?

©2010 Google - Google Home - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service

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