Maya closed her eyes. She knew there was only one real way. It was the path of the GIS-CAD warlock. She opened , the free, open-source mapping software she kept on her machine for exactly this nightmare.
She called the Denver engineer, a gruff veteran named Hank.
Maya looked at the KML file on her desktop: SolarArray_Final.kml . She clicked it. Google Earth opened, showing a beautiful, three-dimensional tapestry of color-coded polygons: blue for solar panel arrays, red for high-voltage cable trenches, green for environmental exclusion zones. It was a perfect map for a drone pilot or a GIS analyst. But it was worthless to the CAD operator in Denver who ran AutoCAD Civil 3D.
If you have the full Civil 3D suite, you have built-in GIS tools: open kml in autocad
Check the box to if you want clean boundary lines instead of individual segments.
She opened the KML in Google Earth Pro. Right-clicked the top-level folder. Save Place As. In the file type dropdown, she saw it: . Her heart leaped. Google Earth could export to AutoCAD’s native exchange format? This was too easy.
Three minutes later, Hank replied: “It’s beautiful. I’m calculating cut/fill now. You saved the day.” Maya closed her eyes
Before you start, make sure you have:
Trembling, she opened it in AutoCAD.
Because AutoCAD cannot directly open or import KML files through the standard "Open" dialog, you must use one of three methods. She opened , the free, open-source mapping software
When you want to bring in a satellite image or terrain from Google Earth and trace over it, or if you have a KML with only a few points.
Users with full Civil 3D or Map 3D software (not standard AutoCAD).