How can we help?

CAD Bridge

What information can help with a CAD Bridge question?

Describe what you were trying to do and what happened. If available, include the POINTID (the corner's PLSS identifier), a link to the corner record, the name and version of your CAD software, the drawing's coordinate system and units, and the error message or insertion confirmation shown by the Bridge. These details help identify the record, drawing and operation involved. Contact admin@title-plot.com. Do not send passwords, API keys or other credentials.

Getting Started

What file types does Corner-Plot accept?

PDF files only, for now. Scanned forms, digital PDFs, and photo-PDFs all work. The OCR engine handles skewed scans, low-contrast documents, and handwritten fill-in fields, though handwritten text may have lower extraction accuracy than typed forms. TIFF and JPEG import is on the roadmap.

How do I create a project?

Go to Projects in the left sidebar and click New Project. Give it a name — typically the project number or job name — and click Create. Then drag Corner Record PDFs directly into the project detail page. Each uploaded Corner Record is processed independently and added to the project's corner list.

Why didn't the form OCR extract my ties correctly?

Tie extraction depends on the clarity and format of the scanned form. Common issues: very low-resolution scans (below 150 dpi), forms with custom or non-standard layouts, or ties written in non-standard bearing notation. If extraction misses a tie, you can add it manually from the corner record's Ties tab.

Can I upload forms for states not in the PLSS?

You can upload any Corner Record. Automatic geolocation works best in the 15 supported PLSS states, but corners in other states still geo-locate from the record itself, and all the Street View tools work the same.

Coordinate & Geolocation

Do I have to geolocate the corner myself?

No. The moment you upload a Corner Record, Corner-Plot automatically geo-locates the corner — resolving the scanned record to its position on the ground. You only step in if you want to adopt a field-measured coordinate instead.

What coordinate system does Corner-Plot use, and is it ready for NATRF2022?

Corner-Plot currently outputs State Plane coordinates in NAD83 (NSRS2007) using US survey feet — the standard in effect for all PLSS states today. SPCS2022 fields are reserved on every field prep report and will populate automatically when NGS releases the NATRF2022 horizontal datum and publishes the transformation. No action is required from users at that time; the report will begin showing both NAD83 and SPCS2022 values side by side.

Why does the report show US survey feet? Will that change with SPCS2022?

NAD83 State Plane zones use US survey feet (1 US survey foot = 1200/3937 meters). SPCS2022, based on NATRF2022, adopts international feet (exactly 0.3048 m) per NGS standards. When Corner-Plot transitions to SPCS2022, the coordinate unit on the report will switch to international feet for the SPCS2022 column. The NAD83 column will remain in US survey feet for backward compatibility.

My corner shows Low confidence. What does that mean?

Low confidence means Corner-Plot couldn't pin the corner down as tightly as usual for that record. Review the location in the Overview tab, and if you have a field-measured coordinate, use Adopt Coordinate to set it directly.

The resolved coordinate looks wrong. How do I fix it?

Open the Overview tab and click Adopt Coordinate. Enter the correct lat/lng and select the coordinate source. The enrichment pipeline (SV history, AI classification, tie projection) will automatically re-run at the new coordinate. If you want the system to re-try reconciliation first, click the Reconcile button in the Geolocation card.

Monument Analysis & Street View

When does Street View appear for a corner?

When the corner sits at or near a roadway with Google Street View coverage, Corner-Plot brings up Street View of the monument automatically — along with every available capture date, so you can review the monument's history over time. Corners far from any driven road won't have imagery.

No Street View captures found. What now?

The AI pipeline requires at least one Google Street View panorama within 100 feet (30 m) of the resolved coordinate. Corners on undriven roads, in forest interiors, on private property, or in areas Google hasn't driven recently will have no coverage. Use the 'View monument ↓ in Street View' link to manually check — sometimes a pano exists slightly farther away that the automatic search missed.

The classification says 'undetected' but I can see the monument in Street View. Why?

