Tiler

The Tiler creates pyramids of tiles for use in common web mapping applications. To use the Tiler you will need to have an RGB or grayscale raster that is 8-bits per pixel. The raster should also be properly georeferenced to match the web mapping application's spatial referenced.

The Tiler creates a number of "levels" with each level being one "step" in a pyramid. Each "step" will contain a number of rows and columns of tiles. The top step (or level)typically contains just one tile while the bottom step can contain thousands of tiles.

There are a large number of settings in this dialog but typically you will just set the following settings:

1. Specify the "Highest" resolution desired. This is for the bottom step of the pyramid and should be a multiple of the resolution for the web mapping solution. Most of the solutions I provide use 1 as the base resolution (i.e. 1 meter = 1 pixel).
2. Click on "Calculate".
3. Check the number of rows and columns and add increase the "Number of Levels" and click "Calculate" until the top step is 1 row by 1 column.
4. Click the "Browse" button next to the "Save To:" text field and create a folder for the tiles. Give the tiles a file name such as "Tile.png".
5. Click "OK". The Tiler will now create a number of tiles for each level/step and add the level, row, and column of each tile to the file name you provided.
6. When done, copy the tiles to a folder accessible by your web server and add code to your web mapping application to display the pyramid.

Content Tab

Settings Tab

Tile From: This is the input raster and should be an 8-bit grayscale or RGB raster.

Purpose: This setting is only needed if you have a grayscale image and you want to use a color ramp on it. In this case, set the popup to "Viewing" and select a "Color Ramp".

Reference tiles from: This indicates where you want to start the edges of the tiles to align to, either the reference system origin or the edges of the raster. Typically you will leave this setting set to "reference system origin". If you change the setting to "edges of the raster", you can specify specific "Left Edge" and "Right Edge" values for the start of tiling.

Tile Width and Height : Most web mapping applications use 256 x 256 pixels for their tiles but you can specify other dimensions such as 128 x128 or 512 x 512. This will change the performance of a web mapping solution somewhat but regardless, values that are a multiple of 2 should be used.

Number of Levels: The number of "Zoom Levels" or "Steps" in the pyramid for this set of tiles.

Level Detail: These controls allow you to control and check the number of rows and columns of tiles and to change the resolution of the bottom step/level of the pyramid (i.e. the one with the largest number of tiles and the highest resolution). Clicking "Calculate" will update the disabled text fields in the Level Detail based on the highest resolution, number of levels, and the resolution and size of the input raster.

Save To: Specifies the final location for the tiles. This should be a folder that is just for this tile set and the file name should be of the form "Tiles.png". Any supported file format should work but remember that only png, gif, and jpg are supported on the web.