Layout plan sheets

Overview of Layout Plan Sheets

Layout sheets for Plan Generation display in Layout Plan Sheets. Landonline generates all system-defined and user-defined diagrams when you open the Layout Plan Sheets screen. The length of time it takes to open this screen depends on the number of diagrams defined and their complexity.

In Layout Plan Sheets you can:

• lay out diagrams on the Title and Survey sheets
• add, edit, or delete user-added labels for a diagram
• add, edit, or delete user-added lines for a diagram
• add new pages to a layout sheet
• preview the Title and Survey Sheets
• generate plans for the survey.

There are 2 layout sheets:

• Title sheet – displays the System Generated Primary diagram on page 1. If parcels, boundary lines or boundary marks have been captured as part of the survey, this sheet displays by default when you first open Layout plan sheets.
• Survey sheet – displays the System Generated Survey diagram on page 1.

You can then add the System Generated Non Primary diagram, your user-defined diagrams, and extra pages as needed. You can also move the System Generated Survey and Primary diagrams to another page of the Survey Sheet or Title Sheet if required. 

Change layout sheet view

The current sheet view is displayed at the top left of the page. 

1. Left-click on Change sheet view at the bottom left corner of your screen to switch between Title and Survey sheets.

   

2.  Select Survey sheet to work on pages of the Survey sheet. 

   

Switch mode

To switch between Layout Plan Sheets and Define Diagrams, left-click the Sheets button at the top left of your screen. A drop-down menu opens where you can switch modes or return to the Plan Generation landing page or your survey capture. 
 

To return to Maintain Diagram Layers or Label Preferences, either switch mode to Define Diagrams or return to the Landing Page.  

While you are in Plan Generation, if you leave Layout Plan Sheets and switch between Define Diagrams, Maintain Diagram Layers, Label Preferences, or the Plan Generation Landing page, when you return to Layout Plan Sheets it will display the page you were on previously.  

If you return to Survey Capture, when you re-open Plan Generation, Layout Plan Sheets will default back to Title sheet diagrams page 1. 

Page control panel

When you add a diagram to a page of a layout sheet, you place it in an available position on the page. You can add new pages to either layout sheet where there is not enough space to add your diagram.  

You use the Page control panel to:

• navigate between pages of the layout sheet
• add additional pages to the layout sheet
• re-number pages in the layout sheet
• delete pages from the layout sheet. 

The Page control panel is located on the bottom left of the Layout Plan Sheets screen. 
 

Navigate between pages on the layout sheet
 

a. Go to first page – left-click to display the first page of the selected layout sheet.
b. Go to previous page – left-click to display the previous page of the selected layout sheet.
c. Displays the current page and number of pages of selected layout sheet. Left-click to open Go to page to navigate directly to a specific page.
d. Go to next page – left-click to display the next page of the selected layout sheet.
e. Go to last page – left-click to display the last page of the selected layout sheet.

Go to page

Use Go to page when you have a lot of pages in your layout sheets.
 

1. Left-click on Current page of Total pages. In our example this is page 1 of 20. You can do this from any page in your layout sheets.

2. Enter the page number that you want to navigate to and select Continue. You can only enter a page number that already exists. 

   

   To add a new page, see: Add page to layout sheet

Add page to layout sheet
 

1. Left-click the Add page icon to add a new layout sheet page to the current set of layout sheets. A drop-down menu allows you to select:

   • Add new last page
   • Add new page after this one
   • Add new first page

   

2. Once selected, the new page is added immediately. The existing pages are automatically re-numbered if their relative positions have moved.

Re-number layout sheet page
 

1. Left-click the Renumber page icon to re-number the current page of the selected layout sheet. 

2. Enter the new page number for the page and select Continue.

   

3. The page will be repositioned according to the page number entered. All pages following the new page’s position will be re-numbered accordingly. 

Delete page from layout sheet 
 

1. Left-click the Delete page button to remove the current page from your layout sheet.

2. A pop-up message appears. Select Delete to confirm deletion.

   

3. Once confirmed, the page is removed immediately. The remaining pages are automatically re-numbered if their relative positions have moved. 

Diagrams panel

The left-hand panel displays the list of diagrams available for the current layout sheet.
  

You can toggle this panel off and on using the Toggle diagrams panel button located at the bottom left corner of your screen.
 

The diagrams you can add to the layout sheet display in a dark grey font, and can be selected 1 at a time by left-clicking on their name.  

