Sometimes you do not have a file — you have a coordinate. Somebody emailed it, a report quoted it, a device logged it. This tool takes that coordinate and puts it on the map, so you can see where it actually is instead of trying to picture it.
There is one box, and you paste the whole pair into it. A coordinate is one thing people copy as a unit, so it is read as a unit: latitude and longitude together, in whichever format you happen to have.
How it works
Three notations are understood, and you can mix them: decimal degrees (52.2297, 21.0122), degrees with decimal minutes (50° 3.891' N), and full degrees-minutes-seconds (50°03'53.5"N). Typographic quote marks and degree symbols pasted from other tools are normalised before parsing, so a coordinate copied out of Google Maps or a PDF goes in as-is.
As you type, the field shows you the decimal pair it understood before you commit anything — that read-back is what makes DMS entry safe. Values are range-checked (latitude within ±90, longitude within ±180), and a hemisphere letter beats position, so "19°56'E 50°03'N" still lands in Poland rather than the Indian Ocean. One thing to know: a comma is always a separator, never a decimal point, so "48,5" is read as latitude 48, longitude 5.
How to use the Coordinate Plotter
- 1
Open the coordinate tool
Open the MapGO workspace and choose Add Coords from the Draw tools.
- 2
Paste the coordinate
Put the whole pair in the coordinate box. Watch the line underneath: it shows the decimal latitude and longitude that were understood, or tells you what is missing.
- 3
Name it, if you want
Add an optional name so the point is labelled rather than anonymous. Useful when several points go on at once.
- 4
Add the point
Add point drops it on the map. Keep going to build a list — they collect as one layer you can review and remove entries from.
- 5
Or build a shape instead
Switch to Build a shape and each coordinate becomes a corner. Once three or more corners are down, Close shape turns them into a polygon.
What people use it for
Checking a coordinate someone sent you
Confirm that a pair quoted in an email, a permit or a survey report lands where it is supposed to, before anyone acts on it.
Converting notation by eye
Paste a DMS reading from a handheld GPS or a nautical chart and read the decimal equivalent back before it goes into a spreadsheet.
Building a boundary from a legal description
Type the corner coordinates listed in a deed, lease or permit one at a time and close them into a polygon you can measure and export.
Setting up an analysis
Drop a handful of sites on the map by hand, then buffer them, tag them by zone or measure between them without preparing a file first.
Frequently asked questions
- Which coordinate formats can I paste?
- Decimal degrees, degrees with decimal minutes, and full degrees-minutes-seconds — with or without hemisphere letters. Odd degree symbols and curly quote marks from other software are cleaned up automatically.
- Does the order matter?
- Latitude first is assumed, but a hemisphere letter overrides that. Write N/S and E/W and you can put them in either order. If you give two latitudes or two longitudes, the tool says so rather than guessing.
- Why is my comma being treated as a separator?
- Because that is what Google Maps and most exports put on the clipboard. "48,5" is read as two values, not as 48.5 — use a full stop for decimals.
- Can I make a shape rather than points?
- Yes. Build a shape mode turns each coordinate into a corner, and closes them into a polygon once you have at least three. The result behaves like any drawn shape — style it, measure it, buffer it or export it.
- What can I do with the points afterwards?
- They are an ordinary map layer. Export them as GeoJSON, buffer them, run them against your own zones, or keep adding to them alongside uploaded files.