What Is CartaX Studio? A Guide to Local Conversion and Production
Convert LAS/LAZ and GeoTIFF files on your own machine with the CartaX Studio desktop tool, and produce orthophotos, DSM/DTM and classified point clouds from drone photos — without spending tokens on a capable computer, or in the CartaX cloud.
2026-09-14 · 8 min read
CartaX Studio is a desktop tool that converts and processes your raw field data into formats CartaX can display — on your own machine. It is the local arm of the CartaX platform, not a standalone photogrammetry suite. It does two things:
- Conversion — turns the LAS/LAZ point clouds and GeoTIFF orthophotos/DEMs you already have into formats that open in the browser.
- Production — produces an orthophoto, elevation data (DSM/DTM), a classified point cloud and class layers from a flight's photos, as one package. Production runs on this computer when your machine is up to it, otherwise in the CartaX cloud; both start from the same wizard. Without installing Studio you can start the same cloud production from the CartaX Studio page in the web app.
The converters ship with the installer: no Docker, WSL or extra drivers to install.
The key difference is economic: conversion and production done on this computer spend no processing tokens. Only the outputs count against your storage quota once they are uploaded to your workspace. Cloud production is billed in tokens (see below).
What it does
Conversion (the Convert button)
| Input | Output | What happens in CartaX |
|---|---|---|
| LAS / LAZ point cloud | Octree (point cloud tree) | Smooth 3D viewing in the browser, measurement, sections |
| GeoTIFF orthophoto / DEM | COG (Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF) | Georeferenced raster layer on the map, elevation readout |
Conversion needs no graphics card and spends no tokens.
Production (the Create button)
The input is a flight's photo folder (JPG/PNG/TIF; subfolders and RTK .MRK logs are found automatically). There is no output or quality selection: every job produces the same package at the same high quality.
| Product | What happens in CartaX |
|---|---|
| Orthophoto | Raster layer on the map |
| Elevation data (DSM + DTM) | Measurement elevation: Surface / DSM / DTM in the layer settings; elevation readout and volume calculation use these models |
| Classified point cloud | 3D viewing, measurement, sections; with classes such as ground, vegetation and buildings |
| Segmentation layers | The Classes window on the orthophoto: buildings, roads, trees, water, vehicles… |
A textured 3D model (mesh) is not part of the production package today.
Ground control point (GCP) marking and an accuracy report are built into Studio as well: you provide your GCP file, Studio finds the targets in the photos, you check and correct them, and the model is fitted to those points. On RTK flights the .MRK logs are used automatically.
On this computer or in the cloud?
Studio makes the call: once the photos are selected the computer is checked; if it is up to the job, it runs on this computer without spending tokens, otherwise the reason is shown and the job is produced in the cloud. Even when the computer is capable, Produce in the cloud sends the job to the cloud.
To produce on this computer you need:
| Requirement | Needed |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows (on Linux, Convert works; production from photos runs in the cloud) |
| Graphics card | NVIDIA, with at least 8 GB of graphics memory |
| Memory (RAM) | At least 16 GB; more as the photo count grows |
| Engines | Downloaded once: base engine ≈0.3 GB, object recognition ≈6 GB (the Components card) |
| Disk | 14 GB for object recognition plus room for the job's temporary files |
| Job size | At most 800 photos and 20,000 megapixels |
Today the dense point cloud step uses GPU acceleration best on the RTX 40 series; on other NVIDIA cards this step runs on the CPU and production takes longer (this support is in beta).
Why work locally?
- No tokens. Cloud conversion and cloud production deduct tokens by data volume; local processing does not.
- No raw uploads. Instead of uploading a 40 GB LAZ or thousands of photos, you upload only the output the browser opens directly.
- Data is processed without leaving your machine. The raw file stays with you; only the output is uploaded. Outputs are also written on your computer to product folders under Documents / CartaX Studio.
Cloud production
The photos are uploaded to CartaX, production runs on CartaX's cloud machines and the outputs land straight in your project. When to choose it:
- Your computer does not meet the requirements (no graphics card, not enough memory or disk, engines not downloaded) or you do not want it busy for hours.
- You want to send the job straight from the browser without installing Studio (the CartaX Studio page on the web → New production).
Things to know:
- Billed in tokens. The cost follows the photos' total megapixels and is shown as "≈ N tokens" before the job starts, next to your available balance. If the balance is short the job does not start and a way to buy tokens is shown.
- Cloud production is not available on the Free plan; a single job may carry up to 2,000 photos.
- For a job sent from the web, the upload can be stopped while the photos are uploading; the photos uploaded so far are deleted. Once production has started in the cloud it cannot be stopped.
- Cloud jobs are tracked in Studio's Jobs list and on the CartaX Studio page on the web; once the photos are uploaded you can shut your computer down — the job keeps running in the cloud.
Installation
Studio is published for Windows and Linux. (macOS is not targeted.)
Windows
- Download the installer from CartaX Studio → Download inside the app.
- Run it. Because the build is unsigned, SmartScreen shows "Windows protected your PC": choose More info → Run anyway.
- Nothing extra is needed on Windows 11. On Windows 10 the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime must be installed.
- Open the app and sign in with your CartaX account.
Linux
- Download the
.debpackage. - Install it:
sudo apt install ./cartax-studio_*.deb - The app window needs
webkit2gtk-4.1,libgtk-3,librsvg2andlibayatana-appindicator3; most desktop distributions already have them. - Open the app and sign in with your CartaX account.
Note: builds are not code-signed yet. The operating system warning is expected behaviour and will disappear once signing is in place. When a new version is released Studio shows a banner; its Download button opens the installer in your browser and you install it by hand.
The workflow
- Sign in. Studio opens your system browser; once you sign in with your CartaX account you return to the app.
- Press Convert or Create.
- Convert: pick a LAS/LAZ or GeoTIFF file; Studio detects the format itself.
- Create: pick the photo folder, add a GCP file if you have one, and enter the project, layer name and capture date (all three are required); Advanced holds the delivery coordinate system and extra search terms. Then Produce (or Produce in the cloud).
- Monitor. The Jobs screen shows overall progress on a single card; expand it to see the job's stages, elapsed time and percentage. One production and one conversion run at a time; the rest wait in the queue.
- Upload. When production or conversion finishes, the output is uploaded to your workspace automatically.
A job running on this computer can be suspended with Pause and continued from where it stopped with Resume (immediately on Windows, after the current step on Linux). If Studio closes or the computer restarts, unfinished jobs on this computer continue the next time Studio opens. You can also follow the results of cloud jobs on the CartaX Studio page on the web. If an upload fails on a network error, the products are ready on your computer; Retry upload on the card repeats only the web upload, production does not run again.
Common questions
I get a "plan_forbidden" error when signing in. Studio is part of the Professional plan. Free accounts cannot sign in; it works once you upgrade.
It says the job will be produced in the cloud, not on this computer. The computer does not meet one of the requirements; the reason is shown on that line (no graphics card, not enough memory, engines not installed…). Download the engines from the Components card or produce the job in the cloud.
Production takes very long. Photogrammetry is the heaviest step; hundreds of photos can take hours. If your graphics card is not RTX 40 series, the dense point cloud step runs on the CPU. You can also produce the job in the cloud. Open the detailed log of the run with Open log on the card.
Conversion/production finished but the layer is not on the map. Upload is a separate step; make sure the job has finished in Studio, then refresh the project in the web interface.