How do I get AI to recognise a floor plan?

Floor plan recognition reads a plan page – PDF, PNG, JPEG or WebP, including a PDF export from Trikker – and turns it into a proposal: walls, rooms with their calculated area, doors and windows, plus the electrical symbols PlanElec knows. You need at least the project role Editor. You review the proposal in the Recognition panel, correct it where needed and confirm the scale. Only then does Import write it into an empty floor, as a single undo step. No circuits, single-line diagram or cables are created; you plan those afterwards as usual.

What do you need?

The file is stored in the project's Project files. You upload the plan once: it is the source for recognition and stays available as a project file afterwards.

Where do you start recognition?

There are two entry points. Both lead to the same result in the Recognition panel.

On an empty floor

1. In Floor plan mode, open a floor with no walls and no template. The card How would you like to start this floor? appears.
2. Choose Recognise the plan automatically, then your file.
3. PlanElec stores the plan in the project files and shows progress in three steps. Cancel stops the run.
4. For a single-page plan, recognition starts straight away. If the PDF has several pages, the Project file preview opens: go to the page with the floor plan and start Recognise floor plan there.
5. How you know it worked: the message “Floor plan recognised. Check the draft and measure a known distance.” appears and the Correct draft dialog opens.

From the project files

1. Open the Project files panel. Next to a PDF you find Recognise plan with AI, next to an image Recognise photo with AI. Both start floor plan recognition.
2. For a multi-page PDF, the preview opens instead. Choose the page there.
3. In the Project file preview, pick a method under Recognition method and start Recognise floor plan.
4. After the run, PlanElec switches to Floor plan mode and opens the Recognition panel. The proposal is shown as a preview over the floor.

What does the “Automatic” method do?

The default is Automatic (PDF vectors + AI). The server decides, page by page, where the walls come from:

If the AI step fails on a vector PDF, the walls from the PDF remain as the proposal. The header of the Recognition panel shows which route was taken, for example PDF walls + AI or PDF wall proposal.

LLM image recognition forces image recognition alone, without PDF vectors. Use it as an alternative when the automatic choice gives a weak result. Recognize again in the Recognition panel reruns the same plan with the chosen method. Every new run counts towards the daily quota.

What is in the proposal and how do you review it?

The Recognition panel splits the proposal into sections. The top line shows the page and the status: Proposal, Input needed or Error.

These symbols are recognised: socket, double socket, waterproof socket, switched socket, switch, push button, doorbell push button, motion detector, light point, spot, wall light, fluorescent tube, transformer, Ethernet and coaxial outlet, distribution board, junction box, stove, oven, dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, fridge, extractor hood, boiler, roller shutter motor and smoke detector. A symbol outside this list appears as Unknown symbol and is not imported.

Printed room areas as a cross-check

Many architectural plans print the area of each room. That number comes from the annotation, not from the recognised walls, so it is an independent check. When it matches, ✓ plan appears next to the room. If a room differs by 10 % or more, PlanElec flags it above the room list: a wall is probably in the wrong place. If the printed areas as a whole do not fit the scale, a question appears and you measure a known length.

Where does the scale come from?

A proposal without a confirmed scale is not imported. The Scale section shows where it came from:

Your own measurement takes priority. If it contradicts several matching dimension lines, however, PlanElec uses the dimension lines and reports this under Questions. Check that you placed the right points.

1. Read the source and deviation in the Scale section.
2. Compare a distance whose length you know for certain with the proposal, for example a dimensioned outer wall.
3. If it matches, choose Confirm scale. The section then shows Scale confirmed.
4. If it does not, open Correct draft and measure the distance yourself.

How do you correct the draft?

Correct draft shows the original page with the recognised walls on top. If only the scale is missing, the dialog opens by itself. Changes are only written to the floor when you import.

1. Measure a known length with Measure distance, preferably a long one.
2. Check every room: it must be closed by walls all the way round. Add missing walls and move misplaced corners.
3. Choose Save draft. The scale then counts as confirmed. If the target floor is empty and no question is blocking, PlanElec imports the draft straight away. Otherwise a message explains why, and you import it yourself later.

A distorted photo or a plan with an unclear crop cannot be straightened in this dialog. In that case, place the plan as a template and set it up in the layer workbench, see Import and calibrate a floor plan.

How do you import the proposal into the floor?

1. At the bottom of the Recognition panel, choose the Target floor. It must be empty.
2. Check that the scale is confirmed and that no question shows blocking.
3. Choose Import.
4. How you know it worked: the message “The proposal was imported.” appears and Floor plan mode shows walls, rooms, openings and devices. The original page sits under the walls as the template Recognised plan page.

The whole import is one undo step: ⌘Z or Ctrl+Z reverts it completely. If an element could not be placed – a door without a matching wall, or a device with no wall within reach, for instance – PlanElec reports how many elements were not imported. You place those by hand. Rooms receive their names and, where recognised, a room category. If the plan gives no heights for doors and windows, PlanElec uses default values; check them where it matters.

If you recognised several floors separately, stack them afterwards: Align floors and the building origin.

What if recognition finds nothing usable?

If recognition started from the start card finds no usable floor plan – fewer than three walls – PlanElec discards the proposal. The plan is then placed on the floor as a template, the layer workbench opens and you trace the outer walls. Other situations:

What does the AI not recognise?

What happens to your plan?

The file is stored in your project's project files. Only the selected page goes to the external AI provider: as an image and, for a PDF, together with that page's text. The request runs through an EU route; the provider does not store it and does not train on it. PlanElec logs every run with the page sent and the result, so a proposal can be traced later. The note “The page will be sent to an external AI provider for analysis.” sits directly on the Recognise floor plan action.

What next?

• Add symbols and connect them to the topology: Place and connect electrical symbols
• Plan circuits and boards: Plan the installation and distribution boards
• Trace a plan without AI or calibrate the scale by hand: Import and calibrate a floor plan