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Import DXF Into Blender: Turn a Floor Plan Into a 3D Shell

I show how to import DXF into Blender and turn a floor plan into a 3D shell, and you can download the plan to follow along.

Angie Soliman
15–22 minutes

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Table of Content:

This tutorial shows how to import DXF into Blender and turn a 2D floor plan into a 3D apartment shell with walls, floor, and ceiling. You will clean up the imported lines, build the walls with the Solidify modifier, and model the floor and ceiling, step by step. Everything is done in Blender with free software, so you can download the DXF floor plan below and follow along.

Download the DXF floor plan

Download the DXF floor plan

Blueprint of a floor plan showing various room layouts and dimensions.
DXF floor plan of an apartment, ready to import into Blender.

DXF floor plan of an apartment, ready to import into Blender.

Download the DXF floor plan (ZIP, 8.8 KB)

This is the apartment plan from the video, drawn in Rayon and exported as a DXF with measurements in meters. Use it to follow every step in this tutorial.

The plan is already cleaned up, with no doors, windows, or furniture blocks. Only the three archway openings are left in, because they break the wall outline into segments. This causes fewer glitches than one long continuous loop.

What you’ll need for this tutorial:

Before you import DXF into Blender

Before you import DXF into Blender, install a DXF importer, set the scene units to Metric, switch to top view, and check the units of your plan. These checks take about a minute, and they prevent most import problems.

  1. First, install and enable a DXF importer. Go to Preferences>Add-ons and enable CAD2Cube DXF Importer. If you do not see it, open Get Extensions and search for “dxf”.
  2. Next, set the scene units to Metric. Open Scene Properties (the icon with a cone, a ball, and a dot) and set Unit System to Metric.
  3. Then switch to top view. Click Z on the axis gizmo in the viewport. You should always import from top view.
  4. After that, check the units of your plan. The plan in this tutorial was drawn in meters, so you set the importer to Meters instead of Autodetect.
  5. Finally, check that the plan is clean. Remove doors, windows, and furniture blocks before you export from your drawing software. The DXF you downloaded above is already prepared this way.

New to Blender? Drag with the middle mouse button to orbit. Hold Shift and drag with the middle mouse button to pan. Scroll to zoom. Also, the axis gizmo in the top right corner gives quick views: click Z for the top view, and X or Y for the side views.

How to import DXF into Blender

To import DXF into Blender, go to File>Import>CAD2Cube — DXF, choose your file, and set Units to Meters before you confirm.

  • Go to File>Import>CAD2Cube — DXF.
  • Next, select the DXF file.
  • In the import settings, set Units to Meters, set Import Hatch to None, and turn on Merge 3D faces into a single mesh.
  • Now confirm the import. The plan appears as lines in the viewport.
  • After the import, check the scale. Select the Measure tool, then click and drag across one archway. Hold Ctrl to snap to points. With the plan from this tutorial, the archway measures 1.23 m, so if you get that number, the scale is correct.

Can Blender import DXF files?

Yes, you can import DXF into Blender with a free importer extension. This tutorial uses CAD2Cube DXF Importer, which you installed in the checklist above.

Best settings to import DXF into Blender

These are the settings used in this tutorial. You find them in the import panel before you click Import.

  • Units: Meters. The plan was drawn in meters, so Meters gives the correct size. Do not use Autodetect.
  • Entities>Import Hatch: None. Hatch lines turn into faces, and these faces do not merge with the rest of the plan. You would have to extrude them separately, so importing lines only keeps the plan cleaner.
  • Entities>Merge 3D faces into a single mesh: on. Some blocks and hatch lines can escape detection during cleanup, but when they are merged into one mesh, they are easier to find and delete.

If your plan was drawn in another unit, choose that unit instead.

How to join DXF lines and convert a curve to a mesh in Blender

To join the lines of an imported DXF, select everything with A, press Ctrl+J, and then convert the result to a mesh with Convert To>Mesh.

A plan exported from Rayon comes into Blender as joined rectangles, not clean lines. Every wall segment is a separate entity. Blender edits one entity at a time in Object Mode and Edit Mode, so you need to join them to edit the plan as a whole. You also need a mesh instead of a curve, because you cannot extrude a curve. Both fixes are in the steps below.