Diagrams that have already been added to a layout page:

• display pale grey in the list and are un-selectable
• have a page number, for example T1, T2, S1, which you can left-click to display that page

• have a Remove diagram icon to remove the diagram from the layout page. 

  

Add a diagram to the layout sheet

1. Navigate to the page you want to add your diagram to, using the page control panel. Add a new page if necessary. 
   See Page control panel
2. To add a diagram, either:

   1. Hover your mouse cursor over the available diagram in the Diagrams panel that you want to add to the page. The Insert diagram icon will appear to the right of the diagram name. 

      

      Left-click the icon to add the diagram to the page.

      

   2. Left-click on the available diagram in the Diagrams panel that you want to add to the page. Once selected, it will highlight pale blue. 

      

      Select Insert diagram.

      

3. The diagram is displayed on your layout page. The diagram name in the list will change to pale grey with the page number and Remove diagram icon next to it.

   

Remove a diagram from the layout sheet

1. Navigate to the page you want to remove your diagram from. You can also left-click on the page number next to the diagram in the Diagrams panel to display that page.

   

2. Left-click on the Remove diagram icon next to the diagram name.

   

3. The selected diagram is immediately removed from the layout page. Any user-added lines or labels will remain on the page. The diagram name in the list will change to dark grey, and you can re-add the diagram to the layout sheets if needed. 

Work with diagrams on the layout sheets

Use the toolbar at the top of the screen to edit your layout plan sheets.  

You can:

• choose where to position diagrams on the layout sheets
• resize diagrams
• move or hide labels, lines, and coordinates
• add text and lines to explain features in the layout
• choose from a range of fonts, sizes, and styles for text and lines. 
   

a. Undo
b. Delete
c. Zoom tools
d. View labels
e. View hidden objects
f. Selection tools: Generic select, Select diagram, and Select label, Select line, or Select coordinate
g. Add label
h. Add line
i. Feedback/Help

Undo last action
 

Select Undo to undo the last action. You can only undo one action.

Delete

Select Delete to delete a selected object. Not all objects can be deleted.

Zoom and pan layout page
 

Zoom

You can use the zoom tools in the toolbar, or your mouse, to zoom in and out of the layout page.  

Select:

• the plus icon to zoom in
• the minus icon to zoom out
• Zoom centre to fit the layout sheet to the window

or use your mouse scroll-wheel to zoom in and out.

You can also hold down the Shift key on your keyboard then left mouse-click and drag to draw a rectangle. When you release the left mouse-click the screen will zoom in to that rectangle.

Pan

When zoomed in, use your mouse to pan the page. Left-click and hold, then shift your mouse to move the page.

View labels on layout sheets
 

You can choose whether specific labels for objects in diagrams are displayed on your layout sheets. Any changes made will apply to all layout sheets in the survey.

Only active labels display on the layout page. Each option is active when there is a tick in front of it.

You can hide or show labels for:

• Mark descriptions
• Mark names
• Node symbols
• Observation arc radii
• Observation bearings (vector bearing, vector chord bearing)
• Observation codes – set to inactive by default
• Observation distances (vector distance, arc length)
• Parcel appellations
• Parcel area
• Water/irregular boundary. 
   

You can also choose to hide parcel, dimension, and mark labels for specific diagram layers in Maintain Diagram Layers.  

See Labels for diagram layers.

View/hide all hidden objects on layout sheets
 

Labels, lines and coordinates can be Shown, Hidden or Not Displayed on pages of your layout sheets. The default setting is to display hidden objects on the layout sheet pages (in grey). You can change this setting in Label Preferences.

See Hidden objects visible by default.

Shown information:

• is Black
• can be seen on the layout page and when you preview the page
• is included in the final plan.  

Hidden information:

• is Grey
• can be seen in the layout page, but does not display when you preview the page
• is not included in the final plan.

Toggle View hidden objects off to not display hidden elements on your layout sheets. 
 

Hide an object on the layout page

To make an object not display on the layout sheets you must first make it hidden. For example, when a bearing is replicated and overlaps, you can hide one or more of these bearings to show only one bearing along a line.

Not all objects can be hidden on the layout sheets, for example Primary parcel boundary lines on the Title sheet, or user-defined diagram labels.

