Survey Image Aligner – Blender Add-on

Blender add-on for aligning an image plane from two point correspondences: two points on the image plane and two target points in 3D space. Transform is applied in the XY plane only (Z is ignored).

Features

• Two-point alignment: Two empties on the image plane, two empties in space; add-on computes rotation, scale, and translation and applies them to the image plane.
• XY only: All math is in the XY plane; Z is preserved.
• Image plane types: Works with a mesh (e.g. plane with texture) or an Empty with type Image - Reference (viewport image).
• Simple UI: One panel in the Survey tab with Image Plane, Image Points, and Space Points sections and a single “Align Image Plane” button.

Installation

1. Download the add-on (ZIP or folder).
2. Open Blender 5.0 or later.
3. Edit → Preferences → Extensions (or Blender → Preferences on macOS) → Install from Disk.
4. Select the add-on ZIP or the survey_image_aligner folder and confirm.
5. Enable Survey Image Aligner in the add-on list.
6. The panel appears in the 3D Viewport sidebar under the Survey tab.

Quick start

1. Create an image plane: Mesh Plane (Add → Image - Mesh Plane) or Reference (Add → Image - Reference).
2. Add four Empty objects:
   • Two on the image plane at the reference points (Image Point 1, Image Point 2).
   • Two at the desired world positions (Space Point 1, Space Point 2).
3. Press N in the 3D Viewport → Survey tab → Survey Image Aligner.
4. Set Image object to your plane object.
5. Set Image Points → Point 1 and Point 2 to the two empties on the image.
6. Set Space Points → Point 1 and Point 2 to the two target empties.
7. Click Align Image Plane.

The image plane is rotated, scaled, and translated so that the two image points match the two space points in XY.

Requirements

• Blender: 5.0.0 or later
• Python: shipped with Blender

License

GNU General Public License v3.0 or later (GPL-3.0-or-later).
Full text: license.txt in the add-on folder.

Support

• Email: jan.holinka@seznam.cz

Version

Current version: 1.0.0

Documentation

• USER_MANUAL.md – detailed usage, workflow, troubleshooting.
• CHANGELOG.md – version history.

Credits

Jan Holinka – survey / geodetic workflow in Blender.