Scan to CAD for floor plans, redrawn by an AI drafter
Old paper plans, blueprint copies and scans are pictures, so vectorising them gives you thousands of broken lines that still need redrawing. Plan Chat skips that step: upload the scan (JPG, PNG, PDF or a phone photo) and an AI drafter draws the floor plan again as clean CAD, with walls, door and window blocks, dimensions and room tags on standard layers. Then you check it, correct it and download DWG, DXF or PDF.
Some new accounts get their first drawing free while we test it.
How it works
1. Upload the scan
A scanner file, a PDF of the scanned set or a phone photo of the paper plan taken from straight above.
2. The drafter reads and redraws it
Printed and handwritten dimensions are read and used; walls, openings, stairs, fixtures and labels are drawn on their own layers while you watch.
3. Check, correct, export
Compare the drawing with the scan side by side, fix anything by chat or with the CAD tools, then download DWG, DXF or a PDF sheet.
Real drawings: scan to cad in practice
All community drawings →
Hand sketch to CAD: ground floor with winter gardenFrom a photo / sketch · 1 min · DXF
Ground floor 8 × 15 m, drawn from a photo of a planFrom a photo / sketch · 2 min · DXF
L-shaped backyard cottage (ADU) 10 × 9 m: 2 bedrooms, covered patioFrom a written brief · 1 min · DXF
Narrow townhouse on a 5 m wide lot: 3 bedrooms, 2 courtyardsFrom a written brief · 1 min · DXF
Guitar-shaped house, 26 m long, with music studio in the headstockFrom a written brief · 2 min · DXF
Honeycomb house: seven hexagonal rooms, 5 m eachFrom a written brief · 1 min · DXF
Redraw, not raster-to-vector
Vectorisers trace pixels, including stains, folds and handwriting. The drafter draws each wall and opening once, as an entity you can edit.
Faded and skewed scans
Slightly rotated, low-contrast or yellowed sheets are fine as long as the walls and numbers are readable to a person.
From archive to working file
Start a remodel, an addition or a listing plan from the drawing you already have instead of measuring everything again.
What you get
| DXF | Layered, opens in AutoCAD, BricsCAD, DraftSight, LibreCAD, QCAD, Rhino, SketchUp (import) and Revit (link). |
|---|---|
| DWG | AutoCAD 2010 format, so every AutoCAD from 2010 on and most DWG-compatible programs open it. |
| A3 landscape sheet plotted to a true scale (1:50, 1:100 …) with a border and a title block. |
Plus a 3D model built from the same walls and openings, photoreal renders of any version, and every version kept with its own link.
Layers in the drawing
| A-WALL | walls, with A-WALL-PATT for the cut hatch |
|---|---|
| A-DOOR / A-GLAZ | doors with swings, windows |
| A-GRID | structural grid with bubbles (A, B, C … / 1, 2, 3 …) |
| A-ANNO-DIMS | dimension chains, overall and per bay |
| A-ANNO-TEXT | room names, numbers and areas, room schedule |
| A-FURN / A-FLOR-FIXT | furniture, kitchen and bathroom fixtures |
| A-FLOR-STRS / A-SITE / A-PLNT | stairs, site elements, trees |
Tips for the best result
- Scan at 200–300 dpi or photograph in daylight with the sheet flat.
- Large sheets: scan or photograph the floor plan area, not the whole blueprint with every detail.
- If the scale bar is the only reference, tell the drafter one known dimension.
- Several floors on one sheet: one drawing per floor.
Questions
What is the best way to convert a scanned drawing to CAD?
For floor plans, redrawing beats vectorising: a raster-to-vector tool gives you broken lines that still need cleanup. Plan Chat redraws the scanned plan as proper CAD entities on named layers, using the dimensions on the sheet, and exports DWG, DXF and PDF.
Can it read handwritten dimensions?
Usually yes, if a person can read them. The drafter lists the dimensions and assumptions it used, so you can see and correct anything it misread.
Does it work for mechanical or electrical drawings?
No. It is built for architectural floor plans of homes and small buildings. Mechanical parts, schematics, P&IDs and maps are out of scope.
What does a scan to CAD conversion cost here?
Drawings use credits from an AI Architectures plan (from $12 a month). A floor plan from a scan usually uses 700 to 1,800 credits, changes 60 to 600; the DWG, DXF and PDF downloads are included.
Is the CAD file a legal as-built record?
No. It is an AI redraw of the scan and can contain mistakes. Verify key dimensions on site and have a licensed professional review drawings used for permits.
Try it with your own plan
Drawings, changes and renders use credits from an AI Architectures plan, from $12 a month; DXF, DWG and PDF downloads are included. See pricing.
Open the CAD studioMore ways to use Plan Chat
- Sketch to CAD: turn a hand-drawn floor plan into a DXF / DWG with AI
- Floor plan image to DXF: convert a JPG, PNG or photo of a plan to CAD
- Convert a floor plan to DWG for AutoCAD with AI (from an image, sketch or description)
- AI CAD floor plan generator: dimensioned floor plans in DXF and DWG
- AI construction drawings: floor plans as DWG, DXF and PDF from a sketch, photo or PDF
- AI blueprint generator: house blueprints as real CAD from text, a sketch or an image
- Blueprint maker: draw house blueprints online with AI (DWG, DXF, PDF)
- Blueprint of my house: how to find it, or redraw it from a photo or sketch with AI
- Text to CAD floor plan: describe a building, get a DXF drawing
- 2D floor plan maker with AI: dimensioned 2D plans as CAD (DXF, DWG, PDF)
- PDF to DWG with AI: convert a PDF floor plan to a layered AutoCAD drawing
- Image to DWG: convert a JPG or PNG floor plan to AutoCAD with AI
- AutoCAD AI: an AI drafter that draws floor plans for AutoCAD (DWG)
- AI drafting software for floor plans: an AI CAD drafter (DWG, DXF, PDF)
- As-built floor plans from a field sketch: measured sketch to CAD (DWG, DXF, PDF)
- Home addition design with AI: plan the addition on your existing floor plan (DWG, PDF)
- ADU design with AI: a custom ADU floor plan for your lot, drawn as CAD (PDF, DWG)
- Start from a measured house plan (ADU, ranch, farmhouse, two-story)
- Desktop app for Windows, Mac and Linux
AI concept drawings can contain mistakes: check dimensions and have a licensed architect or engineer review a plan before you build or apply for a permit. Plan Chat is part of AI Architectures by 20Vision: 500,000+ hours of drafting, modelling & rendering saved, 280 years of full-time work our users got back, across 80,000+ designs.