1. Choose a Selection tool to select the object you want to hide.

Objects can be selected using the following tools:
 

a. Generic Select – any object, excluding diagrams. 
b. Select Labels – mark names, parcel appellations/areas, dimensions, user-added text. 
c. Select Coordinates – mark symbols, end points of lines. 
d. Select Lines – vectors, lines, abuttals, RT lines, user-added lines. 

2. Select the object and open the options panel.

Objects you can select with the chosen tool appear blue when you hover your cursor over them.
 

Right-click on the object to select it and open the object menu. Alternatively, you can left-click to select the object, then right-click to open the object menu.  

To select more than 1 object at once:

• hold CTRL on your keyboard while selecting multiple objects. Right-click to open the object menu
• hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard then left mouse-click and drag to draw a rectangle around the objects. Right-click to open the object menu.

You can only select multiple objects of the same type, for example multiple labels, not multiple labels and lines.

Once selected, the object and any associated features are highlighted pink. If you select a:

• Label – any associated object is also highlighted. For example, selecting a bearing label also highlights the line.  
• Coordinate – the mark name is also highlighted.
• Line – the bearing and distance, and arc radius if line is an arc, are also highlighted. For irregular lines, the legal or physical description is also highlighted.

This associated feature will not be hidden when you hide the selected object.

3. Select Hide.

Select Hide from the object menu. All selected objects that can be hidden either:

• change to grey on the layout sheet if View hidden objects is set to On
• disappear from the page if View hidden objects is set to Off.  

Hidden features will not display when you preview the page, and are not included in the compiled plans.

When selecting lines or labels, you can also hide them by opening Properties in the object menu.
 

In the properties panel, tick Hide, then OK. 
 

Once you hide an object, if you toggle View hidden objects to Off, the object is not visible on the layout sheets. You can toggle this option on and off as needed.

See View/hide all hidden objects on layout sheets

Show a previously hidden object

1. Toggle View hidden objects to On.
2. Select either Generic Select, or the appropriate Selection tool for the object you want to show.
   • Select Labels
   • Select Coordinates
   • Select Lines
3. Right-click to select the hidden object on the layout page and open the object menu. Alternatively, left-click to select the object, then right-click to open the object menu. 

4. Select Show. The object changes to black on the layout sheet and will be included in the compiled plans.

   

Select, move, or resize diagram

When you add a diagram to a layout page, Landonline places it at the top left corner of the page. You can then move, resize, and edit the diagram.

You use the Select Diagrams tool to resize or move a diagram. Once the diagram is selected, you can either move it within the page, or move it to another page in your layout sheets. You cannot move or resize a diagram beyond the page borders. 
 

1. Select a diagram to move or resize

Select the Select diagrams tool. When you move your cursor over a diagram on your layout sheet, it changes to blue.
 

Left-click to select the diagram. The diagram changes to pink once selected, and your cursor changes to a hand icon. To de-select the diagram, left-click outside the diagram, or select another function from the toolbar. 
 

2. Move the diagram within the page

Left-click and hold inside the selected diagram, then shift your mouse to drag the diagram around the layout page. When you release the mouse, the diagram moves to the new position and remains selected. You can continue to move or resize it as required. 
 

3. Move the diagram to another page

Right-click the diagram to open the diagram menu. Select Move to page to move the diagram to another page in your layout sheets. 

A pop-up will appear. You can choose to move the diagram to:

• An existing page. Enter the page number in the box.
• A new last page – another page will be added at the end of the layout sheet.
• A new page after this one – another page will be added following the current page. Any pages after the current page will be automatically re-numbered.
• A new first page – another page will be added to the beginning of the layout sheet. All existing pages will be automatically re-numbered.
   

Select the option you prefer, then select Continue. The diagram is immediately moved to the chosen page. It will be the same size and relative position as it was on the page you moved it from. You can select it again to move or resize as required.

4. Resize the diagram

Left-click inside the diagram to select it. Move your mouse to one of the pink corner dots or to the pink outline. The cursor changes to a small double-ended arrow.
 

Left-click and hold, then shift your mouse to enlarge or reduce the diagram on the page. When you release the mouse, the diagram is resized and remains selected. You can continue to move or resize it as required.
 

Resizing a diagram doesn’t affect the size of labels displayed for the diagram. User-added text and lines are not moved with the diagram and need to be moved separately. 

