How do I obtain images without the GlobeXplorer
watermark logos covering them?
You can acquire unwatermarked images from the viewer in a few
different ways…
1) You can register to the monthly subscription
service by clicking on the "SUBSCRIBE" button, providing
you unlimited access to an unwatermarked viewer for 30 dollars
a month or 250 per year. With a subscription, you have the option
of copying images from the viewer by right-clicking on the viewer
and choosing "Save image as" to save it to your computer.
(Members also get 20% discounts on their print and digital download
orders, access to topo maps of the entire continental United States
and a "street map overlay" feature that lets you drag
a street map box over the viewer.)
2) Often, our customers want a more substantial image file than
what can be copied from the viewer. You can also ORDER a nicer,
higher quality digital download of up to 2400 x 3000 pixels, which
shows up as a jpeg file in your email box within a few minutes.
Paper prints of varying sizes can also be ordered. Click on "order
prints and downloads" button to the right of the viewer and
closely follow the directions to customize and doublecheck your
order on the Print Preview page. (To get an idea of how downloads
compare with images copied from the viewer, click on "sample
digital download" to the right of the viewer.)
If you're a monthly member, you not only get unwatermarked browsing,
but 20 percent off all print and download orders, making your
download orders more like 28 dollars. Click on the "subscribe"
button next to the viewer for more information.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ORDERING, SEE THE SUBSCRIPTION
QUESTIONS AND DOWNLOAD/PAPER PRINT ORDER
QUESTIONS SECTIONS BELOW.
The viewer won’t let me zoom any closer than the 'Street'
level. What’s going on?
GlobeXplorer is always trying to give our customers the best
quality we can and as big as our archive is, the resolution of
the imagery in some areas is not high enough to merit zooming
in to the house level without noticeable pixelation. Therefore,
your ability to zoom to the “house” or street level
depends on the where you are looking. Subscribing as a monthly
or yearly ImageAtlas member gives you unwatermarked viewing, but
does not change the closest level that you can zoom to.
I’m having trouble centering the viewer on my desired
location using the North/South/East/West bars. What do I do?
Clicking the directional navigation bars that line the edges
your image are a simple way to pan your view sideways, but we
understand that sometimes its necessary to center your view on
a certain object or area, so we have created two features to help
you:
One is the “drag a box to zoom” feature. Once you’ve
checked this feature, left click your mouse as you drag over the
image, and it will create a box for the viewer to zoom to.
Another is the Pan/Recenter feature. Once you’ve checked
the box for this feature, click on whatever point you would like
to be the center of your view and the viewer will automatically
recenter around that spot. You can also hold down the 'left click'
button and use your mouse to drag the entire image to a position
of your choice.
I’d like to save some of the images I’m looking
at on my computer but I don’t see any button for this. What
do I do?
You can save any image that comes into your viewer by right-clicking
on the image, choosing “save picture as” from the
menu, and saving the image to your computer.
Why should I purchase a download if I can get images by copying
them from the viewer?
As long as you follow the quality guidelines on the Print
Preview page, Downloads are a much nicer and heavier file (meaning
bigger k-size and more pixels) than what you’d get by copying
off the screen. They can be as large as 2400x3000 pixels, and
look far nicer when printing and displaying.
What happened to the street maps that used to be available
next to the viewer?
Street maps are still available, but only for registered members.
Members get street maps in the top left corner of their screen
that correspond to the images they see, and also have access to
the Map & Aerial Overlay feature. By clicking on this box
below the viewer, members can drag a street map box over their
image, as long their zoom level is one that allows the feature
to become active.
What browsers are compatible with the ImageAtlas viewer?
The ImageAtlas contains a number of dynamically generated
tools, and maximizes the capabilities of the browser in order
to make viewing of imagery as efficient as possible. Because not
all browsers support these capabilities, some of these tools and
methods require Microsoft Internet Explorer. ImageAtlas works
on the Mac with IE 5.2+, Firefox 1.0+, Mozilla 1.6+ and Safari
1.2; and on Windows with IE 6.0+, Mozilla 1.6+ and Netscape 7.1+.
Other browsers may notice decreased functionality or odd behavior.
We will work to support cross-browser standards as appropriate.
How do I copy images from the screen if I use Firefox as my
browser?
