Getting Started
Welcome to AltaLens
AltaLens is a spatial media management platform for teams that capture drone imagery, panoramas, and site photography. Use it to organize every capture by location and date, annotate images, process orthophotos, and share your work with clients or collaborators.
🗺️ Map-first organization
Every photo, video, and panorama is pinned to a GPS location on an interactive map — no folders to dig through.
📅 Time-series tracking
Compare site conditions across multiple capture sessions to track progress or document change over time.
✏️ Annotation tools
Draw, label, and measure directly on your images. Export annotated images as PDFs for reports.
🔗 Instant sharing
Generate a public share link for any capture. Download client-ready PDF report and map documents.
Getting Started
Logging In
Access AltaLens at altalens.ca. You can register for a new account or log in with your existing credentials.
Registering
- 1 Go to altalens.ca and click Register.
- 2 Enter your email address and a password.
- 3 Click Register. You will be logged in immediately.
Logging in with an invitation
If a teammate invited you, click the link in your invitation email. It will take you directly to the registration page with your email pre-filled. Once registered, you will automatically join their workspace.
Map & Properties
Map Interface
After logging in, map view is the default format. As media are added to the software, pins representing media locations will be viewable on the map at each property.
Finding a location
Use the address search bar in the top-left to fly the map to any address, city, or place name. The map will zoom and pan automatically.
Switching basemaps
Click the layers icon in the map controls to switch between:
- •Street map — OpenStreetMap road and label layer.
- •Satellite imagery — ESRI World Imagery aerial photos.
- •Topo Map — ESRI World Topo Map.
Navigation controls
Use your mouse scroll wheel or trackpad to zoom. Click and drag to pan. The scale bar and north arrow are shown in the bottom-right for spatial reference.
Map & Properties
Properties & Pins
A property is a named location on your map — a project site, parcel, or any area you want to track over time. Each property holds all of its captures and media.
Creating a property
- 1 Click + Add in the left sidebar panel.
- 2 Enter a name and (optionally) a description.
- 3 Click Save.
- 4 Click the property name in the panel to begin adding media in the upload menu.
Table view
When a property name is clicked in the left sidebar, the option to toggle between map and table view arises. The table view is a useful alternative to map view where users are more concerned with referencing media with respect to each campaign date. Campaign dates take the place of pins as the basis for organizing media. As like pins in map view, campaign dates can be flagged by colour, media can be annotated, and reports can be generated.
Media
Uploading Media
AltaLens accepts drone still photos, video clips, and panoramas. AltaLens reads images and places them on the map at the location where they were captured.
How to upload
- 1 Open a property by clicking its name on the left sidebar.
- 2 Choose Media tab in the media upload menu.
- 3 Select the capture date and the type of media, choose the photos from a local drive, and press Upload.
- 4 AltaLens places each file on the map automatically.
Manual pin placement
If a file has no GPS data, AltaLens will prompt the user to drop its pin manually on the map. Click the location where the photo was taken to drop a pin, then confirm.
Supported file types
- •Photos: JPG, JPEG, PNG, DNG (raw)
- •Video: MP4, MOV
- •Panoramas: JPG with equirectangular metadata (e.g. DJI 360°)
Pin Clustering Radius
If using the map view format of AltaLens, clustering is among the most powerful organizational functions. Click a property name to open its menu and find the Cluster radius option. This controls how nearby media will group into pins on the map. A smaller radius breaks media items out into their precise locations. A larger cluster setting will aggregate media into fewer approximate locations. Choose from recommended cluster settings or add a custom setting.
Customizing pins
When media appear at pins on the map, click a pin to pull up its capture popup. This is where pins can be named, coloured, and where different pin icons can be chosen. After a pin is named, it will appear as such in map and report outputs. Use pin customization to track concerns or areas of interest at a property. Colour codes may represent site status (e.g. in-progress, complete, caution).
Media
Viewing & Annotating Images
Click any media pin on the map to open the capture popup viewer. If using table view format, expand a campaign date. The user will see their media items in a filmstrip. If media of multiple dates exist at a pin, the user will find a dropdown menu of dates in the capture popup. Change the date, and the filmstrip will present only images of the chosen date. Click an image in the filmstrip to bring up its full size version in the lightbox. Inside the lightbox, users can label and mark an image canvas with annotation tools. They can also use a side-by-side comparison tool for identifying changes in recurring images at a single location.
Annotate
To begin, select the Annotate button at the top of the full size image. An annotation toolbar will appear at the photo bottom, allowing the user to draw freehand and insert labels. Choose the stroke colour and line weight from the tool options. Use freehand draw to circle concerns and highlight features in the image.
Label tool
Select the T icon to place a text label anywhere on the image. Click a location, type your label. Labels can be repositioned by switching to the Select tool and dragging them.
Select & erase
Use the arrow icon to select, move, resize, or delete individual annotations. Click an annotation to select it, then press Delete to remove it.
Saving annotations
Annotations can be saved are saved. They persist between sessions and are visible to all team members with access to the property.
Advanced
Temporal Comparison
AltaLens organizes media by geographic location. When multiple date-stamped media items at a property exist in the same location, the user can compare them side-by-side in a split-screen view.
