Outline multiple polylines?

[tom_nashL5SCW]

Hello, 

My task is to create 2m easements hatches around utilities and I was wondering if there was a faster way than my method of offsetting every polyline each side by 1m and then joining it up, which can be very messy. Alternatively, I have changed the polylines global widths and then traced around the edges which can also be time consuming. I was wondering if there was another method to outline all the polylines so I can make my easement hatches? The image I have attached shows my polylines before and after I have made easements.

[pendean]

@tom_nashL5SCW in LT there are no magical tools to do what you need: is this something you need to do all the time or is this a one off?

Can you share a DWG file snip so others here can review the objects you have and try to help with other options?

[tom_nashL5SCW]

This is quite a common job I have to do for many projects- putting easements around utilities. Would the full version have a solution? I have attached the dwg stripped of site/company info. 

[h_s_walker]

Will the BOUNDARY command be useful? Just type in Boundary, pick an internal point and if there are no gaps it will create a boundary (The white line in the image below)

AutoCAD LT 2026 Help | -BOUNDARY (Command) | Autodesk

[pendean]

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@tom_nashL5SCW wrote:

...Would the full version have a solution...

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A subscription to full AutoCAD would give you access to use the MAP variant of AutoCAD that does your type of work, or consider Autodesk CIVIL for full emersion.

Any reason you don't want to use OFFSET command to create the easement borders you need? It has a great LAYER sub-option that makes it very useful: look it up in HELP in your LT version. Then with FILLET or CHAMFER and possibly even JOIN command that should be way faster than tracing.

[tom_nashL5SCW]

With OFFSET I have to click one line at a time (270 polylines for this one utility) and then you end up with something messy like this. 

So then, to make the easement hatches, you have the task of joining up all the lines because there are so many gaps. By this point, tracing it seems faster. 

With the MAP variant of AutoCAD, is there a command or something which would streamline this for me?

[pendean]

@tom_nashL5SCW You'll have to ask in the MAP forum then download the trial and give it a try.