SC: Plotter - User Guide

Sessions List

The first screen you see. The list shows your sessions, newest first, with the date, target and the short description you entered for each one.

On iPad, selecting a session shows its target with every shot, the final windage and elevation you finished on, your notes and the total score. Tap Edit to open it.

Tap + to start a new session, the share button to export every session as a CSV file (for Excel or Numbers), and the target button to manage your targets.

Handy tips:

Swipe left on a session to delete it
The final elevation shown for a session is handy when you shoot that distance again - and the app will now offer it to you automatically (see Plotting)
Pull down on the list to sync with iCloud straight away NEW

Session Info

Set the date and time of the session, pick the target from the list on the right, and fill in the two text fields however you like (you can rename them in Settings - here they are "Conditions" and "Session Notes").

Targets you have hidden on the Targets screen are left out of this list, so it only shows the faces you actually shoot NEW

Tap Continue to go to the plotting screen. The share button exports just this session as a CSV file.

Plotting

The main plotting screen. On iPad the target is on the left and the shot list, scope settings and buttons are on the right.

The title shows the target and your total score so far (as points.V-bulls). The buttons at the top toggle sighters, show the group size, and switch Plot-o-matic on and off.

With Plot-o-matic on, changing the windage or elevation moves the shots you have already plotted, so you see the group as if every shot had been fired with your current settings.

Starting a new session? If you have shot this target before, the app offers to set your elevation to where you finished last time, from the most recent session on the same target. Tap Yes to use it or No to start from zero. NEW

First set your preferred zoom level. When zoomed in you can scroll around the target by dragging with one finger.

Always Aim Centre places your aim point in the centre of the target automatically, so you only need to tap where the shot landed.

Next set the windage and elevation in the app to match your scope.

The top steppers move one turret click (1/4 MOA, 1/8 MOA, 0.1 mil or 0.05 mil, whichever you chose in Settings). The bottom steppers move a whole MOA or mil.

Using a mil scope? Choose 0.1 mil or 0.05 mil clicks in Settings and everything works in mils: the steppers, the target grid, the shot list, the graphs, group sizes and the CSV export. NEW

Now you are ready to plot your first shot.

Your first tap on the target places a pale blue marker (with an "A") where you aimed.

Your second tap places an orange marker (with an "I") where the shot struck.

Tap again to clear both and start a new aim point.

The score for the impact, and how far it is from the centre, is shown above the steppers - handy to check against the target before you save.

Save the shot, or save it with a note if you pulled it or know you made a bad call.

Every shot in the list has two buttons. The note button adds or edits a note on a shot you have already saved, and its icon shows when a shot has one. NEW The binoculars mark a shot as a sighter, so it is numbered S1, S2… and left out of your score.

With Plot-o-matic on, each change you make to the scope settings in the app (which you then make on your scope) moves the plotted shots. You can re-centre the group and see how the wind is moving it and the patterns it forms.

Adam MacDonald's article on plotting explains why this technique works so well: How to improve your score through strategy.

Plot-o-matic moving the group as the windage changes

Handy tips:

Swipe left on a shot to delete it
Tap a shot in the list to highlight it on the target (tap again to turn it off). With Plot-o-matic off you will also see where you aimed
To place a line across the target as a bracketing guide, place an aim point and tap Bracket, then choose a windage or elevation bracket
Brackets are not counted as shots, so your shot numbers stay right NEW
The magnifying glass button shows the size of your group (excluding sighters) in MOA or mils, and in inches and centimetres

Graphs and Group Size

Tap Show Graphs on the plotting screen to see how the elevation and wind changed over the course of fire. They take your scope settings and aim point into account, so they show exactly what the conditions did.

The group size screen shows your total and the extreme spread of your group - overall, horizontal and vertical - in MOA or mils and in inches and centimetres. Sighters are left out.

Targets NEW

Tap the target button on the sessions list to open the Targets screen. Your own targets are listed first, then the built-in ones (US, UK, ICFRA, ISSF, DCRA and IBS faces).

Tap + to create a target from scratch, or swipe left on any target and tap Duplicate to start from a copy of it - the quickest way to make a club target that is close to a standard one.

Swipe right on a target to Hide it. Hidden targets are greyed out here and left out of the list when you start a session, but your old sessions on them are untouched. Swipe right again to show it.

In the editor set the name, distance and face size, and add the scoring rings, outermost first, with their score, colours and an optional dashed line. Switch between inches/yards and millimetres/metres at the top.

The preview updates as you type, and the app checks the target makes sense (for example that inner rings are smaller and score at least as much) before saving.

Built-in targets can't be changed or deleted, and a target can't be deleted while sessions use it.

On iPhone NEW

Everything on iPad works on iPhone too, laid out for the smaller screen.

Sessions are shown as a list with a small target showing your shots, the score and the final windage and elevation. Tap a session to open it.

Plotting puts the target across the screen with the shot list and controls below it. The title shows your score. Zoom, Always Aim Centre and Show Graphs are in the … menu, and the wand button switches Plot-o-matic on and off.

Turn your phone sideways for a bigger target, with the controls in a column beside it.

iCloud Sync NEW

Your sessions, shots and targets sync between your devices through your own iCloud account - plot on your phone at the range and review on your iPad at home. Nothing is stored anywhere but your iCloud.

Sync is on as long as you are signed in to iCloud. It happens automatically when you save, when you open the app, and every few minutes while you use it. Pull down on the sessions list to sync straight away.

You can turn sync off in Settings. While it is off, everything stays on that device; turn it back on and your changes are merged in.

Settings

Find these in the iOS Settings app under Apps > SC: Plotter.

Scope clicks: 1/4 MOA, 1/8 MOA, 0.1 mil or 0.05 mil NEW

Default Plot-o-matic on: whether new sessions start with Plot-o-matic on.

Short and Long Description Title: rename the two text fields on the session info screen.

iCloud Sync: turn syncing between your devices on or off NEW

Scope click options

Exporting to a spreadsheet

The share buttons export sessions as a CSV file you can open in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets. Each row is a shot, with the date, your two descriptions, the target name and distance NEW, where you aimed and where the shot struck, your windage and elevation, whether it was a sighter, its score, its note and whether it is a bracket. Positions and scope settings are in MOA, or in mils if your scope uses mils (the column headings say "(mil)").

Check out our future plans

Click here to see our roadmap on Trello - we've already got lots of plans, let us know yours. Questions or feedback? Email feedback@shootingcompanion.com or use Help and Feedback in the app.