How to Use ALTA-Plot
ALTA-Plot pulls every word out of Schedules A, B, and C and drops it into AutoCAD paperspace as MTEXT — no retyping. The Legal-Plot API processes every plottable legal description and returns the GIS and CAD linework that lands in modelspace. Below is a walkthrough of the workflow and each section of the interface.
Seven steps from commitment PDF to a complete, organized project package.
Create an account. On the Settings page, upload a DWG file that contains your firm's title block, border, and text styles. The app extracts your layers and text sizes and applies them to every export automatically — your logo and border will be in the paperspace output without any manual work.
Use the project selector in the top bar to create a new project, then upload the title commitment PDF. The app reads Schedules A, B-II, and C verbatim — extracting the title company, file number, property address, effective date, exception list, and all legal descriptions. You do not type any of this.
After upload, an Upload Review panel summarizes how many exceptions have hyperlinked documents ready to download, how many reference only an instrument number, and how many need you to upload a document manually. The legal description status is shown as well. Review the counts, then click Process to start downloading and reading exception documents.
For every Schedule B exception that has a hyperlink, the system downloads the document, runs OCR, and classifies the document type — extracting any plottable legal descriptions. Exceptions without hyperlinks are marked as needing a manual upload. The Schedule B tab shows a live status badge as processing runs. Simultaneously, background enrichment fetches building footprints, geocoding, FEMA flood zone, planning and zoning, and PLSS data automatically.
Open the Schedule B tab. Plottable exceptions show a colored card: red for easements, blue for agreements, cyan for deeds of trust, purple for mineral rights, and amber for other. Each card shows the document summary, verbatim metes-and-bounds text sent to Legal-Plot, and a status badge. Non-plottable exceptions are collapsed into a disclosure.
Go to the Exports tab. Choose Linework DWG for all exceptions and parcels in modelspace, color-coded by type, or Paperspace DWG on ARCH D 36×24 landscape with Schedule B text, legal description, Table A items, and certificate in paperspace. Each plottable description costs one credit and credits are deducted only on success.
The ZIP bundles every project file: exception subfolders contain the original PDF, a DWG and KML of the linework, a geo-location and closure report, and the raw text sent to Legal-Plot. Parcel subfolders are structured the same way. Unzip the archive and hand it to the drafter — everything is organized and labeled.
Interface Reference
The project page is organized into nine tabs. Each tab covers a specific part of the commitment or output format.
Every Schedule B Part II exception from the title commitment, one card per exception. Plottable exceptions show a colored card with the extracted document summary and verbatim metes-and-bounds text sent to Legal-Plot. Non-plottable exceptions are collapsed into a disclosure group, and every card has a Queued, Downloading, OCR'd, Plottable, or Not Plottable status badge.
The Schedule C legal descriptions for the subject property. It shows raw legal-description text extracted from the commitment. Compute Geometry sends it to Legal-Plot and pulls back georeferenced linework; the parcel boundary then appears on the Map tab and is included in every DWG export.
An aerial overview map centered on the subject property's address. It is generated from the Schedule A address, provides surrounding context, can be included as a vicinity inset in DWG paperspace output, and helps verify the geocoded location before export.
Interactive map showing processed parcel and exception linework over aerial, satellite, or street imagery. Base layers are Esri World Imagery, Streets, and Google HD Satellite. FEMA flood zones, BLM PLSS data, statewide public parcels, and OSM and Microsoft GlobalML building footprints are available as overlays.
Utility company detection and address geocoding tools. Enter the property address or use the one extracted from Schedule A to find likely utility providers and confirm the coordinates and State Plane zone before export.
Automated flood zone, zoning, and planning lookups for the project location. It queries FEMA ArcGIS data for flood zone designation and looks up local zoning, setbacks, and overlay districts.
Surveys, plats, and recorded maps found inside exception documents. When a document is a recorded plat or survey rather than a deed or easement with a legal description, it is surfaced here as page images for drafting reference.
The 2026 ALTA/NSPS optional survey responsibilities and specifications checklist. Selected items are saved to the project and printed verbatim in the Table A section of the DWG paperspace output.
All export options in one place: DWG, KML, GeoJSON, and ZIP. Generate a Linework DWG with modelspace exceptions and parcels, a Paperspace DWG on ARCH D 36×24 with commitment text in paperspace, or a project-wide ZIP. Upload a per-project DWG template here to override firm-wide standards.
Disclaimer
ALTA-Plot does not perform land surveying, boundary determination, or work that requires a professional surveyor's license. Outputs are draft materials for review, verification, and finalization by a licensed professional surveyor.
ALTA-Plot automates the office portion of preparing ALTA/NSPS land title surveys. Upload a title commitment PDF and we extract Schedule A, B, and C, download exception documents, OCR them, send legal descriptions to Legal-Plot for geo-referencing, and produce DWG, KML, GeoJSON, and PDF deliverables for the field crew.
Land surveyors, civil engineers, land developers, and title companies — anyone who needs to read, plot, and produce ALTA/NSPS surveys from title commitments faster than the manual workflow.
Metes-and-bounds, lot-and-block (subdivision), aliquot/PLSS, and complex parent/exception descriptions. Parsing and geo-referencing is delegated to the Legal-Plot v1 API.
Title commitments as PDF (text-based or scanned). For the FEMA flood overlay you can upload KML or GeoJSON. For drawing templates you can upload DWG files directly.
Processing a title commitment costs a 5-credit base fee — covering classification, the subject boundary geometry, and enrichment — plus 1 credit per Schedule B exception that successfully plots. Exceptions that fail to plot are free.
No. Credits never expire and stay on your Stripe customer balance until you use them.