New Enhancements and Fixes
We are committed to the on-going support and improvement of our products. We regularly release upgrades containing fixes and new features/enhancements. The Support Upgrades page describes how to get the latest versions.
Listed below are significant changes since the 2018 release. Click on each section to expand to see details. See below for older releases, or see a list of all the changes in modern versions.
PhotoModeler's Major Enhancements List
2025 Changes
2025.0.0 (Dec. 6, 2024)
- Idealize Preview. A quick display of what the final Idealized image will look like. A useful tool even if not Idealizing as it gives visual feedback as to how the camera parameters solved. (Premium only)
- Outline Ellipse. A new tool and object called Outline Ellipse. Like the Outline Circle, this tool provides a quick way to outline elliptical shaped objects on a surface. See the Ellipse video.
- Outline Rounded Rectangle. A new tool called Rounded Rectangle produces eight connected Outline parts (four Lines and four Fillets) quickly. In some fields, a rectangle with rounded corners on a surface is common - this tool greatly speeds up their creation. See the Rounded Rectangle video.
- Outline Individual Part Move. An individual part of an Outline can now be dragged to a new location, while remaining connected to the rest of the Outline. Click two times to select the part, and then click and drag to move.
- Outline Fillet on a Point. A point that joins to two Outline parts (like Lines or Splines) can be converted to a filleted corner easily without redrawing the connected parts.
- 68 changes. In total, there were 7 significant changes, 35 improvements, and 25 fixes
2024 Changes
2024.2.0 (June 20, 2024)
- New Best Fit Plane tools. You can now add and remove points from the definition of a Best Fit Plane after it has been created. This is useful if you have Surface Draw or Outlines associated with a Plane that is incorrectly defined - now an easy fix to the underlying Plane. See the Other Plane Tools video.
- New Plane tools Outline button. The Outlining Ribbon Toolbar has a new button with four drop-down tools that help with Plane definition and study. The two new tools: Add and Remove Points from Plane, and two existing tools: 'Select Defining Objects' and 'Select Associated Surface Draw'. These tools can be very handy when working with Outlines and Surface Draw projects (such as marine decking). See the Other Plane Tools video.
- Cloud Point Quick Select. A new quick method for selecting a point within a Point Cloud without having to change modes - a second click in select mode. See the Point in Cloud Select video.
- Outline Manipulation improvements. When an Outline is duplicated, the duplicate keeps the same rotation as the original. During an Outline rotation, there is a new arrow drawn from the center of rotation, to provide better feedback during the rotation operation.
- Layers reordering. Layers can now be ordered manually. This is useful when you have a large number of Layers and you want common ones at the top of the Layers drop-down pick list.
- Synced copies of a Secondary Cloud Import. Previously to create another copy of an Imported Point Cloud you would create a copy of the original using the Create Secondary link in Imports and Coordinates Pane. Now you can create a copy of a copy (which keeps the position and angles of the copy). This makes it easier for placement of moving cars in frames.
- Export of Point Cloud and Mesh Center. Project's with Point Clouds or Meshes have a new export option. On the Export items you can pick Mesh Center which will export the cloud/mesh's computed center (good for computing distances between like meshes, etc.).
- 53 changes. In total, there were 7 significant changes, 18 improvements, and 28 fixes
2024.1.0 (Mar. 26, 2024)
- Create Coded Target Improvements. The Create Coded Targets dialog has new controls for a) avoiding Letter Sheet overlap, and b) setting the number of targets per page. And it has been redesigned for better ease of use.
- Improved Import Pinning. Import Pinning has new controls for direct input of, and fine adjustment of, the six transform parameters. See video.
- Import Secondary Copy Improvements. When creating a second copy of a pinned import, the copy is now in the same position as the original with a free transform setup - making it easier to adjust. See video.
- Import Pinning in Scale/Rotate Projects. One can now do import pinning in projects set up with a Scale / Rotate or Multi-point affine transform and the pin will update with changes to those coordinate system definitions. See video.
- 60 changes. In total, there were 4 significant changes, 25 improvements, and 31 fixes
2024.0.0 (Dec. 12, 2023)
- SmartMatch in Standard. The SmartMatch capability (auto-detection of like-points across photos without targets) is now part of PhotoModeler Standard (it was exclusive to Premium). This opens up new project types and capabilities in the lower cost product!
