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Downloading and Exporting
Lidarvisor delivers results in the formats your clients and software expect — LAS, LAZ, COPC, E57, and PLY for point clouds; GeoTIFF for terrain models; DXF, Shapefile, and GeoJSON for vectors; LandXML, DXF, OBJ, and PLY for 3D surfaces; PDF and CSV for reports. This page explains how to download each type, and which downloads require a paid subscription.
Downloading from the Project Tree
Every asset in the project tree (left panel) has a download button (a downward arrow icon). Click it to start the download. Depending on the asset type, you may be asked to choose a format.
Viewing Is Free — Downloading Requires a Subscription
Lidarvisor follows a simple rule: you can always view every result for free in the 3D viewer. Downloading the result files requires an active paid subscription (any plan).
| Action | Free account | Paid subscription |
|---|---|---|
| View every result in the 3D viewer | Yes | Yes |
| Download your own uploads (original point cloud, orthophoto, area of interest, control points) | Yes | Yes |
| Download anything from a demo project | Yes | Yes |
| Download processed results (classified point cloud, terrain models, 3D surface, vector layers, reports) | — | Yes |
| Export an elevation profile as DXF | — | Yes |
A few things worth knowing:
- Any paid plan unlocks all downloads. There is no per-download charge, and re-downloading a file you already exported never costs anything extra while your subscription is active.
- Your own data is always yours. Files you uploaded — the original point cloud, orthophotos, your area of interest, your ground control points — download free on every plan.
- If your subscription lapses, you keep access to your projects and the 3D viewer, and you keep every file you already downloaded. You just cannot export new files until you resubscribe — nothing is deleted.
- If you click download without a subscription, a dialog offers to subscribe on the spot.
See Account and Subscription for plan details.
Point Cloud Downloads
Original Point Cloud
Your original uploaded file is always available for download in its original format (LAS or LAZ).
Classified Point Cloud
After processing, you can download the classified version of your point cloud. Click the download button on the Classified Point Cloud node, and a dialog appears with format options:
| Format | Extension | Description | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| LAS | .las | Standard LiDAR format, uncompressed | Immediate use — no decompression needed |
| LAZ | .laz | Compressed LAS — same data, much smaller file | Archiving and sharing — saves bandwidth |
| COPC | .copc.laz | Cloud-Optimized Point Cloud — designed for efficient streaming | Web viewers, cloud-based workflows |
| E57 | .e57 | An interoperable format used in BIM and survey workflows | Interoperability with BIM software, Revit, survey instruments |
| PLY | .ply | A 3D modeling format | 3D modeling software (Blender, MeshLab, CloudCompare) |
The LAS download starts immediately. The other formats (LAZ, COPC, E57, PLY) are prepared on demand — a few seconds to a few minutes depending on file size — and appear under Ready downloads when done.
Note: Downloading the classified point cloud requires an active paid subscription (any plan). See plans.
Original Timestamps Are Preserved
The classified point cloud you download keeps the GPS time your sensor recorded — the acquisition timestamp of every point, with its original time encoding — and the file header keeps the creation date of your source file, not the processing date. This means the downloaded cloud can still answer "when was this flown" and still lines up with flight trajectories and field notes. If your source file carried no GPS time, none is invented: the field is simply absent, exactly as in your upload.
Filtered Download (by Class)
You can download a point cloud containing only specific classes. For example, download only Ground points, or only Buildings + Ground.
To do this:
- In the project tree, tick only the classes you want.
- Click the download button.
- Choose to download only the visible (ticked) classes.
This creates a filtered file with only the selected point types — useful when you need to deliver just the ground surface or just the vegetation to a client.
A progress bar shows the filtering progress. When the download is ready, you will receive a notification and can download the file.
Ready Downloads
Some exports (filtered downloads, format conversions) take time to prepare. Lidarvisor keeps them available for a limited time after generation. You will see a "Ready downloads" section showing previously prepared exports with an expiry countdown (in days). Click to download before they expire.
Terrain Model (Raster) Downloads
Terrain models (DTM, DSM, CHM, Slope Map) are downloaded as GeoTIFF files — the standard raster format for geospatial data.
Click the download button next to any terrain model in the project tree. You will receive a ZIP file containing:
- The elevation raster (the raw data as a GeoTIFF)
- The visualization (hillshade or colorized version as a GeoTIFF with transparency)
The TIN also offers the GeoTIFF download, but it is more than a raster — see below.
3D Surface (TIN) Downloads
The TIN asset is Lidarvisor's 3D surface — a real triangulated mesh of the ground that CAD and 3D software can open directly, not just a raster picture of it. Its download dialog groups the formats by what you will do with them:
Surface — for CAD and 3D software
| Format | Best For |
|---|---|
| LandXML | Civil 3D, Carlson, Trimble Business Center, Bentley OpenRoads — the survey-industry surface format. Carries the triangles and the coordinate system, so the surface lands on your site on import with no manual alignment. |
| DXF | AutoCAD, BricsCAD — the surface as 3D faces on a TIN layer, ready to build a CAD surface from. |
| OBJ | Blender, Fusion 360, SketchUp, Rhino — the universal 3D mesh interchange format. |
| PLY | CloudCompare, MeshLab — the same mesh in compact binary form, noticeably smaller than OBJ. |
About OBJ and PLY coordinates: These formats carry no coordinate system, and 3D software loses precision on large real-world coordinates. Lidarvisor therefore writes them around a local origin, and the download includes a small origin file and a
.prjalongside the mesh — adding the origin back to every vertex restores the exact real-world position. LandXML and DXF keep absolute coordinates.
