Help Google Earth
Summary
What is Google Earth?
Google Earth is free software that transforms your computer into a virtual globe. It offers a 3D simulation of the world based on satellite and airborne imagery. With an exceptional image resolution, Google Earth enables viewing any place in the world from an overhead vantage point and zooming in to see locations in close proximities.
Being completely free and extremely user friendly, Google Earth continues to be a huge success. Today, hundreds of millions people around the world are using Google Earth, which became the international standard of geomatics software.
Installing Google Earth
Download the latest version of Google Earth (free) on its download page. For use with neoMapper you do not need the Google Earth Pro version (charged).
Follow the installation instructions.
Navigating in Google Earth
When launching the software, you will discover the main view showing the globe. Navigating with your mouse is intuitive and simple:
- To move around the globe, move your mouse in the desired direction while keeping the left mouse button pressed.
- To zoom, use the mouse wheel or double click on the place to zoom into.
It is also possible to navigate with the navigation control tools in the upper right corner of the main view. If the navigation control tools are not visible, move your mouse in the upper right corner of the main view.
- Click the north-up button to reset the view so that north is at the top of the screen. Click and drag the ring to rotate your view.
- Use the Look joystick to look around from a single vantage point, as if you were turning your head. Click an arrow to look in that direction or continue to press down on the mouse button to change your view. After clicking an arrow, move the mouse around on the joystick to change the direction of motion.
- Use the Move joystick to move your position from one place to another. Click an arrow to look in that direction or continue to press down on the mouse button to change your view. After clicking an arrow, move the mouse around on the joystick to change the direction of motion.
- Use the zoom slider to zoom in or out (+ to zoom in, – to zoom out) or click the icons at the end of the slider. As you move closer to the ground, Google Earth swoops (tilts) to change your viewing angle to be parallel to the Earth’s surface.
You can find a complete description of all navigation possibilities in the online Google Earth help (menu Help -> User Guide).
Searches and directions
To zoom directly into a city or precise address, enter the name of the city or the address in the input field “Fly to” in the “Search” panel (”Fly to” tab). Next, press the button to the right of the input field.
To calculate an itinerary, enter the address of departure (or city name only) and the address of arrival in the input fields “From” and “To” in the “Search” panel (”Directions” tab). Next, press the button to the right of the second input field.
“To here” and “From here” links in the bottom of the information balloons in a Google Earth file allow you to directly enter these input fields.
Displaying roads, cities and borders
Google Earth permanently integrates geographic data, listed in the “Layers” panel. To display this data, click on the checkboxes of the layers that interest you.
In particular, the “Roads” layer, the “Borders” layer and the “Populated places” layer (in the “Borders and Labels” folder) help you to find out where you are.
The “Terrain” layer enables 3D displaying of relief on the entire globe. To maximize the effect, change the view angle.
When viewing a Google Earth file created with neoMapper, only show the relevant information to lighten up viewing. Clear the “Primary Database” checkbox in the “Layers” panel and only check the layers that interest you.
Opening a Google Earth file
The Google Earth file created by neoMapper is automatically opened in Google Earth. You can also open a Google Earth file with a double click in the windows explorer or by the menu in Google Earth (File -> Open).
Once opened, the file and its structure of map layers are located in the “Temporary Places” folder in the “Places” panel.
If a file is moved to the “My Places” folder in the “Places” panel, it will be automatically opened each time you start Google Earth. It is recommended that the number of files stored in the “My Places” folder is limited.
Delete unnecessary maps to lighten up viewing and reduce unnecessary clutter. Press the right mouse button on the elements to delete in the “Places” panel (in “My Places” and in “Temporary Places”) and click on “Delete”.
On closing Google Earth, reply “No” to the following question “You have unsaved items in your Temporary Places folder. Would you like to save them to your My places folder?” to avoid multiple versions of your maps.
Optimizing the use of Google Earth
Consider the following recommendations to optimize the use of Google Earth:
- Close the “Layers” panel to increase the space for the “Places” panel.
- To speed up loading a Google Earth file, increase the “Fly-To Speed” parameter to approximately 1 (menu Tools -> Options -> Navigation tab).
- To view Google Maps directions in an external web browser, select the option “Show web results in an external browser” (menu Tools -> Options -> General tab).