MAP Area Plotter Tool

Use the MAP Area Plotter Tool to quickly draw georeferenced rectangles and ellipses to MAP Area Layers.

Using the MAP Area Tools

The MAP Area Plotter Tool consists of two tools: Rectangle and Ellipse. There are two ways to use these tools: click and drag to draw the shape; or single-click to open the Area Plotter dialog box and specify plot options.

Draw using Click and Drag

To draw a shape of unspecified size, click and drag in the artboard until the desired area is achieved. Use keyboard modifiers to help draw shapes more efficiently: hold the Alt key (Windows) or the Option key (Mac) to draw from the center; hold the Shift key to constrain the proportions; or hold the spacebar to move the area. Enable Adobe Illustrator Smart Guides to snap to features for better control when drawing. Release the left mouse button to finish drawing the area.

Enter Specific Dimensions

To draw a shape of specified size, single-click at a point in the MAP document at the desired location to plot the shape using options in the MAP Area Plotter dialog box. By default, the area is centered over the click point and its coordinates populate the X and Y boxes (the Location type is automatically set to Position). Enter width and height values to specify a dimension. A preview of the area can be seen on the artboard (you may have to move the Area Plotter dialog box to see it).