Saving an Image

Saving an image out of Google Earth is a pretty straightforward process. If you have a newer version of Google Earth, you are going to be presented with some neat options that we'll go through below.

Saving a high resolution image will require Google Earth Pro, which is available free here.

1. Get to the place you want to save an image of - I'll often put down a Placemark here so I can reference where I took the image from in the future if I need to. Don't forget to un-check this Placemark or it will show up in your final image: 

Frustrating.

2. There are two ways to open the image save took: Go to 'File -> Save -> Save Image OR click on the 'Save Image' button - This will launch the Save Image options. Either way, same result. 

File, Save Image

Save Image button

3. Select the Map Options - Here you can turn on Title and Description, Legend, Scale and Compass as well as several Styling options. 

Map Options drop down

You can turn these options on and off, and you will see the results reflected by the options turning on and off. 

Title and Description, Legend, Scale and Compass in the corners

You can edit the Title and Description by clicking on that area:

Title and Description options

Then filling in the area with whatever info you like:

Title and Description options

4. Select Map Resolution - Once you select resolution, gray bars will show up to show you the image size and area. 

Resolution options

Map area between bars

5. Click Save image - click on save image

Save Image

6. Choose a location on your computer to save the image - Earth Pro will save the image. Depending on the quality you select, it may take a few minutes to save the image. 

7. Click the little 'x' to close the Save Image options - 

Some considerations:

• • If you are zoomed out, you may capture a lowers resolution than if you were zoomed in. You can see this reflected when zooming in from a higher altitude to a lower altitude.

  • It's best to let Earth Pro save the image without covering the window with another program.

  • The attribution will show up in the bottom left corner when saving an image. This can cause issues if you want to put a still image into a video you create with Earth Pro, since Movie Maker will record with the attribution on the center.