Installing COLMAP

Download the Windows release

Go to the official COLMAP GitHub releases page and download the ZIP archive for Windows:
https://github.com/colmap/colmap/releases

Unpack the archive

Extract the contents of the ZIP file to a convenient location, such as: C:\Tools\colmap

This tutorial uses <COLMAP_PATH> as a placeholder for the COLMAP installation path. Replace it with the actual path you used.

Launch COLMAP

You can start the COLMAP GUI using either of the following methods:

Option A
Double-click COLMAP.bat in the extracted folder.

Option B
Open Command Prompt and run:

<COLMAP_PATH>\COLMAP.bat gui

Replace <COLMAP_PATH> with the actual installation path.

Verify the installation If installed correctly, the COLMAP GUI should open without errors. You should see the main window, as shown below:

Figure 3. COLMAP GUI main window on startup.

Alternative installation methods This tutorial uses the precompiled Windows release. For other options, including building from source or using package managers on Linux or macOS, refer to the official guide: https://colmap.github.io/install.html

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