1) Right click on the image
2) Select "view page info"
3) Click the "media" tab ( notice the "save as"
button right in the info dialog window)
4) Scroll down to the SECOND encrypted URL and select it (notice
that your images are displayed right there in the info dialog
window)
5) Click the "save as" button
I entered an address, but the image does not show the property I wanted to display.
It is not possible for the Viewer to identify one particular building. It uses an algorithm called geo-coding, that can only approximate a location.
Therefore, it is up to the user to identify the location. One thing that can help is comparing the image to a parcel map and noting how many buildings it is away from an intersection. In the future, we do plan on incorporating property information into our services. This will allow for a more accurate search of the building.
Why should I become a member?
Membership to our viewer, called an ImageAtlas Subscription
account, provides a number of privileges…
Membership gives users unlimited use of our viewer WITHOUT the
GlobeXplorer watermarks covering the images. If desired, members
can then right click and save images from the screen to their
computer at no additional cost.
20% discounts on ALL print and download orders
Corresponding street maps in the top left corner of the viewer
page
Access to topographic maps spanning the entire continental US.
Street map overlay on the viewer image (“Map & Aerial
Overlay” feature)
How do I subscribe to become a member of the viewer?
Click on the green “SUBSCRIBE” button to the left
of the viewer to get started. Memberships need to be purchased
online with a credit card.
What if I can't use a credit card to purchase my membership?
If for some reason your company does not allow you to purchase
memberships with a credit card, we can process a membership order
offline, but ONLY for yearly memberships. Contact our sales staff
for more information: (925) 280-8765
I subscribed for an ImageAtlas membership on or after June 4th,
2004 and I’d like to cancel my membership. What do I do?
Log into ImageAtlas, click on Manage Account. There is a link to cancel at the bottom of the page. Your password will expire at the end of
the monthly or yearly billing cycle you signed up for.
I signed up for an ImageAtlas membership prior to May 26,
2004 and the cancellation feature is not working for me. What
do I do?
On May 26, we switched our subscription transaction vendor
away from Paypal to Verisign. Because of this, if you signed up
before May 26th, you need to visit www.paypal.com (and login with
the username and password you created when you started your account)
in order to make changes to or cancel your membership.
I’d like to change my monthly subscription to a yearly
subscription. What do I do?
Currently, upgrading from monthly to annual subscriptions
occurs manually. Please cancel your monthly subscription and allow
your current subscription to reach End of Term. Once completed,
log in to ImageAtlas, select Manage your Account, and select a
new subscription term.
I’ve forgotten my membership login. What do I do?
If you’ve lost your login and/or password for ImageAtlas
Pro, click on the green LOGIN button to the left of the viewer.
A page should pop up with a place to input your email to receive
a confirmation of your password and login. Remember that the login
fields are case sensitive.
My password isn’t working. What do I do?
If your login isn’t working, first follow the directions
above to confirm your password and make sure that you’re
using the correct one. As stated above, remember that the login
fields are case sensitive, so it’s important to write down
exactly what login and password you provided when creating your
account. If your login still does not work, contact our customer
support at (925) 280-8765
How do I purchase a download or print?
Once you’ve found an image in the viewer that you’d
like to purchase, hit the “order prints and downloads”
button located to the right of the viewer. This will take you to
the Print Preview page where you will see a preview of what you
would get if you were to order. The Print Preview will give you
a number of customizing options, and will also give you some guidelines
that will help you maximize the quality of the download/print you
order. Be sure to take a good look at the image in the print preview
to make sure you’re happy with what it’s showing you,
and also double check the image date to make sure it’s still
your desired date. If you’re not happy with the zoom level
or date you see, hit the zoom buttons on the print preview page
to adjust your view. Once you’re ready to order hit the “order
prints and downloads” button to proceed the shopping cart
page, where you can use a credit card to purchase.
Once you’ve purchased, downloads are immediately available
to you by clicking on a link to the image. Prints are shipped
to you from EZPrints, our fulfillment house in between 2 and 5
days, depending on your desired shipping method.
What is the DPI of your digital downloads?
DPI stands for Dots Per Inch, and what ImageAtlas delivers
is the raw Dots, it is up to you to determine how many Inches
you would like the image to be used for. For example: A 2400 x
3000 Digital Download could fill a 24" x 30" plot at
100dpi, a 12" x 15" plot at 200dpi, or an 8" x
10" picture at 300dpi.
A GlobeXplorer .jpg will have the property of 72dpi when viewed
in your web browser. This number is an artifact and does not represent
the true capabilities of the download to be appropriate for your
output needs.
