Lock wall lengths, measurements and furniture

Step by step

1. 1

   Lock a piece of furniture in place

   Tap the piece to select it. In its panel, tap the padlock at the top right, next to Duplicate and Delete (its label is Lock in place). The padlock turns blue and closed. Tap it again (Unlock) to free the piece.

   

2. 2

   What a locked piece can and can't do

   A locked piece shows a small blue padlock on the plan, and its rotate handle disappears. Until you unlock it, it can't be moved (dragged, nudged with the arrow keys or pinched), turned, flipped, resized or deleted, on its own or as part of a group. You can still rename it and change its color or finish. A copy you make with Duplicate starts unlocked. Moving, flipping or re-scaling the whole plan still carries a locked piece along, because it's locked to the room, not to the screen.

   

3. 3

   If you try to move or delete it

   The app stops and explains: This item is locked in place. To move it, select it and tap the padlock. With several pieces selected, it says how many are locked (2 of these items are locked in place.) and nothing in the selection moves. Unlock the piece, make the change, and lock it again if you like.

   

4. 4

   A grey padlock where the delete button was

   When you select a piece, two small round buttons appear next to it on the plan: copy and a red delete. On a locked piece the red delete is replaced by a grey padlock, so there's no delete button that wouldn't work. Tap the grey padlock and the app explains: This item is locked in place. To move it, select it and tap the padlock. Nothing is deleted. To unlock the piece, tap the blue padlock in its panel (Unlock).

   

5. 5

   Select multiple with a locked piece in it

   In Select multiple, the blue bar at the top of the plan (2 selected — drag to move) normally has a trash can. If any piece in the selection is locked, the trash can becomes a padlock. Tapping it only explains (This item is locked in place…, or 2 of these items are locked in place… when several are); nothing in the selection is deleted, not even the pieces that aren't locked. Unlock the locked piece first, or leave it out of the selection.

   

6. 6

   Lock a wall's length

   Tap the wall. Next to Length in its panel there's a padlock (Lock this length); the small panel beside the wall on the plan has one too. Tap it: the padlock turns blue and the length can't be typed over. Interior walls have the same padlock in the Interior Wall panel. To change a locked length, tap the padlock again (Unlock this length) first. If you try to change it anyway, the app says This length is locked. Tap the padlock to unlock it first.

   

7. 7

   Typed interior lengths are held without a padlock

   A length you type for an interior wall stays exactly as typed, padlock or not. If a move, a new wall or a turn elsewhere would alter it, that edit is refused, the wall flashes, and a note says: That would change a length you typed. To change it, select that wall and type its length again, or drag its own end. (With several walls in the way: That would change 2 lengths you typed.) Changing the wall itself is always allowed: retype its length, drag its own end or type its angle, and the new length is the one kept. Splitting a wall gives two new pieces whose lengths aren't held until you type them. A wall you only dragged into place isn't held either. So when do you need the padlock? When you also want to stop the length being retyped, for an outer wall, or for one measurement piece; the typed-length hold covers interior walls only.

8. 8

   Lock one measurement (desktop: hover it)

   Where other walls meet a wall, its measurement is split into pieces, one per room. Each piece can be locked on its own: tap the number on the plan, then tap the padlock. On a computer, just hover over the number and a padlock appears beside it; click it to lock or unlock without opening anything. A locked piece keeps the distance between the two walls on either side of it.

   

9. 9

   See what's locked at a glance

   A locked length or measurement shows a small blue padlock in its label on the plan, like the 7′ 7.5″ piece and the 12′ 6.5″ beside the bedroom–bathroom wall here. A locked interior wall whose measurement is split into pieces also gets a padlock badge on the wall itself. These padlocks are only on screen; prints and exports never show them.

   

10. 10

    What moves when some walls are locked

    When you type a new length with locks in the plan, the change comes out of walls that aren't locked: - The end that stays put (the pin) starts on the end that meets a locked wall. - An interior wall whose length you typed counts too: an edit that would change it is refused with That would change a length you typed… and the wall flashes. - Walls that take up the change flash light blue. A wall that would have broken a lock flashes amber, and the edit is refused with That would change a locked wall length. To change it, select the wall and tap the padlock next to Length. - Typing one piece of a measurement takes the change from the pieces next to it that aren't locked. If the wall's whole length is locked, its total stays the same and the piece next door gives way. - If everything around it is locked, nothing moves: Nothing can move: the measurements beside this one are locked. or Nothing can move: the wall's length and the measurements beside this one are locked. Unlock one of them first. - An edit that would change a locked piece is refused with That would change a locked measurement. To change it, tap the measurement and tap its padlock.

11. 11

    Settings that wait until you unlock

    A few whole-plan changes would change every length, so they're refused while wall lengths are locked: - Plan Settings → Walls → Exterior Wall Placement (Outside / Center / Inside): Wall placement can't change while wall lengths are locked, because it would change them. Unlock those walls first. - Re-scale in the Outline Editor with All floors chosen, when another floor has a locked wall: All floors can't be re-scaled while wall lengths are locked on another floor. Unlock those walls first, or re-scale this floor only. - Split on a locked wall: Unlock this wall's measurements first. A locked wall doesn't stop you drawing from it: pull the + at its end and the new wall butts against it without changing its length. A wall can also be turned (by its end crosshair or by typing its angle) while a locked measurement ends at it: it slides along the wall it stands on just enough that the locked piece keeps its number.

    

Common mistakes

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