Imagery previews are kept at a low resolution to prevent usage without payment. For many imagery use cases the data is being used solely to examine features that are visible at full resolution within the capture. Exposing the full data resolution in cases like these would prevent any need for the user to purchase for simple visual inspection.

Having only low resolution previews available can make it difficult to determine the potential data quality for imagery you're looking to purchase. However, our providers conform to data quality standards that mean if you're ordering 3 metre, 50 centimetre, 30 centimetre or higher data resolutions that what you receive from your orders should meet these quality standards. Typically after a few orders from the same provider you will have a clear idea on the level of detail and quality you can expect from that data source.

If you were to receive an image that you feel does not meet these quoted resolutions and data quality standards we encourage you to reach out to support@skywatch.com to report the issue and allow our team to investigate the delivery. The Support team would also be happy to provide some additional sample imagery links that can help clarify what you can expect from a standard Pleiades, SkySat, or Pleiades Neo image prior to any purchase.

To help clarify what you may encounter when ordering archive imagery and viewing imagery previews we've laid out a couple of examples here to help clarify preview resolution versus full-resolution imagery, as well as how the previews should be employed when determining what archive imagery to purchase.

Search result and preview added to archive order map:

Zoomed in low resolution preview image over focus area:

Once the image is purchased, it will be in the appropriate resolution. To see examples of resolution comparisons, please review the article What Data Do I Need?