How to turn a hand-drawn floor plan into a 3D view
Sketched plans are where most homes start: an owner's idea on a notepad, a site engineer's layout, the family's drawing of the house back in the village. Getting from that to a picture the family can react to used to need a draughtsman and a visualiser. Now it needs two uploads.
Updated 8 Oct 2026 · by the Cortex Digital Hub team
Quick answer. Photograph or scan the sketch flat and in even light. Upload it to Floor Plan Redraw, pick a drawing style and redraw: the lines are straightened, the lettering cleaned, and the layout kept exactly as you drew it. From the result page press Make it 3D; the clean plan goes to the 2D to 3D converter, where you pick a style and render a furnished view in about a minute. The redraw is free; the first render is free.
Redraw a plan, free → Free · opens Floor Plan Redraw
Step by step
- Draw with dark lines on plain paper. Close every room, mark doors with an arc and windows with a double line, and write the room names and sizes in capitals.
- Photograph it straight down in even light, or scan it. Crop to the plan.
- Open Floor Plan Redraw, upload, choose a style (architect black-and-white is a safe default) and redraw. Check the labels; ask the AI to fix any that mis-read.
- Press Make it 3D, choose a style or a reference photo in the 2D to 3D tool, render, and restyle for free in the Studio.
Tips that save a second attempt
- The redraw preserves proportions, so draw rooms roughly to scale. A 10 × 12 bedroom should look smaller than a 14 × 16 living room on the page.
- Faint pencil on a yellow pad is the hardest input. Go over the lines in pen before photographing.
- If the sketch has no sizes, the 3D render uses standard apartment proportions; adding even a few dimensions improves the furniture scale.
- One floor per sketch. A duplex or a house with two levels is two sketches, two redraws and two renders in the same saved style.
Frequently asked questions
Can the 3D tool take the sketch directly?
Sometimes, if the sketch is very clean. Redrawing first is more reliable and free, and gives you a usable 2D drawing as a by-product.
Will the redraw fix my mistakes?
No. It keeps the layout you drew, including a wall in the wrong place. Fix the sketch, or ask the AI for the specific change after the redraw.
Can I get a CAD file from the sketch?
The output is a high-resolution image, not a DWG. It is suitable for brochures, listings, discussion and 3D rendering.
Is the redraw really free?
Yes. Five Lumen redraws every 24 hours per signed-in account at 1K or 2K; beyond that 20 credits each.