WMS Layers in Emlid Flow and Emlid Flow 360

Hi everyone!

We are excited to announce the latest update to Emlid Flow, which now supports Web Map Services (WMS) layers. This means you can easily add different map backgrounds to your projects, giving you more visual control and context of your survey area.

Manage layers with Emlid Flow 360
To manage layers, simply open My map layers, add the WMS server address, and choose the required layers. Once that’s done, open your project, click Map layers, and add your layers. Once you’ve added your layers, you can change the visibility and opacity of each map layer to suit your needs.

Adjust layers with Emlid Flow
If you’re out in the field, you can also change the visibility and opacity of the layers directly in the Emlid Flow app. This won’t affect the cloud settings.

If you want to get more information about working with layers, check out our guide.

To access WMS layers and other professional survey tools, upgrade to the Survey plan. Get a free 30-day trial at flow360.emlid.com.

14 Likes

This is a great feature! Thanks for including it in Emlid Flow!

I loaded a few of the WMS servers/layers I commonly use and discovered that Emlid Flow doesn’t seem to utilize the transparency when the layer is encoded as a PNG. The layer background is white and blocks the base-map, where it should be transparent.

Would it be possible to rectify this? Some of the WMS layers I use are PNG images containing lines. It’s helpful to have these overlaid on other layers, or the satellite base-map. I have tried the opacity feature, although this is a temporary workaround, but even at 10% it makes both base-map and WMS layers difficult to discern.

Thanks!

3 Likes

Dave, hi. I know you’ve also contacted our support with detailed examples of the problem. Thanks to that, we’ve already looked through it and will roll out a fix soon.

The root of the problem is that services and servers act slightly differently and it takes some trial and error to get things right across the world. Hopefully, after a couple of iterations, we’ll be there.

Reports like this help us move fast and improve the service for everyone :pray:

8 Likes

Hi Dave,

These updates are now out in Emlid Flow 360:

  • The transparent background is now shown properly. If you already have such layers added, please remove them and add them again for the changes to apply.

  • Emlid Flow 360 receives all available styles for each layer. You can choose them while adding new layers.

Please let me know how it works for you!

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Hi Kseniia & Egor,

Wow! That was a quick fix! Yes, it works perfectly now! The addition of WMS layers is a great feature of Emlid Flow. Thanks!

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@survey,

Thank you for the feedback! Glad to know it comes in handy :slightly_smiling_face:

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So, how exactly does one add layers and WMS sources? I have sources for data files that I use in QGIS, by adding layer files that I access on the web. I also have another web-based subscription that currently provides what I use to find lot line information in the field…the main problem with that is I’m not using my RS2+ for my location, just the intenal GPS on my phone. For example: I’d be delighted if I could have On-Xmaps as my background. onXmaps Web App. It’s not perfect, but it sure beats what I’m using now.Ideally, I’d like to upload my QGIS files to my phone…replete with points, lines, contours, and Google Hybrid Aerials…How about a step by step video tutorial on how to customise the background maps? We’re all waiting for something we can use…right?

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Hi John,

I can’t say much about working with WMS layers in other apps, but I’d like to add one more note about Emlid Flow. Except for the guide Yaroslava shared, I’d recommend checking our post How to add an orthomosaic to Emlid Flow. It includes a video tutorial on how to obtain a WMTS link for a layer you created.

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Thank you!
There’s a ton of useful information in that post and comments.

P.S. Sorry it took so long to say thanks. I’m just now revisiting this topic and oddly didn’t get a notification of your reply…(I’ll look into that)
Thanks again!

2 Likes