Mark up the map. Collect it in the field.
Draw, label and measure right on a site's map, then give each markup a status, notes, photos and a code. Record your GPS track, drop markers where you stand, and get an alert when you walk into a marked area. The office and the crew see the same markups, saved automatically to the site's files.
Windows desktop iPhone & Android app No GIS project to set up Import your CAD drawings
Map Markup
Whiteboard-Style Drawing On The Real Map
Sketch the plan where it actually goes
Turn on the Markup toolbar under any site's map and draw on the street, satellite or terrain view. Every change saves itself a moment later, so there's no Save button to forget.
- Pen, highlighter, eraser and text, with undo and redo
- Shapes: rectangles, ellipses, lines, arrows, multi-point lines and areas
- Your style: eight colors or any color you pick, nine line widths, solid or dashed lines, filled shapes, bold text in seven sizes
- Snap to other markups so new points land exactly on existing ones
- Your CAD drawings as a guide: import DWG or DXF files onto the map on the desktop and draw your markups right over the linework
- Split a line in two, add an area around a markup at a distance you set, or merge areas that touch into one
- Measure points, lengths and areas, kept with the site for next time
Every markup can carry its own record
Open the details of any point, line or area to turn a sketch into field data your team can track: what it is, where it stands, and the photos to prove it.
- Name shown as a label on the map, plus notes
- Status such as Open, In progress, Done or Issue, or type your own
- Date and code, for an asset tag, a permit number or a barcode from a scanner on the desktop
- Photos: take them with the phone's camera or add them from your computer
- Size and position worked out for you: length in feet and miles, area in square feet and acres
- Who and when: who added it, and who last changed it
- Markups by status: pick a status to list every markup that has it, then tap one to go straight to it
Let your position do the drawing
Turn on your position and the map works for you. Use the phone's own GPS in the app, or a USB or Bluetooth GPS receiver on the desktop.
- Record my track: walk a fence line, a trench or a route and it becomes a line on the map, with its length
- Insert markers at my position instead of the middle of the map
- Geofence alerts: mark any area and get a message the moment you enter or leave it
- Photo locations shown on the map from the GPS saved in each photo
Everyone draws on their own layer
Each person's markups for a site are their own layer, named after them. Everyone sees every layer, but only you can change yours, so nobody's work gets drawn over by accident.
- Show, hide or fade any layer to compare the office plan with what the crew found
- Merge layers into one when the work is settled, or delete the ones you no longer need
- Read-only details on other people's markups: look, don't change
- Company marker library: add your own symbols once, and everyone places them on desktop or phone
One Set Of Markups, Office To Field
Saved With The Site, Not In Another System
Kept in the site's files
Markups, measurements and markup photos are saved automatically to a Markups folder in the site's files, right beside its photos, projects and leases.
Desktop and mobileBuilt for a finger
The phone gets the same toolbar with large buttons, Finish and Cancel for multi-point lines and areas, a "Select several" switch, and text typed in a proper box.
SiteFusion MobileNo signal? Keep the work
A markup saved where the phone can't reach the server waits on the phone and is sent the next time you open that site's map.
SiteFusion MobileGeoJSON, KML and GPX
Export layers for QGIS, Google Earth or a GPS unit, and import points, lines and areas from those files as markups.
DesktopA picture of the map
Save the map as it looks now, markups included, to print for a site packet, or share it straight from the phone by text or email.
Desktop and mobileAll of SiteFusion Maps
Markups sit on top of GIS map layers and every map style, plus CAD overlays and 3D on the desktop. See Maps.
Desktop and mobileHow It Compares
SiteFusion, QField And Mergin Maps
QField and Mergin Maps are well-regarded, open-source field data collection apps built around QGIS. They are a strong choice for GIS teams who design their own data models. SiteFusion takes a different approach: the map tools live inside the system you already use to manage your sites, projects and leases, so there is no separate GIS project to build or keep in sync. Your engineering still comes along: import DWG or DXF drawings onto the map and draw your markups right over them.
| SiteFusion Map Markup | QField | Mergin Maps | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Markup and field data inside a site, project and lease management system | Field app for QGIS projects | Field app and sync service for QGIS projects |
| Getting started | Open any site's map and start drawing, over your imported DWG or DXF drawings if you have them | Prepare the project in QGIS, then send it to devices with the QFieldSync plugin | Prepare the project in QGIS with the Mergin Maps plugin |
| Where the data lives | In the site's own files, next to its photos, projects and leases | In QGIS project data, synced with QFieldCloud (optional) | On a Mergin Maps server, hosted or self-hosted |
| Attribute forms | Built-in fields: name, status, date, code, notes and photos | Custom forms set up in QGIS | Custom forms set up in QGIS |
| Freehand markup | Pen, highlighter, text, arrows and shapes, like a whiteboard | Focused on GIS points, lines and polygons | Focused on GIS points, lines and polygons |
| Working offline | Markups wait on the phone and upload later; the map itself needs a connection | Designed for offline editing | Designed for offline work, with sync |
| GPS | Track recording, markers at your position, geofence alerts; USB or Bluetooth receivers on the desktop | Tracking and geofencing; external GNSS receivers | Position tracking; external GPS receivers |
| Devices | Windows desktop, iPhone and Android | Android, iOS, Windows, macOS and Linux | Android, iOS and Windows, with QGIS on the desktop |
SiteFusion is the better fit when
- Your markups belong to sites, projects and leases you already track
- Your crews and project managers aren't GIS specialists
- You want one login, one set of permissions and one place for the files
A QGIS field app may suit you better when
- You need custom data models and forms for a survey
- Crews work for days fully offline, with no map connection
- Your GIS team already runs everything in QGIS
Using both? Export SiteFusion markups to GeoJSON, KML or GPX and open them in QGIS.
QField, QGIS and Mergin Maps are trademarks of their respective owners and are not affiliated with SiteFusion. The comparison is based on each product's public documentation as of November 2026; features change, so check with each vendor for current details.
See map markup on your own sites
We'll walk you through drawing, field data and GPS tools on desktop and phone.