Google Earth Tips and Tricks

Google Earth Tips and Tricks

Can you uncover government secrets with your Google Earth? Okay, probably not but there are some really great things you can do with it. Here are some user tips and tricks to make the most of your Google Earth.

Try visiting famous places around the globe.
- You can use Google Earth to visit places such as the South Pole, the Grand Canyon and pretty much any landmark or sight-seeing location you can think of

Learn how to zoom in your view:

double-click your mouse button (left button, if you have multiple buttons, to zoom in, right button to zoom out); use the mouse scroll-wheel (if you have one)
use the CTRL-UP or CTRL-DOWN key combinations.

Learn how to tilt to side views
- You are not limited to only looking at locations and landmarks from above
- When you are centered on a location, use your Page Down key and watch the camera change angles so you can see the shot from the side
- You can also do this with your middle mouse button – click and tilt the mouse to control your view

You can navigate with a mouse (most people find easiest) or with the navigation tools on your mini-map/compass.

Images on Google Earth are not “real time” photos. They are images captured over the last 3 years with satellites from Google Earth.
The better your graphics card, the better your images from Google Earth will be.

You can view 3D buildings by (from Google Earth Help Center):
- Turn on the 3D building layer by selecting the check box in the dashboard.
- Position the viewer within a reasonable viewing altitude over a major city such as San Francisco. The 3D buildings start to appear from an eye-elevation of 10-12,000 feet.
- Check the eye-elevation meter on the lower right of the 3D viewer to determine your current viewing height. The 3D buildings appear as light grey objects over the imagery of the city. As you zoom in, more details will appear until you can see the entire shape of a building.
- Use the tilt and rotate tools to get the best view of the buildings.