See Move user-added labels or lines

Select and move objects

See also Hide an object on the layout page

You can move, hide, and edit objects within your diagrams using the selection tools.
 

a. Generic Select – use this tool to select any object, excluding diagrams. 
b. Select Labels – use this tool to select diagram labels, mark names and descriptions, dimensions, parcel appellations and areas, legal or physical descriptions, user-added text. 
c. Select Coordinates – use this tool to select mark symbols or end points of lines. 
d. Select Lines – use this tool to select vectors, lines, abuttals, RT lines, user-added lines. 

Once selected, the object and any associated features are highlighted pink. If you select a:

• Label – any associated object is also highlighted. For example, selecting a bearing label also highlights the line.
• Coordinate – the mark name is also highlighted.
• Line – the bearing and distance, and arc radius if line is an arc, are also highlighted. For irregular lines, the legal or physical description is also highlighted. 

How to select an object

1. Select the specific selection tool for the object you want to select, or use Generic Select.

2. As you move your cursor around the page, objects you can select with the chosen selection tool will turn blue when you hover your cursor over them. 

   

3. Left-click on an object to select it. You can then:

   • move the object
   • distort a diagram
   • right-click to open the object menu for the object. From this menu you can hide or edit the object.

   Alternatively, right-click on an object to select it and open the object menu. 

To select more than 1 object at once (excluding Generic Select):

• hold CTRL on your keyboard while clicking to select multiple objects
• hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard then left mouse-click and drag to draw a rectangle around the objects. 

You can only select multiple objects of the same type, for example multiple labels, not multiple labels and lines. 

Not all functionality is available when multiple items are selected, for example Rotate label, or Align label to line.

How to move an object on the layout page

1. Select the object using Generic Select or the correct selection tool.
   • Select label
   • Select coordinate
   • Select line
2. Left-click and hold while shifting your mouse to move the object to its new position
3. If you have selected more than one object, the objects will stay in their relative positions and move together.

Objects move in different ways depending on their type:

• Label – moves independently of the diagram.
  See Move a label.
• Coordinate – moves and distorts adjoining lines at the coordinate end. The other end of the line remains fixed. Coordinate labels move with the coordinate.
  See Move a coordinate.
• Line - moves linearly (no rotation), and the coordinate at each end moves with the line. Adjoining lines are distorted where they connect, but remain fixed at their other end. Line and coordinate labels move with the line.
  See Move a line.

Move a label

1. Select the Generic Select or Select Label tool and left-click on a label to select it.

   

2. The label and its associated feature are pink when selected.

   

3. Drag the label to its new position. The associated feature (line or coordinate) does not move.  

   

4. The label will stay its original size and angle when moved. To edit these properties, see: 
   Label properties 
   Rotate label
   Align label to line

Move a coordinate:

1. Select the Generic Select or Select Coordinate tool and left-click on a coordinate (mark symbol or end point of line) to select it.

   

2. The coordinate and its label are pink when selected. When you left-click and hold the coordinate, grey guide arrows appear along all lines adjacent to the selected coordinate.  

   

3. As you drag your mouse, the arrows show the new coordinate position relative to its current position. The coordinate label moves with the coordinate. 

   

4. Release the mouse button when the coordinate is in position. All adjacent lines remain connected to the selected coordinate but are held fixed at their other end, so will be distorted when the coordinate is moved.

   

Move a line:

1. Select the Generic Select or Select Line tool and left-click on a line to select it.

   

2. The line and its dimensions are pink when selected.

   

3. When you left-click and hold the line, grey guide arrows appear along all lines adjacent to the coordinates at each end of the selected line.

4. As you drag your mouse, the arrows show the new line position relative to its current position. The line and coordinate labels move with the line.

   

5. Release the mouse button when the line is in position. All adjacent lines remain connected to the selected line, but are held fixed at their other end, so will be distorted when the line is moved. 

   

Move an object back to its original position

You can move an object back to its original position at any time.

1. Select the object using Generic Select or the correct selection tool:
   • Select label
   • Select coordinate
   • Select line

2. Right click and select Original Location from the menu. 

   

3. The object moves back to its original location within the diagram. The associated labels and connected lines move with the object. 

Distort part of a diagram

You can distort part of a diagram to clarify a user-defined Title or Survey diagram. User-defined diagrams do not have to be to scale.

1. Select the Generic Select or Select Coordinates tool.

   

2. Select the coordinate (mark symbol) and drag it to the required location. The connected vectors move accordingly.
3. To remove the distortion, if required, right-click to select the coordinate and choose Original location from the menu. The coordinate and connected vectors will return to their original position.

