Visualization Settings¶

Tune how the map reads: 3D buildings, points of interest, street labels, satellite imagery sources, and the brightness, contrast, and saturation of the aerial. Under two minutes.

The recording this tutorial follows (1:31).

1. Zoom into the project site¶

Start on the site you're working. The basemap toolbar above the map holds the quick view toggles; everything on it also lives in Properties → Basemap.

2. Toggle 3D buildings¶

3D buildings extrudes gray building massing over the basemap — useful for judging context around the site.

3D buildings on: extruded massing over the tilted vector basemap

3D buildings off: the flat basemap with POI icons and labels

3. Hide points of interest¶

Hide POI labels clears business icons for a map focused on your project data.

POI icons and labels visible before the toggle

The map cleared of POI icons — street names and shields remain

4. Hide street names¶

Hide street names removes the remaining text for a completely clean canvas.

Street names and route shields still visible

A label-free map of building massing and bare road geometry

5. Switch to satellite imagery¶

Open Properties → Basemap for the full set: basemap style, fade, massing opacity, tilt, and the aerial imagery section.

The Properties — Basemap panel with appearance and aerial imagery controls

Turn on Aerial and pick a source — Google Satellite, Google Hybrid, Esri World Imagery, and more.

Google Hybrid imagery under the 3D massing with hybrid labels

Crisp Esri World Imagery over a signalized intersection

6. Tune the imagery appearance¶

Brightness, contrast, and saturation sliders let you fade the photo back so your linework leads. The same look drives every satellite viewport on your drawing sheets.

Brightness raised to +30 with contrast −10 and saturation −55

Drafting look

The Original / Crisp / Drafting / Mono presets under Aerial imagery are one-click versions of these slider moves — Drafting is the desaturated, brightened look used throughout these demos.

Reference: Aerial Imagery & 3D Views · Map Controls & Tools

Next steps: Review in 3D & Street View — take the tuned view into a drive-through design review.