Split-screen comparison
Click a media pin where multiple dates are available to view. Within the capture popup, open a full-size image by clicking the thumbnail displayed in the filmstrip. A compare button will exist at the top of the image. Once engaged, the full-size image will appear in the lightbox along with a date selection at bottom left. Select a date for comparison, and a set of thumnails for that date will appear. Choose a thumbnail to bring up a second full-size image adjacent to the first.
Media
Panoramas
AltaLens detects equirectangular panorama images and opens them in an immersive 360° viewer.
Viewing a panorama
Click any panorama pin on the map to open it. Click and drag inside the viewer to look around in 360°.
Uploading panoramas
Panoramas are uploaded the same way as regular photos. AltaLens identifies them automatically by the equirectangular metadata embedded by your drone or camera. DJI panoramas work out of the box.
Advanced
Orthophoto Processing
Upload a set of nadir (straight-down) drone images, and AltaLens will process them into a georeferenced orthophoto — a stitched, map-aligned aerial image you can overlay on the map.
Submitting a processing job
- 1 Click a Property name to access the image upload menu.
- 2 Choose a selection of nadir images and the date they were captured. The ortho project must also be given a name.
- 3 ClickProcess Orthophoto. The job will be queued for processing.
- 4 Once complete, the orthophoto appears as a layer on the map automatically.
Toggling the ortho overlay
Use the toggle in the ortho toolbar at top right to show or hide the orthophoto layer. When multiple orthos exist for a property, use the date dropdown to choose which one is displayed.
Split-screen ortho comparison
When two or more orthophotos exist for a property, click Compare to open the split-screen view. Drag the centre divider left and right to reveal the before and after images. This is particularly effective for visualizing vegetation change or construction progress.
Downloading the GeoTIFF
Click the Download GeoTIFF button on the orthophoto tool bar to save the processed file locally.
Advanced
Measurement and Vector Layer Toolkit
Use the measurement tools to calculate distances, areas, and bearings directly on the map or on your orthophoto overlay.
Distance measurement
Click the ruler in the map toolbar to activate the distance tool. Click two or more points on the map to trace a path. The total distance is displayed next to the cursor, and distance is tracked in real time. Click the last point twice to close the measurement.
Area measurement
Activate the area tool (polygon icon) and click at least three points to define the boundary of an area. Close the polygon by clicking the first point. The enclosed area is shown in square metres or hectares.
Clearing measurements
Click Clear measurements in the measurement panel to remove all active measurements from the map.
Polygon, Circle, and Point Vector tools
Below measurement tools, the user will find polygon and point tools to annotate the base map or orthophoto overlay. Mark assets and property boundaries. Label and colour the vector features as desired.
Advanced
KML Layers
Import KML files to introduce property boundaries, asset feature ID, road networks, or any spatial data required.
Importing a KML
- 1 Click Import Feature in the property menu in the left sidebar panel.
- 2 Select a KML file from a local file.
- 3 The layer will appear on the map immediately and is visible to all team members.
- 4 A KML menu will appear at top right. KML items and/or their labels can be hidden.
Apply KML Features ID to pin names
If a KML with spatial data is uploaded to the map view where media pins lie in approximately the same position, an option to rename the media's pins will be presented in a box at lower right. Apply the names in KML attribute data to the media pins for a rapid, project-wide renaming of media items on the map.
Removing a KML layer
Open the Layers panel, find the KML layer, and click the X icon next to it. The layer is removed from all views for all team members.
Sharing & Export
Sharing
Share your work with clients or stakeholders without requiring them to create an account. Public share links give view-only access to a single capture.
Creating a share link
- 1 Open a property and select a media pin.
- 2 Click the Share button in the capture popup.
- 3 The share link will be copied to the clipboard for pasting elsewhere.
The recipient can view all media, pins, and annotations for that capture in their browser — no sign-in required.
Sharing & Export
Reports & Export
Generate structured PDF reports, export annotated images, and download your raw data for use in external tools.
Concerns report
The Concerns Report compiles flagged media and annotations into a structured PDF. It is designed to accompany any compliance and inspection workflow; this includes risk assessments/JSA documents and other audits and checklists that can make use of image collections in their workflow.
- 1 Open a property and click Generate Report.
- 2 SelectConcerns Report.
- 3 In the report previewer, select which flags colours to include, and whether to include an image gallery of media. Eliminate unwanted columns in the summary table if desired.
- 4 Click Export PDF.
Exporting annotated images
Inside the lightbox, click Export PDF to download the current image with all its annotations burned in as a single PDF page. This works for any annotated photo.
Exporting the map as PDF
Click Generate Report in the Property menu toolbar and select the PDF Map option to download the current map view, including visible pins, KML layers, and the orthophoto overlay. The standard map elements can be removed as desired.
Downloading orthophotos
From the Orthophoto tab, click Download GeoTIFF on any processed orthophoto to save the full-resolution, georeferenced image to your computer.
Account
Team & Invitations
Invite colleagues or contractors to join your workspace. Team members can view and annotate all properties in the workspace.
Inviting a team member
- 1 Click a Property in the lefhand panel of the app.
- 2 In the Invite Viewer dialogue box, enter an email to send the read-only map to.
They will receive an email with a link to create their account and join your workspace.
Account settings
Click your account icon in the top-left corner to see your login email, subscription type, and days left in your trial if you are not yet a paid subscriber.
Account
Contact Support
Can't find what you're looking for? Reach out and we'll get back to you promptly.
Get in touch
You can also use the contact form at altalens.ca to send us a message directly.