How to Measure and Scale floor plans

This is the only mood board tool that allows you to design and space plan with real products to scale, all within one web browser. Here is a step-by-step way to layout to scale and measure.

The Canvas is a 1:1 scaled design environment. When you're designing on Canvas you're doing so at full scale - the distance between each dot on the Canvas is one foot (12 inches). This is the only mood board tool that allows you to design and space plan with real products to scale, all within one web browser. Here is a step-by-step way how to utilize the Scale Tool and Measure Tool, which will help you confidently design a furniture layout to scale.

Import a Floor Plan by uploading DWG or DXF files:

This is how you can upload a drawing file (from AutoCAD, Revit, SketchUp, Rhino, etc..) into Canvas:

The Upload icon in the toolbar

1. Save your floor plan as a .dwg, .dxf, .jpeg, or .png.

We recommend that your drawing file is under 15 MB for peak performance in Canvas.

1. For .jpeg and .png, you can either drag and drop your floor plan from your computer into your Canvas or click the Import icon.

2. For .dwg and .dxf, click the Import icon in the Canvas Toolbar.

3. Do not exit out of the Canvas while your file is processing.

4. Once the file is ready, click Add to Canvas and place your floor plan wherever you would like.

   • Canoa automatically detects the original scale of the drawing. We recommend that you check the scale by using the Measure tool.

   • If the scale is off, use the Scale Floor Plan tool to set your dimensions.

   • Watch this video to see a step-by-step guide:

Using the Scale tool:

• There are three ways to access the Scale tool:

  1. Click on the Scale Floor Plan icon in the top toolbar in a Canvas. You will then be prompted to select an image to scale.

  2. Select your floor plan image, right-click and select Scale Precisely from the right-click menu.

  3. Select your floor plan image, and you’ll see two icons below the image. The first icon will allow you to Scale your image.

Scale Floor Plan icon located in the toolbar

The Scale Tool is located in the right-click menu: Scale Precisely.

The Scale Tool can be found when you click on your image: Scale Object.

• You’ll be prompted to select your first reference point. The floor plan shown above has a couple of known dimensions called out.

• Click on the image to set your first reference point and then click again to select the second reference point along the dimension call out.

• Input the scaled length in the prompted text box shown below the floor plan. The floor plan image will automatically scale to that dimension once you enter in the scaled length.

The first and second reference points are circled in purple. The known-scaled dimensions are then manually inputed into the text box below the floor plan.

PRO TIP: If you’re working with a floor plan that doesn’t have any dimensions called out, then we recommend using a standard doorway as your reference and set the scale to three feet and zero inches. Again, then your entire floor plan will automatically scale to size.

Using the Appearance Tool:

The second icon that appears when you select your image is the Appearance tool, which controls the opacity of your image and the ability to remove the background.

The Appearance tool pops up when the floor plan image is selected.

‍Locking & Unlocking:

Remember to Lock your floor plan by right-clicking on the image and selecting Lock Selection. When an image is locked, the selection window will turn to gray. If you need to adjust or rotate your image, unlock the selection, and the selection window will turn to purple.

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Lock Selection is available by right-clicking on the floor plan image.

‍Using the Measure Tool:

The Measure icon in the toolbar

Now, you are ready to add the products into your scaled floor plan. Simply drag over the Product Drawings into the plan. All of the product drawings in our Product Catalog are drawn to scale of the actual products (1:1), so you can confidently layout to scale.

Select the Measure icon from the top toolbar to check dimensions and verify placement and clearances. The Measure Tool can also be accessed by the hot key M.

PRO TIP: The measure tool is also handy when trying to determine the furniture sizes for small spaces.

The Measure Tool is checking the length of the sofa here.