If the nearest Street View imagery was captured far from the monument (over about 50 feet), the monument may be out of frame or obscured. Try running Monument Identification manually from the Street View tab — it can improve detection in those cases.

What is the purple crosshair marker on the aerial map?

The purple crosshair marks the estimated monument position from Street View review — averaged across all capture dates where the monument was confirmed or probable. The spread tells you how consistent the sightings were across years.

How far back does the Street View history go?

Street View history spans up to 20 years. Google Street View launched in 2007, so most corners will have coverage from 2007–2008 onward. Remote rural roads may have only a few capture dates; urban intersections can have 15–20.

Ties & Live Visualization

How are the ties shown on the map?

Every bearing-and-distance tie from the Corner Record is projected from the geo-located corner and plotted live on the satellite map, at each accessory's exact position relative to the monument, over the BLM PLSS section linework. Each tie's object class, bearing, and distance (in feet) appear on its card next to the plotted point, so the numbers and the position always match.

Can I check a tie in Street View?

Yes. Each tie card has a directional Street View link pre-aimed from the corner toward the accessory object, plus a reverse link looking back from the object toward the monument. One click opens Street View at the tie so you can confirm the pole, tree, fence, or curb is present before sending a crew.

What is the Corner Map in the sidebar?

The Corner Map plots every geo-located corner in your account on one full-screen satellite map, color-coded by confidence, with the PLSS section grid overlaid. Click any marker to open that corner's detail view — coordinate, ties, and Street View.

Reports & Export

How do I print a field prep report?

Open the corner record and click the Report button in the top-right header. The report page loads in a print-friendly layout. Use your browser's print dialog (Ctrl+P / Cmd+P) to print or save as PDF. All sidebar chrome is hidden automatically — only the report content prints.

Can I add my firm's logo to the report?

Custom report branding is coming. Contact admin@title-plot.com to ask about current options.

Is there an API for bulk processing?

API access is in active development. Contact admin@title-plot.com if you need to integrate Corner-Plot into an existing project management or field data workflow.

BLM WinCMM & WinGMM

Does Corner-Plot produce outputs I can use with BLM WinCMM or WinGMM?

Yes. Every corner carries a GCDB-standard 21-character Point ID — the same identifier type BLM WinCMM and WinGMM use to key a monument in the Geometric Control Data Base. The resolved geodetic coordinate and SPCS NAD83 northing/easting (in feet) are included in the field prep report and can be used as control point inputs in a WinCMM or WinGMM least-squares adjustment session.

What is the GCDB Point ID on every corner?

The GCDB Point ID is the 21-character BLM identifier for a PLSS monument — encoding the Principal Meridian, Township, Range, Section, and corner position in a standardized format. Corner-Plot assigns one to every corner it processes. It appears in the corner detail and on the field prep report. BLM WinCMM and WinGMM use this same identifier to look up a monument in the Geometric Control Data Base.

How does Corner-Plot's automatic geolocation relate to BLM WinCMM routines?

Corner-Plot initializes the position from the PLSS description — the same grid-based computation as WinCMM's TRS2LL function. It assigns a GCDB Point ID (WHATIS), then resolves the corner from multiple independent sources and computes inter-method residuals to flag disagreement (BLUNDER). The resolved coordinate with confidence class corresponds to the NC/CR/PJ coordinate-class flags in WinCMM/WinGMM.

What does the tie table in the report correspond to in WinCMM?

The bearing-and-distance tie table Corner-Plot extracts from the uploaded CP&F form is the office equivalent of WinCMM .RAW field data — the same bearing, distance, and object-class records that BLM WinCMM's SSHOT and INREC routines accept as field measurements. Distances are normalized to feet and bearings to decimal degrees.

How does Corner-Plot's tie cross-check relate to BLM WinCMM's LOOPER?

Corner-Plot projects each tie from the resolved corner position and independently cross-checks the result against current road geometry and OpenStreetMap features — a closure check comparable to running a loop traverse through BLM WinCMM's LOOPER routine. Discrepancies between the filed tie data and current ground features are flagged for field review.