Importing a site plan (PDF or picture)

Guide 4 of 10 · 2 min read

A site plan on top of the satellite map shows doors, fences and walls the imagery can't. SightLine reads the scale from many PDFs, and gives you two quick ways to line up any plan.

Import the plan

Search for the site address and zoom in, so the plan lands in the right area.
Click Plan on the map toolbar and pick the file. You can also drag the file onto the map. PDF, PNG, JPG and WEBP files work.
If the PDF has several pages, click the page that has the site plan.

Choose how to place it

The Place plan overlay window shows a preview and the choices that fit your file:

Auto-place from the PDF's georeference: some CAD PDFs carry real coordinates. The plan lands in position, rotated and to scale.
Scale found: SightLine found a scale note (such as 1" = 20') in the PDF text and sizes the plan from it.
Fit to the current map view: places it roughly, ready for you to line up.
Enter the scale: type the feet per inch for a PDF, or for a picture how wide the whole image is in real life.

Click Place on map.

Note Pictures don't carry a paper size, so their scale can't be read automatically. Place them, then use Calibrate or Align. The same goes for a sheet marked "NTS" (not to scale).

Line it up with the satellite

Click the plan to select it. Then:

Drag the plan to move it.
Drag the top handle to rotate it. Hold Shift to snap to 15° steps.
Drag a corner handle to resize it.

For an exact fit, use the buttons in the plan's panel:

Align by 2 points to the map: click a sharp feature on the plan, then where it really is on the satellite map. Repeat for a second feature far from the first. SightLine sets the scale, rotation and position in one go.
Calibrate with a known dimension: click both ends of a dimension you know on the plan, then type its real length.

Tip After aligning, check a known distance with Measure (M). If a PDF was printed "fit to page", its scale note may not match.

Plan settings

Opacity, Rotation and Width.
See-through white: shows only the plan's lines over the satellite.
Lock in place (click-through): stops the plan moving while you work on top of it.
Visible: hides or shows the plan.
Re-apply detected scale and Re-apply PDF georeference, when the file had them.
Zoom to plan, Move plan to map center and Delete overlay.

The Layers tab lists every plan, with an eye button to show or hide it and a lock button.

Note On fueling-station sites, SightLine can also offer to read the plan with Claude and draft the station equipment. This needs your own Claude API key in Settings.