New Imagery!

One of our most popular map layers, Imagery, has gotten a fresh update! Imagery allows you to visualize terrain around the globe right on your device and we’re excited to announce some big improvements for users both inside and outside the US.

In select locations outside of the contiguous United States (CONUS), we now have high resolution printable and downloadable imagery from Vantor. If you use the Imagery layer outside of CONUS and either print (PDF and JPG) or download offline, you will see new, higher resolution imagery in this map layer. This will match the resolution level you see when online.  We are excited to address many user requests over the years for higher resolution downloads outside of the US, specifically in regards to imagery losing resolution when downloaded or printed in these areas in the past. 

At this time, the new Vantor Imagery covers the following areas (We hope to include additional locations going forward):

• Canada
• Alaska
• Hawaii
• Europe
• Japan
• New Zealand
• Baja California
• Parts of the Caribbean

In the contiguous United States, the Imagery layer has been updated to new data, meaning new aerial images to help you plan your next adventure! In CONUS, this layer pulls from NAIP datasets from 2021-2023. You will also see additional historical NAIP layers available in the Layer Catalog, (2011-2013, 2013-2015, 2016-2018, and 2019-2021). These allow you to select the timeframe that looks best in your area, and to help you visualize changes in the landscape over time. 

If you are using CalTopo online on (web or mobile) or printing, you won’t need to do anything differently to access the new Imagery. If you have previously downloaded Imagery on your mobile device for offline use, you will need to update your downloaded tiles. 

The following is our recommended workflow for updating your downloaded tiles in the mobile app to ensure you have the up-to-date Imagery next time you are outside of cell service:

• First, ensure you are on the most recent app version, which is 1.26 (to see this select the three bar menu upper left, settings, scroll to the bottom). If you are not, please update your app version from the app store when it is available. You may not see the new version for a few days. 
• Second, you will need to delete your old imagery tiles to get the new data. In the Download Layers screen for imagery, you will see previously downloaded imagery tiles highlighted in red. These red tiles indicate that newer imagery is available for those areas. In the United States, this means more recent imagery is available. In the international areas mentioned earlier, it indicates that higher-resolution imagery is available. Select the tiles to be deleted, following the instructions in this section of the userguide: Deleting Downloaded Layers.
• Lastly, re-download the tiles you need Imagery for in the same manner you always do: Download Layers for Offline Use.

*If you have large/varying areas of imagery downloaded, you may consider deleting/re-downloading these tiles in sets/chunks in the same area. This way you can see what tiles you had in red, delete them, and immediately re-download those same tiles. 

We are so excited to bring you an Imagery update! Please send us an email at help@caltopo.com, or comment below with questions.