The 3D view shows the ground; a section measures it. This lesson cuts a profile through the plan and turns on the contour map.
Cut a section
- With nothing selected, click Terrain section in the toolbar at the plan's top-right (or press S).
- Drag a line across the plan — from the house to the bottom fence, say.
- A Terrain section panel opens with the ground profile under the line: every level, bank and pit in true proportion, with the length of the cut and the lowest and highest ground along it.
- Tap the line on the plan to mark a spot; the panel shows the altitude there.
Drag a new line to replace it, or close the panel. A section reads the plan and never changes it.
The contour map
The contour button in the plan's corner redraws the plan as a topographic map: contour lines of the terrain altitudes, objects hidden.
- Minor lines mark each small drop; major lines every larger step, in their own colours.
- Label lines with their altitude writes the level on each.
- Slope arrows point downhill, with the altitude and angle.
- Water level draws every line below a chosen altitude in a water colour — the quickest way to see where a pond would sit.
Its settings are under the same button. Only the terrain surface is mapped: structures, plants and paths are left off.
Outline view
Beside it, the outline-only button draws the plan as edges with no fills — easier to print and to read over a photo. A third toggle chooses whether objects, pins and paint show in that view.
Save the drawing
Save the current view as a PNG image in the same corner captures the plan as you see it — contours, outlines, grid and all.
Next
Slice and reshape areas — changing an outline that is already drawn.