You can now upload a georeferenced PDF straight to your Birdi map. Birdi reads the coordinates stored in the PDF and places the drawing in the right spot automatically. You don’t need to align anything by hand.
What you get depends on what’s in the PDF:
Drawings with linework (e.g. PDFs exported from CAD) come in as vectors in their original colours. They stay sharp at any zoom, and you can hide individual CAD layers.
Scanned or image-only PDFs come in as an image of the page. You can adjust their opacity.
Available on Plus, Growth and Ultimate plans (standard and custom).
When to use georeferenced PDFs
Overlay design drawings, site plans or setout plans on your latest orthomosaic
Check as-built progress against the design
Compare a scanned historical plan with current site conditions
Share consultant drawings with your team in the same map view as your capture data
Step-by-step: adding a georeferenced PDF to your map
1. Open your map
Go to the Birdi map you want to add the drawing to.
2. Open the uploader
Click +Add data in the left-hand sidebar, then select Upload files.
3. Select your PDF
Drag and drop your PDF into the uploader, or browse to select it.
If Birdi recognises the file as a georeferenced PDF, it detects the file type for you.
Tip: Only single-page georeferenced PDFs are added as map layers. Other PDFs still upload as documents, the same as before.
4. Let Birdi convert it to a layer
Birdi uploads the file and turns it into a map layer. When it’s finished, the drawing appears in the Layers panel inside a Geo-ref PDF folder, already positioned on the map.
PDFs with embedded linework or shapefile data become a vector overlay.
PDFs without vector data (e.g. scans) are rasterised into an image of the page.
5. Style your drawing
Select the layer in the Layers panel to open the Layer toolbox, then open the Style tab.
For vector drawings:
Hide individual CAD layers to show only the linework you need
Use the existing vector styling options to adjust colours, line weight and opacity
For rasterised (scanned) drawings:
Use the opacity slider to fade the drawing so you can compare it with the imagery underneath
Tip: Set the opacity to around 50–70% to see the drawing and the orthomosaic clearly at the same time.
6. Download the original (optional)
Click Download to get the original PDF file.
Best practice tips
Check that your PDF is georeferenced before you upload it. Most CAD and GIS exports have a “geospatial PDF” or “GeoPDF” option.
Export one sheet per PDF. Multi-page PDFs upload as documents, not map layers.
Export your drawing as vectors rather than a flattened image wherever you can. Vector drawings stay sharp and let you toggle CAD layers.
Use Split Screen to compare the drawing with your imagery side by side.