Adding a geolocated image

The Geoimage tool places a portion of a map or other raster-based georeferenced image into the drawing. The image becomes a drawing object that persists after the tool is deselected, for reference or for incorporation into the final drawing.

Due to licensing restrictions, the image displays while working in the file, but it cannot be saved with the file for offline use unless you are logged in with an Esri account. Update the geoimage from the Object Info palette to download the image again, after saving the file.

The tool’s modes allow you to draw an area to create an image based on a service that may be different from the background image’s service. For example, you might need to include a soil map or hydrological map as a geoimage in the drawing. To navigate to the right location and determine where to draw the bounds of the geoimage, you can use a different service for the background imagery, one that provides context such as streets, labels, or lot lines.

The Document Georeferencing dialog box opens if the document is not yet georeferenced, to select a coordinate system. See Specifying document georeferencing.

While specifying the geoimage, the background imagery is scaled appropriately, and it updates when panning, zooming, and rotating the view; it displays as long as the tool is selected.

1. Before using the Geoimage tool, first geolocate the drawing to obtain the desired location, by doing one of the following:

3. The Geoimage tool captures an image according to the selected service and mode. Click Select Service mode to select the type of service to use for the geoimage (see Geolocating the drawing).

4. Click Preferences to set the image resolution options (and to edit the selected service, if needed).

Parameter	Description
Service info	Displays the server and type of service selected for the geoimage
Select Service	Opens the Select Service dialog box, to change to a different service if needed
Image options	Determines the resolution of the geoimage; select Automatic to download an image based on the drawing area’s size and zoom level, which determines how many pixels to display on the screen. The image is based on the number of horizontal pixels. (Very high-resolution displays do not increase the number of pixels requested, as this could overload the servers with too many pixels requested and prevent the download.) Select Custom to enter the number of horizontal pixels for the image source (the vertical pixels are automatically calculated based on aspect ratio). A high Custom resolution could result in performance issues, since the background image takes up the entire background of the drawing. The map quality may be poor or it may not be able to be downloaded, particularly for high-resolution requests over a small area.

5. Select a display mode for the background image, which may be different from the geoimage’s display.

6. Select either Draw Rectangular Area or Draw Polylinear Area mode, depending on the geoimage shape required.

When you select a different tool, the background image no longer displays, but the geoimage remains in the drawing.

The geoimage object can be cropped, clipped, reshaped, and moved. If it is moved, the object updates to display the correct portion of the map or image. The geoimage properties can be edited from the Object Info palette.

Parameter	Description
Update	Updates the geoimage object if the service changes
Update All	Due to licensing restrictions, a geoimage displays while working in the file, but it cannot be saved with the file for offline use. After saving the file, click Update All to download and display geoimages.
Service Info	Displays the current server and service for the object; click Edit Service to edit the server and type of service (see Geolocating the drawing) and then click Update to refresh the geoimage. Certain services have additional rendering options which display in a Render list.
Layer Georeferencing Info	Displays the design layer’s current georeferencing information; click Edit Layer Georeferencing for Specifying design layer georeferencing
Image Quality	Sets the resolution of the geoimage; select Auto Resolution to obtain an image based on the object’s drawn size and zoom level. Deselect Auto Resolution to enter the number of horizontal pixels for the image source (the vertical pixels are automatically calculated based on aspect ratio). A high custom resolution could result in performance issues depending on the size and zoom level of the geoimage, or cause the image download to fail.
Vertex parameters	Edits the vertices of the path object that the geoimage is based upon; see Editing vertex-based objects

Mode	Description
Select Service	Opens the Select Service dialog box, to specify the type of image to be created by the tool
Draw Rectangular Area	Draws a rectangular shape for the area
Draw Polylinear Area	Draws a polyline for the area
Polyline Creation Options	Selects the method for drawing the polyline upon which the object is based; see Creating polylines
Display modes	These four modes toggle to determine what displays while drawing the area with the tool
No Background	Does not display a background image
Service	Displays a matching image to the service selected with Select Service mode; use this mode to display the same background image as the geoimage
Map	Displays a map view
Satellite	Displays a satellite view
Preferences	Sets the default preferences for the geolocated image