25 Must-Know Editing Tools in GIS
There are countless ways you can slice, dice, and edit data in a GIS. Densify, simplify, smooth, planarize, trim, fillet, divide, and explode… You can do so much!
So, that’s why we’ve created this handy visual guide with the essential GIS editing tools.
From basic to advanced editing, this is your cheat sheet to creating and modifying GIS data.
And if we missed any of the essential editing tools, don’t forget to let us know with a comment below.
Creating Features
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1 Straight Segment Constructs straight line segments by pointing and clicking each vertex.
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2 Streaming Freehand Generates vertices based on the movement of the mouse pointer.
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3 Right-Angle Segment Squares off edges for all line segments forcing orthogonal (90°) corners.
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4 Arc Segment Adds curvature to line segments by setting a circular or bezier arc.
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5 Trace Creates new vertices by following along an existing feature.
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6 Radial Generates outward directional lines from a center radial point.
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Aligning Existing Features
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7 Move Moves features into a new location without the modification of any vertices.
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8 Rotate Spins a feature in a circular motion from a central pivot point.
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9 Scale Resizes a feature proportionately in size by either increasing or reducing it uniformly.
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Reshaping Existing Features
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10 Edit Vertices Selects, adds, deletes, and moves vertices from an existing feature.
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11 Reshape Updates the vertices from an existing feature using an input digitized line segment.
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12 Replace Exchanges geometry from one feature to another feature.
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13 Extend Increases the length of a line to snap to an existing feature boundary.
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14 Trim Decreases the length of a line to snap to an existing feature boundary.
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15 Fillet Adds curvature at the bend of two line segments by creating a circular path.
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16 Generalize (simplify) Removes vertices from a line or polygon reducing the complexity of a feature – while maintaining the basic shape.
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17 Densify Adds vertices to a line or polygon at a set distance, offset, or angle.
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18 Smooth Inserts vertices at corners to soften corners and reduce jagged edges in geometry.
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Dividing and Merging Existing Features
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19 Split Cuts a polygon into separate features based on an existing line.
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20 Merge Combines two separate features into a single feature.
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21 Buffer Widens a point, line, or polygon at a specified distance.
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22 Divide Cuts a line or polygon by distance, percent, or into equal parts.
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23 Planarize Splits geometry where features intersect.
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24 Explode Separates a multipart feature into individual single-part features.
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Coordinate Geometry (COGO)
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25 Traverse COGO (Coordinate Geometry) follows along a traveled path (traverse survey measurements) using direction, distance, and radius.
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How is this a handy guide? There’s no content, no instructions on how to do these techniques or use these tools, lol.
Thank you. This is indeed a handy guide.