How to draw rooms

Draw a rectangle room

1. 1

   Turn on the Room tool

   Press R, or click Room in the left toolbar under Structure. The label beside it shows the shape it will draw, for example Rectangle.

2. 2

   Drag a box

   Press where one corner goes and drag to the opposite corner. Let go to place the four walls.

3. 3

   Type the size while you drag

   While you are still dragging, type the width and depth, for example 400x300, and press Enter. The room is exactly that size.

   

4. 4

   Or use Exact size, with no dragging

   While the Rectangle tool is on, a bar at the bottom of the plan shows Exact size. Type the width and depth and click Add room. The room is placed clear of your other rooms.

   

Draw L-shaped, round and any-shape rooms

1. 5

   Open the shape chooser

   Click the small arrow next to Room in the left toolbar. Pick Rectangle (R), L-shape (L), Any shape (G) or Round (K). The tool remembers the last shape you used.

   

2. 6

   L-shape

   Drag a box like a rectangle. The tool draws an L inside it. Select the room afterwards and drag its corners to adjust the notch.

3. 7

   Any shape

   Click each corner in turn. Click the first point again, or double-click, to close the room. Esc cancels.

4. 8

   Round

   Press at the centre and drag out. Type a radius while dragging, for example 250, and press Enter. The bar at the bottom also has a Radius field and Add room.

See and name each room

1. 9

   Read the area

   Every space closed in by walls is a room. Its area shows in a chip in the middle, in m² or ft² to match your units.

   

2. 10

   Split a room with a wall

   Draw a wall across a room with W. Where walls cross or meet in a T, the room splits in two and each part gets its own area.

3. 11

   Name the room

   Click Room label in the left toolbar under Measure & label, then click inside the room. Type a name such as Kitchen in Room name. See Labels and text.

Tips

• Set Wall settings first. All walls of a new room use its thickness and height.
• A new room is selected right after you draw it, ready to move or edit.
• Each room is a set of ordinary walls. Select any of them to change its length, thickness or height.
• The Areas panel on the right (under Layers) lists every room with its area. See Area schedule.

Common problems

My room has no area

The walls do not fully close. Look for a small gap at a corner and drag the wall end until the badge says End.

The area says "to wall centers"

Your plan uses the Centre corner join, so the area is measured to the middle of the walls. Switch Corner join to Inside or Outside in Settings under Advanced for areas inside the wall faces.

Typing 12 made a 12 foot room, not 12 inches

In Feet & Inches a bare number is feet. Type 5 6 for 5 feet 6 inches, or add the unit: 66in.