Measuring distances with polylines

A polyline is a line made of connected segments. Use it to measure the distance between two places, the length of a fence, a wall or a pipe, or a route with bends in it. Measure Map shows the length of each segment and the total.

Draw a line#

1. In the top toolbar, open the  Crosshair mode button and choose Polyline.
2. With add Add on the magic button, hold Shift (or right-click the map to turn the crosshair on) and click where the line starts.
3. Click at each bend, and at the end.

As you move, the crosshair shows the distance from the last point and its direction in degrees from north, and p: in the measurements box at the top left shows the length so far.

Started in the wrong mode? Change  Crosshair mode while you draw: the shape you are drawing turns into a line, or into an area, straight away.

For more on aiming, snapping and the crosshair, see drawing polygons, which works the same way, and the crosshair and pins.

Finish the line#

Press lock Lock polygon in the bottom toolbar (or the round lock button that appears on a line with three points), name the line, and press Lock. See finish and lock the polygon, which works the same way.

For a line, Close polygon starts off. Leave it off for an open line. Turn it on to add a last segment back to the start: a closed loop, such as a fence around a field, measured as a length and drawn without a fill. A line of two points has no such switch: there is nothing to close.

Read the lengths#

• The total length is on the line's label, and in its panel as Distance.
• The length of each segment is written at its middle. These are the intermediate distances. Turn them on or off for one line with Show intermediate distances in its panel, and for the whole map with Intermediate distances in visibility Show/Hide elements in the bottom toolbar.
• Whether new lines show them, how big they are, and whether they have decimals is set in settings Settings, under Polygon style: see polygon style.

To make a segment an exact length, click its length and type the one you want: see type an exact length.

Lengths are always measured along the surface of the Earth. Geodesic lines, under Map settings in the settings, only changes how long lines are drawn: along the Earth's curve (the default) or straight across the flat map.

The line's panel#

Click the line or its label to open its panel. It is the same panel as a polygon's (see the polygon's panel), with these differences:

• Distance is the line's total length, and Pts its number of points. A line has no area. Under them, 3D length is its length along the slope of the ground: see along the slope.
• There is no fill colour, no transparency, no grid, and no Split, Join or Subtract.
• Geometry type switches the shape between Polyline and Polygon. As a polygon it gets a fill, and its area counts in the project's total.

Elevation profile#

Press timelineElevation profile in the line's panel to chart the height of the ground along it, from its first point to its last, sampled at 250 places: height up the side and distance along the line across the bottom, both in your units. Move the mouse along the chart: a marker on the small map at the top of the panel shows where each height is.

Use it to see the climbs on a walking route, the fall of a drain or a pipe, or the slope across a plot.

More with lines#

• Buffer draws a corridor at a set distance along the line, on both sides or one, which follows the line when you edit it: see buffers.
• Show pins shows the line's points. Click one to see its coordinates, altitude and bearing: see points and spots.
• A product priced by length turns a line into a cost: see estimates.