  1. First, press X to delete the ruler from the scale check. Then delete the three archway blocks too.
  2. Next, press A to select everything, or drag a box over the whole plan.
  3. Now press Ctrl+J to join. The Scene Collection panel shrinks to one item.
  4. After that, press Tab to enter Edit Mode. You see yellow lines and black dots. These are edges and vertices, but the plan is still a curve.
  5. To fix that, press Tab to go back to Object Mode and select everything. Then right-click and choose Convert To>Mesh.
  6. Finally, press Tab to enter Edit Mode again. Now you have the Vertex, Edge, and Face select options, and the plan is black.

How to clean up an imported DXF: merge vertices and delete extra edges

To clean up an imported DXF, delete the extra edges, then use Merge by Distance to merge vertices that sit almost on top of each other. After that, fix the remaining stray vertices by hand.

Set up the viewport first, because small dots and black lines are hard to see. Go to Preferences>Themes>3D Viewport.

  1. Set Vertex size and Face dot size to 10 pixels. The default is two or three pixels, which is easy to lose on a laptop screen.
  2. Then set Wire and Wire Edit to white, or any color you like. Black lines are hard to see on the dark background.

Now clean up the geometry:

  1. Switch to Edge Select. Then select the extra edges, press X, and choose Edges. If you need to do this twice, that is not a glitch, because it means you had overlapping edges stacked on each other.
  2. Next, press A to select all, press M, and choose By Distance. This merges everything within close range. In this plan, it removed 210 vertices.
  3. After that, delete floating vertices. Select them, press X, and choose Vertices.
  4. Before you delete a vertex that sits on an edge, turn on Auto Merge Vertices at the top right of the viewport. Without it, deleting the vertex deletes the whole edge.
  5. Then click a vertex, press G to move it, and press X or Y to lock the axis. Move it close to its neighbor.
  6. Merge by Distance does not catch vertices that are close but not exactly on top of each other, so use snapping. Turn on Snapping, make sure Vertex is on, and hold Ctrl to enable multiple targets. Then press G, lock the axis, and snap the vertex onto the one next to it.
  7. To check the merge, delete the vertex. If the edge disappears too, the merge worked.
  8. Finally, keep only the vertices that are real corners.

Two more fixes:

  1. If a vertex splits a straight line, delete it, which also deletes the line. Then select the two vertices that made the line and press F to create one clean line.
  2. If you see small jagged bumps in a line, select both vertices, press G, and move them along the axis until they merge into a straight line. Then remove the extra vertex.

Why faces won’t merge in Blender (3 things to check)

If faces will not merge in Blender, check three things: a gap between edges, the direction of the faces, and the Z height of the vertices. Before that, make sure the walls are filled and dissolved the right way.

  1. First, select the edges of one wall and press F to fill it. The plan has many wall thicknesses and uneven walls, so select with care. If you select too much at once, the walls come out misshapen, or F fills the inside of the plan instead.
  2. Next, dissolve the overlapping faces that the filled walls leave behind. Switch to Face select, select two or three faces, press X, and choose Dissolve Faces. Do not press A and dissolve everything at once, because it may fail or create more glitches.

If a corner still refuses to merge, check these three things in order:

  1. Gap. Zoom in and switch to Edge select. Then press F to close the gap. After that, switch to Face select, select the new face and the face next to it, press X, and choose Dissolve Faces.
  2. Face direction. Open Viewport Overlays and turn on Face Orientation. In this plan, every face points forward. The colors come from Preferences>Themes>3D Viewport>Face Orientation Front/Back, so yours may look different.
  3. Z height. Select the vertices and press N. Then open the Item tab and read Median. All vertices should sit at the same height. In this plan, Z was 0.

None of the three checks explained the corner in this plan. Sometimes a glitch comes with a shape this complex, so the corner was left as it is. In Object Mode, the plan is still one object, and the extra geometry at this one corner does not cause problems later.

The corner came from filling the walls and adding thickness with a modifier, instead of extruding the faces with E and adding thickness with a separate modifier. That second route is longer and has its own glitches. Still, practicing with Blender’s native tools, instead of relying on add-ons, builds skill with the software. Next, you name the plan and make the copies you need for the ceiling.

