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Applying a Custom Georeference in Plex-Earth Lite

Updated

Introduction

Plex-Earth offers several features to maximize efficiency and let one work with accuracy, whilst having the most convenient options available for them through customization. We want to exhibit this by offering a custom georeferencing system to quickly associate your drawing with the real world. Georeferencing, which is the process of adding geographic information to drawings, is a prerequisite for using any other feature of Plex-Earth. 

There are cases where an existing drawing has been drafted without taking into consideration any georeference system, or where it is unknown. Instead of completely redrafting your drawing from scratch, what can be done then is to associate a point in your AutoCAD or BricsCAD drawing with a point in Google Earth or with known coordinates, by utilizing a feature called Custom Georeference.

Already know the coordinate system for your georeference? Browse the tutorial here to georeference your drawing by choosing a Coordinate system.

Let's start!

Go to the Plex-Earth Lite ribbon and on the Project panel, click on Assign Georeference. Alternatively, you may type PXV_GEO in the command line.

Assign Georeference.png

Plex-Earth will ask you to specify your drawing georeference, where you click on By Geographic Location (Custom Georeference).

Custom Georeference.png

Let us first specify the geographic location of a known point in the drawing.

You can either type the latitude/longitude data of your point by clicking Enter or paste the geographic coordinates (Latitude, Longitude), or just copy and paste the location data from Google Earth by choosing Paste from Clipboard.

Choose geographic coordinates.png

To copy your location data from Google Earth, follow the steps below:

  1. Locate a point in your project on Google Earth.
  2. Create a placemark on the point, then right-click >> Copy.
  3. Go to Plex-Earth and click on Paste from Clipboard. Plex-Earth will automatically get the coordinates from your clipboard. 
  4. Then, click Accept.

Accept Geographic Location.png

📝 Note: If you choose to enter values directly, keep in mind that only lat/long values in degrees are recognized.

Then, a message will appear prompting you to select the reference point, as shown below:

Select Reference Point.png

Two options appear:

  • You can select By Origin when you want to set the location you copied at the drawing's origin (0,0).
  • Alternatively, you can select By Point when you want to specify a position within the drawing. When selecting this option, you will be prompted to specify a point in your drawing, as shown below:

Specify a Point.png

This way, Plex-Earth Lite has created a custom georeference.

📝 Note: If you need to change the default units of your drawing, you can go to the Collection Manager and click on the "Settings" icon. Then go to the "General" tab and click on "Set Default Units", as shown below.

Plex-Earth Lite Settings.png

Set Default Units.png

After finishing the georeferencing process, you are now ready to explore all the stunning features that Plex-Earth Lite offers.

We hope that you have found this tutorial on how to georeference using a custom georeference with Plex-Earth Lite, helpful. Feel free to contact us at support@plexscape.com for any questions you may still have.

Don't have Plex-Earth Lite yet? Explore all the features and potential benefits of this software; install a free license of Plex-Earth Lite now!

New_Project__6_.jpg

 

Compatibility includes:

AutoCAD Version: 2025, 2024, 2023 , 2022 , 2021 , 2020 , 2019 , 2018 , 2017 , 2016

Civil 3D® Version: 2025, 2024, 2023 , 2022 , 2021 , 2020 , 2019 , 2018 , 2017 , 2016

AutoCAD Architecture Version: 2025, 2024, 2023 , 2022 , 2021 , 2020 , 2019 , 2018 , 2017 , 2016

BricsCAD Pro: V22 , V21

 

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