Raster — for GIS and visualization
- GeoTIFF — the rasterized elevation data plus a hillshade image (same as the other terrain models).
Triangle layer — for GIS analysis
- GeoJSON or Shapefile — one polygon per triangle, carrying slope, aspect, area, and elevation attributes.
Vector Downloads
All vector layers — contour lines, elevation grid, building footprints, bridges, roads, rails, power lines, towers, tree tops, tree crowns, vegetation areas, water bodies, shorelines, breaklines, cadastral parcels, and the vegetation-encroachment finding layers (buffer zones, clearance zones, right-of-way, fallen tree risk) — can be downloaded in three formats:
| Format | Extension | Coordinate System | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| GeoJSON | .geojson | WGS84 (latitude/longitude) | Web applications, JavaScript maps, QGIS |
| Shapefile | .shp (in ZIP) | Original project CRS | ArcGIS, QGIS, traditional GIS workflows |
| DXF | .dxf | Original project CRS | AutoCAD, Civil 3D, CAD software |
Click the download button next to any vector layer, choose your format, and the file downloads.
What's Inside the DXF
Vector DXF files are built for real CAD work:
- One named layer per feature type. Geometry lands on a layer named after what you exported —
BUILDINGS,CONTOURS,ROADS_CURBS,POWER_WIRES,TREES_TOPS, and so on — so you can toggle, restyle, or freeze each feature family in your CAD software, just like you toggle layers in Lidarvisor's viewer. - Attributes on every feature. Each feature carries a block insert whose attribute fields hold the same values as the Shapefile's attribute table (tree height, contour elevation, and so on). You can read and edit them in AutoCAD's Properties palette, and extract them to a table with the Data Extraction tool (
DATAEXTRACTION/EATTEXT). - Units declared in the file. The DXF header declares your project's units — feet on foot-based projects, meters otherwise — so CAD software measures distances correctly without a manual unit override.
Attribute name length: Attribute names are shared with the Shapefile, and the Shapefile format (DBF) truncates names longer than 10 characters. The DXF uses the same truncated names, so attributes match across both formats.
Understanding the Coordinate Systems
- GeoJSON files are always converted to WGS84 (EPSG:4326) — the standard latitude/longitude system used by web maps and GPS. This ensures they work anywhere.
- Shapefile and DXF files keep the original coordinate system of your LiDAR data (the EPSG code from the upload). This is important for accuracy in local workflows.
- If your project's coordinate system is not a projected one, the DXF is written in the best-matching projected system for your site — CAD drawings need projected coordinates to measure correctly.
Report Downloads
| Report | Download |
|---|---|
| Project Report | PDF — the survey-wide report for the whole project |
| Topographic Map | Your choice of the DXF drawing (the editable CAD file) or the printable PDF sheet (the same sheet at its printed scale, ready to plot) |
| Forest Inventory | ZIP containing the PDF visual report + the CSV data spreadsheet |
| Vegetation Encroachment | PDF report (its findings are also downloadable separately as vector layers) |
Click the download button next to any report in the project tree. See Reports for what each report contains.
Elevation Profile Exports
Elevation profiles (cross-sections) can be exported from the profile panel at the bottom of the viewer:
- CSV — a spreadsheet with columns for distance, elevation, classification, and optionally RGB and intensity values
- DXF — a CAD drawing of the profile line (requires a paid subscription, like the other CAD deliverables)
See Measurement Tools for details on creating profiles.
Where Do Downloads Go?
Downloads are handled by your web browser's standard download mechanism. Files will appear in your browser's default download folder (typically the "Downloads" folder on your computer).
Large files may take a moment to prepare before the download starts. Lidarvisor generates a temporary download link (valid for several hours) and your browser begins the download automatically.
Format Selection Guide
Not sure which format to choose? Here is a quick guide:
For Point Clouds
| Your Goal | Recommended Format |
|---|---|
| Open in CloudCompare | LAS or LAZ |
| Import into Revit or BIM software | E57 |
| Use in a web-based viewer | COPC |
| Open in Blender or 3D modeling software | PLY |
| Archive with minimal storage | LAZ |
| Share with someone who may not know what LiDAR is | LAZ (smallest) |
For Vectors
| Your Goal | Recommended Format |
|---|---|
| Import into AutoCAD or Civil 3D | DXF |
| Open in QGIS, ArcGIS, or other GIS software | Shapefile |
| Use in a web application or Google Earth | GeoJSON |
| Send to a CAD engineer | DXF |
| Send to a GIS analyst | Shapefile |
For the 3D Surface (TIN)
| Your Goal | Recommended Format |
|---|---|
| Build a surface in Civil 3D, Carlson, or Trimble Business Center | LandXML |
| Open the ground surface in AutoCAD or BricsCAD | DXF |
| Work on the mesh in Blender, Fusion 360, or SketchUp | OBJ |
| Inspect the mesh in CloudCompare or MeshLab | PLY (smallest) |
For Rasters (Terrain Models)
GeoTIFF is the only raster format, and it is universally supported by GIS and mapping software (QGIS, ArcGIS, Global Mapper, etc.). It can also be opened in image editors that support geospatial data. (For the TIN's CAD-ready surface formats, see the table above.)
Tips
- ZIP files: Several downloads come as ZIP archives. You will need to extract (unzip) them before opening the files inside.
- Large files: Point cloud downloads can be very large (several GB). Make sure you have enough free disk space and a stable internet connection.
- Browser compatibility: If a download does not start, try disabling your browser's popup blocker for cloud.lidarvisor.com.
- Multiple assets: Download assets individually. There is currently no "download all" button, so you download each result separately.
Next Step
Want to share your project with someone? Head to Sharing Projects.