- Pinned Point Cloud Transformation. Imported point clouds can now be manually placed in a photo, as well as placed with additional light-ray (single photo) constraints. This gives a great capability to place multiple objects in a single photo forensic project without the worry of matching the base coordinate system. See this video.
- Note: The 2024.0.0 public release is a combination of the changes from two non-public releases 2023.3.1 and 2023.3.2, along with the 2024.0.0 specific changes.
- Over 45 changes (in the 3 releases). In total, there were 2 significant changes, 19 improvements, and 25 fixes.
2023 Changes
2023.3.0 (Aug. 28, 2023)
- Outline Split. A new tool that can split an Outline Line or Spline part way - great for adding hinges etc. during marine deck outlining work. See this Outline Split Video.
- Find Surface Trace Photos. A new tool that creates a new temporary photo set showing potential photos to use when Outlining or Surface Drawing. The source and best potential photo will be opened, giving a good way to continue outlining an existing area once you have reached the edge of the current photo. This helps answer, "What photo do I use next?' See this Find Surface Trace Photos Video.
- New Processing Feedback. In automatically processed projects (Coded Targets and SmartMatch), the amount of coverage and overlap in each photo can be important feedback for processing issues. A new section of the Processing Report provides this feedback.
- Over 50 changes. In total, there were 3 significant changes, 30 improvements, and 20 fixes.
2023.2.0 (May 1, 2023)
- New Outline Tools. New tools to manipulate whole Outlines such as Move, Rotate, Mirror, and Duplicate.
- 48 changes. Some important fixes! In total there were 1 significant change, 18 improvements, and 29 fixes.
2023.1.0 (Jan. 17, 2023)
- Interactive Offset Height. If you measure height above a surface often (great for suspect height in a security camera image), the new interactive method of defining the offset length is very convenient. See video.
- Outline Fillet Improvements. There a few nice new features for filleting Outlines: a) non-filleted joins can be converted to a fillet, b) an existing fillet can be re-estimated with the interactive fillet tool, and c) multiple unjoined Outlines can be filleting at once. A few Outline bugs were squashed too!. See video.
- 30 changes. In total, there were 4 significant changes, 8 improvements, and 18 fixes.
2023.0.0 (Dec. 12, 2022)
- Outlines. A brand new method of doing surface draw called Outlines. Outlines are more "CAD-like" and provide an efficient way to produce high quality tracings on planar surfaces (great for marine decking and 2D digitization of patterns & templates). Includes Lines, Arcs, Circles, Splines, Polylines, and Fillets. More efficient creation and reduces CAD rework. See this intro video.
- New Scripting Commands. A few new commands for script and external control of PhotoModeler: AddPhotos, AddCameraFromImage, RunAutomatedCodedTargetProject, SetTempPreference, and AddCameraByCamFile.
- Automatic Project Automation. A new framework for running automated projects externally from scripting.
- Over 40 changes. In total, there were 3 significant changes, 8 improvements, and 30 fixes.
2022 Changes
2022.2.0 (May 31, 2022)
- Coded Target Project Merge. You can now merge two or more independent PhotoModeler projects that use the same Coded Targets, as long as some targets are shared between project pairs. This is great for modeling larger boat decks, etc., with smaller sets of targets. See this video for a description.
- Multiple Pinned Cloud Import. An imported point cloud can now be pinned with different transforms (such as a lidar scan of a car pinned to multiple image frames), without having to import or take up memory/disk space for multiple import copies.
- Video Extraction to Image Sequence. Frames of video from a fixed camera (like a surveillance camera) can now be imported to create an Image Sequence.
- Over 40 changes. In total there were 3 significant changes, 20 improvements, and 19 fixes.
2022.1.1 (Mar. 2, 2022)
- Fixes and small improvements. This quick release is aimed at some small improvements and fixes. Notable: A fix for a bug introduced in v2022.1.0 that caused problems with SmartOrient (slow processing, misorients, or 3d projection issues).
- 11 changes. In total there were 6 improvements, and 5 fixes.
