Instructions to view & create .KMZ/.

KML files from Google

Earth
Make sure you have Google Earth downloaded on your computer. If you don’t, please visit this link to download Google
Earth http://www.google.com/earth/download/ge

Please Note: Texas811, WestVirginia811 & SouthDakota811 are not affiliated in any way with Google Earth .
If additional help is needed, Google Earth provides additional resources located in the Help section and there are several
tutorials available on YouTube.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Viewing Google Earth Files…………………………………………………… 2
Creating a Google Earth KMZ/KML File………………………………… 3
Creating Polygons………………………………………………………………… 5
Merging Multiple KML/KMZ Files to Create One File……………. 8
Creating Lines………………………………………………………………………. 9
Additional Help……………………………………………………………………. 12

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Viewing Google Earth files
1. To view the file, double-click the .kmz or .kml file.
2. Or, go to File -> Open to select the .kmz or .kml file.
3. The information will appear under the Places panel and the map will zoom to the coverage area(s). Click the file
and press ‘Enter’ to zoom to the area.

4. To change the color and opacity, right-click on the file; select Properties. A new box will open; select the Style,
Color tab.

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Creating a .KMZ/.KML file
1. Open the Google Earth program that you have installed on your computer
2. To search for places, enter the search term(s) in the Search bar in the top left corner, and click Search. You can
search by address, business name, Lat/Long coordinates, keyword(s) and locale name.

3. Once Google has zoomed into the area that you’re looking for, you can start drawing in the area that you need
to have registered. You will use the toolbar provided by Google Earth. The Add Polygon and Add Path buttons
will be the tools that you will want to use.

4. Placemarks: You can use placemarks to mark any location on the planet. You can then quickly go to the marked
location at any time by double clicking the placemark in the Places panel. You can edit, move, share or delete
any placemark. Start by clicking the placemark button in the toolbar and then just click the area that you
want to mark.
• NOTE: Placemarks that are included in mapping submissions will be buffered and included in the final
mapping.

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5. Navigation Controls: Use the Look joystick (top of the controls) to look around from one vantage point. Click and
drag the ring around the Look joystick to rotate the view. Use the Move joystick (center of the controls) to move
down, up, right or left. Drag the pegman to the map screen to switch to Street View. Use the zoom slider to
zoom in or out (+ to zoom in, - to zoom out).

Click to look around

Click to move around

Street View

Zoom in (+)

Zoom out (-)

6. Viewing Layers: Layers can display a variety of interesting geographic content. To view a layer, check the layer
or layer folder in the Layers panel. Note that some layer content does not appear until you zoom into an area.
To hide a layer or layer folder, uncheck it. To expand or collapse a layer folder, click + or -.

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 To Add Polygon(s)
Note: a polygon is a feature that is a completely filled in area. If you are registering a filled in area, you will want
to use the Add Polygon tool.

1. Click the Add Polygon button . A dialog box will open asking you to name your polygon. You can also
change the Style, Color. *DO NOT CLICK “OK” yet

2. Once you’ve named your polygon, you can now go into the map and start drawing in the area that you want.

Notice when you go into the map your drawing tool will look like a square symbol . After you finish drawing
the polygon, then click OK in the dialog box.

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3. Your polygon will show up under the Places panel.

Save your polygon as a .kml or .kmz file

1. Right-click on your polygon file (it will be under the Places panel) and select Save Place As…

2. In the dialog box that opens, select the folder to where you want to save the file on your
computer. From the Save as type dropdown, select either .Kml or .Kmz

Note: Do not use the email button from the Google Earth toolbar to send us the file

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**If you’ve created multiple files, you will right-click and Save Places As… for each individual file that you
want included in your update.** For example: In the following screen shot, 8 different files were created,
therefore a .kml or .kmz file will have to be created for each of those files. Or, you can merge the polygons into
one file by following the next steps below.

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Merging Multiple KML/KMZ Files to Create One File
**If you have several kmz or kml files created through Google Earth, you can merge them using
these steps:
1. Go to File, then Open and select all the kmz or kml files you wish to merge. They will show up
in your “Temporary Places” folder.

2. For better organization, Create a new folder by right-clicking My Places or Temporary Places
→Add → Folder and drag all the files you wish you merge into that folder. You can rename
that folder. If you create multiple folders, make sure all your folders are within one main
folder.

3. To save your big file, right click on your main

folder and select “Save Place As..”.

4. Pick a name for your file and you’re done!

5. You can now submit the Member Mapping

Submission Form and attach the .Kml or .Kmz
file(s).

When you have completed creating your polygons, you can now submit the .kml or .kmz files along with the Member
Mapping Submission Form to [email protected]. If you also need to create line files, please skip ahead to the
section To Add Line(s)

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 To Add Line(s)
Note: A line, path, or polyline is a simple line feature that does not contain an area. If you are drawing a shape with the
intentions of filling in the area, please refer to the To Add Polygon(s) section of this document.

1. Click the Add Path button . Give your path a name. You can change the Color and Width of the line.
*DO NOT CLICK “OK” yet

2. Once you’ve given your path a name, you can now start drawing the path. Notice your drawing tool will look

like a square symbol . After you finish drawing the path or line, then click OK in the dialog box.

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 3. Your path will show up under the Places panel.

Save your path as a .kml or .kmz file

1. Right-click on your path file (it will be under the Places panel) and select the Save Place As… option.

2. In the dialog box that opens, select the folder to where you want to save the file on your computer. From the
“Save as type” dropdown, select either .Kml or .Kmz. Give your file a name and then click Save.

Note: Do not use the email button from the Google Earth toolbar to send us the file

**If you’ve created multiple files, you will have to right-click and Save Places As… for each individual file that
you want included in your update.** For example: In the following screen shot, 4 different files were created
therefore a .kml or .kmz file will have to be created for each of those files. Or, you can merge the lines into one
file by following the next steps below.

3. You can now submit the Member Mapping Submission Form and attach the .kmz or .kml file(s).

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Merging Multiple KML/KMZ Files to Create One File
**If you have several kmz or kml files created through Google Earth, you can merge them using
these steps:
1. Go to File, then Open and select all the kmz or kml files you wish to merge. They will show
up in your “Temporary Places” folder.

2. For better organization, Create a new folder by right-clicking My Places or Temporary

Places → Add → Folder and drag all the files you wish you merge into that folder. You can
rename that folder. If you create multiple folders, make sure all your folders are within
one main folder.

3. To save your big file, right click on your main

folder and select “Save Place As..”.

4. Pick a name for your file and you’re done!

5. You can now submit that 1 .kml or .kmz file

with the Member Mapping Submission Form.

**If additional help is needed, Google Earth provides additional resources located in the
Help section and there are several tutorials available on YouTube.**

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