Draw shapes and text labels#

Annotations are the marks you add yourself: a point on a location, a boundary around an area, a label that names something. Each one becomes its own layer under Annotations. You can hide it, recolour it, and remove it like anything else on the map.

The tool palette decides what a click on the map does. Select is the resting state, where a click inspects features. The drawing tools draw shapes, and the analysis tools cover measurement and queries. The basemap buttons change the map background rather than the tool.

The drawing tools#

Point, Line, Polygon, Rectangle, and Circle draw the shape their name suggests. Each one has a single-key shortcut, shown in its tooltip: P, L, G, R, and C. Press V or Escape to go back to Select when you finish.

Geo Map names a new shape after its type, and numbers it when names collide, so a second polygon becomes Polygon 2. The Layers panel has no rename control, but the annotation editor lets you change the text a shape carries.

Place a text label#

Text label, shortcut T, is the one that behaves differently. Click the map and a small input appears where you clicked, and reads 'Label, Enter to place'. Type the text, then press Enter to place it. Escape cancels. An empty box also cancels if you press Enter or click away.

Geo Map treats a text label as a distinct kind of annotation. Select one and the inspector gives you a transform card with Font size (pixels) and Rotation (degrees). On-map handles let you drag, resize, and rotate the label. Rotation pivots about the centre of the label, so the Anchor control in labelling does not apply to annotations.

Edit the text and note#

Annotation rows in the Layers panel carry a pencil. It opens an editor with two fields: Text, which is the annotation's own text, and Note, a free area for anything you want to record alongside it. Save commits both fields. A blank Text field keeps the existing name rather than clears it. For a text label, an edit here also updates what the map draws.

Where to go next#

You draw measurements in the same way, but they produce numbers rather than marks. See Measuring.