Export formats
Exporting a floor plan – which format for what?
Most export problems are not caused by a bad drawing but by the wrong container. A PDF that looks perfect in a brochure is useless to a drywall contractor; a DXF that opens cleanly in CAD cannot be uploaded to a property portal.
Every page in this section covers one format: who consumes it, what it carries, what is systematically lost on the way, and when you should pick something else.
A floor plan is rarely used only once. The same drawing ends up in a brochure, on a portal, in an email to prospective buyers and sometimes with an architect or a contractor. Each of those destinations expects a different file format, and picking the wrong one either costs time or simply looks unprofessional.
PDF is the standard for anything printed or passed on as a document, because scale and typography survive intact. PNG and JPG are meant for portals and image galleries. DXF is for anyone continuing the work in CAD. A GLB model suits interactive 3D views, and OpenImmo XML is the route into the common German property portals. The pages below explain what each format is for and where its limits are.
Every page in this section
- Exporting a floor plan as PDFWhy PDF is the default for listing floor plans, what belongs in the file (scale bar, legend, 3D page) and where the format reaches its limits.
- Exporting a floor plan as DXFDXF export for planners and trades: layer structure, millimetre units, R12 compatibility, and what the exchange format deliberately leaves out.
- Exporting a floor plan as JPGWhen JPG is the right floor plan format, what resolution portals need, and why line drawings quickly look dirty as JPG files.
- Exporting a floor plan as PNGPNG is the better raster format for line drawings: lossless, sharp edges, readable text. When to use it and where it stops being enough.
- Exporting a floor plan as a 3D model (GLB)GLB export of a dwelling: a real 3D model in metres, doors and windows as true openings, named elements — and where it pays off in sales.
- Generating OpenImmo XML from a floor planOpenImmo is the German data standard for property records. What the export fills in from the plan, what it cannot do, and how to avoid errors.
- Exporting a floor plan as JSONThe JSON export is the complete copy of your plan: geometry, rooms, openings and computed areas — for backup, archiving and your own analysis.