1 · Start with the real property
The part that separates a site plan generator from a drawing app: PlotForge knows your parcel.
📍Address → parcel, automatically
Type a street address and the property's recorded boundary lines and lot dimensions load from real parcel records, drawn to scale over an aerial photo. No tracing, no plat-reading. Works in all 50 states — see coverage.
📐Automatic setbacks
Setback lines compute from the actual parcel edges the moment it loads — with distances labeled. The number the permit reviewer checks first, done first.
🏠Auto-add existing buildings
One click places the existing structures on the lot from public building-footprint records. Every footprint stays editable — move, rotate, reshape, relabel.
🧩Multi-parcel handling
Working across lots? Add neighboring parcels, merge them into one site, and keep an optional dashed "former lot line" — the detail lot-combination permits ask for.
🛰️Premium & leaf-off imagery
In select states, switch to high-resolution ortho or winter leaf-off imagery and see structures through tree canopy on wooded lots — with a toggle back to standard satellite.
🎓Practice properties
A dozen built-in demo addresses for unlimited watermarked practice. Learn the tool on someone else's lot before you touch your own plan allowance.
2 · Draw the project
Point-and-click drawing tools that measure as you go — built for decks, additions, fences, pools, garages, and everything else a permit desk sees.
⬜Structure builder
Drop rectangles for the house, garage, shed, deck, or addition — drag, rotate, merge — or trace any outline by hand. Dimensions label themselves as you draw, and you can type the exact width × depth on any structure instead of chasing it with the mouse.
🖼️Image underlay — trace over your own plan New
Import a house plan, plat, or old site plan (PDF, PNG, JPG or SVG) as a see-through layer pinned under the drawing — with transparency, rotation, and true-scale control. Set the scale by clicking two points you know the distance between; until it's calibrated the image is marked NOT TO SCALE and stays off printed sheets. Then trace over it with every tool.
🏗️Concept building pads New
Drop a labeled building pad and give it stories × units per floor — footprint SF, gross SF, and the unit count print right on the pad and total in the takeoff. Sketch a multi-building concept on real parcel data in minutes.
🚧Fence, wall & pool tools
Purpose-built tools with live measurements while you draw, automatic fence-to-property-line callouts, and line color/weight/style control that carries into the CAD export.
🛣️Driveway ribbon
Trace the driveway's centerline and it draws itself to full width with clean corners — and fuses with pads and walkways into one hardscape.
📏Measure tool + length labels
A feet-and-inches tape measure with a running total for quick checks — plus printable length labels you can toggle on any line that should show its dimension on the sheet.
🖱️Smooth editing New
Mouse-wheel zoom anchored on your cursor — it never changes the printed scale — plus drag-to-pan, Esc to cancel a trace, Delete to remove what you last grabbed, and ⧉ one-click duplicate on any object. Live measurements sit in a readout pill at the top, never covering the spot you're tracing.
🛤️Roads & road setbacks
Show real road centerlines on the plan and auto-dimension corner-to-centerline distances ("34'-6" TO ROAD C/L") — the number rural permit offices ask for.
⛰️Topo contour lines
One-click USGS-derived reference contours with an interval picker (auto / 10 / 5 / 2 / 1 ft), labeled and exported on PDF and CAD. Reference topography with its source noted — not a survey.
🌄Slope analysis shading New
One click tints the site by ground slope from USGS 1-meter lidar — green under 8%, yellow 8–15%, orange 15–25%, red over 25% — with a legend that prints on the sheet. See buildable ground in seconds. Terrain screening, not a grading analysis.
📊Live quantity takeoff New
A draggable on-sheet panel totals everything as you draw: structures and pads in SF, hardscape in SF, fences and walls in LF, unit counts, and approximate impervious coverage as a percent of the lot. Prints on the PDF.
〰️Curved lines & arcs
Trace curved property frontage, cul-de-sacs, and winding drives with true arcs and splines — not chunky segments.
📝Text notes & callouts New
Write full multi-line note paragraphs anywhere on the plan — general notes, scope descriptions — plus draggable arrow callouts that point at exactly what you mean.
