HILLSHADE
STREAM is hillshade software that turns a plain DEM into readable terrain — shaded relief that simulates sunlight to make the shape of the ground pop. Adjust the sun position to emphasize the features you care about.
Hillshade, or shaded relief, computes how brightly simulated sunlight would fall on each part of the terrain given its slope and aspect. Slopes facing the light are bright; those facing away are shaded, producing an image the eye instantly reads as 3D.
It is a display technique that makes a DEM readable — distinct from sun-and-shadow analysis, which measures real sunlight hours over time.
Generate a hillshade directly from the DEM to reveal ridges, valleys and subtle terrain features.
Set the sun's direction and height to control how strongly relief is emphasized.
Blend hillshade with elevation colour or an orthophoto for a clear, map-ready view.
Sits alongside slope, aspect, contours and full sun & shadow analysis on the same DEM.
Open the DEM the relief will be shaded from.
Enter the azimuth and altitude of the light source. The conventional choice puts the light in the north-west so the relief does not read inverted.
Raise the vertical exaggeration on gentle terrain so the landforms become visible, and keep it low on steep ground.
The shaded relief makes ridges, gullies and benches legible at a glance — this is an interpretation and presentation layer, not a measurement.
Add the hillshade as a layer under your other data, or export it as a GeoTIFF for the map sheet.
STREAM computes shaded relief from the DEM by simulating sunlight based on each cell's slope and aspect, with an adjustable sun position.
No. Hillshade is a display technique that makes terrain readable; sun & shadow analysis measures actual sunlight hours over time including terrain shadow.
Yes. Blend hillshade with elevation colour or an orthophoto for a clear, map-ready terrain view.
Free beta for Windows x64. Works fully offline with GeoTIFF, LAS/LAZ and DXF.
Download STREAM free