These instructions apply to Autodesk® Civil 3D® 2013 and later versions. The screen shots in this article are from Civil 3D 2020. They describe how to import georeferenced Nearmap imagery that you've exported with the Export Imagery tool in the Nearmap MapBrowser.
Please note that only certain versions of Autodesk support GIS functionality. Standard AutoCAD allow import of georeferenced imagery via the Raster Design Plugin.
In addition to this document, you can watch our video. Note that the video uses Autodesk Civil 3D 2018.
Before you start
- In MapBrowser, export the georeferenced image with a selected capture date and projection for your area of interest.
- Download the exported files. You should find a zip file containing a Nearmap image and .jgw file with similar filenames.
NOTE: Make sure that the path to your files, including the file name is no more than 128 characters. Autodesk will not detect the .jgw georeferencing file if the file path is more than 128 characters. After downloading your .jpg and .jgw files from MapBrowser, rename them to be shorter and identical.
Setting up a coordinate system
Before loading Nearmap georeferenced imagery, set up a coordinate system.
In the Civil 3D Settings tab, select the drawing name.
Right-click on the drawing name and select Edit Drawing Settings.
- Select the coordinate system for the drawing from the list of Available coordinate systems.
- Click OK.
Importing the image
- Navigate to your download and unzip the folder.
- Rename the file and the associated .jgw. You need to do this because Civil 3D has a limit on the number of characters in the file name.
- Enter the command MAPIINSERT and navigate to your image.
- Select the image and click Open. You will see a window that details the reference insertion points.
- Click OK.
The image is loaded into your drawing space.
