The import runs in the web app. Zip the .shp file together with its companion files, upload the archive, and each shape becomes a place on the map with its boundary, ready for visits.
Before anything saves, a preview shows the shapes and their names, so a wrong file or a field in the wrong county gets caught before it reaches the map.
Most teams arrive with a boundary file from somewhere: a previous farm software, a GIS export, or a KML someone drew in Google Earth. Those come in without a call to us. Contacts come in separately, from a CSV file.
Boundaries can also start on the phone. Draw the outline on the satellite map, or walk the edge and let the app trace your path. PropelMapper never draws a boundary for you.
Once a field has a boundary, the soil, crop history and NDVI layers are clipped to it, so you see that field rather than the whole county.
Prepare the package before importing
Keep the shapefile’s companion files together in the archive, and keep the original export and the supplier’s map close by so you can compare the result. If the source is KML, KMZ, GeoJSON or CSV, check the names in the preview against the names in the file.
Use Places in the web app for the import. After uploading, check that each field sits in the right spot and under the right farm. Compare local field names with any farm, tract or field numbers the supplier sent, then start recording visits against the imported places.
Check outlines and limitations
Look at lanes, waterways, holes and separate pieces, not only the broad shape. An outline might mark a property, a management field or planted acres. Those areas differ for good reasons, so note which one a boundary stands for when its acres matter.
The import brings in places and their boundaries. It does not bring over visit history from another program. A field that lands in the wrong spot or with a piece missing points back to the source file, so fix it there and import that file again. An imported outline is a working boundary for visits and map layers, not a legal survey or a program acreage record.
Last checked: November 6, 2026