Inkscape as quick survery / landscape modding tool

[coolsurveyor]

Hi Folks,

Just joined. Quick question- maybe someone has gone thru.  I need to import a land survey (lot of 5 acres with house, currently as PDF) - and get all or most of those outlines into inkscape and hopefully editable. Then I want to erase some lines and draw new lines and shapes  to check possibilities of sub-division into 4 lots alongwith an entry street. Then redraw subdivided lot lines. Most importantly, I also want to calculate the Acreage of resulting lots (some will be lost in street creation).

Can Inkscape do all this (alongwith scale of measure - like which lines are how many feet etc. Does it also have a linear and square foot measure tool?
 

[brynn]

Welcome to the forum!

Inkscape can do almost all of that.  Although it won't work like any survey, drafting, CAD, or landscape architecture program you might have used in the past.  The one thing it can't do is measure in acreage.  It can calculate area in 9 different units, but not acres.

It also will take some investment of time for learning, if you've never used vector graphics before.

[coolsurveyor]

thanks man!
Never used vector graphics before, done basic visio etc and also floor plans in online tools. I just wanna do this for my land/house- not for professional use.
Could you point me to some tutes that would help me do basics I outlined?
Like how to get an outline of survey from PDF into inkscape? And I know it cant measure in acres but can it do sq ft ? and also length in feet of lot lines right (as in a polygon shaped lot)?

[brynn]

Yes, it can do feet and yards (and metrics).

If you're not very familiar with vector graphics, you'll need to make sure the PDF contains vector graphics.  The PDF format can contain both raster and vector contents.  And if the PDF is all raster, Inkscape won't be able to do much with it.  It sounds like it must already be vector contents, but it would be better to make sure before you start.

Open the PDF in Inkscape.  Likely everything will be grouped.  If you try to select one thing, and it selects everything, click Object menu > Ungroup, until the status bar says "No groups to ungroup".  After that, select some objects (one at a time) and look at the status bar.  If anything says "Image" it means that part is raster graphics.

It sounds like you'll need basic path tools.  I would suggest to start with Help menu > Tutorials > Basic, Shapes, and Advanced.  Don't worry, the one named advanced is really an introduction to the path features that you need.  (I don't know why they named an introductory tutorial "advanced"  )  Then maybe try this one, to bring it all together:  http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/AShortExampleLogo.html

There are also tons of tutorials on the  Home tab of this website (organized by skill level) if you want more.  Also, a lot of Inkscape is fairly intuitive, so you can go a long way on your own.

And of course if you get stuck, we're here

[coolsurveyor]

oh...my bad. I think its just a raster image but lemme attach the sample. You'll see there even though topographical lines are there, I only want the lot lines and measures to come in. So in this case, how would I make inkscape recognize the lot lines and lengths or would I need to draw them (which would be defeating the purpose I guess).

Also, if you know of a better software (even web version) but free of course  - that you can suggest to meet my needs - would be greatly appreciated!

[brynn]

Oh yeah, the whole thing is a raster image.  The best thing to do would be to manually trace the lines, with the Pen tool.  It should be fairly easy.

I might not be understanding you properly but why would that be defeating the purpose?  You want the lines, and it should be fairly easy to just draw them (trace them).  This way, you don't have to erase the lines you don't want.  Just don't trace them from the start.  Using layers, and hiding layers, you wouldn't have to erase lines.  You could just draw different iterations of the plan on different layers.  Or you could color code different layouts.

Or you could try to find a vector version of this.  I don't know if maybe the original survey would be a vector drawing?

[coolsurveyor]

I only thought that hand drawing would probably not be accurate but you're right - maybe it wont be that bad, specially when s/w crosschecks the measurements. Let me try these steps and will get back. Thanks a lot for quick inputs