How to Export iPhone Floor Plans to CAD (DXF, PDF & SVG)

Measuring an empty unit with a tape measure and a clipboard usually means redrawing everything in CAD afterwards. Field measurement is slow and prone to errors, and the data arrives in your software as a list of handwritten dimensions that still has to be turned into geometry.

An iPhone with a LiDAR sensor shortens this process. You walk through the space, the device builds a measured 3D model of the room, and LiDAR Room Scanner turns the scan into a clean 2D floor plan that you can export to your CAD software as DXF, send to a client as PDF or use in a design file as SVG. This guide explains how the export works, what each format is good for, and which details about scale, units and orientation matter when a drawing has to be correct.

Why CAD-Ready Floor Plans Matter

For architects, engineers, facility managers and interior designers, the floor plan is the basic document. Almost every later task depends on it: space planning, furniture layouts, MEP coordination, renovation scopes, lease drawings and as-built records all start from an accurate plan of what is actually there.

The problem is that what is actually there often does not match the drawings on file. Older buildings have been renovated, walls have moved, and the original CAD files are missing or out of date. So the work starts with a site survey, which has usually meant one of two things: hiring a measurement service or a draftsman, or measuring yourself with a laser distance meter and a notebook. Both work, and both take a lot of time and money for such a routine task.

A LiDAR scan reduces this survey to a few minutes of walking. More importantly, it produces geometry, not just numbers. Instead of a list of wall lengths that you have to reconstruct, you get a floor plan with walls, doors, windows and openings already drawn in the right positions and proportions. Exported as DXF, it opens in your CAD program as real lines you can edit from the start, instead of an empty drawing. If you are new to capturing rooms this way, start with how to scan a room in 3D with iPhone LiDAR.

What LiDAR Room Scanner Exports

LiDAR Room Scanner creates a 2D floor plan automatically from your LiDAR room scan and exports it in three vector formats: DXF, PDF and SVG. A PNG image and a CSV measurement table are also available. The three vector formats are not redundant; each serves a different step in your workflow.

DXF for AutoCAD, LibreCAD and other CAD software

DXF (Drawing Exchange Format) is the common exchange format of CAD. Autodesk created it specifically so that drawings can move between programs, and almost every CAD program reads and writes it: AutoCAD, LibreCAD, BricsCAD, DraftSight, QCAD, ArchiCAD, Revit (via import), Vectorworks and more.

When you export a floor plan from LiDAR Room Scanner as DXF, you get real vector geometry: walls, openings and the rest of the plan as lines and polylines that you can snap to, trim, extend and dimension like any other CAD element. Choose this format whenever the plan will be edited, used as the basis for a new design or coordinated with other drawings. It is the difference between tracing over an image and working with the actual lines.

Sharing a DXF export is part of Pro in LiDAR Room Scanner. See pricing for what each plan includes.

PDF for printing and client handoff

PDF is the format for communicating a plan, not editing it. A floor plan exported as PDF is a clean, scaled drawing that prints predictably, opens on any device without special software and looks the same for everyone. That makes it the natural choice for client handoffs, contractor documents, lease exhibits, permit applications that accept PDF, and anything you want to email to someone without CAD software.

Because the PDF is created from vector geometry, it stays sharp at any zoom level and prints cleanly, whether on a single letter-size sheet for quick reference or on larger paper for use on site.

SVG for web, design and presentations

SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is the format for web and design. It opens cleanly in Figma, Illustrator, Affinity Designer, Sketch and Inkscape, and browsers display it natively. Use SVG when the floor plan goes into a listing page, a presentation, a marketing sheet, a moodboard or any design context where you want to restyle the plan (change wall colors, use your own typography, add a furniture concept) without it turning into a pixelated image.

A simple rule: DXF when someone will build on the drawing, PDF when someone will read it, SVG when someone will restyle it. For images in documents or messages, the PNG export is enough, and the CSV export lists the measurements for a spreadsheet.

Step-by-Step: From Scan to Export

This is the full path from an empty room to a CAD file. Capture and export are two separate stages, and a good capture is what makes the export useful.

1. Scan the room. Open LiDAR Room Scanner and start a room scan. Move slowly along the walls, keep the device pointed at the surfaces, and follow the on-screen guidance while RoomPlan detects walls, doors, windows and openings in real time. The app offers the Standard and High Fidelity capture modes; they differ only in how furniture is shown, and the wall geometry and measurements are the same in both. For technique that keeps your geometry square and your dimensions reliable, read the LiDAR scanning tips for accurate iPhone scans.

2. Let the floor plan generate. When you finish the scan, LiDAR Room Scanner creates a 2D floor plan automatically. Walls, doors, windows and openings are placed based on the LiDAR data, without tracing or manual reconstruction.

3. Refine it in the editor (optional, but recommended). Before exporting, open the floor plan editor to clean up the plan: straighten a wall, name the rooms, add furniture or correct anything the scan misread. The editor is described in more detail below.

4. Open the export options. In the floor plan, choose export and select the format: DXF, PDF or SVG.

5. Send the file where it needs to go. LiDAR Room Scanner uses the iOS share sheet, so you can send the file to your Mac with AirDrop, save it to Files or iCloud Drive, attach it to an email or open it in the app you use to manage drawings. Because processing happens on the device, your scan only leaves your iPhone when you share it.

Scanning, generating the plan and creating the export all run on the device, also without an internet connection. There is no upload and no waiting for a server. For an overview of the workflow from capture to export, see how it works.

Opening Your DXF in CAD Tools

Once you have exported a DXF, opening it is straightforward, because every major CAD program handles DXF as a standard file.