How to name and duplicate objects in Blender for walls, floor, and ceiling

Rename the cleaned plan #Walls, delete the leftover items from Rayon, and make one copy of the plan to use as the ceiling. Do this before you extrude the walls, because extruding pulls the flat plan up into 3D walls, and the ceiling copy needs to stay flat.

  1. First, press Tab to switch to Object Mode. In this mode, you select and move whole objects, such as the plan.
  2. Next, find the Scene Collection panel, which is the list of everything in your scene. Click the plan and drag it to the bottom of the list. Now you can select everything above it at once, without the plan sitting in the middle of the list.
  3. Then rename the plan #Walls. Double-click its name in the list and type the new name.
  4. After that, select the leftover items and layers from Rayon above it in the list, and delete them.
  5. Now click the #Walls object to select it, then press Shift+D to duplicate it. The copy follows your mouse until you click. Press X to lock the movement to the X axis, move the copy aside, and click to place it.
  6. Finally, double-click the name of the copy and rename it #Ceiling.

The # at the start keeps these objects at the top of the list as the scene fills up, so they stay easy to find. You make the floor later, from the finished ceiling.

How to make walls from a floor plan with the Solidify modifier

To make walls from a floor plan in Blender, add the Solidify modifier to the plan and set Thickness to the wall height. A modifier is a setting that changes the shape of an object without you editing it by hand, and Solidify pushes the flat plan up into 3D walls.

  1. First, make sure you are in Object Mode, then click #Walls to select it.
  2. Next, open the Properties editor, the panel with a column of small icons that is usually on the right side of the screen. Click the wrench icon, Modifier Properties.
  3. Then click Add Modifier and choose Generate>Solidify.
  4. Now change four settings: Offset to 1, Thickness to 3 m (the wall height), Mode to Complex, and Boundary to Flat.

The walls now appear in the viewport. Next, apply the modifier to make the walls permanent. Click the small arrow in the modifier header and choose Apply.

Then fix the stubborn corner from the faces section. Press Tab to enter Edit Mode, select the faces around the corner, press X, and choose Dissolve Faces. The problem still shows at the top of the walls, but it no longer affects the rest of the model.

Last, go around the whole model and check for walls that face the wrong way or extra geometry that needs merging. In this plan, everything was clean, so the walls are done.

How to model a floor and ceiling in Blender

To model a floor and ceiling in Blender, fill the space between the walls with a face, move that face to the top of the walls, then duplicate it and move the copy down by the wall height.

Start with the #Ceiling copy you made earlier.

  1. First, in Object Mode, click #Ceiling to select it. Then press Tab to enter Edit Mode.
  2. Next, check your reference images to see if the floor needs separate sections for different materials later. In this plan, the whole living area, including the kitchen, has wood flooring, so nothing needs separating.
  3. Now press A to select everything, then press F to fill the space between the walls.
  4. After that, press Tab to go back to Object Mode and select #Ceiling. Press G to grab it. Make sure Snapping is on and Vertex is selected, as in the cleanup section. Then drag one corner of the ceiling onto the matching top corner of the walls.
  5. Then check the height from the side. Click Y on the axis gizmo for a side view. If the ceiling is not at the top of the walls, switch the viewport to Wireframe shading, using the shading buttons at the top right. Press G, press Z to lock the movement to the height, and move the ceiling into position.
  6. Once #Ceiling is in place, press Shift+D to duplicate it. Press Z to lock the movement to the height, type -3, and press Enter. This moves the copy down 3 m, which is the wall height.
  7. Next, rename the copy #Floors.
  8. Finally, click the eye icon next to #Ceiling in the Scene Collection panel to hide it, so you can see the floor.

You now have a shell with walls, a floor, and a ceiling. However, the tops of the archway openings are still open, so you close them in the next section.

Tip: in Edit Mode, you can switch between objects by clicking them in the Scene Collection panel.

How to close doorway and archway openings in Blender

To close the top of an archway opening in Blender, fill the gap above the door height. The walls are 3 m high and the door height is 2.18 m, so the gap to close is 0.82 m.

