Oh, we’ve got some great news, folks! Fresher, clearer aerial imagery is now at your fingertips - right where you work. We partnered with Nearmap to make it easier for you to access high-resolution aerial imagery directly in SketchUp. Bonus? Imagery is never older than 12 months.
To use Nearmap tiles, just follow these simple steps:
- If you don’t have the latest version, Upgrade to SketchUp version 2020.1.
- Click on File > Geo-Location > Add Location. We’ve added coverage polygons to show where high res imagery is available. Psst: make sure High Res Coverage is on under ‘Map Type’, and then zoom in to a region that has High Res coverage.
- Next, click ‘Select Region’ and choose Nearmap as your provider. Now you can adjust the import level to choose your resolution. Once you’ve selected your region and import level, you will see the cost of those tiles via the menu.
Note: you won’t be able to preview Nearmap tiles in the map view, but you will notice a slight white overlay that changes to represent the tiles at your selected import level. This also shows which tile can be previewed.
Before you commit to purchasing, you’ll be able to preview single imagery tiles by clicking the preview button. This is a “pay as you go” style product so you can purchase only what you need subject to a minimum of 200 tiles. Nice.
Currently, this imagery is available for all major cities and suburbs in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and coverage is always expanding. The imagery also works with SketchUp’s terrain service so you still get 2D and 3D sites (quality varies by region).
Use Nearmap imagery to bring real context to your projects. Lookin’ sharp, SketchUp!
Not for you? No worries. We will continue to offer basic imagery tiles and satellite imagery in Add Location.
Nearmap in Add Location is available for purchase on an as-needed basis when you have an active SketchUp Pro or SketchUp Studio subscription or a Classic License for SketchUp 2020. If you use SketchUp 2017 or SketchUp 2018 please visit our help center to read about changes happening later this year that will affect your ability to use Add Location in older versions of SketchUp.