Building plans and drone images

Uploading a map image, drone image, or building plan 

1. Click the Upload Image icon on the right

2. Select the image file.

   1. If it’s a multi-page document, specify which page you want.

   2. If using a drone image, make sure it’s taken from directly above the site.

3. Select the positioning method (2 point, azimuth, length is usually best) and follow the prompts to set the

   1. Scale

   2. Rotation (azimuth)

   3. Position

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2 point, azimuth, length

This is the easiest method.

1. Scale: On the plans/image, make note of a distance between 2 points. The longer it is the better, for example the length of the entire building. If using a drone image, you could use the length of the ladder on your van as a reference. Enter the length in meters.

2. Rotation: Make note of where North is on the plans/image, and how many degrees it is between north on the image, and the vertical line of your screen (12 o’clock). For example, if the north arrow on the plans points to 9 o’clock, then it is 90 degs to the vertical line of the screen. Enter 90 in the Azimuth field.

3. Position.

   1. Refer to the two points that you know the distance between.

   2. Click on one of these points. Then on the Google map, click where that part of the building should be placed.

   3. Next click on the other end of the longest known dimension on the building plans.

4. Save. Click save at the bottom of the window

5. Adjust if needed.

   1. Click on Surface Settings on the left of the map, then Image layer settings.

   2. Reduce the Image Opacity so that you can see the Google image below.

   3. You can then rotate the image, or re-bind it to the map to set it in another position or scale.

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Remove, replace or adjust an uploaded image

Replace or reupload the image/plan

Click on the image upload icon and select another image. 

Remove/delete the uploaded image/plan

1. click on the Map Settings icon below the tree on the top left of the screen

2. go to Image layer settings

3. de-select the box marked 'Show uploaded image'

4. click the Save icon on the right of the map page.

Reposition or adjust the image/plan

1. click on the Map Settings icon below the tree on the top left of the screen

2. go to Image layer settings

3. click ‘rebind image to map’

Rotate

• Slide the ‘Degrees of image clockwise rotation’ bar, or

• Or, click Rebind to Image and enter another value for Azimuth.

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Fixing a black background

Some pdf plans may have certain formatting that will cause the background to turn black when uploading to SolarPlus. If you encounter this scenario, the following steps will help you to upload your image correctly:

1. If your pdf has several pages, identify and save the page you need as separate pdf file

2. Using a web tool, export the pdf file as an image file, ie. jpg or png would work.

3. Upload the image file

3 Point Method 

• Select points on the uploaded file (map/plan/site layout) and the corresponding point on the map. 

• This process must be repeated 3 times, pinpointing different locations on the file to the corresponding locations on the map. 

• These points serve as reference nodes to calculate the appropriate scaling sizes for the file to be uploaded onto the map surface in SP.  

 1 Point, Scale, and Azimuth

• Enter the azimuth value - based on the direction and inclination of the surface from the true north

• Enter the scale - based on the value given in the layout (usually 1:100, 1:200)

• Select a single point on the uploaded file (map/plan/site layout) and the corresponding point on the map. 

Once uploaded, using either of the two methods, the map/plan/site layout would be uploaded over the map surface in SP. 

Using the image layer settings, you can then change the opacity and the clockwise rotation angle of the uploaded image to suit the dimensions in the map surface. 

• Opacity slider - Ability to change the opacity of the image (0 to 100%) 

• Rotation slider - Ability to change the rotation of the image (0 to 360 degrees in a clockwise direction)

Note: The slider enabling the clockwise rotation angle would not be toggled on if the upload was through the 3-point method.

Uploading images from other online maps (WA Locate V5, etc)

Free high-res browser-based map sources

Western Australia

Locate