Create a Set of Outdoor Floor Plan Shapes

In the following tutorial you will learn how to create a set of outdoor floor plan shapes and how to save them inside a shape library.

For starters you will learn how to setup a simple grid and how to use the canvas scale settings. Moving on you will learn how to take full advantage of the Snap to Grid feature and how to work with basic tools.

You will learn how to easily save colors and styles and how to use them throughout the tutorial. Finally, you will learn how to create a new shape library, how to save your symbols and how to import or export existing shape libraries.

Step 1

Tap the plus button from the top, right corner of the screen to create a new document, choose the Grid document style and tap the Create button.

Focus on the right side of the Titlebar and tap the ruler icon to open the Properties panel. Go to the Canvas pane and open the Units & Scale pane.

We're about to create a ‘to-scale’ technical design using the canvas scale settings. First, make sure that the Base Unit is set to inches and then move to the bottom of the pane. Change the display units from inches to feet and set one inch to stand for three feet. The actual paper size of the document will not change, only the displayed values and units are adjusted by this setting.

Next, you need to adjust your document's grid. Tap again that ruler icon and open from the Grid pane. Make sure that the Snap to Grid feature is enabled and keep in mind that this is where you should come whenever you wish to enable or disable the grid or the Snap to Grid.
Open the Grid Settings pane, enter 0.1 ft in both Spacing boxes and 0 lines in that one Subdivisions box.

Step 2

Focus on the Toolbar and notice that by default the Fill color is set to white while the Line color is set to black. Tap the Line color well and replace the existing color with R=54 G=65 B=80 and then tap the Fill color well and drag the Alpha slider to 0%, which will make the fill invisible.

Pick the Line Tool, move to your canvas and create a 4 ft vertical line - the grid and the Snap to Grid feature will ease your work.Tap and hold with a second finger while dragging to easily create a perfect path. Make sure that this path stays selected and focus on the right side of your Titlebar. Tap the leftmost icon to open the Appearance panel. Move to the Effects pane and tap the existing Stroke to expand it. Drag the Width slider to 4 pt and then check the Round Cap, Round Join and Center Alignment buttons.

You should also save the stroke color used for this shape as you are about to use it throughout the entire tutorial. Tap the Stroke color well from the Effects pane (or the Line color well from your Toolbar) and then drag the active color to one of the palette slots.

Step 3

Make sure that your line is still selected, open the Styles pane and tap that plus button to save the attributes used for your selected shape. Using this style, you will be able to quickly apply the appearance attributes of this path to other paths.

Step 4

Make sure that your path is still selected, pick the Rotate Tool and focus on the newly opened Tool Options pane. Set the Angle to 45 degrees and then tap the Copy button three times.

Using the Move Tool, select all four paths made so far. Open the Combine pane and tap the Make Compound Path command.

Step 5

Pick the Polygon Tool and drag the Sides slider to 8. Create your octagon roughly as shown in the first image. Select this new shape and apply your style from the Styles pane.

Make sure that it stays selected and switch to the Rotate Tool. Set the Angle to 25 degrees and click Rotate.

Return to the Grid pane, disable the Snap to Grid feature and enable the Snap to Points feature.

Pick the Path Selection Tool, select the anchor points that make up your octagon one by one and snap them to the nearest anchor point as shown in the following images. You’ll know that it snapped when the outline color of your anchor point changes. In the end your octagon should look like in the third image.

Step 6

Enable the Snap to Grid feature and disable the Snap to Points feature. Using the Ellipse Tool, create a 0.8 ft circle, place it as shown in the first image and apply your style from the Styles pane.

Make sure that this new shape stays selected, focus on the left side of your Titlebar and tap that paperclip icon to open the Edit pane. Use the Copy and the Paste in Place commands to add a copy of your selected circle in the same place.

Pick the Path Selection Tool, focus on the newly opened Tool Options pane and activate the Add to Selection mode — this mode will allow you to easily select more than one object and can be really useful when you're dealing with overlapping shapes. Tap the copy of the circle made in this step along with the compound path, open the Combine pane and tap the Subtract command.

Step 7

Pick the Line Tool and create a 3.9 ft path. Place it as shown in the first image and apply your style from the Styles pane.

Switch to the Ellipse Tool and create a 0.2 ft circle. Place it as shown in the second image and apply that same style.

Step 8

Pick the Rounded Rectangle Tool, focus on the newly opened Tool Options pane and drag that Radius slider to 6. Create a 1.2 x 1.2 ft, place it as shown in the first image and then apply your style from the Styles pane.

Make sure that the Rounded Rectangle Tool is still active, return to the Tool Options pane and drag the Radius slider to 2. Create a 0.4 x 0.4 ft shape, place it as shown in the second image and apply that same style. Make sure that this shape stays selected focus on the Effect pane. Select the existing Stroke, drag that Width slider to 3 pt and then move to the Styles pane and save a second style using that same plus button.

Step 9

Pick the Line Tool and create two 0.4 ft vertical paths. Place these straight lines as shown in the first image and apply your second style from the Styles pane.

Switch to the Ellipse Tool, create a 0.2 ft circle, place it as shown in the second image and fill it with your saved color.

Using the same tools, techniques and styles you can create a variety of umbrella symbols as shown in the following image.

Step 10

Focus on the right side of your Titlebar and tap the rightmost icon to open the Layers panel. Double-tap the name of the existing layer and rename it "Umbrella". Move to the top, right corner of the panel and use that plus button to add a second layer. Make sure this new layer stays selected, as the new shapes you are about to create will go here. Also, rename it "Plant".

