The accent is made on the fact that during recent years the creation of digital topographic and special cartographic basic maps the digital orthophotos are used on a large scale. The formulas for determining the scale of orthophotos created by remote sensing which meet the requirements of the current Instructions for photogrammetric work on accuracy and resolution are given in the article. They are characterized by measuring and iconic properties that affect both the terrain objects coordinates accuracy positioning and accuracy completeness of object recognition. Recommendations are presented on the choice of satellite imagery for creating on their base orthophotos of required proportions.