Fieldwalker's design editor has 12 tools for placing permaculture design elements on your map. Each tool has a keyboard shortcut, and some have variants accessible via click-and-hold or right-click.
How tools work
Activating: Click a tool in the toolbar, or press its keyboard shortcut. Your cursor changes to show placement mode.
Placing: For placement tools, a single click drops the symbol. For polyline tools, click a sequence of points. For polygon tools, click points to close a shape.
Variants: Click-and-hold (~300ms) or right-click a tool to see the flyout. Press the keyboard shortcut repeatedly to cycle variants.
Deactivating: Click the active tool again, or press Escape.
Placement tools
Trees (1) — Individual tree symbol.
Variants:
- Deciduous,
- Evergreen,
- Conifer,
- Palm,
- Fruit,
- Native,
- Dead/Bare.
Properties: Tree type, Canopy radius.
Buildings (2) — Building symbol.
Variants:
- House (pitched),
- Shed (flat),
- Greenhouse (hip).
Properties: Roof type, Width/Height in metres.
Water (3) — Water feature.
Variants:
- Pond,
- Dam.
Properties: Variant, Width/Height.
Garden Beds (4) — Garden bed with planting patterns.
Variants:
- Raised,
- Ground-level,
- Keyhole.
Properties: Bed type, Plant type, Width/Length.
Dense Vegetation (5) — Vegetation polygon — amorphous canopy blob with scalloped edge.
No variants. Properties: Pattern rotation, Tree crown size.
Polyline tools
Paths (6) — Path line.
Variants:
- Vehicle
- Walking
Properties: Path type, Width.
Also offers "Convert to Polygon."
Fences (7) — Fence line with post spacing and detail.
Variants:
- Post & Rail
- Star Picket
- Electric
- Hedge
Properties: Fence type, Width.
Earthworks (8) — Swale/berm line with asymmetric cross-section.
Variants:
- Swale
- Berm
Properties: Type, Width.
Watercourses (9) — Watercourse line.
Variants:
- Runoff
- Creek
- River
Properties: Type, Width.
Polygon and other tools
Zones (0) — Zone marker (concentric overlay).
Properties: Zone number (1–5), Radius.
Areas (−) — Arbitrary polygon area.
Properties: Status, Style.
Labels (T) — Text label.
Properties: Font size, Fill/Stroke colour.
Universal properties
Every element has:
- Status (Existing/Proposed),
- Style (Illustrated/Schematic),
- Hand-drawn intensity (Schematic only, 0–200%),
- Position,
- Rotation,
- Opacity,
- and a Symbol Type selector to change type after placement.
Canvas tools
- Select (V),
- Pan (H),
- Point Detect (D),
- Pin (M),
- Measure (U),
- Elevation (E). Elevation is hidden until the image is georeferenced.
Right-click context menu
Right-click any element:
- Edit/Info (I),
- Duplicate (⌘D),
- Delete (⌫),
- Bring to Front/Forward,
- Send Backward/Back,
- Zoom to Object (Z).
Scale-aware sizing
Symbols automatically size based on site scale. A tree on a quarter-acre block is proportionally smaller than on a 50-acre farm. At different zoom levels, symbols render at three detail levels: full, simplified, and marker.
This helps place objects at a realistic size for your land.