Put a drawing on the map

Open the drawing on the project's Drawings tab and click Set location at the top right. The same button later reads Location: approximate or Location: checked, and opens the same screen to change it. The drawing sits on the left and a Google satellite map on the right. On a narrow screen they are two tabs, Drawing and Map.

The map opens at the project's address. If that is not the building, type in Move the map to an address… above the map, or drag the map. Satellite shows the building from above. Zoom in until you can pick out its corners.

The line at the top says what the next click sets. For A, click a point on the drawing that you can also find on the map, such as an outside corner of the building, then click the same corner on the map. Do the same for B, well away from A. The far end of the building is best. To set a point again, click its tab (A · Fit or B · Fit) and click the drawing or the map again.

Ground level

Match corners where the wall meets the ground. A roof edge can look displaced in a photograph taken from the air.

Drawing X and Drawing Y

Where the point is on the drawing. For a DXF or IFC these are in the file's own units. For a PDF or image they are a percentage of the page from its top left corner. You can type them.

Latitude and Longitude

Where the point is on the map. If you have surveyed coordinates, type them here and the map moves to the spot.

Remove

Clears that point.

Click C · Check and match a third point, away from the line between A and B. C does not change the fit. It measures how far the fit lands from a point you matched separately, which is what tells you whether A and B were clicked well. Without C the location can still be saved, and it is marked as approximate.

The panel on the right works the result out as you go.

Up the page is … from north

How far the drawing is turned from north.

A to B on the map / on the drawing

The distance between A and B measured both ways, for a drawing that knows its own scale. A large difference means a point is in the wrong place or the units are wrong.

Check point C: … from the fit

How far out the third point is. Under a metre is good for a building.

The fit lands … from C

A warning that C is a long way out. Check all three points before you save.

Units

DXF only. Set the file's units here if they have not been set. Tick Solve the scale from A and B only when you cannot find out the units: the scale is then taken from your two clicks.

North up

Turns your view of the drawing so that north is at the top, to match the map. Nothing is saved by it.

Clicking points saves nothing. Click Review, read the figures, then click Save location. If you change a point after reviewing, the button goes back to Review. Close leaves without saving and asks first if you have changed anything. Remember that points agreeing with each other is not the same as survey accuracy.

An IFC model has one location for the whole model, so setting it on one floor covers every floor. Each page of a PDF has a location of its own, because each page is usually a different plan. Set it on every page you want suggestions on.

With a location saved, the rail's GPS suggestions switch shows how many there are for the page or floor that is open. Each one is a dashed marker with a circle showing how accurate the phone said it was. They are also listed under Location suggestions in the right-hand panel. Not on this drawing counts those whose position falls outside it.

Click a suggestion to open its card. It shows the photo or snag, when it was recorded and its accuracy. GPS cannot tell which floor someone was on, so first open the floor it belongs to. Then click Pin here to pin it at the suggested spot, or press and hold the marker and drag it to where it really was. Close puts the card away and leaves the suggestion for later.

A suggestion never becomes a pin by itself, and it never moves a pin you have placed. Once something is pinned it stops being suggested. If you remove the pin, the suggestion comes back. The original GPS position is kept with the photo or snag whatever you do with the pin.

Click Location: checked or Location: approximate to open the screen again with the saved points. Move them and save, or click Remove location. Removing asks first. GPS suggestions stop on that drawing until a location is set again. Pins and areas stay where they are.