Open .pln and .pla project files

What you'll do

Get a project saved as .pln (project), .pla (archive with its library), .tpl (template) or .bpn (backup) into BimCraft. These are Archicad's own files.

What opens today

• The project files themselves do not open yet. Their format is not published, and BimCraft does not read it yet. When you open one, BimCraft says so and points here.
• An IFC export opens fully: the model in 3D, storeys, zones as spaces, element data, property sets and classifications, with every BimCraft tool.
• A DWG export opens in the 2D view, with its layers and layouts, and in 3D. To edit it, use Edit in CadCraft.

Export IFC (the model)

1. Open the project in Archicad.
2. Choose File > Save As, and pick IFC as the file type.
3. Pick an IFC translator (Archicad's name for a set of IFC export settings). One for IFC4 Reference View or IFC2X3 Coordination View 2.0 suits BimCraft. IFC4X3 opens too.
4. Choose what to export: the entire project, or only the elements visible on the stories you are looking at.
5. Save, then click Choose a file in BimCraft and choose the .ifc file.

Check these in the translator's settings before you export:

• Zones: export them, so rooms arrive as spaces. Click Spaces in BimCraft to see them.
• Properties and classifications: export them, so they show in Properties and can be used in Find, Color and Quantity totals.
• Plain .ifc, not .ifczip or .ifcxml. BimCraft opens plain .ifc only.

Export DWG (the drawings)

1. Open the plan, section or layout you want.
2. Choose File > Save As, and pick DWG as the file type.
3. Pick a DXF-DWG translator, and save.
4. For a whole set of sheets, save the layouts from the Layout Book, or publish them as DWG.
5. Open the .dwg in BimCraft. Drawings linked by the export open with it when they are in the same folder; see Linked drawings and pictures.

Troubleshooting

• "… is a project file BimCraft does not read yet." Export IFC or DWG as above, and open that file.
• The model opens without rooms. Zones were not exported. Turn them on in the IFC translator and export again.
• Openings are not cut. BimCraft says so under Not drawn yet in the File panel. Export again; if it stays, open the model in the program that made it and check the openings there.
• Text on the DWG looks different. The export may keep fonts BimCraft does not have; BimCraft draws text in a plain sans-serif font.

See also Get a project file into 3D through IFC and What BimCraft reads from each format.