Viewpoints

A Viewpoint (also known as a viewshed) is an annotation within Coasts in Mind to indicate the visual orientation and extent represented by a photograph, drawing or other visual record.

On the map Viewpoints appear as a shaded triangle graphic, with the point indicating the image origin location and the wider triangle displaying the direction of the view and the approximate area of landscape shown in the image. The Viewpoint is a powerful annotation tool which conveys a lot of information quickly to the viewer.

When to use a Viewpoint

• When you have a visual record (eg. photo, postcard, drawing) of an identifiable location with landmarks or other indicators to help define the depicted view.

When not to use a Viewpoint

• If an image lacks any landmarks to precisely pinpoint it, but is within a known area (eg a featureless photo of an event on a named beach), using a ‘point’ to identify the beach as the location is sufficient.
• Viewpoints are not useful for locating maps, where a polygon would be more appropriate to mark the extent shown.

How to draw a Viewpoint - within the Contribute system you will find the ‘Annotations’ tab, here you will be prompted to add additional information to your record which will display on the map under certain circumstances. Select ‘add Viewpoint’

• Click and drag the black point to place the viewpoint.
• Then click and drag the white and red dot to change the angle of the field of view.
• Adding a Name and Description to the viewpoint is optional
• To delete a viewshed, use the select tool to click on it. The box that opens will have the word DELETE at the bottom. Click this to delete it.