2022.1.0 (Feb. 16, 2022)
- Large Point Cloud Improvements. Imported (or DSM-created) point clouds with a large point count will now import faster, save faster, and navigate more smoothly in the 3D View and the Imports View. (premium)
- Idealized Photo Zoom. Idealizing a photo (removing all the lens distortions), now provides a zoom factor to allow control over the amount of black border in the resulting photo. (premium)
- Planes from Point Clouds. A Plane object can be created by fitting to points from part of a point cloud object.
- Surface Draw Import Pinning. A new form of import pinning (transforming the imported object into the coordinate system of the project), can now be done with just two Surface Draw points and a Plane surface. Great for pinning imported car models to road surfaces.
- Import Pinning Scale. When using import pinning, you can now control whether to solve for scale during the pinning transform (i.e. just solve translation and rotation).
- Over 50 changes. In total there were 7 significant changes, 22 improvements, and 23 fixes.
2022.0.0 (Nov. 2, 2021)
- Default Layers and Materials. You can now define a set of layers and materials which are automatically added to all new projects.
- Camera Stations Layers and Materials. Camera Stations now have Layer and Material properties. This allows things like hiding certain stations in the 3D viewer, or giving them unique colors.
- Photo Mark Size Control. You can now adjust the size of point-type marks on photos on the fly. Great for high resolution monitors, or for quick reviews of coverage.
- Improved Surface Curve Drawing. While in Surface Draw Line or Curve mode, existing Surface Draw points can be moved by clicking and dragging them. This makes it easier to adjust points that were just drawn, or to improve existing points without having to switch out of Surface Draw mode.
- Over 60 changes. In total there were 4 significant changes, 38 improvements, and 21 fixes.
2021 Changes
2021.1.0 (Jun. 3, 2021)
- New Surface Draw Surface Selection. There is a new way to select a Surface during Surface Draw. If there are multiple surfaces close to the first surface draw point, a new menu allows you to choose which Surface to use. The menu lists the surfaces and as you mouse over each menu option, the surface and defining objects are highlighted, giving a way to visually identify them. Better feedback for Surface Draw marking in multiple-surface projects. See the new video.
- Expanding Camera Station Selection. There are two new useful tools for relating objects, photos and 3D Camera Stations. "Select Camera Stations Showing Selected" will select and highlight all Camera Stations in the 3D View where the currently selected objects have been marked. Great for all objects, and very useful to see where Bent Tubes have been marked and to visualize the angles. And "Select Camera Stations of Open Photos" provides a way to see where the currently open photos' stations are in the 3D view.
- Best Fit Plane Crop Area. Best Fit Planes are now cropped to the smallest bounding box of the defining points. The previous method (based on the first two selected points or axis) remains as an option. This reduces overlap in the views, making them easier to work with - esp. with Surface Draw.
- Flattening Export Improvement. When using the export option 'flatten per surface', part placement has been improved. Each part is now translated so the Surface's center point will match it's position on the XY plane projection. This makes working with 'surface flattened' exports easier in CAD.
- 37 changes. In total there were 4 significant changes, 13 improvements, and 20 fixes.
2021.0.2 (Mar. 31, 2021)
- Pre-set Configuration Error Detection. PhotoModeler Letter Sheets are now detected during the Coded Target marking step. Under certain conditions, new warning messages appear if there are Letter Sheets and no Preset configuration applied, or if the sheet 'A' (that does the coordinate system setup) is missing.
- Improved Tool Icon Visibility/Accessibility. The icons used in pane tools (Visibility, Referencing, Imports Panes) have been redesign to be larger and easier to see. Important with the increases in screen resolution these days.
- Photo Window Multi-row Tabs. Photo window tabs now present in multiple rows if there are enough windows open. This make navigating to a particular open photo easier.
- Offline Tutorial File Access. Any tutorial project files that have been downloaded to the local computer are now more easily accessed through the same revamped tutorial system if your computer has no internet access.
- 29 changes. In total there were 14 improvements, and 15 fixes.
2021.0.1 (Mar. 3, 2021)
- 7 changes. 4 important bug fixes, and 3 smaller improvements .
2021.0.0 (Feb. 24, 2021)
- Complete Restructure of Tutorial System. The tutorial and tip videos now have an easier and consistent mechanism for access and viewing within the program and on the website. All html based so easier to keep up to date. This goes hand in hand with a revamp of the Tutorial Video list on the web site that is now application-focused and better organized.
