How To Use Google Earth In Autocad [top] May 2026

Now I needed to scale it. I measured a known feature in Google Earth—for example, the distance between two fence posts was 150 feet. In AutoCAD, I used the command. I picked two points on the JPG, then two corresponding points on the geolocated KML outline. The image stretched, rotated, and snapped perfectly into place.

I didn’t have time for a new survey. But I had Google Earth and AutoCAD. how to use google earth in autocad

It was a Tuesday afternoon when my client sent me a frantic email: “The new utility shed needs to align exactly with the existing gravel road and that stand of pine trees. But the site survey is two years old.” Now I needed to scale it

I traced the gravel road over the aligned image using a polyline. I drew the shed’s foundation 12 feet from the road and 30 feet south of the largest pine tree. Because the underlying map was real-world coordinates, I could even extract elevation points from Google Earth’s terrain (by exporting a contour KML and importing it as 3D polylines). I picked two points on the JPG, then

He replied, “How did you do that without a new survey?”

I opened Google Earth Pro (the free desktop version) and navigated to the client’s property. I made sure the layer was on and tilted the view to see the topography around the trees. Then I went to View → Reset → Tilt and Compass to get a pure top-down view.

Two hours later, I sent the client a DWG with the shed, the road, and a note: “Coordinates match Google Earth’s current imagery. Verified with two known landmarks.”