The next major Trace update is here! This release expands the types of legal descriptions you can plot, gives you a new way to anchor projects, and makes onboarding teammates faster and more reliable.
What’s New?
Centerline Easement Support
Trace can now plot centerline easements alongside traditional tract deeds. When you upload a right-of-way, utility corridor, or roadway easement, the AI automatically identifies whether the description is a tract, a fixed-width centerline, or a variable-width centerline and plots it accordingly.
For centerline descriptions, the AI extracts the left and right offsets for every boundary segment and renders a closed corridor shape on the map. The centerline baseline appears as a dashed reference line so you can see exactly how the corridor follows the surveyed path.
Corridor Width Table
Every centerline easement now gets a dedicated Corridor Report showing the corridor’s area, length, station count, and overall width. The report includes a full Width Table listing each boundary segment with its bearing or curve, length, left offset, right offset, and total width.
Anchor Projects to a PLSS Section (Beta)
When creating a project, you can now set your anchor point using Section, Township, and Range in addition to address, coordinates, or AI detection.
Choose your state, enter the township and range, and then select the section. Drill further into quarter sections or quarter-quarter sections, and then place your anchor at any corner, cardinal direction edge, or the center. The interactive grid and breadcrumb navigation make it easy to find exactly the parcel you need.
This works for both Point of Beginning and Point of Commencement anchors, and PLSS overlays are available in the project map view so you can keep the grid visible.
This feature is currently in beta. Placement may be inaccurate, and accuracy may degrade further as subdivisional quarter sections are selected.
Move Plots to a PLSS Location (Beta)
The same PLSS functionality is available when you need to relocate an existing plot. Open the plot context menu or the project layer’s three-dot menu, choose Move Plot, and switch to PLSS mode. As with choosing the initial project anchor, select your state, enter the township and range, and then select the section.
This feature is currently in beta. Placement may be inaccurate, and accuracy may degrade further as subdivisional quarters are selected.
Faster, More Reliable Team Invitations
Inviting teammates is now token-based and works seamlessly with Google SSO, Microsoft SSO, and email/password sign-in. New invitees receive a unique acceptance link that:
- Pre-fills their email and prevents conflicts during sign-up
- Works on first click whether they choose SSO or email/password
- Auto-resolves if they sign in directly without clicking the link
You can resend invites or copy the invite URL straight to the clipboard from your team management page if a teammate misplaces the email.
Quality-of-Life Improvements
- Zero-padded bearing labels. Bearings now display with consistent two-digit minutes and seconds (i.e.
N 06° 05' 04" Einstead ofN 6° 5' 4" E) across the map, exports, and reports. The format reads cleaner and aligns with CAD conventions. - Smarter Back button in Manual Plotting. The header Back chevron now returns you to wherever you came from – the layers panel, the map, or the Add Document page – instead of always sending you to the project root.