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Getting Started With FTPs

Congratulations, you’ve just purchased imagery from Apollo Mapping! Now you’re getting ready to download your images and you need a little help? You came to the right place.

Using an FTP client to access your imagery is simple and only requires a few steps on your end. The basic idea is that you are connecting to files stored on a server through what is called a file transfer protocol (FTP). And then transferring a copy of these files to your own computer.

To access your data, first you will need to make sure you are connected to the internet. Then, you will need to connect to the server where your imagery lives via an FTP client. This walkthrough covers one FTP client called FileZilla. If you already have an FTP client, you can use it the same way that you would use FileZilla as outlined in these directions.

If you don’t have an FTP client, don’t worry, you can download one for free. We recommend FileZilla because it’s simple, widely-used and works for both Macs and PCs. You can download FileZilla here.
FileZilla

Now that you’ve installed FileZilla, let’s get started.

When your imagery is ready to download, the Apollo Mapping sales team will send you an email with three important items:

  1. An FTP address
  2. A username
  3. A password

To access your FTP server, first enter the FTP address provided into the Host field of the Quickconnect bar at the top of the FileZilla program window.

Next, enter the username and password in the corresponding fields of the FileZilla Quickconnect bar. Be sure to copy and paste these as they are case sensitive and include upper and lowercase letters, numbers and even special characters, making them very difficult to remember and type. The username and password you enter have to be exactly as they appear in the email or the connection will not work.

Now, click on Quickconnect or press Enter to connect to the FTP server with your imagery.

Once connected, you’ll now be able to browse the files on the server. The right side window in FileZilla will display all the files you have access to, and the left side window in the program will display your own computer’s hard drive.

Simply select all of the folders and files you see in right side window and drag them over to the left window, into a folder on your hard drive. While the imagery itself is a single or group of TIFFs, the other files contain important metadata you may need in the future. Please download everything visible on the FTP.

This is the time for you to get a cup of tea, check your email or grab lunch. The files you are downloading are pretty large and may take a while to transfer to your computer. Be sure you have established a secure internet connection before you step away, as you can not download images from an FTP server without an uninterrupted internet connection.

Once you have finished the transfer, double-check your computer to make sure the files downloaded properly.

That’s it!

Video Tutorial & Alternative FTP Client

If you have more in-depth questions, please refer to the video tutorial for FileZilla below and/or the official FileZilla wiki page here. Should you still have questions, please contact an Apollo Mapping imagery specialist here.

We have had some clients who could not access valid FTP sites with FileZilla. In these cases, we suggest trying Core FTP LE which you can download for free here (see the top of the download sections). Core FTP works in a similar fashion to FileZilla.

Thanks and enjoy your imagery!