Draw Circle Google Earth Pro

Introduction

If you contact a landowner or land manager about getting permission it'south really helpful to get a map of the area. This can exist used by the reviewers when checking cache locations as well every bit other cachers who may want to identify a cache there. The map may be just a hand drawn paper re-create (or an paradigm file) or may be a professionally created map using digital mapping software similar ESRI ArcGIS.  You may only know the area yourself and can draw it by manus. Whichever way the map is provided it has to be in KML file format and so information technology tin be opened in Google World by anyone who needs to see it. There are several ways this can exist done and each method is explained below.

Hand drawn map of a unmarried surface area created with Google Earth

Creating a hand drawn map can be done using Google Earth. In this example the landowner of an surface area of parkland with a state house and garden has provided a paw drawn map with the manor boundaries. The landowner has asked that no caches are placed in the park fifty-fifty though it has free public access. This map has to be transferred by hand to Google World and saved every bit a KML file.

Original map provided by the country owner and e-mail with details of the area and that no caching is allowed (click to enlarge the map).

Dear Chris I'm the estate manager of Club Park in Gloucestershire and I contacted Geocaching HQ later on I found a enshroud within the park and they asked me to contact you and to provide yous with a map of the estate so yous could stop any future caches existence placed there. I'm attaching a file with the estate boundaries fatigued. I hope this is suitable. Regards Fred Smith Lodge Park Manor

The boundary of this map is now drawn on Google Earth. This is explained in item below. Click the images to enlarge them. You lot can as well spotter a video of the whole procedure - click here (opens YouTube).
Click the images below to enlarge them

1. Zoom in on Google World to the area you are going to create the overlay in. You can zoom and pan whilst cartoon the overlay.
   
2. Click the Add Polygon icon on the toolbar (or Add - Polygon from the carte bar)
   
3. When the polygon dialogue box opens give information technology a proper name and add together the description. This is what volition announced in Google earth when you click the overlay.
   
4. In the Style, Color tab you need to change the default from white to some other color otherwise you lot won't be able to see where you are drawing very hands. Carmine is suggested at a 40% opacity.
   
5. OK the dialogue box and so the information is saved. So right click the new polygon and click Properties. The dialogue box opens again. Now drag the dialogue box to the left and off the main Google Earth screen. Information technology needs to be open while you draw the overlay but not in the way.
   
6. Using the mouse cycle to zoom and the left/right/up/down cursor keys to movement the map find a place to start. In this example it is the top left corner of the estate. The mouse cursor changes to a cross-hair. Click the mouse cursor/crosshair at a offset point. Movement the mouse along the boundary to the next point and click again to describe the line. Keep moving the mouse to suitable points and click each time. Y'all don't need a 'point' every few millimetres! As you go 'circular a corner' information technology starts to fill in the polygon. The Delete fundamental will remove the last betoken. If yous press the delete key again it deletes the previous point and and then on. The last point drawn is blue which means it is the agile bespeak. Keep drawing from that betoken.
   
7. If you make a mistake and click a point in the incorrect identify or miss out a department you tin easily correct it but be careful. When you click a new point it connects it to the last Active point which shows in blue. In this case, (left image) point 1 is the concluding one drawn - shows in blue which ways information technology's active. Point 2 is in the wrong place. It tin easily be corrected by clicking with the mouse and dragging it to the correct location equally shown in the 2nd image. Simply note that now betoken 2 is blue and agile not point one.
   

   When yous go along cartoon by adding the next point at 3 (left prototype) it actually draws the line from point 2 which is active, non point 1 which you want information technology to do. Piece of cake to correct, merely click delete to remove point 3 and and then click

   on bespeak 1 to brand information technology active and go on drawing.
   
8. When you lot've finished drag the dialogue box back onto the screen and click OK. The surface area is at present saved.
   
9. To create the KML file simply right click your mouse on the newly created shape and select Save Place Every bit and give it a name and in the save dialogue box select KML as the file blazon.
   

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Paw drawn map of multiple areas created with Google Globe

If the area has several separated parts you lot can create each one separately in Google Globe just save them as a single KML file for the landowner database. The process to create each surface area is the same as described in the previous section. First you need to create a folder to store each overlay in. You then salvage the folder equally a KML file.

1. Click Add - Folder on the bill of fare bar. Requite the folder a name and description. Click OK to save the folder.
   
2. Now correct click the folder and add a polygon. Enter the name and description. You can requite each overlay you create a different name and description if required. This information will be used for each overlay when information technology'southward uploaded. Change the colour and style every bit shown in the previous section so drag the dialogue box to one side and draw the overlay. Click OK when finished.
   
3. Repeat step 2 calculation some other polygon to the binder and draw the overlay. Keep doing this for as many overlays as you lot accept. In this example in that location are merely two, Millenium Wood north and Millenium Woods due south. Finally, right click the binder and Salve Identify As a kml file.
   

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Editing a map created in Google Earth - Single overlay

One time y'all've created a map overlay and saved it in Google Earth you can hands edit information technology if you need to change the shape. Just open the KML overlay in Google Earth (File - Open) and so right click on it and select Properties. The dialogue box opens and the shape points appear. You can and so click and drag the points or add more as required. If you lot don't want to adventure a mistake messing up the original overlay then brand a copy of the original KML file and open that to work on.

Be careful when adding new points. The map 'remembers' whether you drew the points clockwise or anti-clockwise and adding a new point may extend the overlay the incorrect style. If this happens, just delete the indicate (delete key) and try the other direction. Meet the section (vii) above on what to do if you make a fault.

Finally, save the file.

Editing a map created in Google Earth - Multiple overlays

Editing a multiple overlay is the aforementioned as for a unmarried 1. Open the KML file and you will get the FOLDER with the private overlay polygons in it. Right click on the polygon y'all need to edit and make the necessary changes. Then correct click on the FOLDER and relieve that. The edited polygon within the folder volition be saved forth with all the others.

Click here for a screen shot showing the folder and polygons of the example used before

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Converting digital maps to KML

If you are working with a state manager you may be able to get professionally created digital maps of an area. Ask for these in KML format so they tin can be uploaded directly to the landowner database but if this isn't possible then ESRI Shapefile format. Some organisations also make their maps available to download. To convert ESRI Shapefiles to KML you lot can use an online conversion site.

Online conversion. This site http://www.mapsdata.co.britain/online-file-converter/ allows yous to upload a file and convert it direct to KML. It is limited to fifty,000 rows, and the KML converter approximately 32Mb. If the resulting KML is whatsoever bigger it just won't convert. The conversion process should work OK but sometimes yous may find things like the area names and/or description are missing. It depends how the original Shapefile was created. You tin can edit the kml file to modify names and descriptions but y'all need to know what you are doing.

This example is a digital map of the National Parks in the UK which can be downloaded from a government website called Natural England. The file is downloaded every bit a zipfile in ESRI Shapefile format. The zip consists of several files which contain the map data, coordinate format and then on. Simply 'elevate n drop' the naught file on the conversion site and a few moments (minutes if it's a big file) you lot get the prompt to download and save the KML.
Click to enlarge images

At that place was a problem though with this particular file. The file has names for each of the parks (Superlative District, Yorkshire Dales etc) but at that place is no description. This means when viewed in Google Earth you lot don't know why what the area is for. Editing is relatively easy using Notepad++ (complimentary to download) or any good text/script editor but you will need to know about editing such files and their structure. You could besides open the file in Google Globe and add a clarification in that location.

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Source: https://wiki.groundspeak.com/display/GEO/Drawing+overlays+in+Google+Earth

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