Adding a GIS Shapefile to a Project

This video details how to add a GIS shapefile to an engineering project model.

Follow these steps to add a GIS shapefile to a project:

1. Right-click on the Map Data Layer panel and then select Add Layers from the displayed context menu.
   
2. The Add Layers dialog box will be displayed.
   
3. Select the GIS shapefile(s) to load. Hold down the [Ctrl] key to load more than one shapefile at a time.
4. The selected shapefile(s) will be loaded into the Map View and Map Data Layers panel. If more than one shapefile was selected, the selected shapefiles will be placed within their own layer group.
   
5. To rename the layer group, highlight the layer group and either right-click and select Rename from the displayed context menu or press the [F2] function key.
   
6. If the imported shapefiles do not have an assigned coordinate reference system (CRS), refer to this article in our Knowledge Base on how to georeference the shapefiles to the Map View.

Drag and Drop

Shapefiles can also be dragged and dropped from Windows Explorer onto the Map View or Map Data Layers panel. Dropping the shapefiles on to the Map Data Layers panel provides more control on the display order of the selected shapefiles.