This plan has three archway openings, and each one runs through the full height of the wall. You close the top 0.82 m of each opening, so it ends at the door height. Each archway uses a different technique on purpose, so you can use whichever one you like.

Extruding means pulling a vertex, edge, or face out to create new geometry, and in Blender the key for it is E.

Before you start, press Tab to enter Edit Mode and switch to Vertex select.

Technique 1: Extrude from the top down

  1. First, select the four vertices at the top of the opening. Then press F to fill them with a face.
  2. Next, press E to extrude, press Z to lock the movement to the height, type -0.82, and press Enter. The face moves down 0.82 m.
  3. Some faces may show red in the Face Orientation overlay, which means the face points the wrong way. To fix it, switch to Face select and select the face. Then press Alt+N to open the menu, and press F to choose Flip.
  4. Finally, close the top. Switch to Vertex select, select the four vertices at the top, and press F.

Technique 2: Extrude sideways across the opening

  1. First, select the four vertices at the top of the opening. Then press E, press Z, type -0.82, and press Enter. This splits the wall.
  2. Next, switch to Face select and select one of the side faces.
  3. Now press E, then press Y to lock the movement to the Y axis, the direction this opening runs. Move the new face across and snap it to the opposite end of the opening.

Technique 3: Extrude from the bottom up

  1. First, select the four vertices at the top of the opening. Then press E, press Z, type -0.82, and press Enter.
  2. Next, press F to create a face, because the four new vertices are still selected.
  3. Then press E to extrude this face. Move it up and snap it to the top of the wall.

When all three openings are closed, press Tab to go back to Object Mode. Then turn off the Face Orientation overlay to see the model more clearly.

You now have a full shell, built from a DXF plan.

How to preview a render in Blender with Sky Texture lighting

To preview a render in Blender, add light to the scene with a World and a Sky Texture, then switch the viewport to Rendered view to see the result. This shows you roughly how the model will look in a final image, with light and shadows, before you add any materials.

Three terms are worth knowing first:

  • The World is the background of the scene, and it also gives off light that falls on your model.
  • A Sky Texture is an artificial daylight sky. When you use it as the color of the World, it lights your model like the sun and sky do outdoors.
  • Rendered view shows the viewport with the light and shadows worked out, instead of the plain gray you see while you work.

To add the light and see the preview, follow these steps:

  1. First, open the Properties editor again, the column of small icons on the right side of the screen. Click the planet icon, World Properties, and then click New. A Surface panel appears with Color and Strength fields.
  2. Next, switch to Rendered view. At the top right of the viewport, there are four round shading buttons in a row. Click the fourth one, on the right.
  3. Then, in the Surface panel, double-click the Strength field, type 10, and press Enter. After that, click the yellow dot to the right of Color. A list opens, so choose Sky Texture.
  4. Now look at the viewport. It is very bright. You can see shadows on the model, but the whole model is white, which is normal because no materials are applied yet.
  5. Finally, lower the light. Double-click the Strength field again, type 3 or 1, and press Enter.

EEVEE vs Cycles: how to get a more realistic preview

For a more realistic preview, open Render Properties, the icon near the top of the same column of icons. Then open the Render Engine menu and switch from EEVEE to Cycles. The render engine is the part of Blender that creates the picture. Cycles works out light differently, so it is heavier, and navigating gets noisy and slow, especially once the scene has more objects and materials. You can choose CPU or GPU rendering, which can help with the lag. Still, it is best to use EEVEE while you navigate and work and save Cycles for final renders.

Recap: how to import DXF into Blender and build a 3D shell

You now know how to import DXF into Blender and build a full 3D shell with walls, a floor, and a ceiling, using free software. Here is what you practiced:

  • Viewport navigation: orbit, pan, and zoom
  • DXF import: bringing the plan into Blender
  • Vertex, edge, and face editing
  • The Solidify modifier: turning the flat plan into walls
  • Extrude, duplicate, merge, and join: building and fixing geometry
  • Render preview with Sky Texture lighting

Did you run into the same stubborn corner? Tell me how it went in the comments.

The next video continues with this shell 😉 Subscribe to Ravenor’s Design Academy (RDA) on YouTube and turn on the notification bell to be the first to know when it is uploaded!

Happy designing 🙂

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