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Help Center › Admin screens, field by field › Plan wizard steps 3 and 4: bird's-eye base map and tracing the property
Plan wizard steps 3 and 4: bird’s-eye base map and tracing the property
Every control in Landscape plan wizard step 3 (Bird's-eye base map) and step 4 (Trace the property), including survey scale and the zoom buttons.
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Steps 3 and 4 of the Landscape plans wizard give the plan its picture and its outlines. Step 3 gets a picture from above (or a survey, or nothing for a tape-only plan). Step 4 is where you tap the street, the property line, the house and the other parts.
Where to find it: Contractor Hub → Design Studio → Landscape plans → New landscape plan (or open an unfinished plan). Steps 1, 2, 5, 7 and 8 are in the article landscape-plan-wizard-fields.
Before you start
- Finish step 1 first. The map needs a full street address (house number, town, state), or a saved location.
- Aerial pictures cover US addresses. Connecticut has 3-inch state imagery; elsewhere the pictures are coarser (about 2 ft per pixel is quoted on screen for the coarser source).
Fields
Step 3: Bird’s-eye base map
The title is “Get the property from above”. A map opens on the property with a yellow crosshair on the home.
| Field (exact label) | What it does for VisionScaper | What to enter and example | Default / notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Map (drag, pinch, scroll, + / -) | Frames what the picture will show. Drag so the house is in the middle and zoom until every edge of the property is on screen. | Drag and zoom. A guide card “Step 3 – Frame the property” repeats this. | You cannot choose a view while the status line warns that no aerial photos exist. |
| Use this view | Saves the view as the plan’s picture and stores it on the property. The saved picture keeps extra margin (35 percent each side) around what you see so the tracing never runs off the edge. If you already traced on an older picture of the same place, the tracing is carried over. | Click once everything is in view. | Button text changes to “Saving the view…”. If the pictures do not finish loading it says to check the connection and try again. |
| Keep it and continue | Shown when an aerial is already chosen: keeps it and moves on. A new view is only needed if part of the property was cut off. | Click. | |
| Upload a survey / plot plan | Opens the file/photo chooser. The picture is kept at up to 2,400 px and saved on the property. Then the scale box opens. | Pick a picture of the survey from the closing papers or the town hall. | Gives the most accurate property lines. |
| I’ll measure everything with a tape | Starts the plan on a blank grid. You type the lot and house sizes instead of tracing. | Click. | |
| Length on the survey (feet) | Sets the survey scale. You tap both ends of a property line that has its length written on the survey, then type that length. It must be over 5 feet and the line must be long enough on the picture or you are asked to pick a longer one. | Feet, or feet and inches. | Messages: “Tap both ends of the line first.” and “Type the length in feet, as written on the survey.” |
| Set the scale / Set the scale / Continue | Saves the survey scale and moves to step 4 (shows a “Scaled from the survey” note on the scale check). | Click. | |
| Back | Goes to the previous step. Your work is saved as you go. | Click. | Default: Hidden on step 1 |
| Next (the label changes: Next, Generate again, Generate my plan) | Goes on to the next step. It is switched off while a red problem is listed (“blocking”). For yellow warnings it asks “Before you go on… Continue anyway?”. | Click when the footer says Ready. | The footer line shows Ready, “n things to check” or the first blocking problem. |
Step 4: Trace the property
Tracing happens on the picture. Each part has a title and a one-line instruction. Parts marked required must be done to go on.
| Field (exact label) | What it does for VisionScaper | What to enter and example | Default / notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Tap the street (required) (trace.street) |
One tap on the street or sidewalk in front of the house. Tells the wizard which side is the front. | Tap the street. | |
Trace the property line (required) (trace.boundary) |
Tap each corner in order and tap the first corner again to close. Everything else is checked against this outline. No AI button for this part. | Tap corners. | |
Trace the house (required) (trace.house) |
Tap the corners of the house roof, including attached garages and porches with roofs. | Tap corners, close the shape. | Has a Find it with AI button. |
Tap the front door (optional) (trace.door) |
One tap where the front door or steps meet the house. The front walk starts here. | Tap once. | |
Trace the driveway (optional) (trace.driveway) |
Corners of the paved driveway out to the street. | Tap corners, close. | Has Find it with AI. |
No driveway (trace.noDriveway) |
Shown on the driveway part. Marks that there is none and clears any outline. | Tick if the property has no driveway. | Default: Off |
Other structures (optional) (trace.structures) |
Trace sheds, detached garages, pools and decks one at a time. Skip if none. | Tap corners for each. | Has Find it with AI (shed or detached garage roof). |
Trees to keep (optional) (trace.trees) |
Tap the trunk of every tree that stays. New plants are kept clear of them. | Tap trunks. | |
| Undo | Takes back the last tap in this part. | Click. | |
| Clear | Asks “Clear this part and trace it again?” and wipes the part. | Click, then confirm. | |
| Find it with AI | Asks the AI to find the outline for the current part (house roof, driveway pavement, shed or detached garage roof). It then shows the result for you to correct. | Click, then fix the outline. | Shown only for parts with an AI option, and only when AI is available. |
| Next part | Moves to the next part of the trace. Looks filled when the current part is done. | Click. | On the last part it presses the footer Next button instead. |
| Zoom in (+) / Zoom out (-) / Fit | The three buttons on the trace picture. Fit (shown as a four-corner arrow) resets the view. The mouse wheel and a two-finger pinch also zoom; the wheel zooms the picture only, not the page. | Click, scroll or pinch. | Maximum zoom is 40 times. |
| Back | Goes to the previous step. Your work is saved as you go. | Click. | Default: Hidden on step 1 |
| Next (the label changes: Next, Generate again, Generate my plan) | Goes on to the next step. It is switched off while a red problem is listed (“blocking”). For yellow warnings it asks “Before you go on… Continue anyway?”. | Click when the footer says Ready. | The footer line shows Ready, “n things to check” or the first blocking problem. |
Steps
- In step 3, drag and zoom the map until the whole property is on screen, then press Use this view. For a survey, press Upload a survey / plot plan, tap both ends of a line with a written length, type that length and press Set the scale. For tape only, press I’ll measure everything with a tape.
- In step 4, follow the title on each part. Do the green required parts first: street, property line, house.
- Use Find it with AI where it appears, then drag points to fix the outline. Use Undo or Clear to redo a part.
- Press Next part until all parts are done, then Next.
- Read the footer. If it shows a red message, fix that part. A yellow count means check, then continue if you accept it.
If something goes wrong
- “No aerial photos for this spot”: use a survey or the tape option. Check the address in step 1 if the map is in the wrong place.
- “The aerial pictures didn’t finish loading”: check the connection and press Use this view again.
- Next stays grey: a required part (street, property line or house) is not finished.
- The survey scale is off: repeat the scale with a longer line; short lines give a poor scale.