Start with a blank sample design (choose File / New Project from the menu or press the New button on the Toolbar).
Load a map file. Choose Map / Load Map from File from the menu or press the Load Map button on the Toolbar. From the file dialog, choose the file named Base.dxf and press the Open button. Press the OK button on the dialog that follows.
Note: If you load a DXF file and nothing appears, it could be that you didn't start with a blank map. If you load two DXF files that have different coordinate extents, they disappear because they are so far apart that they become tiny specks in the corner of the map view.
Define a Sample Area. A sample area has to be defined in order to make sampling locations. (You can use any of the sampling designs without a sample area, but they will not create sampling locations.) Press the New Area button on the toolbar (or choose Edit / Sample Areas / Define New Sample Area on the menu). A Color dialog box appears. Use this dialog to choose the color of the sample area. After the color is selected, a tooltip box appears on the map to provide selection method information. There are two basic ways to select the sample area:
One-Step Method – Position the cursor inside or near one of the buildings on the map and right-click with the mouse. The sample area is created and a dialog box appears. This dialog box shows the size of the sample area. Click the OK button on the dialog when done.
Vertex-Selection Method – Position the cursor on each vertex of the sample area and left-click with the mouse. If you hold down the Shift key while clicking, the vertex will be attached to the nearest point on the map. If you make a mistake in choosing a vertex, use the Undo feature. When you have finished defining the sample, click the Finish Area button on the toolbar or select Edit / Sample Areas / Finish New Sample Area on the menu. The area dialog box appears allowing you to change the map units.
Note: a sample area cannot cross over itself. If this happens, an error message appears stating, The area is invalid and will be removed.
Practice both methods of selecting sample areas. There are many buildings on this base map from which to choose.
Add samples to the sample area with one of the sampling design dialogs (e.g. choose Sampling Goals / Compare Average to Fixed Threshold from the menu).