When distorting a diagram you must ensure the diagram and its vectors remain within the borders of the layout page.

Add labels and lines to layout sheets

To clarify details on a diagram on a page of a layout sheet, you can add annotations in the form of a user-added label. You can also add lines for clarification, for example to draw abuttals or to show the direction a stream flows.

Add label
 

To clarify details in a diagram on a layout sheet page, you can add text in the form of a label. The label is added as the default font and size. You can change these defaults in Label preferences.  

Once you have added your label, you can:  

• edit the text
• change the font style and size
• rotate or move the label
• add a border.

See Label properties
and Label menu.

All user-added labels display as italics. 

To add a label:

1. Select the Add label tool. 

2. Left-click to select the location for the label - a text box will appear.

   

   You can move the label once you have entered text.

3. Enter text in the text box. You can also copy and paste text from another document. 

   

4. As soon as you click elsewhere, the text is added to the page as a label. 

   

5. To edit the label, see Edit labels.

When entering text:

• you can use macrons, for example: ā ē ī ō ū
• you can’t use superscript, for example metres squared. If you try to paste m² it will display as m2. You should add areas as hectares, for example 0.0250ha rather than 250m².  

• you can’t use the degrees symbol, for example 180°. If you try to paste in the degrees symbol you will get the message: Invalid character(s) entered. Remove the invalid character and continue.

  

Edit labels

You can use the Generic Select or Select label tool and the Label menu to edit text, and move, hide, or format labels.
 

See also:

Hide an object on the layout page 
Select and move objects

Edit text

1. Using the Select label or Generic Select tool, double-click on the label to re-open the text box. 

   

2. Edit the text as required.
3. Click anywhere to save your edit. 

You can also edit label text from within Label properties. 

See Edit text for a user-added label  
and Formatting large pieces of text

Label menu

Any unavailable options for the selected label type will be greyed out.

1. Using the Select label or Generic Select tool, right-click on the label to open the Label menu. 

   

2. From the Label menu you can:
   • move a label to its original location - see Move an object back to its original position  
   • hide or show the label - see Hide an object on the layout page
   • view and edit label properties
   • align the label to a line
   • rotate the label
   • cut, copy, paste, or delete the label. 

Label properties 
 

Select Properties in the Label menu to open the Label properties panel. From there, you can:

• hide the label
• change the label to bold
• edit the text for a user-added label
• insert a carriage return in a system generated label
• edit the text justification
• suppress the observation bearing seconds when they equal 00
• change the font style and size
• change the text angle of a label
• add a border to the label

Any unavailable options for the selected label type will be greyed out.
 

Hide a label 
 

Tick the checkbox next to Hide, then select OK at bottom right of the panel.

To show the label after hiding it, either untick the checkbox, or select Show from the label menu.

Once you hide an object, if you toggle View hidden objects to Off, the object is not visible on the layout sheets. You can toggle this option on and off as needed.  

See View/hide all hidden objects on layout sheets

Change a label to bold
 

Tick the checkbox next to Bold, then select OK at bottom right of panel.  

You can also set all labels of a selected type to Bold via Label preferences.

See Label preferences

Edit the text for a user-added label
 

Click into the Text box to edit the label text, then select OK at bottom right of panel.

You can also edit user-added label text by double-clicking the label directly on the layout page.

Insert carriage return in label

You can’t edit system generated label text, however you can insert a carriage return in the label. This allows the label to be split over multiple lines.  

Where there is a space in the text, press the Enter key to insert a carriage return. To remove a carriage return, position the cursor at the beginning of the line and press the Backspace key.
 

Use the Justify (Left / Centre / Right) option to present a tidy multi-line label. 
 

Select OK at bottom right of panel to save your changes and close the panel. 

Note that user-added text can have unlimited carriage returns entered via the same method, as well as via on screen editing. 

See Formatting large pieces of text

Suppress the observation bearing seconds when they equal 00

When an Observation Bearing has seconds equal to 00, the Label Properties screen will have an option to allow the seconds to be suppressed.
 

Tick the checkbox next to Hide 00 to suppress the seconds. Untick to allow 00 seconds to be re-displayed.  

Select OK at bottom right of panel to save your changes and close the panel.

