Plotting coordinated traverse on grid paper

Plotting a coordinated traverse means locating every station on a gridded sheet from its independent northing and easting, using a convenient scale.

1. Choose a scale so that the whole traverse fits on the sheet (for example 1 cm = 10 m). Find the range of N and E, subtract the minimum values and divide by the scale to get the size needed.
2. Draw the grid of squares (the grid sheet) and label the grid lines with the independent northing (vertical axis) and easting (horizontal axis) values, choosing an origin near the south-west corner so that all coordinates are positive.
3. Convert each station's independent coordinates to plotting units. For example, with scale 1 cm = 10 m, a station at $(N, E)$ is at $(E-E_0)/10$ cm along the east axis and $(N-N_0)/10$ cm along the north axis from the origin.
4. Mark each station with a fine pencil dot by measuring its coordinates from the nearest grid lines with a scale (no protractor is needed), and circle it and write the station name.
5. Join the stations in order with thin lines and check that each plotted line length, measured with the scale, agrees with the field length. This is a check for blunders.
6. Plot details (offsets and radiations) from the stations, ink the map and add the title, scale, north arrow, legend and border.

Advantage: each station is located independently from its coordinates, so plotting errors do not accumulate and the plotted traverse closes exactly.