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I'm splitting a polygon into various features for small-scale land cover delineation. One area I need to delineate into its own feature shares no boundaries with other features, it is an irregular polygon contained entirely within another feature of the shapefile I'm working on.

Because the feature shares no boundary with other features, the Split Features Tool I've been using doesn't seem to work. If I use the Add Circular String tool, it delineates the feature of interest fine but it does not also subtract from the area of the feature it's contained within. How can I get the same functionality of the Split Features tool but for an isolated area? See screenshot below, feature of interest has red X over it.

screenshot of area in question

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I believe you are looking to fill the gap from all the layers with a new feature. Enable the 'Digitizing Tools' plugin that add a toolbar with some helper tools. The tool 'Fill gaps with a new feature' tool automagically creates a feature that fills the gap. See example of this feature in action

fill gaps with a new feature

You can also digitize a feature with the option 'Avoid Intersections' which will subtract any existing features from the area you digitized. See the example avoid intersections

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  • It's more like I need to delineate a feature within that gap, but not just the entire gap. In the example image you shared, the gap is a feature I already have, and I need to delineate an area contained entirely within that particular feature.
    – cr0
    Commented Jul 8, 2019 at 17:43
  • I think you are looking for the option 'avoid intersections' which will subtract the existing area when you are digitizing. See the updated answer
    – spatialthoughts
    Commented Jul 9, 2019 at 9:56

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