Georeferenced Google Earth image for QGIS, ArcGIS and Global Mapper

A screenshot of Google Earth has no coordinates, so in a GIS program it has to be georeferenced by hand with control points. EarthDL saves the image together with the files that tell the GIS program where it belongs, so it lands in the right place when you open it.

Files in the output folder

File What it is

name.jpg or name.png The image, all tiles joined and cut exactly to your area

name.jgw or name.pgw World file: pixel size and the coordinate of the top left pixel

name.prj Coordinate system: Web Mercator, EPSG:3857

name.kml GroundOverlay, to check the position in Google Earth

name.json Bounding box, center, resolution and ground size, for your own scripts

name_polygon.png + .pgw Only when you drew a polygon: transparent outside the polygon

File	What it is
`name.jpg` or `name.png`	The image, all tiles joined and cut exactly to your area
`name.jgw` or `name.pgw`	World file: pixel size and the coordinate of the top left pixel
`name.prj`	Coordinate system: Web Mercator, EPSG:3857
`name.kml`	GroundOverlay, to check the position in Google Earth
`name.json`	Bounding box, center, resolution and ground size, for your own scripts
`name_polygon.png` + `.pgw`	Only when you drew a polygon: transparent outside the polygon

Open it in QGIS

Keep the image, the world file and the .prj file together in one folder.
Drag name.jpg into QGIS, or use Layer > Add Layer > Add Raster Layer.
QGIS reads the world file and the .prj by itself. If it asks for the coordinate system, choose EPSG:3857.

ArcGIS and Global Mapper read the same world file and .prj, so the steps are the same: add the image as a raster layer.

Convert to GeoTIFF

If you want a single file with the coordinates inside, convert it with GDAL (it comes with QGIS, in the OSGeo4W Shell):

gdal_translate -a_srs EPSG:3857 name.jpg name.tif

To change the projection to latitude / longitude (EPSG:4326) at the same time:

gdalwarp -s_srs EPSG:3857 -t_srs EPSG:4326 name.jpg name_4326.tif

Choosing the zoom

The zoom selector of EarthDL shows the size of the image in pixels and the size on the ground in meters before the download starts. As a rule of thumb, one pixel at the equator is about 1.2 m at zoom 17, 0.6 m at zoom 18 and 0.3 m at zoom 19, and it gets smaller toward the poles. A higher zoom than the imagery really has only makes the file bigger.

Other sources

The same output is written for every source: Google Earth, Google Earth historical (pick a date), Google Satellite, Esri World Imagery, Bing Aerial, or your own XYZ tile server.

Note: The downloaded offline images are only for your personal purpose, non-commercial use.

EarthDL costs $55, paid once. Buy | How to use | FAQ

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Last updated: Oct 3, 2026