Using Google Earth Pro to Scale, Measure, and Annotate your Map

A short tutorial on using Google Earth Pro as a free, lightweight, desktop app that can address some common questions that come up from time to time. It’s not a complete mapping solution, and it did crash mid-tutorial, but there are times when it just may do the trick.

Using Google Earth Pro to Scale, Measure, and Annotate your Map (PDF in Dropbox)

Some common questions such as:

– How to view my map on a globe

– Scale a map to a real-world reference (eg to the size of Europe)

– Measure distance and area

– Add pins or annotations for notes or pop-ups

All of this and more… (not in the tutorial but in the software)

– Import GIS Shapefiles and GeoTif images

– Export hi-res Google Earth imagery (4800 x 2916)

– View Mars and the Moon as well

The Pro version became free a few years back. It hasn’t gained much new functionality. It feels somewhat forgotten since its heyday in the mid 2000s. Still, hope this can come in handy for mappers of Earth and other realms.