Import and calibrate a floor plan

An imported plan is a reference layer in PlanElec. You need an existing floor and a PNG, JPEG, WebP, PDF or DXF file. After import and calibration, the plan sits to scale under your drawing; you draw walls, rooms and electrical symbols over it as editable PlanElec data. That keeps an export legible even if you later hide or replace the original plan. If you would rather not trace walls and rooms yourself, AI can recognise them from a PDF or image as a proposal; the section "Let PlanElec recognise the floor plan automatically" explains how.

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How do I import a plan reference?

In the Floor plan mode, select Floor Plans in the toolbar and then Add floor plan. On an empty floor, Upload a plan in the How would you like to start this floor? start dialog opens the same import dialog – for images, PDFs and DXF alike.

1. Drag the files into the Add floor plans dialog or use Choose files. PNG, JPEG, WebP, PDF and DXF can be selected together.
2. For a PDF, select the pages you need; for a DXF, confirm the drawing unit and deselect layers you do not need.
3. Mark the sections if needed (see below).
4. Check the floor assignment in the Import queue and finish with Upload layers. A file that failed can be retried on its own with Try again.
5. Select Set up for a layer to open the layer workbench.

DXF is processed in the browser as a reference image. Model Space and the selected layers are taken into account.

Split several floor plans on one sheet

Architects' drawings often carry the ground floor, upper floor and attic on the same page. In the Mark sections step, drag a rectangle around each floor plan – every rectangle becomes its own floor plan that you assign to its own storey.

• Without a marking, the whole page is used.
• Name each section in the list below the preview. Every section of one sheet carries the same file name; only the name tells them apart in the queue and in the floor plan list.
• Sections, elevations and title blocks stay unmarked. Only what carries a rectangle is imported.
• The section is applied while rasterising. It is therefore rendered sharper than the same area within a fully imported page.

A rectangle can be moved after being drawn and resized at its corners. The arrows above the preview page through the selected pages; markings apply per page.

The source file stays in the project

The uploaded file is kept and listed at the bottom of the Floor plans panel under Source files. Several floor plans from one sheet reference the same file; it is stored only once.

This lets you cut another section later without hunting for the file again – for instance when a storey was missed during the first import. For a survey of an existing installation or a keuring (the official Belgian inspection), the architect's drawing also stays with the project as the basis of the documentation.

Set scale, rotation and position

The Set up layer workbench has the steps Crop, Rotate, Scale and Position. If the floor plan comes from a marked section, it starts at Rotate – the area was already defined during import. Crop stays available for edge corrections. Panning and zooming remain available while the workbench is open, but drawing tools are locked. Your changes remain a draft until you select Done; Cancel discards them.

Calibrate an image or PDF layer with a known distance:

1. Open the Scale step, or select Calibrate in the toolbar (Recalibrate for a layer that is already calibrated).
2. Select Set reference length and place two points on a distance whose real length you know, for example between two dimension lines.
3. Enter the length in metres and check the preview.
4. If necessary, align the reference edge horizontally or vertically.
5. Select Done only after checking the result.

For a DXF, PlanElec takes the scale from the drawing unit. If the file names no unit, PlanElec infers it from the dimensions or asks you once. The scale source stays visible in the workbench. Recalibrate manually whenever a known dimension does not match.

Continue drawing on the reference

Adjust the layer's opacity and crop if required. Then draw closed exterior and interior walls with Polygon or Rectangle. PlanElec derives rooms from the closed wall outlines; devices and cable routes use this editable wall graph, not pixels in the reference.

Check the following before planning the electrical installation:

• Do one or more known dimensions match the configured scale?
• Is the plan rotated and positioned correctly?
• Are only relevant layers visible, without dimension chains or title blocks getting in the way?
• Have exterior and interior walls been traced as PlanElec walls?

For multiple floors, set up each floor separately. Aligning floors to each other is a separate task and does not replace calibration of an imported layer; see Align floors and the building origin.

Let PlanElec recognise the floor plan automatically

Instead of tracing, you can have walls and rooms recognised from a plan. The result is a proposal that you review before it is applied to the floor.

For recognition, the page is sent to an external AI provider for analysis; each run uses your AI allowance. If recognition finds no usable floor plan, the plan is ready as a template to trace and you continue as described above. The full process, including the correction editor, is covered in How do I get AI to recognise a floor plan?

Delete a floor plan: how do I remove an underlay?

You delete an imported floor plan (image, PDF page or DXF, also called plan, underlay or reference layer) in the Floor plans panel. The walls, rooms and devices you drew stay in place; only the reference layer is removed.

1. In Floor plan mode, open the Floor plans panel for the current floor with the Floor Plans button in the toolbar (group Building & floors).
2. In the card of the floor plan you want to remove, choose the red trash icon next to Set up.
3. Confirm the Delete image? dialog with Delete.

The layer is removed and retained for 7 days for recovery or undo. Right afterwards you bring it back with Undo (arrow at the top right or Ctrl+Z, Mac: Cmd+Z). The panel has no separate trash with a restore button. If the deleted floor plan was active, the next floor plan of that floor becomes active.

If you only want the underlay out of sight for a while, hide it with the eye icon (Hide layer) or lower the Opacity instead of deleting it.

Source files stay in the project when you delete a layer; the Floor plans panel has no delete button for them. Every uploaded plan is also listed in the Project files panel. Removing a file there with Delete permanently is irreversible.

What importing does not do

A manual import only places a reference layer under your drawing. Rooms only exist once you draw the walls on it or apply a reviewed recognition proposal. Neither import nor recognition determines an electrical installation or produces an official survey. Check dimensions, wall layout and the real installation before placing symbols or exporting documents.

Next: Place and connect electrical symbols.