- Bent Tube Modeling Object. A new object for modeling cylindrical tubes with bends. Primary purpose is for the modeling of the tube supports for marine canvas.
- Referencing Explorer. A visual tool for exploring the relationship between photos and what makes a good reference across photos for points, edges, curves, and bent tubes.
- Over 80 changes. In total there were 3 significant changes, 39 improvements, and 39 fixes.
2020 Changes
2020.2.1 (Sep. 1, 2020)
- New System for DXF Import. This new system should improve DXF file import compatibility, and as well, adds the ability to import splines.
- Automatic Target Marking Improvements. 1) The dialog now has the option to define a polygonal region for target search, instead of only a rectangle. 2) There is a new option to estimate the sizing for dot targets based on any existing target marks. 3) The dialog has been simplified with some options moved to a new advanced settings dialog.
- New Script/DDE Command for Target Presets. 'ApplyCodedTargetPresets' script command is used to apply the default Target Preset, or an indexed Coded Target Preset Configuration, to an automated coded target project.
- Coded Target Preset Offset Point Support. Coded Target Presets now support Offset points. a) RAD Offsets can be used to define scales, rotation, or translation. b) All offset points can be used as the ends of lines in a preset.
- In total there were 5 significant changes, 22 improvements, and 23 fixes.
2020.2.0 (June 15, 2020)
- Flattening for 2.5D Surfaces. If you are creating 2D materials (such as those being cut on a digital plotter/cutter) in an application where you are outlining regions on surfaces that are close to flat but aren’t quite (such as a subtle curve to a boat deck), this new feature will be of interest. When you export the Surface Draw data from PhotoModeler as a 2D file (dxf or svg) for CAD work or cutting, any variation of the surface from perfectly flat will cause distortion. Your distances and shapes may not be quite right in the export. This new flattening ability will flatten different regions separately so you are exporting an accurate representation of the outlines on various planes at different inclines.
- Interactive Referencing. Referencing and matching points between photographs is a key concept in multi-photo photogrammetry. PhotoModeler has a few different tools for doing it so you can find the best fit for your task. The new Interactive Referencing tool can be thought of as a ‘review and clean up’ tool. It is a great method for ensuring all your points are referenced completely on all possible photos. You can run it after manual or automatic referencing work as a check. When this tool is activated, PhotoModeler searches your current set of 3D points to see if any other marks or points share the same location. This can be extremely helpful in large projects with lots of points.
- Automatic Referencing Improvements. In a processed project the Automatic Referencing tool is used to reference a large number of 2D point marks. These points can be targets or manually marked. Thanks to a revamp, even more matches will be found! The Automatic Referencing dialog also includes a new residual threshold to only allow matches under this value. This can help reduce errors, even with large search distances, and works great with large projects.
- Networking Floating Install Simplification. Network Floating licenses now have a simplified installation process and there is no longer a separate Netfloat Installer. Now both the Standalone and Netfloat are installed with the same installer executable, and the difference comes with how they are activated when first run. It also means that if a staff member downloads the demo/eval installer by mistake, it is easy to convert it to a network floating client..
- Merging of Template Capture Add-on. The Template Capture Add-on to PhotoModeler Standard has been merged into PhotoModeler Standard and is no longer a separate product.
- In total there were 5 significant changes, 22 improvements, and 26 fixes.
2020.1.1 (Apr. 1, 2020)
- Single-Click Target Marking. Single-click sub-pixel dot marking; clicking without dragging a region in Target Mark mode (or holding shift while clicking in Point Mark mode) will now look for and mark the closest nearby circular target. This can greatly speed up marking of dot targets.
- 2D Export Flattening Report. When exporting a 2D format (.dxf or .svg), a new Flatten Report can be accessed on the Export Summary dialog. This report gives an overview of how line and curve lengths were changed during the 3D to 2D conversion. This may help you judge if the accuracy is being adversely affected by the flattening to 2D.
- DXF Export fix. The more capable DXF export, introduced in the previous release, had trouble being imported into some Autodesk products. This has been fixed.
- In total there were 2 significant changes, 4 improvements, and 4 fixes.
