Scanning with LiDAR

Capture a real room with Apple RoomPlan, then convert or merge it into an editable drawing.

On supported devices you can scan a real room with LiDAR and turn it into an editable Kaleidoscope Plan drawing, using Apple’s RoomPlan.

Scanning a room with LiDAR via RoomPlan — Capture a room with LiDAR, then refine it into a clean drawing.

Supported devices

Capturing a scan needs a LiDAR sensor - iPhone Pro models and LiDAR-equipped iPad Pro. On devices without LiDAR the New action doesn’t appear in the Scans section.

You don’t need LiDAR to use scans, though. Every device shows the Scans section and can Import a shared scan:

Any iPhone or iPad - LiDAR or not - can import a scan, open it and convert it into a drawing.
Macs can import scans and file them (move, archive, delete), and scans travel with the project, but opening and converting is iPhone/iPad work - a scan’s row on the Mac says Opens on iPhone / iPad.

Capturing a room

Open a project (or Unfiled), go to the Scans section, and tap New. You can name the scan first, or leave it blank.
The full-screen capture view opens. Move slowly around the room so the sensor sees every wall, door and window.
RoomPlan builds the geometry live as you go.
Tap Done.

Everything is processed on your device, nothing is uploaded.

How a scan is stored

A scan is saved inside its project as a small folder holding:

The raw capture, kept exactly as RoomPlan recorded it and never edited. It’s the source of truth, so a future converter improvement can be re-run against it.
Scan metadata, the name and notes, device model, OS and RoomPlan version, capture duration, and a status of active or archived.

Export scan… on the scan’s detail screen produces a single self-contained .kalascan file, and Import in any project’s Scans section brings one in - on any device, including Macs and non-LiDAR iPads. (A scan exported by a newer version of the app asks you to update first.)

Turning a scan into a drawing

From the scan’s detail screen:

Create new drawing, converts the capture into a fresh .kalar in the same project’s drawings, and archives the scan.
Add to existing drawing, merges the scanned room(s) into a drawing you pick (your same-project drawings are offered first). The scan archives afterward.

If the capture didn’t produce any usable walls, you’ll see an error instead and the scan stays active, so you can re-scan or retry - a blank drawing is never filed.

The detail screen lists each scan’s Produced drawings, so you can jump straight to what it became. And because the raw capture is preserved, you can re-convert an archived scan at any time.

Refining the result

A converted scan is a starting point, clean it up in the editor:

Square up almost-right corners by editing the walls.
Set wall materials, ceiling heights and add openings.
Run Drawing health to catch any geometry issues.

Tips for a clean scan

Good, even lighting helps the sensor.
Keep a steady pace and don’t rush corners.
Re-scan a wall that looks incomplete before tapping Done.