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Measure Distance & Area
You can use the Measure tool to measure distances and areas. To use one of these
tools, open the Measure dialog and then use the appropriate tool.
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To open the Measure dialog
- In the Toolbar, click the Measure icon
.
If the Measure icon is not visible, then the Measure tool is not available for this
application.
- This opens the Measure element dialog.

- See the instructions below depending on whether you want to measure a line or to
measure an area. You can also use the point option to find the x,y coordinates of
a location on the map.
- After measuring, you can close the Measure dialog by clicking on its Close icon
in the upper right, or by clicking any other tool in the Tools element (Zoom in,
Zoom out, Pan, etc.)
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To measure a line
- In the Measure dialog, click the Line icon
. The Line icon
is outlined to show it is the active type.
- Move the cursor to the first point of the line you want to measure, and click the
left mouse button. As you move the mouse from this location, you will see the line
stretching to the current position. The measure dialog will also begin to display
distance.
- Move the cursor to the second point of the line. If you only want to measure one
straight-line segment, double-click at this location. Otherwise click once with
the left mouse button.
- If measuring a line with multiple segments (polyline), continue clicking at vertices
to add segments. The length of the previous segment is shown in the Segment
display in the Measure dialog. The Total Length displays the sum
of segments added so far.
- At any point during the measuring, you can change the units for measuring distance
by using the drop-down list in the measure dialog. You can also change units after
completing the measurement.
- At the last vertex, double-click to end the line. The Total Length
displays the length of the line, including all segments if multiple ones were drawn.
You can change the units drop-down list to see the same line expressed with different
units.
- To draw a new line, simply click on the map to start the new line. This erases the
previous line.
- To erase the line from the map, click any of the measure type icons in the Measure
dialog. If you click any other tool in the Tools element, this will close the Measure
dialog, and any line or polygon will also be erased.
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To measure area
- In the Measure dialog, click the Polygon icon
. The Polygon icon
is outlined to show it is the active type, and the dialog changes to show information
on measuring polygons.
- Set the units for measuring distance. For polygons, the measured area displays in
the Area Units, and the perimeter displays in the Distance Units.
- Click the left mouse button at the first point in the polygon. As you move the mouse
from this location, you will see the line stretching to the current position.
- Click the second point of the polygon. The first segment draws, and the polygon
now stretches to the current position from the last point as well as to the initial
point. When you click the third point, the measure dialog displays the perimeter
and area of the polygon based on the vertices added. The total is updated as you
add more vertices.
- Continue adding points (vertices) of the polygon. New vertices add segments connecting
to the previous vertex.
- At the last vertex in the polygon, double-click the mouse. You do not need to click
at the original point again. Read the Area and Perimeter from the Measure dialog.
You can change the Distance Units to see the same polygon expressed with different
units.
- To draw a new polygon, simply click on the map to start the new polygon. This erases
the previous polygon.
- To erase the polygon from the map, click any of the measure type icons in the Measure
dialog. If you click any other tool in the Tools element, this will close the Measure
dialog, and any line or polygon will also be erased.
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To find X,Y coordinates
The Measure dialog also allows finding the X,Y coordinates at a point where you
click on the map. The X,Y coordinates are displayed in NAD83 California State Plane
Zone II (Feet).
- In the Measure dialog, click on the point symbol
.
- Click on the map. The coordinates at the location you clicked will be displayed
in the Measure dialog.
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