Imported Shapefile Scale Issues

[Will Glenn]

I've imported a shapefile containing GIS data (in specific contour lines) and, looking at the result using the geolocate tool (fig 1), everything looks right - e.g. the contour lines are imported in the right location on the globe and all the features seem to line up with "reality" however, the scale is all wrong - if I switch to the tape measure tool (fig 2), you can see that the distance across a river is .001" ... I'm not sure what I am doing wrong, but I AM sure it's a regrettable noob issue... If anyone can help, I would very much appreciate it.

 

Wx

[Jeff Prince]

It sounds like you did something wrong during the import process.

Start a new drawing, set your units, set your document georeference settings, center the origin on your study area....

Then import the .shp file.  I think VWX Uni has a video on this, but make sure you are watching one that matches your version of VWX.  Things changed a bit after 2020 IIRC.

 

During the import(s) be very careful what you select in regards to projecting and scaling.

When you get it wrong, things can be off by just a little or a lot.

Reprojection can also introduce some skew when your settings aren't great.