If you have an OS map as a DWG or DXF file it can be imported to PlansXpress. This tutorial is specifically for importing OS maps that do not use a default page size or scale. If you are importing a plan and you know the page size and scale then please refer to this video: Import and Scan in PlansXpress

First create a blank plan with the scale set to same scale as the DWG\DXF. You can do this by clicking the top left drop-down menu and then New > New from template, selecting 'Blank Drawing' from the list of templates.


You can then change the page size and scale by clicking the Settings tab and then Page. Change the page size and scale and then click OK.



Next click the top left drop-down menu, move the mouse to Import and then click either AutoCAD Drawing or AutoCAD DXF.



Locate your DWG\DXF file, single left click on the file and then click Open.


Click Yes to 'Import visible items only (Y/N)

Tick 'Move to Origin'. This means we will be able to find the DWG\DXF in the bottom left corner of the plan border. Click OK.


You will now see the DXF file appear on the screen. You can check if the import is to scale by measuring something you know the length of in the plan. To measure the length between two points press the Ctrl and M key on your keyboard at the same time and then let go (or go to the 'Modify & Selection tab and click the 'Measure' button. Then single left-click the point you wish to measure from and then single left click the point you wish to measure too.


In this example I have measured the scale bar on the plan and PlansXpress tells me it measures 100 mm but I can see it's supposed to be 10000 mm (10 metres), for some DWG\FXD files you need to scale the import up 1000%.



To do this click-and-drag around the imported DXF to select the entire plan and then click the Modify & Selection tab and click on Scale.

The Command Window will instruct you to 'Give Reference Point', move the mouse to the bottom left corner of the imported plan and single left-click.

Next the Command Window will instruct you to 'Give Reference Point to Scale' single left click on any of the three other corners of the imported plan.


If you look just below the bottom right corner of the plan you should see a small text box, this is the scale factor. It should start at 1 and go up by one the further away from the plan you move the mouse. Click in this text box and enter 1000 then single-left-click on the anywhere on the page. The imported plan should now have been scaled up to the correct size.

John Rees