Measuring and Drawing Toolbar

Click on the ruler icon in the left side toolbar to open the measuring and drawing toolbar. It will open on the right side of the screen.

Point, Line, Square, and Polygon Tools

To draw a feature on the map, use the point, line, square, or polygon tool from the measuring and drawing toolbar.

You can cancel a drawing or measurement in progress by pressing the Esc button on your keyboard.

Selection Tool

The selection tool allows you to select a specific drawing or measurement you’ve created. Simply click on the desired shape to select it. The selected shape will be highlighted in blue and the other shapes will show in the default yellow-orange color.

Info Window

The selection tool opens a small info window that shows information for the selected shape. If there is only a single shape on the map, it will be selected by default when the info window is opened. If there are multiple shapes, the desired shape can be selected by clicking on it.

Selecting Measuring Units and System

You can use the dropdown menu at the top of the info window to change the measurement units between a variety of options in the imperial and metric systems. Length, area, and slope measurements can be selected independently.

The measurement unit options for imperial are feet, yards, miles and acres (for area only). The options for metric are meters, kilometers, and hectares (for area only). The slope options are rise/run, degrees, and percent.

Toggle Measurement Values

You can use the checkboxes next to the measurement values in the info window to hide or display the measurement values on the map.

Copy Measurement Values

You can copy measurement values for the selected shape directly from the info window.

Edit Feature

The edit feature tool allows you to edit a drawn feature that has already been completed.

To edit a feature, select the edit feature tool and drag to adjust vertices as necessary. You can also add new vertices by clicking in the middle of a line segment.

To complete the edits, click on the tool again in the toolbar or press the enter key on your keyboard.

Edit Color

The edit color tool allows you to change the color of the measurements and drawings on the map.

To change the color of the shapes, open the edit color tool, select the desired color, and click apply.

Undo Shape

The undo shape tool on the toolbar removes the most recently created drawing.

Clear Workspace

The clear workspace button on the toolbar clears all drawings on the screen.

Measuring and Drawing in 2D

While in 2D mode, you can draw and get measurement values for points, lines, and polygons. For points, you can measure elevation. For lines, you can measure length (segment length and total length). For polygons, you can measure perimeter and area.

2D Elevation

The 2D elevation tool displays the ground elevation above sea level at a given point. To measure elevation, select the point tool and click on a location on the map. An info box will indicate the elevation and lat/long values for the point.

If needed, you can open the selection tool in the measuring toolbar and select (click on) the point to change the measurement units.

2D Length

The 2D length tool measures the distance between points, ignoring elevation and obstacles.

Multiple line segments can be measured at a time. Draw a line by selecting the line tool, then clicking on each point you’d like to measure between. Double-click the last point to finish the line.

The length of each segment is displayed, and the total length of all segments appears at the end.

2D Area

The 2D area tool measures the area, perimeter, and side lengths of a polygon, ignoring any elevation changes or obstacles.

Draw a polygon by selecting the square or polygon tool, then clicking on each point on the map that represents a vertex of the polygon. Once the area is completed, double-click the last point to complete the area. If you’re using the square tool, one click completes the shape.

The length of each segment is displayed, and the perimeter and area values appear in the center of the shape.