📐Corner setback dimensions
Click any structure corner to drop two perpendicular distance-to-line dimensions — the fastest way to answer "how far is the addition from the property line?"
3 · Make it look drafted
Output that passes for a drafter's work — because the permit desk judges the sheet, not the software.
🧭Survey-style presentation
Five north-arrow styles (including an ornate hand-drafted one), a graphic scale bar, area hatching, and editable bearing labels along property lines.
🏷️Title block that fills itself
Save your company info once — and declare whether you're a contractor or a drafting/architectural firm — and every sheet's title block fills correctly, down to the drawn-by initials.
📋Auto cover sheet
An editable permit cover sheet generates with your plan: location and vicinity maps, property sketch, project data, and a sheet index. Included free with every plan.
📎Attach your own sheets
Upload existing CAD PDFs or images — engineering details, manufacturer specs — and each becomes its own title-blocked sheet so the whole package matches.
4 · Export the package
One plan, three formats, zero "upgrade to download."
📄Permit-ready PDF
A dimensioned, to-scale sheet with title block, north arrow, and scale — clean output with every editing handle hidden. What you submit is what you saw.
🖼️PNG in any sheet size
Image export with a sheet-size picker — for emails, proposals, and portals that want a picture instead of a PDF.
⚙️DXF for CAD
A layered DXF file — property lines, structures, contours, roads, and text on named layers — that opens in AutoCAD and the rest of the CAD ecosystem. Your engineer will not have to redraw anything.
📦Multi-page permit package
Site plan + cover sheet + your uploaded sheets export as one multi-page PDF — the complete submittal in a single file.
👥Free team seats
Subscription tiers include free seats for teammates who share the plan allowance — the office and the field on one account, no per-seat pricing.
🤝Done-for-you option
Rather not draw at all? Order a plan for $149 and a finished, permit-ready PDF + DXF lands in your email in 48–72 hours with 5 free revisions.
Features FAQ
Is PlotForge AI-generated drawing?
No — and that's deliberate. Every line on a PlotForge plan is deterministic: property lines come from recorded county parcel geometry, dimensions are computed from that geometry, and structures go exactly where you place them. Nothing is guessed or hallucinated, because a permit drawing has to be right, not plausible.
Do I need CAD software or CAD skills to use PlotForge?
No. PlotForge runs in your browser and everything is point-and-click: enter an address, place structures, export. If you or your engineer do use CAD, every plan also exports as a layered DXF file that opens in AutoCAD and its ecosystem.
Are the topo contour lines a survey?
No — they're USGS-derived reference contours generated from federal elevation data, with an interval picker from auto down to 1-foot. They're labeled on the plan with their source and are suitable as reference topography; they are not a field survey or engineer-certified topo.
Can PlotForge show which parts of a lot are too steep to build?
Yes. The Slope button shades the whole site by ground slope, computed from USGS 1-meter lidar terrain data — green under 8%, yellow 8–15%, orange 15–25%, red over 25% — with a legend on the sheet, and it prints on the PDF. It's reference-grade terrain screening for siting decisions, not an engineering grading analysis.
Can I trace over my own house plan or an old site plan?
Yes. Import it (PDF, PNG, JPG or SVG) and it pins under the drawing as a see-through underlay with transparency, rotation, and scale control. Click two points you know the distance between and type the number — the image locks to true scale, anchored on those points. Until it's calibrated it's marked NOT TO SCALE and stays off printed sheets, so a wrong-scale image can never reach a permit package. The CAD export carries only your drawn geometry, never the image.
What can PlotForge export?
Three formats per plan: a permit-ready PDF sheet with title block, north arrow, and scale; a PNG image in your choice of sheet size; and a layered DXF CAD file. You can also attach your own uploaded CAD or PDF sheets and export everything as one multi-page permit package, with an optional auto-generated cover sheet.
Can I try the features before paying?
Yes — every feature listed is included in the free 30-day trial, no credit card required. There are also built-in demo properties for unlimited watermarked practice that never touches your plan allowance.
Every feature. Free for 30 days.
No credit card, no feature gates, no watermark on real plans. The fastest way to evaluate the list above is to point it at your own property.