Spaces are the basic building blocks of a concept model in Snaptrude. You draw them in Design Mode with the Line, Rectangle, Arc and Circle tools, then name them, give them a Space Type and refine them by splitting, erasing edges or editing their properties.

Before you start

Work in Design Mode (the Design tab in the top bar).
Check the active layer under Layers in the left panel. New spaces go to the active layer, which must be visible and unlocked.
Check which story you are on under Stories in the left panel. A new space is assigned to the story where its base sits.

Choose a draw tool and draw mode

Draw tools are in the toolbar at the top of the canvas. When a draw tool is active, the Draw tab in the right panel shows the object type and draw mode. If the right panel is closed, hover over the right edge of the screen to open it.

Pick a tool: Line (L), Rectangle (R), Arc (A) or Circle.
In the Draw tab, set the object type to Space.
Choose Freeform to draw the outline of the space directly, or one of the offset modes (see below) to draw a band of a set width along your path.

The Draw tab stays open while you draw, so you can change the offset mode, thickness or object type mid-draw. When you finish, the right panel returns to the tab you had open before, or to Areas.

Draw a space with the Line tool

Press L or select Line.
Click to place the first point.
Move the cursor and click to place each corner. To be exact, type the length, press Tab to move to the angle field, type the angle, and press Enter.
Click back on the first point to close the loop. Snaptrude creates the space.

Tip: Use the arrow keys to lock the drawing axis while you move the cursor, and hold Alt to turn snaps off temporarily. You can switch between Line and Arc mid-outline with L and A to mix straight and curved edges in one space.

Draw a rectangular space

Press R or select Rectangle.
Click to place the first corner.
Move the cursor and click to place the opposite corner. An orange diagonal line means you are drawing a square.

To enter exact dimensions, type the length, press Tab to move to the width field and type the width. Pressing Tab locks the value you just entered, so the other dimension stays adjustable with the cursor. The Rectangle tool works in 2D and 3D, in offset mode, and on vertical surfaces.

Draw a space with the Arc tool

Press A or select Arc.
Click to start the arc.
Set the distance, angle and radius by moving the cursor or typing values, using Tab to move between fields.
Continue with arcs or lines until you close the loop.

Draw a circular space

Select Circle.
Click where you want the center of the circle.
Move the cursor outward, or type the radius and press Enter.

Type exact values

Draw, edit and copy tools share one on-canvas input field.

In imperial projects, feet and inches go in a single field. All of these are accepted: 30'4", 30 4, 30 4" and 364". A plain 30 means 30'0".
The first click in a field selects the whole value so you can overwrite it. A second click places the cursor for editing.
The smallest value you can enter is 1/64 in (imperial) or 1 mm (metric).
Entering 0, a negative number or text shows an Invalid input message, and the value is not applied.

Draw spaces in offset mode

Offset modes take the path you draw and build a space of a set width around it: centered on the path, outside it or inside it. Use them for pathways, roads, corridors, lawns and other band-shaped spaces.

Activate Line, Rectangle, Arc or Circle.
In the Draw tab, make sure the object type is Space.
Choose the center, external or internal offset mode.
Enter the offset width. The minimum is your project's tolerance, set under Settings (gear icon, bottom-left).
Draw the path on the canvas, typing dimensions if you need precision, and press Enter to finish.

Name a space and set its Space Type

Every drawn space has a Space Type and a label. New spaces are of type Room by default.

Select the space.
In the Properties panel, open the Type dropdown and choose a Space Type, for example Room, Program Block or Envelope.
Type a name in the Label field.

Site-related types such as Road, Garden, Deck, Pool and Walkway also change the height and material of the space. To see the materials, switch the color mode to Texture.

Note: If spaces were created as identical copies (instances), renaming one renames all of its copies.

Split a space

You can divide a large space into smaller ones by drawing across it.

Activate a draw tool.
In the Draw tab, turn on the option to split the space on overlap.
Draw from one edge of the space to another, or draw a closed loop inside it. The space is split along your sketch.

Splitting works in freeform and in offset modes in 2D, and alongside Split Face. A toggle in the Draw tab sets whether splits create spaces or departments (Program Blocks). The first time you split, a one-time prompt asks which you want; you can change the result later in the Properties panel.

Draw a space inside another space

To create a courtyard, atrium or other space within a larger one without overlap, draw the new outline inside the existing space with the embedded option on in the Draw tab. The inner space becomes its own space and the outer space wraps around it.

Merge spaces by erasing an edge

Press E or select Erase Edge.
Hover over the shared edge you want to remove.
If the adjacent spaces have different labels, press Tab to choose which space the merged result takes its label from.
Click to erase the edge.

Edit a space's properties

Select a space to edit it in the Properties panel:

Dimensions: change the length, width and height. By default, the height of a Room or Program Block follows the story height; click the lock icon by Height to set a custom height. Push-pulling the height also unlocks it.
Story: move the space to another story, or use Duplicate Above and Duplicate Below to copy it to the adjacent story.
Area lock: click the lock icon next to the footprint area to keep a rectangular space's area fixed while you resize it.
Area Type: set whether the space counts as Net, Gross or Excluded in the Areas tab of the right panel.
Tags: assign tags such as Department, Building or Phase.

With several overlapping spaces selected, the panel also offers Boolean operations and alignment options. For push-pull, move, copy, rotate and flip, see the model editing tool articles.

Troubleshooting

The space is on an unexpected layer: new spaces go to the active layer. Check which layer is active under Layers in the left panel before you draw.
The space appears on the wrong story: spaces belong to the story at their base elevation. Change the story in the Properties panel.
My typed value is rejected: values must be greater than zero and at least 1/64 in or 1 mm.

Space Types and Tags
Working with Layers
Stories and Buildings
Splitting Volumes and Faces
Boolean Operations on Spaces
Model Editing Tools
Keyboard Shortcuts

Drawing and Editing Spaces