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Vertex Input Modes

Mapit GIS gives you three different ways to place vertices when creating or editing line and polygon features. You can cycle between them at any time from the edit toolbar, and the right mode depends on whether you are standing at the feature, digitising from the map, or projecting from a known point.

The three modes​

ModeHow a vertex is placedTypical use
CrosshairAt your current GPS position when the map is locked to GPS, or at the map crosshair when it is notWalk-the-feature surveying, heads-up digitising with the crosshair
Tap on the mapAt the exact point on the map where you tapFast on-screen digitising of corners from aerial imagery or a basemap
Distance and bearingAt a calculated point projected from a source location using a distance and bearingSurveying features that are not directly accessible, or working with a laser rangefinder

The currently active mode is shown by the icon on the mode-cycle button in the edit toolbar:

  • Filled crosshair with a central dot - Crosshair, map locked to GPS
  • Hollow crosshair - Crosshair, map cursor (GPS unlocked)
  • Tapping finger - Tap on the map
  • Ruler with an angle - Distance and bearing

Switching between modes​

Start an edit session on a line or polygon layer, then tap the Vertex input mode button on the edit toolbar to cycle to the next available mode. Your choice is remembered and applies to every subsequent edit session until you change it.

The cycle only includes modes that are actually usable:

  • Crosshair is always included.

  • Tap on the map is always included.

  • Distance and bearing only appears in the cycle when you have enabled it under Settings > Survey Settings > Distance and Bearing Method. Turning that setting off removes it from the cycle automatically.

    Mapit GIS Professional - Enabling 'tap on the map' input mode
tip

If you turn Distance and Bearing Method on from Survey Settings while an edit session is active, the active mode switches to Distance and Bearing on your next session - enabling the setting signals intent to use it.

Crosshair mode​

This is the classic Mapit data-capture workflow. The point that ends up in your layer is:

  • Your GPS position when the map is centred on GPS.
  • The map crosshair (centre of the screen) when GPS lock is off.

Tap Add vertex on the edit toolbar to append the current position to the geometry. This mode is available to all users and works with every subscription tier.

Crosshair mode is the only mode that can use position averaging, minimum accuracy filtering, antenna height correction, and geoid-model orthometric heights, since those all consume the live GNSS stream.

Tap on the map mode​

Switch to this mode and every tap on the map drops a new vertex at the tapped coordinate. It is the fastest way to build up a shape when you already know where the corners are from aerial imagery, a basemap, or another reference layer.

Tap on the map works for:

  • New features - point, line, or polygon.
  • Multi-part features - taps are appended to the currently selected part of a MultiLineString or MultiPolygon.
  • Inner rings (holes) - while ring mode is active.
  • Existing features - tapping appends a new vertex to the end of the geometry being edited, exactly as the crosshair mode would.

Because the coordinates come from the tap location and not from GNSS, accuracy filtering and position averaging do not apply here.

Pro+ makes tap mode topologically clean

With a Pro+ subscription you can enable Vertex Snapping. Tapping within the snap radius of an existing vertex or edge then snaps the new vertex exactly onto it, producing shared vertices between adjacent features and watertight boundaries.

Distance and bearing mode​

Use this mode when the target point is not directly accessible - for example the far side of a river, the top of a tree, or a traverse from a known base. You enter a horizontal distance and a true bearing from a source location, and Mapit projects the target on the map.

See Project Point Method for the full workflow, base-point management, and Bluetooth laser rangefinder support.

To make this mode part of the toolbar cycle you must first enable it under Settings > Survey Settings > Distance and Bearing Method. Without that setting, the cycle stays on two modes (Crosshair and Tap on the map) so you do not cycle through a mode you cannot use.

Interaction with existing edit tools​

All three modes coexist with the edit-session tools you already know:

  • Tapping an existing session vertex still selects it so you can drag it or delete it.
  • Tapping a midpoint indicator still promotes the midpoint to a real vertex.
  • The Back button still removes the last added vertex regardless of which mode added it.
  • Ring mode, multi-part editing, and the Z-value handling behave identically in all three modes.

Only when your tap misses every existing session vertex and midpoint does the active vertex-input mode take over and add a new vertex.