Installation and Set Up of Environment

In this tutorial, we demonstrate a quick and straightforward way to set up a fully featured Python environment for working with the SAGA GIS / LIS Pro 3D Python API.

If you already have experience with Python, you can skip any steps that are not relevant to your existing setup and adapt the instructions to your own Python environment.

In the following, we will install:

1. LIS Pro 3D, including all its tool libraries and the PySAGA package (a Python module that provides access to the SAGA API as well as all SAGA and LIS Pro 3D tools)

2. Microsoft Visual Studio Code (VSCode) for writing and running Python code

3. Python extension for VSCode

4. Miniforge and Python to provide convenient package management and avoid conflicts with other Python installations

Step 1: Install LIS Pro 3D

Step 2: Install Microsoft Visual Studio Code

Microsoft Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a free, lightweight source code editor developed by Microsoft for Windows, Linux, and macOS. In this tutorial, we will use it to write, test, and run our Python code.

VS Code provides a powerful and highly customizable development environment with features such as syntax highlighting, intelligent code completion, integrated debugging, and built-in terminal support. It also offers a rich ecosystem of extensions for a wide variety of programming languages and frameworks.

Thanks to its flexibility, performance, and extensive extension library, VS Code has become one of the most widely used code editors for modern software development.

Go to: https://code.visualstudio.com/download and download the appropriate version of VSCode.

In our example: User Installer x64

Step 3: Install the Python Extension for VS Code

We will install the Python extension for VS Code, which provides essential support for writing and running Python code. It enables VS Code to interpret Python scripts, provides syntax highlighting for improved readability, and offers features such as auto-completion for a more efficient coding experience.

To install the extension:

• In VS Code, click on the Extensions icon in the left-hand panel (the icon with four squares).
• In the search bar, type “Python” and select the extension named “Python” published by Microsoft. Make sure to choose the correct extension.
• Click “Install” (in the screenshot below, the extension is already installed and therefore only the options to disable or uninstall it are shown).

Step 4: Install Miniforge

We will use Python together with a package manager to simplify the management of installed Python packages and avoid conflicts with other Python installations that may already exist on your computer. This approach improves the reliability and usability of the Python environment.

The package manager used in this tutorial is conda, which is provided by the Miniforge installer. Miniforge is a minimal conda installer that includes only the essential components required to run conda.

Conda is an open-source package and environment management system that allows you to install, manage, and isolate different versions of software packages and their dependencies. It is widely used in scientific computing, data processing, and machine learning workflows.

Visit https://conda-forge.org/download/. Download and install the appropriate version for your operating system:

Step 5: Start the Miniforge Prompt

Use Windows Search to find the Miniforge Prompt and launch it.

The prompt should look similar to the following:

At this point, we are working in the default Miniforge (base) environment. For our purposes, we will create a separate isolated environment.

Within this isolated environment, we can install a dedicated Python version that does not interfere with other Python installations on the computer. We can then add a customized selection of Python packages required for our workflow.

Step 6: Create your own Python Environment

• Create a new conda environment, for example, myenv.
• Specify the Python version to be installed in this environment.

Step 7: Start your Python Environment

Once the environment has been created successfully, activate it by entering: conda activate myenv (Replace “myenv” with the name you chose for your conda Python environment).

The (myenv) prefix shown in each command prompt line indicates that you are currently working in your own environment. By entering conda deactivate, you can return to the default (base) environment.

Step 8: Get Syntax Highlighting and Auto-Completion for PySAGA in VS Code

Finally, we will add the location of the PySAGA package (i.e., the installation path identified in step 1.3) to the settings of the VS Code Python extension. This enables features such as syntax highlighting and auto-completion.

Although this step is not required to run LIS Pro 3D tools with Python, we strongly recommend completing it to improve the overall development experience.

In VS Code, open the user settings by pressing CTRL + SHIFT + P and typing “user settings”. From the displayed suggestions, select “Settings: Open User Settings (JSON)”.

Add the following entries to the settings.json file, replacing the path with your LIS Pro 3D installation path, and save the changes:

"python.analysis.extraPaths": ["C:/Program Files/Laserdata/LIS Pro 3D"],
"python.autoComplete.extraPaths": ["C:/Program Files/Laserdata/LIS Pro 3D"],

Afterwards, the settings.json should look similar to the following:

{
    // other configuration rules, which have already been there before:
    // (these may look completely different on your machine!)
    "window.autoDetectColorScheme": true,
    "workbench.preferredLightColorTheme": "Dark 2026",
    "python.defaultInterpreterPath": "C:\\Users\\laser\\miniforge3\\python.exe",

    // the LIS Pro 3D-specific entries we just added:
    "python.analysis.extraPaths": ["C:/Program Files/Laserdata/LIS Pro 3D"],
    "python.autoComplete.extraPaths": ["C:/Program Files/Laserdata/LIS Pro 3D"],
}

Step 9: Verify the Python Integration

1. In the Miniforge Prompt, make sure that the myenv environment is active:

C:\Users\laser> conda activate myenv

The command prompt should now look similar to this (environment name prepended in brackets (myenv)):

(myenv) C:\Users\laser>

2. From the Miniforge Prompt, start the Python interpreter by typing pythonand pressing ENTER:

(myenv) C:\Users\laser> python

You are know inside the python interpreter (indicated by >>>):

(myenv) C:\Users\laser> python
Python 3.10.12 | packaged by conda-forge | (main, Jun 23 2023, 22:34:57) [MSC v.1936 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>

3. Inside the Python interpreter (indicated by the >>> prompt) execute the following command sequence exactly as shown below:

>>> import os
>>> import sys
>>> os.environ["SAGA_PATH"] = r"C:\Program Files\Laserdata\LIS Pro 3D"
>>> sys.path.insert(0, os.environ["SAGA_PATH"])

We here import the modules os (1) and sys (2), create an environment variable SAGA_PATH (3) and add this variable to the system path (4), This is necessary so that Python can find and execute LIS Pro 3D tools.

4. Now, in the same python interpreter, execute the following two commands to verify that the installation was successfull:

>>> from PySAGA.tools import lis_tools
>>> lis_tools.About_LIS_Pro_3D()

We here (1) import the lis_tools tool library that contains all of LIS Pro 3D’s tools and (2) execute the lis_tools.About_LIS_Pro_3D tool. If the tool prints the following information and executes without errors, you have successfully installed LIS Pro 3D with Python support.

LIS Pro 3D
[2026-05-16-3000]

Copyrights (c) 2007-2026 by LASERDATA GmbH
Version 2026.02
Release 8888 (2026-03-21)

Licensed packages:
LIS Pro 3D
City Modeller
Forestry
Geology
Road Modeller

Licensed to:
Max Mustermann
Amt fuer Mustererkennung
Musterstr. 1
1111 Musterstadt
Musterland

This is a perpetual version (GUI).
__________________________________________

Contact:
LASERDATA GmbH
Technikerstr. 21a
6020 Innsbruck
Austria

www.laserdata.at

__________________________________________

If you encounter an error similar to the one shown below, review your installation steps or contact user support for assistance.

Python 3.10.12 | packaged by conda-forge | (main, Jun 23 2023, 22:34:57) [MSC v.1936 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> from PySAGA.tools import lis_tools
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'PySAGA'

Finally, exit the Python interpreter by entering:

>>> exit()