The Screen and View Settings tab controls how information is displayed on screen in both the camera overlay and CAD view. These settings help you adjust how much detail you see during layout, measurement, and review tasks.
Overlay Settings
These options control what is shown on top of the live camera view. They can be toggled in the settings, as well as by opening the tab on the right side of the camera view.
Show Point Overlay
Choose whether to show Layout Points, Measured Points, and Control Points as an overlay in the camera view.
This helps you understand where already measured or laid‑out points are located on the jobsite relative to your current view.
CP6 is a control point displayed in the camera view
Show Smart Target
Smart Target is a square overlay that shows the area in which the camera can successfully lock onto a target. This is useful to quickly maneuver the camera to the determine whether a prism or target is within the lockable field of view of the PLT. It also includes a manual "drag and drop" style button to manually move the target to your ideal location, which is convenient for manual targeting.
Smart Target Turned Off (on the left); Smart Target Turned On (on the right)
Show Line Overlay
This feature works only for the PLT 400. When enabled, selected lines, either drawn in HCL or imported from the CAD file, are shown as an overlay in the camera view during layout. This provides an augmented‑reality view, allowing you to see design lines directly on the jobsite.
The line overlay can be enabled or disabled:
- In Screen and View Settings
- Directly in the layout camera view using the options on the right side of the screen
- Select the lines you want to display in the camera view by clicking the Select the lines button in the options screen and then they will appear in the camera view
Select Lines button on the right side tab during camera view
The black line is the selected line shown on the ground in the camera view
CAD View Options
These settings control what information is shown in the CAD view.
Show Point Information
Choose whether to display Layout and Control Point names in the CAD view. Point names can always be checked via the COGO → Info function by selecting a point.
Point Information Turned Off (on the left); Point Information Turned On (on the right)
Show Point Height
Choose whether to display point height values in the CAD view. This also enables live height readings during layout, as well as height values for already measured points, when working with heights.
The numbers next to the points indicate their height values within your point file
Show Dimension
Dimensions show temporary measurement labels, such as lengths and distances, directly on CAD elements. This allows you to quickly verify sizes and spacing without opening a measuring application. Note that dimensions are only shown for lines where the Dimension tool has been applied. See this article to learn more.
The numbers above the line indicate its length
Show Tool Orientation
Tool orientation shows the direction the PLT is currently facing relative to the CAD file. This helps you understand how the physical tool is aligned with the digital design, especially after stationing or rotating the view.
The red dotted line indicates the orientation of the tool
Show Scale
Scale displays the current zoom scale of the CAD view, helping you visually judge distances and understand how zoomed in or out the drawing is. The scale indicator is shown in the bottom‑right corner of the screen.
The scale icon shown in the bottom right of the screen
Show Direction
Direction shows the angular orientation of the current CAD view relative to the CAD file orientation. This allows you to verify the direction you are currently viewing in the drawing and helps maintain consistent orientation during layout. This setting reflects the view orientation and not true north unless the CAD file itself is aligned to north
The direction icon shown in the bottom right of the screen
Show Absolute Height
This option enables the display of the absolute height of the measured location during layout. It is primarily used when working with benchmark‑based or sea‑level‑referenced height data. This setting affects display only and does not change measured or exported height values.
With Absolute Height enabled, the value is shown under Height to Point on the right side of the screen
Show Recommended Measuring Area
This is a visual accuracy guide. When enabled, a green highlighted circle appears in the CAD view, indicating the area where points can be reliably measured or laid out within the selected tolerance. Understand more on how this circle is determined by reading this article.
The green circle indicates the area where the total station can lay out points within the selected tolerance
Point Creation Options
Endpoints
Here you can choose whether one or multiple endpoints are created when using a point‑creation application. This is especially useful when creating all endpoints of a figure in a single action instead of selecting each point individually.
With the Endpoints setting set to "One," only a single endpoint is created at the end of the line closest to where you click
With the Endpoints setting set to Multiple, endpoints are created at both ends of the selected line
Layout‑Specific Options
Auto Zoom
During layout, the software automatically zooms in and centers the CAD View on the location the tool is currently measuring to (such as the current location of a prism you are tracking). This is useful for precise point placement. Turn this off if you prefer to manually control the zoom while you work.
CAD View before moving the stake (on the left); CAD View after moving the stake close to the point (on the right)
Map Orientation
Choose whether the CAD view orientation is set to North or Free during layout and measurement.
- North keeps the CAD view consistently aligned to "plan north" based on the coordinates of the CAD
- Free allows the view to rotate freely as you navigate the drawing, orienting the view such that the tool's stationed location is always "north" of the presumed measured location
If you prefer to work in a consistent jobsite‑north view, go to Screen and View Settings and set the map orientation to North.
Map Orientation set to North (on the left); Map Orientation set to Free (on the right)
Show “From Line Start” in Line Layout
When using the Line Layout application, this option shows the distance measured from the start point of the currently selected line.
With “From Line Start” enabled, the value is shown under To Line
Attributes
Choose whether to display point attributes during layout. When enabled, selecting a point will display its attributes in the top‑right corner of the screen.
Attributes are any additional information associated with a point, such as:
- Point descriptions
- IDs or tags
- Custom notes or classifications
To reduce screen clutter, this option is usually best left turned off unless attribute information is required.
The attributes of a selected point are shown in the top right of the screen
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