2020.1.0 (Mar. 18, 2020)
- New Coded Target Presets System. Addition of a new, flexible and powerful system for defining groups of Coded Targets actions. It is easy to apply a set of actions (such as setting scales, setting offsets, creating lines, and planes) automatically to all new projects, or semi-automatically to existing projects, based on predetermined Coded Target Id numbers. Multiple groups of presets can be defined and saved for different scenarios.
- SVG Export. The Scalable Vector Graphics format (svg) can now be used to export 2D graphic data.
- New DXF Export Method. The export of 2D and 3D .DXF files now produces a newer format that supports spline curves, circles, and increased compatibility with some applications.
- Surface Draw Point Convert. The Surface/Template Curve draw mode right-click menu has a new tool that allows you to convert an existing curve point into a corner point.
- Photo Projections Visibility Improvement. 3D objects being displayed on photos as projections can now have their Material overridden with a fixed color, which can make them much easier to see.
- Referencing Improvements. There have been a number of improvements to point referencing to improve efficiency.
- In total there were 5 significant changes, 21 improvements, and 32 fixes.
2020.0.1 (Dec. 17, 2019)
- Bug fixes and stability. This pre-holiday release is mostly about stability improvements and fixes.
- Processing improvements and fixes. There were a few significant improvements with Processing (esp. in the Orientation and Smart Orient stages). A problem with Smart Orient not correctly handling the addition of control points or frozen points to already-oriented projects has been fixed. The stability and ability of Smart Orient with low-count coded target projects has improved and is also more consistent now.
- Show Surface Draw related Surface. Now when a Surface Draw item (point, line, curve) is selected, the associated surface is highlighted in the 3D view and table to help identify the association.
- In total there were 8 improvements, and 18 fixes
2020.0.0 (Nov. 14, 2019)
View the PhotoModeler 2020 Introduction and New Features Video. Major improvements also listed below.
- New Target System. A new system of targets has been introduced for use with Automated Coded Target projects. Sheets of 6 targets, called 'Lettered Sheets', can be printed, or purchased (date tbd), laid out in a scene on flat surfaces, and used to automatically set up the coordinate system (including multiple scales), best fit planes (typically for use with Surface Draw), and multiple offset points.
- Merged 3D Model and Ortho-photo. The 3D model can now optionally be overlaid on top of an exported orthophoto. Great for ortho-mosaics with contour lines, facades with vectors, etc..
- Extending Surface Draw. You can now extend Surface Draw Lines or Curves across photos.
- Automatic Project Preset Scales and Planes. Coded Target Automated Projects can now generate preset scales, and planes using Coded Target ID ranges. Settings in Preferences.
- Coded Target Smart Orientation and Calibration. Automated coded target projects with EXIF cameras now use Smart Orientation and Auto-calibration by default - this allows non-calibrated EXIF cameras in coded target projects to solve more robustly and getting a camera calibration if possible. Very useful for remote site measurement tasks where you might not have access to the camera.
- Advanced Point Offsets. Point Offset Revamp: Multiple offsets (of any type) can now be assigned to points. For example, you can add an X-axis offset and a 2 Point offset to the same point in the project to define new 3D points.
- In total there were 6 significant changes, 44 improvements, and 76 fixes.
2019 Changes
2019.1.2 (Jun. 10, 2019)
- ASTM DXF Format. The DXF-ASTM format, used by the clothing and fabric industries, is a new export option. Use this option to transfer digitized 2D patterns from PhotoModeler to software like CLO.
- Merge and close polylines. A new checkbox will merge all connected line and curve entities into a single polyline which makes pattern outline export in the DXF ASTM format more useful.
- In total there were 16 improvements and 12 fixes.
2019.1.1 (May 13, 2019)
- The Template Pattern Capture Add-on. The TPC Add-on is now officially released. It is an extra cost add-on to PhotoModeler Standard and included with PhotoModeler Premium.
- Use a Plane to Define Rotation. A Best-Fit Plane can be used to define part of the coordinate system rotation. E.g. use the normal of a plane to define the z-axis.
- Export Orthophoto with Rhino. When exporting Rhino .3dm files, an associated orthophoto can be exported, along with the 3D data, to form a backplane image.
- Surface Draw Improvements. Various improvements to speed and methods of Surface Draw.
- Manual Reference Improvements. Various improvements to how manual referencing works. E.g. you can now drag points in the source photo without leaving referencing mode.
- In total there were 22 improvements and 21 fixes.