How much do prints and downloads cost?
Digital Download and Paper Print prices are listed next to
the viewer.
Why should I purchase a download if I can get images by copying
them from the viewer?
As long as you follow the quality guidelines on the Print
Preview page, Downloads are a much nicer and heavier file (meaning
bigger k-size and more pixels) than what you’d get by copying
off the screen. They can be as large as 2400x3000 pixels, and
look far nicer when printing and displaying.
How do I obtain my download once I’ve purchased it?
How long does it take to get my download?
Once you have purchased a digital download it should be made
available to you on the site in a few seconds. A small box should
appear with a link that says “click here to get your download.”
When you click on this link your download should appear. Assuming
you correctly entered your email address during the purchase process,
you should also receive an email within a few minutes of your
purchase with a link to your download.
How do I save my download?
When you click the link to your digital download, the image
should pop up on your screen. To save the image, right click on
it and select “save picture as.” This will allow you
to save it on your computer with a desired name and location.
I was expecting a .jpg, and my download says .bmp, what’s
going on?
Be assured that a .jpg is being delivered to your machine,
however Microsoft Internet Explorer may want to save it as a .bmp
if your Temporary Internet Files folder is full. You can either
save it as a .bmp which will be OK, even though the file is larger,
or you can clear your Internet Explorer temp files, and try again.
How long does it take to get a print in the mail?
As you'll see during the purchase process, When you purchase
a paper print, you can choose between Priority Mail, Next Business
Day, or Second Business Day shipping.
My download/print never arrived or is defective. What do I
do?
It is imperative that customers follow the print quality guidelines
on the Print Preview page when ordering prints and downloads.
It is also vital that when you get to the print preview page,
you look closely at the image and its date to make sure it hasn’t
changed since you passed from the viewer. Sometimes, our system
alters your view. If for some reason you do not receive your order
or you feel it is defective, contact our support line at (925)280-8765
or at support "at" globexplorer.com.
The image I see in the print preview screen is not the same
image/date I originally saw in the viewer. What happened, and
what to I do about it?
The image in the viewer is 320x400, and the final digital
download or print is 2400x3000. Since the goal is to give you
the best resolution possible for your area of interest, this may
change datasets between the viewer and the final print, which
is thumbnailed and previewed on the preview page. On the print
preview page, you can zoom out until the newer (though not as
high resolution) data comes in and select that as your product.
How old are your photos?
Since we carry imagery from a number of different public and
private sources, there is no exact rule of thumb to know how old
our data is for your desired area. The best way to find out is to
actually go to the area in question with the viewer and see for
your self by checking the “image date” above the photo.
Generally, the quality and currency of aerial imagery for a given
location tends to correspond with its proximity to the major urban
areas in America. The major urban areas tend to have imagery that
is 1 to 3 years old, outlying areas anywhere between 1 and 5 years
old, and rural areas usually have the USGS doqq layer, which was
shot from 1993 and 1998.
The ImageAtlas viewer is set to show the "latest and greatest"
of our imagery library. If you need something more recent than
what you see for your area, check back regularly because GlobeXplorer
is constantly uploading new content.
Where do your photos come from? Does GlobeXplorer take them?
GlobeXplorer works with the leading providers of aerial and
satellite imagery to make their photography easily available to
people over the Internet. We don’t actually take the imagery.
The companies we get our imagery are a 'who’s who' of the
aerial/satellite imagery business; companies like Digital Globe,
Space Imaging, AirPhotoUSA, Sanborn, etc.
What type of imagery do you have over my area?
GlobeXplorer has imagery of about 98% of the continental United
States, but the type of imagery you’ll find will vary depending
on where you’re looking. The best way to find out what we
have over your location is to type an address into the viewer
and see for yourself.
Your imagery is not recent enough for me. I need more current
and/or real-time photos!
There is a lot of confusion in the general population about how
current aerial imagery is these days, and depictions in many recent
movies and television shows have not helped this situation. No
one, including GlobeXplorer or anyone else in this business for
that matter, has access to real-time, live aerial images. The
technology is simply not there yet. Once imagery is taken, it
needs to be downloaded, processed and delivered, which is an expensive,
time-consuming process. GlobeXplorer’s library contains
the most up to date library available. Imagery that is 1 to 2
years old is extremely current for the commercial aerial &
satellite industry.