Change the font style and size

Labels are created with the default font and size set in Label preferences.

See Label preferences.

You can change the font style or size for any individual label, both user-added or system generated.

Left-click on the current font to open the font-style drop-down menu. You can choose from:

• Roboto (was Tahoma)
• Arimo (was Arial)
• Tinos (was Times New Roman). 
   

Left-click the current font size to open the font-size drop-down menu. You can choose between 8pt to 16pt.
 

Select OK at bottom right of panel to save your changes and close the panel. 

Change the text angle of a label

Enter the required Text angle in D.MMSS format. The angle appears in degrees, minutes, and seconds in grey at the right of the box. 
 

If you enter a negative value or value greater than 180.0000, a warning will appear. Enter a value between 0° and 180° to continue.
 

If you enter an invalid value such as 63.7, a warning will appear. Enter a valid value in D.MMSS format. 
 

Select OK at bottom right of panel to save your changes and close the panel.

See also Rotate label.

Add a border to a label

You can add a border to any label. Tick the checkbox next to Border.
 

The line thickness defaults to 0.7 pt. Increase this to 1.0, 1.4 or 2.0 pt as required by selecting from the drop-down menu.
 

Select OK at bottom right of panel to save your changes and close the panel.

Align label to line

Any label and line on a page can be aligned. They do not have to be associated with each other. Only one label and line can be selected at a time for alignment.

The label alignment occurs at the location of the label, which is not moved any closer to the line.  

1. Using the Select label or Generic Select tool, right-click on a label to open the Label menu.

2. Select Align label to line. 

   

3. Your mouse cursor will change to an arrow with Select a line to align label to. As you hover the cursor over a line it turns blue.

4. Left-click on the required line. The selected label will rotate to be aligned with the selected line. 

   

5. Re-select the label and drag it closer to the line if needed. 

   

Rotate label

You can rotate any label to the angle you require using Rotate label in the label menu, or by changing the text angle from Label properties.

You can rotate the label between 0° and 180°. If a text angle greater than 180.0000 is entered in Label properties, a warning will appear.

Rotate label using slider

1. Using the Select label or Generic Select tool, right-click on a label to open the Label menu.
2. Select Rotate label.

3. Drag the slider to change the label rotation between 0° and 180°. As you move the slider the label rotates.

   

Enter text angle in Label Properties 

1. Using the Select label or Generic Select tool, right-click on a label to open the Label menu.
2. Select Properties to open the Label properties panel.

3. Enter the required Text angle in D.MMSS format. The angle appears in degrees, minutes, and seconds in grey at the right of the box. 

   

   If you enter a negative value or value greater than 180.0000, a warning will appear. Enter a value between 0° and 180° to continue. 

   

   If you enter an invalid value such as 63.7, a warning will appear. Enter a valid value in D.MMSS format.

   

4. Select OK to save your changes.

   

Cut, copy, paste, or delete label
 

From the label menu you can:

• Cut
• Copy
• Paste  
• Delete

any user-added label. These options are greyed out for system generated labels.

You can also delete a label by:

• selecting the label and removing the text from the text box
• pressing Delete on your keyboard while the label is selected
• selecting Delete from the toolbar while the label is selected.  

Formatting large pieces of text:

For large pieces of pasted text, you may need to format the text with paragraph or line breaks to prevent it spreading across the page.

1. Using the Select label or Generic Select tool, double-click on the text to re-open the text box.

2. Expand the text box to make it easier to format your paragraphs, using the expand button at the bottom right of the text box. 

   

3. Drag the box to the required size and release.  

   

4. Position your cursor within the text and use the Enter key on your keyboard to shorten the lines of text until they fit on the page neatly. 

   

Add line
 

You can add lines for clarification, for example to draw an abuttal or to show the direction in which a stream flows.

The line is added with the last selected line-style and a default width of 1.0 pt. You can edit these in Line properties.

Once you have added your line you can:  

• edit the line
• change the line style and width

See Line menu
and Line properties.

To add a line:

1. Select the Add line tool.
2. Left-click at the start location for the line.  

3. Drag your mouse in the direction you require. A blue circle indicates the current end point of the line. 

   

4. Double-click to end the line. 

For a multi-segment line:

1. Left-click once at each point where you want to change direction 

   

2. Double-click at the desired end position to complete the line. 

When adding a line, to cancel the process:

• press Escape on your keyboard
• select a different tool from the toolbar.

