View Lens images in GIS with WMTS Streaming

WMTS image streaming is available for customers in the Standard and Enterprise plans. 

Lens offers customers the ability to stream ordered truecolor imagery into GIS software. This is accomplished via a web map tile service (WMTS), which is a standard protocol for streaming georeferenced map tiles over the internet. Whether you're creating a new conservation easement amendment map or delineating a restoration area, high-quality, up-to-date basemap imagery is important for reflecting recent ground conditions.
To begin the streaming process, navigate to the Details pane in the Property Map view where you will see a url and a "copy link" button. This link can then be pasted into GIS software to view the image so you can view truecolor imagery you’ve ordered for this property from any imagery vendor.  

All imagery orders associated with the property will be included in the WMTS link, so you won't need to get a separate link for each image. All of your images are streamed and will be updated with newly ordered imagery as your Lens account is active. Images streamed into GIS will include the buffer area around your property boundary, mirroring exactly what you see in Lens. Regardless of which GIS software you use, creating a connection to stream Lens imagery is simple.

Steps for QGIS

  1. Once you open your software, search for "WMTS" and find the WMS/WMTS connection creation tool. Next, create a new connection.

   2. Choose a connection name that corresponds to the property or project, then paste the link you copied from Lens in the "URL" section of the Connection Details in GIS.

3. Once the connection is created, you'll see all imagery orders associated with the property and you won't need to create a separate link for each image. 

Steps for ArcPro

  1. Navigate to the "Insert" tab and select "Connections" > WMTS
  2. Add server URL and then click OK
  3. From the Catalog contents pane, open Servers folder. Right click WMTS layer to add to map 

Still having trouble? Some customers have found this video to be useful.

Steps for ArcGIS Online or ArcMap

Note: ArcMap is no longer being updated by ESRI and will be phased out in 2026. Due to the lack of software updates, you may encounter errors while using ArcMap to stream imagery. 

  1. Navigate to "My Content" and click "New item"

  2. In the URL box, paste the link you copied from Lens

3. Click "Add custom parameter" and enter "apitoken" into the "Parameter" field. The API token is at the end of the URL following the ?apitoken= string. Copy and paste the API token into the "Value" field under in the custom parameter you've created. Be sure to remove ?apitoken= and the API token from the URL, as shown in the screenshot below.

4. Click Next to choose the layers you would like to use.

Reminder on imagery use and licensing

Please be sure to review the Commercial Imagery Use FAQ to understand the respective imagery vendor's permitted uses for these image downloads. Images downloaded from Lens can be used for internal purposes at your organization.

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