Draw a boundary, line or point on the map

To draw a boundary, open the record's form, click Draw Polygon and click the map to place its corners, or walk it with your phone's GPS. You need to be able to edit the record, as editors and admins can.

Draw a shape in a record's form

1. Open the form for a new record, or open a record and click Edit.
2. In the shape field, click Draw Polygon (or Draw Line). On a computer, a blue frame and a Drawing Polygon bar show you're drawing; on a phone, a panel at the bottom tells you where to tap.
3. Click (or tap) the map to place each corner.
4. To finish, click a polygon's first corner or a line's last point again, or click Done (once a polygon has 3 corners, a line 2) or press Enter.
5. The field now shows the number of points and the area (or the length). Save the form.

On a computer, Backspace removes the last corner. Cancel or Esc stops without keeping the shape; if a corner's menu is open, the first Esc only closes that menu.

If the field shows Select file, you can use a .geojson, .kml, .kmz or zipped Shapefile instead of drawing.

Draw straight on the map

If your app has it, editors and admins can create a record by drawing it.

1. Click ⊕ on the right side of the map (on a phone, More), or a draw button next to it.
2. Choose what to draw: a type of record (for example one for your Sites), or a plain Polygon, Line or Point. The list only offers record types your app lets you create.
3. Click the map to place the corners, then click Done. A point needs one click.

The shape is saved as a new record; depending on your app, its form or its page opens next.

On a phone, a record type may ask first: Walk Perimeter or Draw Perimeter, Walk Line or Draw Line, Capture GPS Point or Draw Point. Some go straight to GPS.

Walk a boundary or line in the field

On a phone, the shape field shows Walk Perimeter (or Walk Line) next to the draw button.

1. Stand at a corner of the plot and tap Walk Perimeter. In the RS Field app, recording starts by itself; if it couldn't start (for example, location is off), fix that and tap Start.
2. Wait until the panel shows Recording and how accurate the GPS is.
3. Walk along the edge of the plot.
4. Tap Finish. A boundary needs at least 3 points, a line 2.
5. In a form, the shape goes into the field: save the form. From the map, the record is saved.

In the browser, keep the app open with the screen on. The RS Field app, version 1.3.0 or newer, keeps recording with the screen locked and offers Pause and Resume. Tree cover and buildings make GPS accuracy worse: see How accurate is phone GPS for field data?

Fix or redraw a shape

1. Open the record and click Edit (or press E).
2. In the shape field, click Edit Polygon (or Edit Line).
3. Change the shape:
   • Drag a corner to move it.
   • Click an edge to add a corner there, or drag from the edge to add and place it.
   • Click (or right-click) a corner for Delete or Copy coordinates. On a computer, you can also point at a corner and press Delete or Backspace.
4. Click Save, then save the form.

Cancel leaves the shape unchanged; Esc does the same once any corner menu is closed. On a computer, Reset puts the shape back the way it was and lets you keep editing.

If the button reads Redraw Polygon (for example, the shape has several parts or holes), draw it again from scratch.

To move a whole shape without changing it, click it on the map and choose Move, if your app offers it for that record. Drag the shape, then click Save.

To move a single point location, see Fix a record's location on the map.