DXF Floor Plan Import: Giraffe360 Plans in AutoCAD, Revit and Chief Architect

Someone is planning a remodel of the apartment, and they need its floor plan in their CAD software, with walls where the walls really are. Giraffe360's DXF floor plan is made for that. It draws the plan at 1:1 scale, as accurately as possible and without the adjustments that make the picture version look good. Import it with centimetres as its unit, and the drawing in AutoCAD, Revit or Chief Architect measures like the apartment.

Getting the File From the Dashboard

The DXF comes from the project in the Giraffe360 dashboard. Open the three dots under the floor plan card, select Download, then choose DXF as the file format. To save one floor alone, open the card's preview and select that floor's layout. The DXF option appears for customers with the DXF and SVG add-on; without it, the formats are PNG and JPG. Decoding your floor plan report explains each output format and the measurement data that comes with it.

Bringing It Into Your CAD Software

A Giraffe360 DXF is created in metric units, in centimetres, so one unit in the file is one centimetre of the property. The import steps differ from program to program, and in each one the unit is what to get right.

In AutoCAD

1. Start a new project from a template with Imperial or Metric units, whichever you work in.
2. Go to Files, then Import, and select the DXF file.

If you open the DXF directly instead, one drawing unit equals one centimetre from the file.

In Chief Architect

1. Select File, then Import, then Import Drawing.
2. Follow the Import Drawing Assistant that opens.
3. Under Drawing Unit, where it asks "What unit of measurement was used to create the imported drawing?", select cm.

In Autodesk Revit

1. Open the Revit project and click Insert.
2. Choose Link CAD or Import CAD.
3. Find the DXF file and select centimetre under Import units.

The same file opens in other CAD software too, such as DWG FastView, LibreCAD, nanoCAD and FreeCAD, and Adobe Illustrator can open it to view without editing. Once it is in, you can change the unit to the one you prefer inside the software.

When You Start Measuring

With the plan at true scale, the measurements are the ones to plan the remodel with. The DXF is a 2D drawing, though. It holds no height information and isn't meant to represent 3D objects or spaces.

If what you want is to restyle the plan, the SVG from the same add-on fits better. Its layers match what the PNG and JPG show, from walls and objects to windows and doors, room colours, room names and areas, and it opens in Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw or Inkscape for changing furniture and colours. Its walls are straightened to look clean, which is why it isn't the file for precise measurements.