Export to Web Tiles

Use Export Document to Web Tiles to generate image tiles that can be used for online map purposes. Google Maps, Bing Maps, OpenStreetMap, Tile Map Service, and MapBox formats are supported.

Requirements

Web Tiles are always shown in a north-up Pseudo-Mercator coordinate. Documents in other coordinate systems will be temporarily transformed to the Pseudo-Mercator coordinate system and then exported to web tiles. Geographic Imager will return the document to its original coordinate system after export.

Export to Web Tiles Dialog Box

Click the Export to Web Tiles button in the Geographic Imager panel to open the Georeference dialog box.

Export to Web Tiles button

Using Export Document to Web Tiles

Map Provider

Map tiles are created based on the map provider and can generate web tiles compatible with Google Maps, Microsoft Bing Maps, OpenStreetMap, Tile Map Service, MapBox, and GeoPackage.

Google Maps, Bing Maps, and OpenStreetMap map providers each generate web tiles and an HTML file which consists of a web map with the tiles in place. The HTML file can be further edited to suit specific needs or to reference exported tiles at a different location. The MapBox map provider generates an MBTILES file that can be used with the MapBox service. The Tile Map Service map provider generates web tiles and an XML file (which must be referenced by a URL). The GeoPackage map provider generates a GPKG file that can be used in other applications that accept it.

Dataset name and Folder

Specify a path and a file name to save to. Web tiles and associated files are saved to the same location. A path is provided by default, click the Browse button to choose a different path.

Zoom Level tab

Choose a maximum zoom to use for the maximum detail level in the exported tiles. The Zoom levels box indicates the number of zoom level to use and determines the minimum zoom. The Maximum zoom drop-down list provides a number of zoom levels from Level 1 to Level 23 and an associated resolution in measurement units to pixel. Higher resolution levels will create more web tiles (indicated by the Total tiles value). A minimum of 1 zoom level is required up to a maximum of 23 zoom levels.

Options tab

Web tiles can be exported to two image formats types: PNG and JPG. Depending on the image format chosen, each format has specific options available in the Options tab. The Compression option is only available for the PNG format, with a compression range of 0 to 9 (where 0 is the lowest and 9 the highest). Web tiles can be exported using RGB or Grayscale colour modes. The Quality option is only available for the JPG format, with a quality range of 1 to 12 (where 1 is the lowest and 12 the highest). Depending on the compression or quality value, generated web tile file sizes will vary. Use the Opacity slider to choose the transparency of the web tiles. 0% is completely transparent and 100% is completely opaque.

Choose an Image resampling method to resample web tiles. The resampling method assigns color values to any new pixels based on the color values of existing pixels. By default, the Adobe Photoshop resampling method will be used. You can change the default resampling method in Adobe Photoshop preferences.

The following are available image resampling methods:

 

Bicubic (smooth gradients)	Takes a weighted average value of the sixteen pixels closest to the transformed location in the source image.
Bilinear	Takes a weighted average value of the four pixels closest to the transformed location in the source image. This method results in a smoother image than the nearest neighbor method but at the expense of more processing time.
Nearest Neighbor (hard edge)	Takes the value of the pixel that is closest to the transformed location in the source image. This is the fastest method in terms of processing time and is the method to use to preserve a colour panel during image transformation. It is also the best method to preserve original colours in some non-RGB colour modes, such as CMYK, by avoiding the internal conversion to/from RGB.
Automatic	Adobe Photoshop chooses the resampling method based on the document type and whether the document is scaling up or down.
Preserve Details (enlargement)	A method for enlarging images that attempts to smooth out noise.
Bicubic Smoother (enlargement)	A method for enlarging images based on Bicubic interpolation but designed to produce smoother results.
Bicubic Sharper (reduction)	A method for reducing the size of an image based on Bicubic interpolation with enhanced sharpening. This method maintains the detail in a resampled image. If Bicubic Sharper oversharpens some areas of an image, try using Bicubic.

 The Image resampling options may differ depending on your Adobe Photoshop version.

Google Maps tab

These options only apply when the Google Maps map provider is chosen. The available Google Map controls are added to the web map aid in navigation. Uncheck options to disable them so that they are not included in the HTML file.

Option	Description
Map type selector	An option to choose standard Map view or a Satellite view
Scale bar	A scale bar at the lower-left of the map
Zoom	A zoom slider widget
Street View	The Google Street View feature

GeoPackage tab

These options only apply when the GeoPackage map provider is chosen. Click the GeoPackage tab to view the available setting. Choose a compatible Tiling Schema for the GeoPackage as either Google Maps compatible or as Pseudo TMS Global Mercator.

Post Export tab

Click the Post Export tab to view the available setting. When enabled, the destination folder containing the web tiles will be opened after export.

Advanced

Use the Export reference file option to output an associated georeference file with each tile in World or Blue Marble Reference format. This option is disabled by default and does not output any reference files.

 World formats do no support coordinate systems. Choose Blue Marble Reference if there is a need to include the coordinate system information.