• AutoCAD: Open the DXF directly, or insert it into an existing drawing as a block. The floor plan arrives as editable geometry you can snap to and modify.
• LibreCAD (free, open source): Open the DXF directly. LibreCAD is a good free option if you do not have an AutoCAD license and only need to view, measure or lightly edit the plan.
• QCAD, BricsCAD, DraftSight: All open DXF natively via File > Open.
• Revit: Use Insert > Import CAD to bring in the DXF as an underlay for tracing walls, or as a reference for modeling the space.
• Vectorworks / ArchiCAD: Both import DXF as part of their standard exchange formats.

After opening, first check scale and units (see the next section), then use Zoom Extents to confirm that the whole plan arrived and nothing landed far outside the drawing area.

Scale, Units, and True-North Notes

This section decides whether a floor plan is reliable or only looks right. Check three things on every export.

Scale and units

A LiDAR scan is measured in the real world, so the geometry carries real dimensions. When you bring the DXF into CAD, check that your drawing units interpret these dimensions correctly: a wall the app measured at 4 meters should read as 4 meters (or the imperial equivalent) in your CAD program, not 4 millimeters or 4 inches. CAD programs interpret the numbers in a DXF according to the unit settings of the drawing, so a quick check with the measure tool against a wall whose length you know is the fastest way to catch a unit mismatch before it affects everything you draw on top.

If your office works in imperial units and the scan arrived in metric (or the other way around), set the import or insertion units so the geometry is scaled, not just relabeled. Measure one known dimension after import as a final check.

True north and orientation

LiDAR Room Scanner can tag scans with location data: the GPS position and a true-north compass heading from the device, so the floor plan is oriented to the real world rather than to the direction in which you happened to start scanning. This matters more than it seems: solar studies, site plans, daylight analysis and any drawing that has to relate to the compass depend on knowing where north is. Including the GPS data in exports requires Pro.

The app also shows the address of each scan, which helps with labeling drawings and keeping several site surveys apart in your records. When you bring the plan into CAD, decide whether you want it oriented to true north or rotated to plan north (square to the page) for readability, and rotate it accordingly. Keep a note of the captured north direction so the real orientation is not lost.

A note on accuracy expectations

LiDAR room scanning is fast and close to reality, but it does not replace a calibrated total station on projects where millimeter precision is contractually required. Treat the exported plan as a measured starting point: verify critical dimensions that affect fabrication or structural decisions, and use the captured geometry for the layout, the proportions and the documentation of the space.

The Floor-Plan Editor: Geometry, Labels, and Objects

Before you export, the floor plan editor in LiDAR Room Scanner lets you refine the automatically generated plan, so the CAD file you pass on is clean. The editor has three modes:

• Geometry mode: Adjust the structure of the plan by dragging corner points of walls, doors, windows and openings. If the scan misjudged a wall slightly or a corner should be square, this is where you correct it. Grid snap and on-screen measurements keep the edits exact, and undo/redo lets you try changes without risk.
• Labels mode: Name your rooms (Kitchen, Bedroom 2, Mechanical) and edit the measurement labels of elements. Named rooms make the exported DXF or PDF readable for whoever opens it and save you from labeling everything by hand in CAD later.
• Objects mode: Place furniture and fixtures from the built-in catalog to show the intended layout. The editor also calculates the floor area, so you get room and total areas without calculating them yourself, which helps with space programming, lease drawings and quick feasibility checks.

With grid snap, measurements and area calculation, the plan you export is already cleaned up to the level you need, rather than something you have to reconstruct in CAD before it can be presented.

Tips for Better CAD Exports

A few habits make the difference between a usable export and a frustrating one:

• Scan carefully for anything that goes to CAD. A slow pace, good light and pauses at the corners give straighter walls and cleaner lines in the export. The capture mode does not affect the wall geometry.
• Close the loop when you scan. Walk the full perimeter and return to where you started, so the room geometry closes cleanly. Open scans can leave gaps that appear as imperfect corners in the plan.
• Fix geometry in the editor, not in CAD. It is faster to straighten a wall in Geometry mode while you still have the scan context than to question it later in the CAD drawing.
• Record the location for orientation. When the app records true north during the scan, you do not have to guess the rotation later when the drawing has to match the real site.
• Choose the format for the task. Do not export only a PDF and then wish you could edit it. If there is any chance the plan needs CAD work, export the DXF as well.
• Check one known dimension after import. Thirty seconds with the measure tool against a wall you know confirms your units before you build on the file.
• Keep the original scan. Your scan library keeps the source scan, so you can export it again in another format or edit the plan later without measuring again. Pro adds floor plan exports, GPS data in exports and scan import for regular survey work.

If you are comparing LiDAR with other capture methods for survey work, the comparison in LiDAR vs photogrammetry is worth reading; for measured floor plans, LiDAR's dimensional accuracy is the deciding factor. If real estate is your field, using iPhone LiDAR for real estate floor plans describes scanning a whole property for listings.

Bringing It Together

CAD-ready floor plans used to require a site visit, a measurement service or a tape measure, and an evening of redrawing. With an iPhone LiDAR scan, you walk through the space once and export a measured DXF for AutoCAD or LibreCAD, a PDF for the client or an SVG for a design tool, all created on the device from the same scan. Refine the plan in the editor, check scale and north direction, and the drawing that arrives in your CAD program is a real starting point instead of an empty file. The feature set shows how room scanning, the floor plan editor and the exports fit together.

If you measure spaces regularly, download LiDAR Room Scanner from the App Store and turn your next room scan into a CAD file.