2019.1.0 (Mar. 25, 2019)
- 2D Template Digitizing Work Flow. A new workflow, new dialogs, and new tutorials for those using PhotoModeler for accurate digitizing of 2D template patterns.
- Auto-trace tool. A new tool for automatically detecting and tracing lines and edges of flat objects – used mostly for 2D template digitizing.
- Performance improvements. Some improvements when working with larger projects in various areas.
- In total there were 29 improvements and 30 fixes.
2019.0.1 (Dec. 13, 2018)
- Bug fixes. Mostly a bug fix release to address new 2019 and Premium issues.
- Rhino Ortho Export Trace Image. When exporting an orthographic photo there is now an option to create a Rhino .3DM file containing a view with a tracing image.
- In total there were 17 improvements and 20 fixes.
2019.0.0 (Nov. 19, 2018)
- New Premium Product. The PhotoModeler Premium product has replaced Scanner and UAS.
- New Ribbon User Interface. The main interface has changed from the menu and toolbar to Ribbon style for ease of use. Overview article.
- Coded Target Labels. Coded Targets can now be printed on Avery labels with correct spacing. Paired offsets too.
- Rhino 3D Cameras. The Rhino .3dm export can include the solved camera positions and images as wallpaper.
- In total there were 22 improvements and 31 fixes.
2018 Changes
2018.1.2 (Jul. 17, 2018)
- Fixes. This release is mostly a bug fix and a small improvement release. If you use control points or have a very high-resolution screen this would be a good update for you.
- Pixel Distances. Measure Pane now also displays distances in pixels – which can be useful for precision determination.
- In total there were 8 improvements and 17 fixes.
2018.1.1 (Jun. 27, 2018)
- Image Sequences. Supports multiple images from one stationary era (such as with security cameras). Great forensics tool.
- Speed Improvements. Some general speed improvements in UI and processing. Some Xeon machines will see processing speed improvements.
- Offset Point Symbol. The 3D view of offset points is now a 3d cross shape making it easier to find in the 3D View and on projections.
- Control UI Improvement. A power feature for those that mark control points – a short cut to not use the EGE.
- Dense Surfaces Denser. In some cases DSM point clouds have less tendency to having holes in areas with low photo count.
- No Limit Support Uploads. File uploads to support no longer have the total 1GB limit.
- In total there were 33 improvements and 39 fixes.
2018.1.0 (Apr. 11, 2018)
- UAV Control Marking Improvement. UAV and drone projects with GCP (ground control points) are now easier to set up when there is a change in vertical datum (very common).
- Multi-point Transform Improvement. Multi-point transforms can now be formed with just one point (translate), or two points (translate and scale). Three and more point transforms remain as is.
- Evaluation System Improvement. Evaluation codes are now 30 days long and are easier to get.
- In total there were 20 improvements and 16 fixes.
2018.0.1 (Jan. 23, 2018)
- Offset Pairs Scale. If using paired offset Coded Targets, one can now automatically set up multiple scales based on the pairs. Great for scale redundancy, and removing the need for another scale bar in the project.
- WKT and Proj4 Geo. Geographic Coordinate Systems can now also be defined by WKT and Proj4 methods (on top of current built-in and EPSG codes). (pmu only)
- Import of Faro IDs. Faro targets, or markers, that are recognized and exported by Faro Scene in DXF, can be loaded by PhotoModeler as Coded Targets. Making the matching of laser scan and photogrammetric projects easier.
- New GetStats External Command. The external API and command language has a new command GetProjectStats.
- In total there were 24 improvements and 26 fixes.
2018.00 (Dec. 14, 2017)
- Gridded DEM. New gridded Digital Elevation Model export as XYZ text or GeoTIFF files in PM UAS.
- Coded-Target Smart-Processing. Smart Processing improved to handle Coded Target projects as well (in all versions).
- Smart-Processing Speed. Smart Processing can be 2 to 4 times faster for bigger projects (in Scanner and UAS).
- Ortho-photo Improvements. A number of small improvements to the orthophoto dialog and the orthophoto export (in all versions).
- In total there were 19 improvements and 34 fixes.
PhotoModeler Technologies recommends you download and install the most recent version in order to have the most powerful and stable version of PhotoModeler. Some additional version info: