Create an Area measurement
🕐 Read time: 4 min
Written By Clark Yuan
Last updated 19 days ago
Overview
The Area tool lets you measure enclosed areas across your spatial data on a 2D map or directly on a 3D point cloud. Area measurements can be refined, renamed, and color-coded for client-ready deliverables.
Stitch3D supports two types of area measurement:
2D Area — measured on a raster layer (orthomosaic, DEM, or similar) in the 2D map view. It can also be drawn on the basemap with all file layers hidden.
3D Area — measured directly on a point cloud in the 3D Viewer.
ℹ️ Note: In both cases, the reported area is a horizontal (planimetric) area — the footprint of the shape projected onto the horizontal plane, not a draped surface area. 3D area measurements include XY coordinate information and automatically sync to the 2D map. 2D area measurements, however, do not carry an elevation value and cannot be represented in the 3D Viewer.
How to create a 2D area measurement
Open your Project and enter the 2D map view using the View Toggle in the top left of the Viewer.
Click the Area icon in the annotation toolbar at the top center of the Viewer.
Click on your starting point on the map to place your first vertex.
Continue clicking to add vertices around the boundary of the area. A minimum of three points is required to enclose an area.
Double-click to close the polygon and complete the measurement.
💡 Tip: To measure on the basemap without interference from other file layers, toggle off all layers in the Layers Panel before drawing your measurement.
Refining a 2D area measurement
Once placed, you can adjust the measurement without starting over:
Drag a vertex — click and drag any existing vertex to reposition it
Add a new vertex — click the midpoint of any segment to split it into two segments, giving you finer control over the boundary
How to create a 3D area measurement
Open your Project and enter the 3D Viewer.
Click the Area icon in the annotation toolbar at the top center of the Viewer.
Click directly on the point cloud to place your first vertex. Each click must land on the point cloud surface.
Continue clicking to add vertices around the boundary of the area. A minimum of three points is required to enclose an area.
Right-click to close the polygon and complete the measurement.
✅ Once created, the 3D area measurement automatically appears on the 2D map. No additional steps are needed.
Reading your results
Area measurements report the same values in both 2D and 3D:
ℹ️ Note: The reported area is always the horizontal footprint. For surface area that accounts for terrain relief, use the volume tool which reports both the horizontal area and surface area as part of its calculation. See How to measure volume for details.
Toggling measurement labels
Segment length labels can be turned on or off from the Information Panel on the right:
Labels on — each segment of the boundary displays its individual length
Labels off — labels are hidden for a cleaner view, useful for client presentations
The total area and perimeter values remain visible in the Information Panel regardless of the label setting.
Managing area measurements
Renaming a measurement
Open the Annotations Panel on the left side of the Viewer.
Locate the area measurement you want to rename.
Click the ⋯ (three dot) menu next to the measurement name and select “Rename.”
Type a new name.
Changing the color
Open the Annotation Information Panel on the right side of the Viewer for the selected Area.
Under the Settings section, select the color swatch.
Choose a new color.
💡 Tip: Color-coding is useful when working with multiple area measurements across a Project — for example, distinguishing between different site zones, land parcels, or survey areas.
Deleting a measurement
There are three ways to delete an area measurement.
Option 1 — Directly in the Viewer
Click on the measurement in the Viewer to select it.
Press the Delete key on your keyboard.
Option 2 — From the Annotations Panel
Open the Annotations Panel on the left side of the Viewer.
Click to select the measurement. Hold Shift or Ctrl to select multiple measurements at once.
Press the Delete key on your keyboard.
Option 3 — Via the row menu
Open the Annotations Panel on the left side of the Viewer.
Hover over the measurement row and click the ⋯ (three dot) menu.
Select the red Delete option.