Map drawing programs

[wilber]

Google sketchup was my go too. I could pull in a satelite image and draw a shed etc to scale and have an idea where to site etc.

Unfortunatly the feature has been removed. Are there any other products out their that let me do the same? I cant find anything for free with my googling so far, and as this is just for personal use/ideas it doesntjustify spending money on an expensive package.

 

[dannewhouse]

free map tools you can measure an area or distance but that's not quite what you wanted

 

[Steevo]

What a pity! Huge knockback!

 

[foxbox]

I've resorted to Google Earth and the Measure Polygon option recently, no real 3D ability though but at least you can plot a footprint pretty quickly.

Edit:

Actually Sketchup is still about; it's owned by Trimble now and in theory you can export models to Google Earth. There is a free and paid for version but I can't get a model from the free version into Google Earth, not sure if it's a premium option (probably my lack of ability to be honest).

 

[dannewhouse]

I would like a "topography" type thing so you can get accurate levels, at home I made a grid of a field and used rotating laser and made my own.

 

[mike@knights]

Have a look at www.cadmapper.com - You can download map files directly into SketchUp/CAD/Rhino etc - anything up to 1km2 is a free file. I've used plenty of times and continue to recommend. Rather than a satellite image, the roads and features import as solid lines suitable for use in the respective program.