Placing components

Adding from the library

The Library tab in the left sidebar is the catalog: beds, kitchen units, water and gas, electrics, boards and framing — each with a real 3D thumbnail and its default dimensions. A search field filters the list, and roof- or wall-mounted items are marked next to their size.

There are two ways to place a component: click it to add it at the center of the van, or drag it out of the list and drop it exactly where you want it on the canvas. Either way the new item is selected and ready to edit in the Inspector.

Under many items you'll find gear presets — the real models van builders actually buy (a Dometic CRX 50 fridge, a MaxxFan Deluxe, a Victron 100 Ah battery…), each carrying the manufacturer's true size, weight, typical price, and power draw. Click a preset chip to place that exact product, or switch a placed item between real models in the Inspector — every field stays editable afterwards.

Everything you place appears in the Components tab — the outline of your build. Click a row to select (even items hidden behind walls), use the eye to hide one from the scene, or the trash to remove it.

Moving — drag it, or use the gizmo

Two ways to move, no tool to pick:

Drag — the default. Drag any item across the floor; it follows your pointer, stays inside the van walls, and rests on the floor or on top of whatever it overlaps (that's how stacking works — drop a mattress on a bed frame, a box on a shelf).

Transform gizmo — one compact control at the centre of the selected item for everything else. Three arrows move it: red along the van, blue across, green up; the grey dot in the middle moves it freely. Between each pair of arrows an arc rotates it about the third axis: green flat on the floor (the item's footprint follows), red tilts it forward and back, blue rolls it sideways — in 15° steps, hold ⌥ for a free angle. Squares resize: the one just past each arrow tip pulls that axis with the opposite side staying put (green is height, the base stays), and the amber ones at the base corners pull a corner with the opposite corner staying put. A chip under the item shows the size, and the live number while you drag.

Tilting (the red and blue arcs) is for a leaned board, a solar panel on a tilt bracket, a bike on its side — the planner still treats the item as its upright box for walls, stacking and the cut list.

For small corrections, the arrow keys nudge the selected item 2 cm along the van's axes — hold ⇧ for 25 cm steps.

Rotate, duplicate, delete

R rotates the selected item 90° (its footprint swaps with it, and it re-clamps into the van). ⌘D duplicates the selection and drops the copy beside the original. Del removes it. All three are also buttons in the toolbar and the Inspector — and all of them are undoable.

Multi-select & groups

Select several components by ⌘-clicking their rows in the Components panel — or press ⌘A to select every visible item. With two or more selected, press ⌘G (or the Group button that appears) to group them.

With several selected, the Inspector edits them together: size, rotation, cost, weight, power, colour and texture. Each field shows the value they share, or Mixed when they differ — type once and it applies to all of them, as a single undo step.

A group behaves like one piece of furniture: drag any member and the whole group moves together, keeping its internal arrangement — perfect for a kitchen block of counter, fridge, and drawers. ⌥-drag moves a single member out on its own, and ⇧⌘G dissolves the group.

Snapping & alignment guides

While you drag, items snap to the edges and centers of everything else in the scene, and red alignment guides flash across the floor to show exactly what you've lined up with — the same behaviour you know from Figma.

Hold ⌥ while dragging to switch snapping off for that drag when you need an in-between position.

Measuring: the tape, paths & the Measurements list

Press M (or the ruler button in the toolbar) and click any two points — on furniture, the floor or a bare wall — to read the distance between them. While the tool is open, the Measurements list takes the right sidebar: every measurement with its length, a name you can type, and a delete button. A two-point measurement also shows its run (along the floor) and rise (up or down), which is what you want for a sloped pipe or a cable climbing a wall.

Points snap — to the corners of an item first, then the middle of an edge, anywhere along an edge, and the walls, floor and ceiling of the finished interior. The dot under your pointer turns green when it has caught something. Hold ⌥ to put a point exactly where you click.

Hold ⇧ while clicking to keep adding points to one path: a cable route around two corners, a worktop edge, the seal around an opening. Every segment carries its own length and the last point carries the total. Enter, a double-click, or a click without Shift finishes the path; Backspace takes back the last point; Esc ends the path — the points you placed stay — and a second Esc closes the tool. Each point is its own undo step: Ctrl/⌘ Z while you are still drawing takes back the last point and the line carries on from the one before. From the third point on, clicking the first point again closes the loop — a perimeter in one go.

Measurements stay. They are saved with the project and come back every time you press M; the rest of the time they are hidden, so they never clutter the scene, photo mode or an export. Drag any point to adjust it — it snaps the same way — and ⌥-click a corner of a path to remove it.

Add points later. Select a measurement — click its row in the list, its line or its total in the van — and it is ready to edit: hold ⇧ and click to extend it (it grows from whichever end is nearer to your click; let go of Shift when you are done), or hover its line and press the + that appears to insert a corner and drag it into place. The Add points button on the row does the same without the modifier: the path re-opens from its last point, a click adds the final point, Enter finishes, Esc stops — points already added stay, and each one undoes on its own. A two-point measurement simply becomes a path. The keys are always listed in the How to measure block at the top of the list.