Using the Ellipse Tool, create a 0.4 ft circle and apply your second style from the Styles pane. Switch to the Path Selection Tool, select the top anchor point and drag it 0.5 ft up as shown in the second image.

Make sure that the Path Selection Tool is still active, focus on the Tool Options pane and select the Convert mode. Tap the anchor point that you moved a few moments ago and then return to the Tool Options pane and activate the default mode. Focus on the left and right anchor points and drag the top handles as shown in the fourth image. Once again, the grid and the Snap to Grid feature will ease your work.

Step 11

Using the Line Tool, create a 0.2 ft vertical path and place it as shown below. Apply one of your styles and then open the Stroke pane. Drag the Width slider to 2 pt and then move to the Styles pane and save your third style using that same plus button.

Step 12

Select the two shapes that make up your leaf symbol and go to the Path pane. Tap the Outline Stroke command and then tap the Make Compound Path command from the Combine pane.

Step 13

Using the Ellipse Tool, create a 1.2 ft circle and fill it with a random yellow. Place this new shape as shown in the first image and send it to back using the Order slider from the Arrange pane.

Disable the Snap to Grid feature and select your leaf shape. Open the Edit pane and use the Copy and the Paste commands to create several copies of your selected shape. Rotate and resize these copies and spread them roughly as shown in the second image.

Step 14

Pick the Path Selection Tool and activate the Add to Selection mode. Select all your leaf shapes and add copies in the same location using the Copy and the Paste in Place command from that same Edit pane. Make sure that all these copies are selected, go to the Combine pane, and then tap the Union and the Make Compound Path commands. Fill the resulting shape with a random blue.

Step 15

Select the blue shape made in the previous step along with the yellow circle that lies in the back and tap the Subtract command from the Combine pane.

Focus on the resulting yellow shapes. Select the ones that lies inside your leaf shapes and remove them using the X button from the left side of your Titlebar. Select the remaining yellow shapes and tap the Make Compound Path command from the Combine pane.

Step 16

Select the yellow compound path made in the previous step and focus on the Effects pane. Replace the existing Fill color with your saved color and then select the Stroke. Make sure that the Width is set to 1 pt and apply the same color used for the Fill.

Using the same tools, techniques and styles you can create a variety of plant symbols as shown in the following image.

Step 17

Move to the Layers panel, add a new layer and rename it "Sunbed". Make sure that this new layer stays selected.

Using the Line Tool (L), create a 0.4 ft vertical path and apply your second style from the Styles panel. Keep focusing on this tiny path and switch to the Path Selection Tool. Select the bottom anchor point and drag it 0.4 ft to the right as shown in the second image.

Step 18

Make sure that the tiny path made in the previous step is still selected and pick the Rotate Tool. Focus on the Tool Options bar, set the Angle to -90 degrees and then click that Copy button.

Select both lines, tap the Outline Stroke command from the Path pane and the Union command from the Combine pane.

Step 19

Using the Rectangle Tool create a 0.4 ft square. Fill it with a random yellow and place it as shown in the first image.

Select this new shape along with the one that lies behind it and click the Intersect command from the Combine pane. Make sure that the resulting shape remains selected and move to your Toolbar. Click the Fill color well, move to the Pattern Palette and tap that New Pattern from Selection button to save your selection as a pattern.

Step 20

Pick the Rounded Rectangle Tool, focus on the Tool Options bar and drag that Radius slider to 4. Create a 2.2 x 2.4 ft shape and a 2.2 x 3.8 ft shape. Place these rounded rectangles one under the other as shown below and apply your first style from the Styles pane.

Step 21

Using the Line Tool, create two 6.2 ft vertical paths and another two 1.3 ft vertical paths. Place these lines as shown below and don't forget to apply your first style.

Step 22

Using the Line Tool, create ten 0.2 ft horizontal paths. Place these new lines as shown below and don't forget to apply your first style.

Step 23

Pick the Rounded Rectangle Tool, create a 2 x 2.2 ft shape and place it as shown in the first image. Apply your first style for this new shape and then click the Fill color well and add your pattern from the Pattern Palette.

Using the same tool, create a 2 x 3.6 ft shape and place it as shown in the second image. Again, apply your first style and the pattern from the Pattern Palette.

Step 24

Using the same tools, techniques and styles you can create a variety of sunbed symbols as shown in the following image.

Or any of the symbols shown below.

Step 25

Finally, let's learn how to save your symbols inside a shape library.

First, open the Shape Libraries panel using the button from your Toolbar. Tap the plus button from the bottom, right corner of the panel to create a new shape library and then tap that Edit button from the left corner. Tap your newly added shape library, rename it as you wish and then tap the Done button.

Step 26

Open the Layers panel and select the "Plant" layer. Go to the Shape Libraries panel and tap your new shape library to open it. Select all the shapes from your active layer and Group them using that same Group command from the Properties panel. Once grouped, tap the plus button that lies in the bottom, right corner of the Shape Libraries pane. Your selected group will be added inside the active shape library.

Your shape libraries and their content are always available and you can easily add them inside any new document. You can also import shape libraries using the Import button from the Documents Browser.

Finally, feel free to add the rest of the symbols created so far and don't forget to Group the existing shapes and paths before you tap that plus button.

Finished Design

Congratulations, you've finished the tutorial!

Hope you've enjoyed learning some of the techniques and processes presented in these steps. As always, feel free to adjust the final design and make it your own.