A hillshade is a shaded relief image generated from an elevation layer. Birdi simulates sunlight across your DSM or DTM and shades the surface accordingly, so slopes, ridges, benches, batters and drainage lines read instantly — even for people who don't work with elevation data every day.
You can:
Generate a hillshade from any DEM on your map, whether you uploaded it or Birdi processed it
Create one from the Layers panel, or just ask Scout
Get a hillshade automatically with every processing run that includes a DEM
Drape it under or over your orthophoto to add depth to flat-looking imagery
Hillshade generation is available on all plans.
When to use a hillshade
You want to understand the shape of a site quickly, without reading a colour ramp or contour interval
Your orthophoto looks flat and you need to show relief in a report or presentation
You're checking terrain for ridges, gullies, benches, batters or low points before design work
You want to sanity-check a DEM — artefacts, spikes and holes in the surface show up clearly in a hillshade
You're presenting to stakeholders who aren't technical and need the terrain to be self-explanatory
You want a clean background layer to draw annotations or volumetrics over
Step-by-step: creating a hillshade
1. Check you have a DSM or DTM
Hillshades are generated from an elevation layer, so you'll need one on your map first.
Open your map and look in the Layers panel
Confirm you have a DSM (surface, including vegetation and structures) or a DTM (bare earth)
If you don't have one, request processing for your map and include a DSM or DTM in your outputs, or upload your own DEM
Tip: Use a DTM when you want the ground shape on its own. Use a DSM when you want the site as-flown, including stockpiles, vegetation and buildings — handy for stockpile and structure work, but it will shade tree canopy as if it were terrain.
2. Open the layer menu
In the Layers panel, find your DSM or DTM
Right-click the layer, or select the … menu next to the layer name
3. Select Create hillshade
Choose Create hillshade from the menu
There's nothing to configure — Birdi generates the hillshade using standard sun angle settings
4. Wait for your hillshade to generate
Birdi processes the DEM and builds the hillshade layer
Larger and higher-resolution DEMs take longer
When it's finished, the new hillshade layer appears in your Layers panel
You can keep working on your map while it generates.
5. Ask Scout instead
If you'd rather not go hunting through menus, you can ask Scout, Birdi's AI agent, to do it for you.
Open Scout from the toolbar or the tag on the right of the screen
Ask in plain language — for example "create a hillshade from my DSM"
Scout finds the elevation layer on your map and generates the hillshade, then tells you when it's ready
6. Combine the hillshade with your other layers
A hillshade is most useful layered with something else, not on its own.
Drag the hillshade below your orthophoto in the Layers panel, then drop the orthophoto's opacity to around 60–70% — you get real imagery with the terrain showing through
Or put the hillshade above a DEM colour ramp to get shaded, colour-coded elevation
Toggle it on and off to compare against the flat orthophoto
Tip: Hillshades make an excellent base for annotations and volumetric layers. Shapes stay readable without competing with the detail in an orthophoto.
Hillshades from processing
You don't have to create hillshades manually. Any processing run that produces a DEM now delivers a hillshade alongside it, so it's already sitting in your Layers panel when your map comes back.
If you want a hillshade from a different DEM later — a DTM instead of a DSM, or a surface you've uploaded yourself — just create it from that layer using the steps above.
Best practice tips
Pick the right DEM for the question. DTM for ground shape and design work; DSM when you need vegetation, stockpiles and structures included.
Layer it, don't rely on it alone. A hillshade shows shape, not height. Pair it with contours or the elevation tooltip when you need actual values.
Use it as a quality check. Spikes, pits, stitching lines and gaps in a DEM are far easier to spot in a hillshade than in a colour ramp.
Rename the layer clearly — for example Hillshade – DTM – Aug 2026. It saves confusion when you have several DEMs on the same map.
Remember the light comes from one direction. Features running parallel to the simulated sunlight will look softer than features running across it, so rotate your view or cross-check before drawing conclusions about subtle terrain.
Hide the hillshade before exporting imagery if you want a clean orthophoto for your report.
Related articles