I’d like to have my area custom shot for a project I’m
working on. What do I do?
GlobeXplorer works with the leading providers of aerial and
satellite imagery to make their photography easily available to
people over the Internet. We don’t actually take the imagery,
and our providers work on a set schedule usually decided months
or years in advance. If you need a particular area flown for your
needs, you’ll usually need to contact a local contractor.
Pricing for this type of service usually starts at somewhere between
5 and 10 thousand dollars. Try contacting your local airport for
more information.
How do I obtain images without the GlobeXplorer watermark
logos covering them?
You can acquire unwatermarked images from the viewer in a
few different ways…
1) You can register to the monthly service, providing you unlimited
access to unwatermarked imagery for 30 dollars a month and the
option of copying images from the screen just like you may have
done on Mapquest.
2)You can also ORDER a nicer, higher quality digital download
(about 200 dpi) from us for 35 dollars, which shows up in your
email box within a few minutes. Just follow the directions next
to the viewer.
If you're a monthly member, you not only get unwatermarked browsing,
but 20 percent off all print and download orders, making your
download orders more like 28 dollars. Click on the "register"
button next to the viewer for more information.
Do you have topographic map information?
One of the benefits of registering for ImageAtlas Pro is that
it offers topos for the entire continental United States. Once
you’ve logged in, select “topo maps” in the
Select Dataset pull-down below the viewer and click “Refresh
Layers.”
What areas does the GlobeXplorer imagery cover?
GlobeXplorer’s imagery covers about 98% of the continental
United States at varying resolutions, as well high-level satellite
imagery of the entire globe and as metro areas in Europe and other
selected areas.
Is the imagery in the viewer ALL of the imagery that GlobeXplorer
has in their archive?
GlobeXplorer’s library of aerial and satellite imagery
is the largest in the business, but currently the viewer only
gives you access to our “premium” photo data, which
is generally the latest and greatest of what we have. Other content
is available, but currently the only way to access this material
is through our ImageConnect extensions for GIS and CAD software
and custom professional data orders on CD or Firewire drive. (find
out more about these options on our Products page)
What types of aerial and satellite photos does GlobeXplorer
carry?
In order to provide our customers with the newest, most detailed
aerial photos or satellite images, GlobeXplorer's online archive
contains several types of photos (color, grayscale, and color
infrared).
Color: In most populated areas in the USA and in some international
locations, we have very good quality color data. These natural
or true color photos are most common and most desired.
Grayscale: Often in rural areas, the only data available with
detail is grayscale or black and white aerial photos. While not
as pleasing, they may be the only source of pictures for a location.
Color Infrared: In some cases, we display another type of picture
called "Color Infrared" (CIR for short). You will know
when we display CIR pictures because they will have red appearance.
Usually CIR photos are taken for environmental reason to better
see vegetation. CIR photos are described in the science community
as false or "psuedo" color photos.
I’m only seeing black and white imagery for my area.
How can I get color?
Even though we have the largest archive available commercially,
and our imagery covers the entire continental US, we don’t
have hi-res color for everywhere because for much of more rural
areas in the country, the black-and-white USGS doqq imagery set
is simply all that is available. Taking aerial and satellite imagery
is extremely expensive and some areas don’t offer enough
potential return on investment for aerial/satellite firms shoot
them.
Do you have imagery of areas outside of the United States?
GlobeXplorer has imagery of a number of metro areas in Europe
and across the world and our selection of international data is
increasing rapidly. Go to our Image Library page on our website
for more information
I’d like to obtain your imagery on a CD. Can I do this?
GlobeXplorer provides custom, professional data orders of the
original TIF and EPS image files on cd and firewire drives. Certain
pricing and area minimums
apply. Click on the Products tab on our
homepage to find out more about these products.
I am interested in licensing to resell or publish the imagery I have obtained from GlobeXplorer.
If you are planning on publishing or reselling the imagery, you will need to contact us with specific details regarding use and exposure of the image. Depending on the level of exposure there may be a licensing fee.
Why is GlobeXplorer's copyright on public domain data?
GlobeXplorer uses many sources of both public & private data. The GlobeXplorer copyright marks our application's portrayal of these datasets and our user interface. It may mark our ownership of the data being displayed as well. When we use datasets copyrighted by a third party, you will see that provider's notice. Other popular web mapping applications from companies such as Google and Microsoft treat copyrights in a similar way.