To edit the added line, see Edit line.

Edit line

You can use the Generic Select or Select line tool and the Line menu to edit, move, or hide lines, and change line style and width. 
 

See also:

Hide an object on the layout page 
Select and move objects

Edit line shape or length

1. Using the Select coordinate or Generic Select tool, move your mouse over the end point of the user-added line segment you want to edit. A blue circle appears.  

   

2. Click to make this coordinate active. A pink ring appears at the coordinate showing it is selected. 

   

   If you move the mouse away, the coordinate remains selected, without the blue circle. 

   

3. Position your mouse over the selected coordinate, then left-click and hold. Grey guide arrows appear along the line(s) adjacent to the selected coordinate.  

   

4. As you drag your mouse, the arrows show the new coordinate position relative to its current position.  

   

5. Release the mouse button when the coordinate is in position. All adjacent line segments remain connected to the selected coordinate but are held fixed at their other end, so the line(s) change shape and length when the coordinate is moved. 

   

Line menu

Any unavailable options for the selected line type will be greyed out.  

1. Using the Select line or Generic Select tool, right-click on the line to open the Line menu. 

   

2. From the Line menu you can:
   • move the line to its original location - see Move an object back to its original position
   • hide or show the line - see Hide an object on the layout page
   • view and edit line properties
   • cut, copy, paste, or delete the line.

Line properties
 

Select Properties in the Line menu to open the Line properties panel. From there, you can:

• hide the line
• change the line style for a user-added line
• change the line width for a user-added line.

Any unavailable options for the selected line type will be greyed out. System generated lines show only the existing line style and width with no extra options to choose from.
 

Hide a line
 

Tick the checkbox next to Hide, then select OK at bottom right of the panel.

To show the line after hiding it, either untick the checkbox, or select Show from the line menu.

Once you hide an object, if you toggle View hidden objects to Off, the object is not visible on the layout sheets. You can toggle this option on and off as needed.  

See View/hide all hidden objects on layout sheets
 

Change the line style and width

User-added lines are added with the last selected line-style and a default width of 1.0 pt.  

Left-click on a new line style to select it. You can choose from:

• Dashed dot (RT line style)
• Arrowhead both ends
• Arrowhead one end
• Dashed (abuttal line style)
• Solid
   

Left-click on a new line width to select it. You can choose from:

• 0.7 pt
• 1.0 pt
• 1.4 pt
• 2.0 pt
   

Select OK at bottom right of panel to save your changes and close the panel. 

Cut, copy, paste, or delete line 
 

From the line menu you can:

• Cut
• Copy
• Paste  
• Delete

any user-added line. These options are greyed out for system generated lines.

You can also delete a user-added line by:

• pressing Delete on your keyboard while the line is selected
• selecting Delete from the toolbar while the line is selected. 

Save and Close layout sheets

You need to save your changes to the plan sheets before closing Layout Plan Sheets or compiling plans.  

Save layout
 

Select Save layout to save your work in the layout sheets at any time.

A pop-up appears while the layout sheets are saving.
 

Once complete, the central pop-up changes to ‘Layout saved’, and a message appears at the top right of the screen advising Layout saved successfully. 
 

You can continue working in the Layout Plan Sheets, or safely Close layout or Switch mode without losing any work.  

Close layout
 

You can leave Layout Plan Sheets by selecting Close layout. This will return you to the Plan Generation landing page.

If you select Close layout but have unsaved changes, a message appears.
 

Select Cancel to continue working in Layout plan sheets.

Select Leave to return immediately back to the Plan Generation landing page without saving changes. Any unsaved changes are permanently deleted.

Select Save & leave to save your changes and return to the landing page. A pop-up appears while the layout sheets are saving.
 

Once complete, you are returned to the Plan Generation landing page and a message appears at the top right of the screen advising Layout saved successfully. 
 

You can also leave Layout Plan Sheets by selecting Sheets at the top left of the screen. Choose from the dropdown menu to Switch mode to Define Diagrams, or Return to the Plan Generation landing page or survey capture.
 

You will receive the same messages as above if you have any unsaved changes. 

When you’ve completed your layout sheets

Ensure you save your work as you go.

Once you’ve completed your layout sheets, you can Preview layout to see the pages as they will appear in the Record of Survey, and Compile plan(s) to generate the plans.

For detailed instructions see:

Preview page layout

Compile plan(s)