Try a sample plat
A 400 × 700 px plat with a 60.00' street line — calibrate it to 5.00 px/ft and trace.
- Lot area
- 7,200 sq ft
- Sheet
- US Letter at 1" = 20'
Plot plan creator online · image stays in your browser
Plot Plan Creator Online: Trace Your Plat or Aerial Photo to Scale
Upload a plat, survey or county GIS screenshot, scale it with two points and one known length, then trace the lot lines and buildings to scale.
Start from
Draw the lot from
Street side & north
Click a structure on the plan (or a chip above) to edit its size, position and counting rules.
Element Area— Size & position (ft) Counts toward Utility line Fence Common shed sizes Edit- Property line
- Zoning setback
- Existing structure
- Proposed structure
- Concrete paving
- 6 ft Privacy Fence
- Tree canopy
Not a boundary survey — an owner-prepared drawing from the dimensions you enter. Confirm setbacks with your building department or HOA.
Worked examples
Lots traced four different ways
A scaled image, a tapered lot, a five-corner lot typed from a plat and a metric lot — each opens in the editor.
Trapezoid lot
60 ft at the street, 50 ft at the rear, 120 ft deep: 6,600 sq ft with a 120.4 ft slanted side.
- Lot area
- 6,600 sq ft
- Lot coverage
- 27.1% PASS
- Setbacks
- ALL PASS
5-corner irregular lot
Typed from a plat corner by corner: 7,400 sq ft with a 36.1 ft angled rear line.
- Lot area
- 7,400 sq ft
- Lot coverage
- 24.2% PASS
- Setbacks
- ALL PASS
Metric council lot (18 × 32 m)
Preset 4 at 1:200 on ISO A3 with a carport, pool and pool barrier.
- Lot area
- 576.0 m²
- Lot coverage
- 32.8% PASS
- Sheet
- ISO A3 at 1:200
Where the picture comes from
Getting a plat or parcel screenshot
You need one image that shows your lot lines and at least one straight line with a printed length. These are the usual sources, cheapest first.
| Source | What it shows | Cost and catch |
|---|---|---|
| Recorded plat (county recorder) | Exact lot lines with bearings and distances, easements, lot and block number | Often free online; $1–$5 per copy at the counter |
| County GIS parcel viewer | Parcel outline over an aerial photo; good for houses and driveways | Free; parcel lines can be off by a few feet |
| Previous boundary survey | Measured lines, corners and existing buildings | Free if it came with your closing papers |
| Deed legal description | Metes-and-bounds distances you can type corner by corner | Free; no picture, so use the polygon table |
Screenshot at the highest zoom that still shows the whole lot, crop away menus and save as PNG. A plat with distances written along each line is better than an aerial photo, because the printed distances let you check the trace against the record.
Accuracy
Why a longer reference line is better
Two-point calibration divides the pixel length by the real length. A click that lands 2 px off on each end moves the scale by up to about 2.8 px over the line, so the error shrinks as the line gets longer.
| Reference line on screen | Scale error | On a 60 ft line | On a 120 ft lot depth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 px | 4.71 % | ± 2.83 ft | ± 5.7 ft |
| 120 px | 2.36 % | ± 1.41 ft | ± 2.8 ft |
| 300 px | 0.94 % | ± 0.57 ft | ± 1.1 ft |
| 600 px | 0.47 % | ± 0.28 ft | ± 0.6 ft |
Calibrate on the street line or the longest side with a printed distance, zoom the screenshot before you capture it, and check one other printed length after calibrating. If it is off by more than a foot, move the handles and set the scale again.
Words that confuse
Plot plan, site plan and survey
Departments use the terms loosely, so read your checklist rather than the title.
A plot plan usually means the lot outline with the buildings on it. A site plan adds setbacks, driveways, drainage and utilities. A boundary survey is a stamped document from a licensed surveyor who has located the corners in the field — this tool never replaces one.
We do not call satellite-map or parcel-lookup services. Those cost money per request and send your address to a third party; tracing your own screenshot keeps the drawing free and private. That is also why the Pro PDF prints clean vector lines without the image underneath.
How it works
Trace a plat in four steps
Add the picture
Drop a PNG, JPG or WEBP plat or GIS screenshot (up to 5 MB) on the upload card, or press Try the sample plat.
Mark a known length
Drag the two orange handles to the ends of a line with a printed length, type that length, press Set scale.
Trace the lot
Type the lot size, or pick Polygon and enter each corner; drag corner handles until the dash-dot line sits on the plat.
Draw and check
Add the house and the new work, set the setbacks, and read coverage and clearance. The picture never leaves your browser.
Use cases
When tracing beats typing
- Irregular or pie-shaped lots
- Cul-de-sac and corner lots rarely have four square corners; type up to 12 corners from the plat and every edge is labelled with its length.
- Buildings you cannot measure
- Trace an existing house or garage off the aerial once the image is scaled, then check it against the site plan checklist.
- Checking a GIS outline against the deed
- Overlay the GIS screenshot, type the deed distances and see where the two disagree before a reviewer does.
- Moving on to the permit
- Once the lot is traced, the shed, deck and fence and HOA pages use the same plan file.
- Picking a sheet and scale
- The scale and sheet guide lists how large a lot fits on Letter, Tabloid, Arch D, A4 and A3; worked plans are on the examples page.
FAQ
Questions people ask before they submit
Which image works best as an underlay?
A screenshot of the recorded plat or of your county GIS parcel viewer with the lot filling most of the screen. Crop to the lot and its street, save as PNG, and keep it under 5 MB and 40 megapixels.
How accurate is two-point calibration?
The error is roughly your click error divided by the reference length in pixels. Missing by 2 px on a 300 px line is 0.7 %, or 0.4 ft over 60 ft. Use the longest straight line with a printed length.
Is a plot plan the same as a site plan?
Most departments use the words interchangeably for a drawing of the lot with its structures. Some reserve "plot plan" for the lot outline alone and "site plan" for the version with setbacks, drainage and utilities.
Does the image get uploaded to your server?
No. It is decoded in your browser, never autosaved and never sent with a Pro export. The Pro files are drawn from the lines you traced, not from the picture.
My lot is not a rectangle. What do I do?
Pick Trapezoid for a lot that tapers toward the rear, or Polygon for up to 12 corners. Type the corners from the plat in order, starting at the front-left corner, and press Apply corners.
Why don't you show satellite maps?
Satellite tiles and parcel lookups cost money per request and often carry licence limits. Typing dimensions or calibrating your own screenshot keeps the tool free and keeps your address off third-party servers.
Same engine, other jobs
More site plan tools
Every tool shares the drawing engine, the units switch and the Pro export pack, so a plan started on one page opens the same way on another.
DIY Site Plan CreatorLot, setbacks, structures and live coverage on one sheet.Open tool →Shed Permit Site PlanShed size, distances to lot lines, accessory setbacks.Open tool →Deck & Fence Plot PlanDeck clearance, fence runs, heights and new impervious area.Open tool →HOA Site Plan ToolArchitectural review title block and packet checklist.Open tool →Lot Coverage CalculatorTable-only coverage and impervious math with limits.Open tool →
Guides: How to draw a site plan for a building permit · Scales, sheet sizes and title blocks · Residential site plan examples.