With Add as map overlay, you can put a PDF or image on your Birdi map even if the file has no coordinates. This works for site plans, scanned drawings and photographed paper plans. You match a few points on the file to the same spots on the map, and Birdi places it for you.
It supports:
PDFs without coordinates, including multi-page PDFs
Multi-page PDFs where some pages have coordinates and some don't
JPG/JPEG images (drone photos are excluded, as they're already placed on the map by camera position)
TIFF images without coordinates (TIFFs with coordinates go straight onto the map as a normal raster layer)
Your drawing comes in as an image layer, and you can adjust its opacity to compare it with the imagery underneath.
Available on all Birdi plans.
When to use map overlays
Your site plan or drawing was exported without coordinates
You have a scanned or photographed paper plan
You want to check progress against a plan that isn’t georeferenced
Your PDF mixes georeferenced and non-georeferenced pages
Step-by-step: adding a PDF or image as a map overlay
1. Upload your file
Upload your PDF or image to your map as usual: click +Add data, then Upload files. It uploads as a Document or Media file.
Tip: If your PDF has several pages and at least one of them has coordinates, Birdi identifies it as a Geo-ref PDF. It takes you straight to page selection and alignment, so you can skip to step 3.
2. Select Add as map overlay
In the Layers panel, right-click the file’s layer, or open its … menu, and choose Add as map overlay.
Note: Add as map overlay doesn’t appear on reports Birdi made, drone photos or vector layers.
3. Choose your pages
The Add drawing window lists each page with a thumbnail, its name, and whether it already has coordinates.
Tick the pages you want, then click Continue.
Pages with coordinates go straight onto the map.
Pages without coordinates open the alignment screen.
4. Place your alignment points
The alignment screen shows your drawing on the left and the map on the right.
Click a feature on the drawing.
Click the same spot on the map, or type its latitude and longitude.
Repeat for each point.
2 points place the drawing
3 points make it more accurate
4 or more points show how far off each point is, and flag any that don’t fit
Tip: Press Z to undo a point, or Esc to cancel the one you’re placing.
5. Check the preview
A live preview shows the drawing on the map as you add points. Use the opacity control to see how well the drawing lines up with the imagery underneath.
6. Save your alignment
Click Save alignment. The drawing renders on the map and stays there. It appears in the Layers panel in
Tip: If you cancel before saving, the page stays in the Layers panel with a needs alignment tag. Click it to finish later.
7. Fine-tune your alignment (optional)
To adjust a drawing you’ve already aligned, right-click it in the Layers panel and choose Adjust alignment.
Best practice tips
Pick features that are easy to see on both the drawing and the imagery, such as building corners, kerbs, road intersections or survey marks.
Spread your points across the whole drawing, ideally near the corners. Points bunched together can distort the edges.
Use 4 or more points so Birdi can show you how accurate each point is. Remove or re-place any that are flagged.
Zoom in on both sides when placing points for better precision.
Align against your most recent, highest-resolution orthomosaic.
For scanned plans, use a clean, straight-on scan. Skewed or folded pages are harder to line up.
Set the opacity to around 50–70% to see the drawing and the imagery clearly at the same time.