High Quality — How To Use Google Earth In Autocad

Now I needed to scale it. I measured a known feature in Google Earth—for example, the distance between two fence posts was 150 feet. In AutoCAD, I used the command. I picked two points on the JPG, then two corresponding points on the geolocated KML outline. The image stretched, rotated, and snapped perfectly into place.

In seconds, AutoCAD placed a of the exact area. A little red pin showed north, and the drawing units automatically adjusted to real-world coordinates (usually UTM or Lat/Long).

I traced the gravel road over the aligned image using a polyline. I drew the shed’s foundation 12 feet from the road and 30 feet south of the largest pine tree. Because the underlying map was real-world coordinates, I could even extract elevation points from Google Earth’s terrain (by exporting a contour KML and importing it as 3D polylines). how to use google earth in autocad

I didn’t have time for a new survey. But I had Google Earth and AutoCAD.

But the satellite imagery itself didn’t come through—only the vector outline of my polygon did. So here’s the trick pros use: Now I needed to scale it

It was a Tuesday afternoon when my client sent me a frantic email: “The new utility shed needs to align exactly with the existing gravel road and that stand of pine trees. But the site survey is two years old.”

Back in AutoCAD (I was using 2023), I typed (or GEO for short). A dialog box appeared. I chose “Import a KML or KMZ file.” I selected the KML I’d saved from Google Earth. I picked two points on the JPG, then

Two hours later, I sent the client a DWG with the shed, the road, and a note: “Coordinates match Google Earth’s current imagery. Verified with two known landmarks.”