A site boundary tells Snaptrude where your project sits and how much land you have to work with. If the map has no parcel data for your location, draw the boundary yourself in the Import Site window. You can also draw a Site object directly in Design Mode, for example when tracing a boundary from a CAD file, PDF or image.

Before you start

You can draw a site in any project, including a blank one.
To import an existing parcel instead of drawing one, see Import a Site and Topography.

Open the Import Site window

Click the project name at the top left and choose Import.
In the Import dialog, under Snaptrude's Toposolid, click Import Site.
Use the Search places, addresses, or coordinates box to find your address or a nearby landmark.
Zoom in on your plot. Hints appear while you are zoomed too far out, and Import site stays unavailable until you zoom in.

Draw the site boundary

Where the map has no parcels, the draw tool is active by default, so you can start clicking straight away. Where parcels exist, you can pick them under Property Parcels instead. Parcel data covers the US and Canada.

Click on the map to place the first corner of your site. Hints such as Add a point guide you as you go.
Keep clicking to place each corner in order around the plot.
Finish the shape in one of three ways: click the first point again to close the loop (a Close shape hint helps you here), press Enter, or double-click.
Check the site area, which Snaptrude calculates automatically from the shape.
Click Import site to bring the site into your project.

Note: Edges are straight lines only, and you can't type exact edge lengths in this window. For a curved boundary, or one you want to trace from a drawing, draw a Site object in Design Mode instead (see below).

Note: You can draw up to 10 parcels. Snaptrude warns you if a shape crosses over itself, or if you reach the limit. Parcels that are panned out of view are not counted or imported, so keep every parcel you want on screen before importing.

Edit a drawn site

Hover over a drawn parcel, then click to select it.
Enter edit mode for the parcel. On a topography parcel, look for the pencil icon in its tooltip.
Drag an edge or a corner to reshape the boundary. Moving and editing the shape happen in the same gesture.
Check the updated site area, then import again if needed.

Draw a Site object in Design Mode

Use this method when you want to trace a boundary from an underlay or need arcs and curves.

Switch to Design Mode.
Choose a draw tool from the top toolbar: Line (L), Arc (A), Circle or Rectangle (R).
Set the object type to Site.
Draw the boundary. To trace it, draw over an imported CAD file, PDF or image.

Use your site for analysis and FAR

Site analysis can read a manually drawn site as well as an imported parcel. It uses your site to infer zoning constraints, such as permitted FAR, and shares them with later steps such as the buildable envelope and program creation.

Ask the Snaptrude Agent to run site analysis on your project.
Or, in Program Mode, choose Analyze Site from the agent dropdown in the Agent panel. It detects the imported site automatically. Anything you include in your prompt overrides what it detects.
Results are saved in the P1 - Site Analysis sheet in Program Mode, where you can edit them.

Troubleshooting

Import site is greyed out: zoom in closer to your plot.
A parcel didn't come in: make sure the parcel was visible on screen when you clicked Import site.
Self-intersection warning: reshape the boundary so no edges cross, or redraw it.

Import a Site and Topography
Site Analysis
Area Panel
Snaptrude Agent

Draw a Site Boundary