ImageConnect Use Questions
I have installed ImageConnect and entered my Client ID and License Code but all the Download image buttons and the Info buttons are greyed out.
There is no vector or raster data in the view already. ImageConnect needs a vector or raster data layer to already be in the view to provide a set of coordinates to our server.
I have been using ImageConnect fine but now I only have access to the Custom Download button.
The user is in the “Layout View”. The Custom Download button is the only button available in the “Layout View”, switch to the “Data View” by going to the “View” menu and selecting “Data View” from the pulldown menu.
Every time I download a new image the previous image that I downloaded disappears from my view.
The “Overwrite” option is turned in the “ImageConnect Properties” dialog box. Go to the “ImageConnect” menu and select “ImageConnect Properties”, click on the “Keep” option in the lower left section of the dialog box in the “Image layer status” and click the “OK” button.
ImageConnect was installed onto my computer but when I open the “License Information” dialog box from the ImageConnect menu, enter my information and click on the “OK” button ArcGIS freezes up and I have to terminate it from the Task Manager.
The user does not have permission to write to their registry. The license information, properties, etc.. are all held in the registry. Each time the ImageConnect menu is accessed a request is made to our servers asking for a list of layerstacks available for that client ID. If the user does not have permission to write to the registry it will lock up the GIS program.
Our system administrator installed ImageConnect on to my machine and everything worked fine but now that I have logged in all of the ImageConnect buttons are greyed out.
ImageConnect requires Adminstrative privileges in order to run and each user must install ImageConnect themselves as information is written to the User profile section of the Registry. The user needs to be given permissions to write to the registry and the hard drives and needs to re-install ImageConnect while logged in as himself.
When I try to download an image the “Retrieving data from the GX server” message comes up but once it finishes I still don’t have an image in my view.
1) The c:\temp\gximages has been deleted during clean up of the temp directory. This is the default directory that ImageConnect uses to save all of the downloaded images and supporting files are stored. The user may have changed this default directory. Check the “ImageConnect Properties” dialog box, accessible through the “ImageConnect” menu, to see where the images are being stored. Check that this directory does exist through “Windows Explorer”
2) The user does not have permissions to write to the directory where the GX images are being stored in. Some companies lock off certain directories from their users. If the software had to be installed by their System Administrator this can cause a multitude of problems.
I’m getting a “Invalid Client ID/AppID” error message.
Open the “License Information” dialog box, which can be accessed through the “ImageConnect” menu pulldown. Check to make sure that the Client ID is correct and that there are no spaces or symbols in the entry box for the Client ID.
Each GIS, such as ArcView, ArcGIS, MapInfo, or AutoCAD, must be setup in the Database prior to use. If the client originally order AutoCAD but then decided they want to use ArcGIS. GX will need to be notified that these Applications need to be added to the servers to allow them to do this.
These could also be a false error message that happens with the Custom Sized image button. If the client had the correct codes and/or has been using the application fine up until this error message came up then it could be a problem with the content in the area. In some areas where there are many datasets available the system may have trouble mosaicking all of those datasets together. In this case ask the client for a shapefile bounding the area where the problem occurred along with the parameters that they were using to retrieve the image, such as the Map Scale and the Image Width and Height they were requesting. Send this information to GX so that we can reproduce the error and troubleshoot the issue.
I’m getting a message that says that my account is not setup for plots?
If the account was setup with plots and/or the client has been using plots for a while and just got this error message it is most likely a false error message that happens with the Custom Sized image button.
There are two likely causes for this:
1) It could be a problem with the content in the area. In some areas where there are many datasets available the system may have trouble mosaicking all of those datasets together. In this case ask the client for a shapefile bounding the area where the problem occurred along with the parameters that they wanted to use to retrieve the image, such as the Map Scale and the Image Width and Height. Send this information to GX so that we can reproduce the error and troubleshoot the issue.
2) There has been a database error. Ask if it happens all of the time or intermittently. Check with GX
Images are not showing up in the View in ArcGIS but are in the temp directory.
Client has turned off searching for JPEG images, or the JPEG extension, in ArcGIS.
Solution: Turn searching for JPEG images back on. Do this by going to the “Tools” menu inside of ArcGIS, then select “Options”. In the new dialog box this opens select the “Raster” tab, then click on the “File Formats” button about mid-way down the page. Check the box next “JFIF (JPEG)” under the Format field.
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