Import satellite imagery from Google Maps
Search for a real-world site and drop in auto-calibrated satellite imagery as your layout background — no CAD file required.
4 steps · 2 min read
Satellite import is ideal for site lighting where you care about the real footprint — drives, lots, walkways — but don't have a surveyed plan. Because the background comes in already calibrated, you skip the scale step entirely and get straight to the design.
Open the Google Maps importer
Open the Plan menu and choose Import from Google Maps. This is the fastest way to start an outdoor layout — a parking lot, campus, or roadway — when you don't have a drawing but you do have an address.
Search for the site
Type into the search box (*"Search address, city, zip code, or place…"*) and press Enter or click the search button. The map centers on the result and zooms to fit it.
Select the area to capture
Click Select Area, then either drag a rectangle (the default) or switch to polygon mode and click each corner, finishing on the first point or the Finish button. Keep the selection to the part of the site you actually need — captures are capped at roughly 500,000 sq ft (about 46,000 m²).
Let it auto-calibrate
When you import, OpenLumen measures the real-world width and height of your selection (accounting for the Earth's curvature) and sets the scale for you automatically. A toast confirms it imported and was *auto-calibrated* at the resolution it worked out to (shown in ft/px or m/px to match your active units), so you can start drawing areas and placing fixtures right away — though you can still re-calibrate with two points if you want to fine-tune against a known on-site dimension.