Just in time for Earth Day, Google just launched version 7.1 of Google Earth Pro, the professional version of Google’s desktop-based mapping tool. The new version adds a number of map-making and advanced printing tools that will make it easier for businesses to create legends and scales for their maps and to add titles to them. The new Viewshed tool now also allows users to identify and calculate viewpoints and sightlines from any placemark you set in Google Earth.
As Google notes, the Viewshed tool allows users to, for example, see the visual impact of a building project on surrounding properties or to evaluate the coverage area of a cell phone tower. The tool simply covers areas that can be seen from this spot in green and marks everything that’s not visible from there in gray.
The new advanced printing option, Google says, gives users more control over the layout and style of the maps they create. Users can now, for example, add title and description boxes to their maps, as well as a north arrow, legend and a legend. Users can now also add an HTML area to their maps, which allows them to add images, text and other additional information to their maps. All of this, of course, can also be exported into a PDF file.
Also new in this version is the ability to desaturate the base imagery or make it black and white to draw more attention to your own icons and paths.
To celebrate Earth Day, Google is making this new version available for $199 instead of $399 for the next 24 hours (promo code: EARTHDAY199).
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjBDWkbwBYc?feature=player_detailpage]
