Importing color images from Google Earth into Civil 3D

Ever since Civil 3D added the ability to import georeferenced imagery from Google Earth, I regularly get comments from users who would prefer the image to appear in color. While it doesn't appear to be a feature, with a little hacking this is actually very easy to do.

First, open your Civil 3D drawing file and make sure to set the coordinate system properly.

Then open Google Earth and navigate to the area that you'd like to import. Once you've centered on your project area, go back to Civil 3D and go to File -> Import -> Google Earth Image. When prompted, specify coordinate system for the image location. At this point, the georeferenced image is dropped in at the appropriate northing and easting coordinates. Unfortunately, it is in black and white.

To create a color image file, go back to Google Earth, and being careful not to reorient the display, hit CTRL-ALT-S to save the image. Save this jpg to your relevant project location.

Back in Civil 3D, open the xref palette and find the Google Earth image. Hit the "found at" button to respecify the image file location.

Point the image reference to the color jpg by selecting the file that you saved earlier. Finally, perform a regen and the color image will appear in the proper location.