Viewer orientation
🕐 Read time: 6 min
Written By Clark Yuan
Last updated 7 days ago
Overview
The Stitch3D Viewer is organized into five distinct zones, each with a specific purpose. This article walks through each zone so you know exactly where to go for any task, whether you're navigating your data, placing annotations, accessing files, or adjusting display settings.
Here is a quick map of the viewer layout:
Control Panel and Explorer Panel
The Control Panel runs along the far left edge of the browser. It contains five icons, each opening a corresponding panel that extends immediately to its right. Together, this section is called the Explorer Panel.
The Explorer Panel can be collapsed to show only the Control Panel when you need more screen space. The Control Panel itself cannot be hidden.
Layers
The Layers Panel displays all spatial data files accessible in the viewer: point clouds, rasters, photos, 360° panoramas, GCPs, and more. Each file has a visibility toggle to show or hide it in the viewer.
Clicking on any file in the Layers Panel opens the Information Panel on the far right with that file's display settings. See the individual file settings in the Related Articles section for details.
Annotations
The Annotations Panel lists all annotations placed in the viewer: points, distance, area, volume, profile, and flythrough. From this panel you can:
Rename any annotation
Group annotations to manage them together
Delete individual annotations or entire groups
Show or hide individual annotations or groups
Grouping annotations enables bulk actions such as hide or delete an entire group at once rather than managing each annotation individually.
Clicking on any annotation in the panel opens the Information Panel on the far right with details about that measurement or annotation.
💡 Tip: Use groups to separate annotation sets by purpose or capture date. For example, group all volume measurements from one site visit together so you can toggle them on and off independently from a different visit's annotations.
Documents
The Documents Panel holds supporting files that are not spatially placed in the viewer but are important to include in a Project deliverable — for example, CAD disclaimers, point annotation CSV reports, and PDF drawings.
Clicking a document in the panel opens the Information Panel on the far right, where you can:
Preview the file (PDF files only)
Download the file
Delete the file
View metadata: Owner, Upload date, File type, and Size
Reports
The Reports Panel lets you generate data exports from your Project. Currently available:
Point annotation CSV report — generates a CSV of all point annotations placed in the viewer, including coordinates and any associated data
ℹ️ Coming soon: Volume Report.
Project Details
The Project Details Panel displays information about the Project itself:
Project name
Project description
Project owner
Coordinate system — the CRS assigned to the Project at creation
ℹ️ Note: Project Details are read-only in this panel. To update the Project name or description, use your Project settings.
Information Panel
The Information Panel runs along the far right edge of the viewer and opens in response to whatever you click in the Explorer Panel. Like the Explorer Panel, it can be collapsed when you need more screen space.
There are three types of content the Information Panel displays depending on what you select:
Clicking on a Report or a Project Detail does not open the Information Panel.
Toolbar
The Toolbar sits centered at the top of the viewer, directly beneath the browser banner. It contains all annotation and measurement tools, the slicing tool, and the viewer settings menu.
Annotation tools:
Additional tools:
For a full guide to personal viewer settings, see Stitch3D personal viewer settings.
View Toggle
The View Toggle is located in the top left corner of the viewer, to the left of the Toolbar. It switches the viewer between 2D and 3D modes.
ℹ️ Note: Some tools are only available in specific views. The volume tool, for example, is only available in 3D. GCPs and media files appear in both views.
Navigation Bar
The Navigation Bar is a vertical set of controls arranged in the top right corner of the viewer, to the right of the Toolbar. It contains:
Basemap
The Basemap menu lets you choose a background map to display beneath your spatial data.
Street (2D and 3D)
Satellite (2D and 3D)
Terrain (2D only)
The Adjust Map Height slider in the Basemap menu adjusts the vertical position of the basemap relative to your point cloud. Use this if your point cloud does not sit flush with the basemap surface.
💡 Tip: The Satellite basemap is useful for confirming the geographic context of your point cloud during a client presentation. The Terrain basemap in 2D is helpful for visualizing how your site sits within the surrounding landscape.
Location Banner
The Location Banner is a ribbon that runs along the full width of the bottom of the viewer, spanning from the Explorer Panel to the Information Panel. It is always visible and updates in real time as you move your cursor through the viewer.
The Location Banner displays:
💡 Tip: The Location Banner is the fastest way to read the coordinates of any position in your data. Hover your cursor over a specific feature and read the lat/long or XYZ values directly without placing an annotation.
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