Annotations

Learn how to create annotations on your DroneDeploy maps to analyze them and share the results.

Please note that annotations, just like all of DroneDeploy, work best on Google Chrome.

Article Sections: 

• Overview of the Toolbox
  
  • URL link, Duplicate, Delete & Color
  • Move & Rotate 
  • Filtering & Sorting 
  • Copying annotation 
  • Lock Annotations
  • Hot Keys 
  • Grouping & Ungrouping Annotations
  • Point
  • Distance
  • Area & Surface Area
  • Volume & Terrain Edits 
  • Rectangle 
  • Radius
  • Count 
  • Stockpile AI Annotation Types
  • 3D Annotations
  • AI Annotations (closed beta)
• Sharing Annotations
• FAQs

Overview of the Toolbox

Before we dig into the different annotation types, it's worth going over the general annotation controls. If you look at the sidebar on the right, you can see Annotations and Tools options:

For each annotation you create you can apply these features below: 

• Lock/Unlock Changes
  • This will prevent changes to the details of the annotation should you choose to "lock" the details
• Get a link
  • The end user needs to have a DroneDeploy account and have access to the project 
• Duplicate 
  • The duplicate button will make a copy of the annotation
• Delete
  • Permanently remove the annotation (no restore option available) 
• Title
  • Change the name of the annotation; this is how it will appear in reports
• Color 
  • Change the color of any annotation by selecting the colored circle next to the name

Once an annotation is created you can Move and Rotate as needed:

• Move
  • Click and hold the Move button (cross with arrows below) to move the annotation around the map
• Rotate
  • Click and drag the Rotate button to rotate the annotation
  • Available for all annotations except for Circles

     

Annotation Types: 

Point 

If you want to annotate a specific point on your map, this is the tool for you. Once the Point annotation is selected, you'll be asked to select a point on the map.

The Point Annotation includes: 

• Change the name of the annotation 
• View who added the annotation and when 
• Latitude & Longitude 
  • Note: if there's an assigned a CRS (coordinate reference system) for the project - see Define a Coordinate Reference System (CRS) for New and Existing Projects - you will now see the State Plane Coordinate System (SPCS) coordinates based on the assigned CRS for your project. 
• Elevation
• Images of the location
• Field Note Creation (will not populate on the Field Note Report)
• Add a comment & attachment 

Distance

The Distance or line tool will allow you to measure the length of a straight line or a series of lines.

A Distance annotation includes: 

• Change the name of the annotation 
• View who added the annotation and when 
• Length: a 3D length - hypotenuse if you think of a right triangle. This is the actual length from point A to point B.
• Horizontal Length: a 2D projection - adjacent side in a right triangle. Horizontal distance between two vertices
• Surface Length: Calculation of area beneath the distance profile. The distance over the processed orthomosaic (including surface objects). 
• Cross Section: the area under the surface profile.
  
• Slope: the degree of incline from the initial to the final point of a surface profile.
• Vertical Height: projection of the 2D change in elevation between the beginning and end of a line annotation
• Surface Profile Graph + CSV export
• Field Note Creation (will not populate on the Field Note Report)
• Add comment & attachment 

Note: See more information on the Surface / Elevation profile here

Area

Note: Be aware of larger area annotations. If an area is too large, we will be unable to calculate the annotation data. If you run into this issue, please try to simplify your annotation shape or reach out to Support@dronedeploy.com for help. 

Select the Area tool to outline a specific section of your map. To close the area annotation, click on the first point, or double-click on your last point.

The Area Annotation includes: 

• Change the name of the annotation 
• View who added the annotation and when 
• Area Measurement (2D)
• Surface Area (3D): the surface area is the 3D calculation. The 3D measurement should always be larger than the 2D measurement.

  Area (2D): The area is the measurement of the space occupied by any two-dimensional geometric shape. The area of any shape depends upon its dimensions. The area of a shape is calculated in square units (sq units). As the area is measured for a two-dimensional object it has two dimensions length and width.

   

  Surface Area (3D): The surface area is the area calculated for the three-dimensional object. As the three-dimensional object is made up of 2D faces, the surface area is the sum of the areas of all the faces of the figure. 

• Field Note Creation (will not populate on the Field Note Report)
• Add comment & attachment 

Volume

There are two Volume tools available for our Advanced, Teams, and Enterprise users.

1. Terrain Edits (see more information here)

2. Volume Annotation

To learn more about volume calculation with DroneDeploy, please visit our Volume Measurement with Drones page. 

A Volume Annotation includes:

• Change the name of the annotation 
• View who added the annotation and when 
• Area Measurement
• Cut & Fill 
• Net Volume
• Material Volume 
• Mass 
• Material Selection
• Surface Selection: DSM, DTM, & 3D DXF
• Base Plane Selection
• Field Note Creation (will not populate on the Field Note Report)
• Add comment & attachment 
  
  

Rectangle

The Rectangle annotation is a form of Area annotation that can be drawn on 2D maps. Users are able to create rectangles by dragging the annotation over a specific area or they can predefine the rectangle width and length.

Notes:

• Rectangle annotations can be viewed in the 3D space, but cannot be created or adjusted. 
• We use standard geospatial corrections to calculate the area from the input of horizontal width length. In the case of extra large rectangles, that may result in slight discrepancies in area geometry calculation. The geospatial recalculated area may appear slightly larger than the geometrical calculation of the rectangle area.

The Rectangle annotation includes: 

• Change the name of the annotation 
• View who added the annotation and when 
• Area 
• Surface Area (see Area annotation above for more information)
• Set Horizontal Length 
• Set Horizontal Width 
• Field Note Creation (will not populate on the Field Note Report)
• Add comment & attachment 

Sharing Annotations

Note: To learn more about sharing as a whole, see our Data Sharing guide. 

Sharing privately

• Share Privately by adding a DroneDeploy user to the Project via email.

When sharing privately, other users can view, add, and reply to existing annotations. This allows you to get external advice on a field, as well as highlight any issues you may find on other users' maps. Other users can then create conversations around your data.

Note: the visibility status of each annotation is currently saved to the map, meaning that if user A turns off the annotation for Stockpile 1 and then the shared user B goes to view the annotation on the map, Stockpile 1 will still appear turned off.

Sharing Publicly

• Share publicly by accessing a URL link to the annotation 

When sharing publicly others will be able to view your annotations, but these will be at a read-only level

FAQs

To change your preferred units for annotations, navigate to your Account Preferences. From here, you can select imperial or metric units: