How to Plot a Deed: Metes and Bounds Step by Step

Plotting a deed means converting a written metes and bounds description into a visual boundary map. Whether you're a surveyor verifying a legal description, a title examiner checking closure, or an attorney reviewing a property dispute, plotting is how you validate what the words actually describe.

Step 1: Identify the Point of Beginning

Find the POB in the legal description. It's the anchor for every line that follows. In a well-written description, the POB references a known monument, section corner, or coordinate pair.

For plotting purposes, you can place the POB at any convenient location on your canvas — the shape of the boundary doesn't change regardless of where you start drawing. If you need the parcel positioned on a real map, you'll need the POB's actual coordinates (State Plane, UTM, or lat/long).

Step 2: Parse Each Call

Go through the description and extract each call. A call consists of:

• A bearing (direction) — e.g., N 45° 30' E
• A distance — e.g., 200.00 feet
• Or curve data — radius, arc length, chord bearing/distance

Watch for abbreviations: "ft" for feet, "deg" or "°" for degrees, "min" or "'" for minutes. Older deeds may spell everything out: "North forty-five degrees thirty minutes East, two hundred feet."

Step 3: Convert Bearings to Coordinates

For each call, calculate where the next point falls relative to the current position. The math is straightforward trigonometry:

The signs depend on the quadrant: N and E are positive, S and W are negative. For a bearing of S 30° E, the angle from north is 180° - 30° = 150°, so ΔY is negative (south) and ΔX is positive (east).

Step 4: Plot Each Segment

Starting from the POB, draw each line segment using the calculated coordinates. Connect the points in order. If the description includes curves, plot the arc between the tangent points using the radius and delta angle.

By hand, this is done on graph paper with a protractor and scale. With software, you enter the calls and the plot appears automatically.

Step 5: Check Closure

After plotting all calls, the last point should coincide with the POB. The distance between the last plotted point and the POB is the closure error.

Calculate the closure ratio:

A ratio of 1:10,000 or better is generally acceptable for boundary surveys. If closure is poor, check for typos, transposed digits, or missing calls.

Step 6: Calculate Area

Once the parcel closes, calculate the area. The standard method is the coordinate method (also called the Shoelace formula): sum the cross-products of consecutive coordinate pairs.

Area is typically expressed in square feet and acres (1 acre = 43,560 sq ft).

Step 7: Export or File

Depending on your purpose:

• PDF plat — for filing with the county, attaching to reports, or delivering to clients
• DXF file — for importing into AutoCAD or Civil 3D for further survey work
• Coordinates table — for staking the boundary in the field

The Faster Way

The manual process above takes 20-30 minutes per parcel, and that's after you've already typed in all the calls. CADastral automates the entire workflow:

1. Upload the deed (PDF or image)
2. AI extracts every call — even from handwritten or scanned documents
3. Calls are automatically parsed and plotted on an interactive canvas
4. Edit, adjust, add easements as needed
5. Export as PDF plat or DXF

Total time: under 2 minutes, including the AI processing.