Create Circle/ Ellipse Area Feature

Draw circle or ellipse features using the Create Circle / Ellipse Area Feature tool.

This tool is available in the Digitizer Toolset, or in the Digitizer menu under Create Area / Polygon Features menu.

To create a circular feature click and hold, then drag to resize the circle.

To create an elliptical feature, hold down the SHIFT key while dragging to also change the size of the major and minor axes. Use the Rotate tool after creating the feature if the ellipse is not oriented correctly.

Once the shape is finished, release the left mouse button and the Modify Feature Info dialog will appear allowing you to setup the label, classification, drawing style, and attribution for the new feature. See Editing Feature Attributes and Drawing Styles for more details.

Once the shape is completed, the Digitizer Tool will remain in the selected shape creation mode.  Left-click to start drawing a new shape, or right-click to choose a different mode.

To create an area or ellipse of a fixed size and/ or originating from a specific point see also Create Range Rings / Ellipses and Create Buffer Around Selected Features.

Keyboard Modifiers

• SHIFT - Create an ellipse by dragging the major axis horizontally or vertically
• ALT - modifier with left-click to disable automatic snapping behavior
• V - Modifier with left-click to only snap to existing vertices
• ESC - Cancel feature creation

Create Circular/ Elliptical Line

It is also possible to create a circular or elliptical line feature.

This tool is available in the Digitizer menu or context menu under Create Line Features.

Left-click and hold to place the center of the circle, then drag to resize the circle. Use the SHIFT key to create an ellipse instead of a circle.

Related topics

• Create Range Rings
• Creating Buffer Areas Around Selected Features