Getting the answers out
Nothing here is locked in. Every result exports, in the format the thing on the other end reads.
Choosing a format
| Format | For |
|---|---|
| GeoJSON | Web maps, scripts, anything modern. Holds every shape at once. |
| GeoPackage | QGIS. One file, holds everything, no sidecars to lose. |
| Shapefile | Older GIS and anyone who asks for "a shapefile". Arrives zipped. |
| KMZ / KML | Google Earth, and showing somebody on a laptop. |
| CSV | Spreadsheets. One row per finding. |
| GPX | A handheld GPS you are going to walk with. |
| PDF report | Sending to a person rather than a machine. |
Choosing what goes in it
Separate from the format, and it is your choice:
- Outlines — the shapes that were measured. What you want for GIS.
- Points — one point per finding. What you want for a handheld.
- Path to walk — the findings in the order to visit them, as a route.
GeoJSON, GeoPackage, KML and KMZ can carry all three in one file. CSV and GPX are one shape per file — a CSV row is a point, and asking for outlines in one would write a file without them. The picker only offers what the format can actually hold.
The PDF report
A rendered document rather than data: the map, the findings, the totals, and what was measured. For sending to somebody who wants to read it rather than load it.
Every page carries its footer — which is less obvious than it sounds, and was got wrong once.
Sharing without an account
You can give somebody a link to a result who has no login. They see that result and nothing else — not your other surveys, not your other work, not who else is on your account.
The usual case is a client, a contractor or a consultant. If they need to come back repeatedly, give them a Viewer account instead: it can read and download everything, and change nothing. See People and access.
Getting the imagery itself
The orthomosaic and the elevation models can be downloaded from the survey as GeoTIFFs. They are large. They are also the thing you would take to a surveyor or into desktop GIS if you wanted to check the platform's arithmetic yourself, which is a reasonable thing to want.
Automating it
Exports can be built and fetched over the API: ask for one, poll until it is ready, download. Building takes time for a large result, which is why it is three steps rather than one. See The API.
Keeping your own copies
Data is retained according to your plan — a year on Solo, two on Crew. That is a retention policy, not a backup service. Anything you cannot afford to lose should also exist somewhere that is not here.