Sweet Home 3D Help > Importing background and furniture

|  |  | Importing furniture

To import an existing 3D model into furniture catalog and/or in the home plan, choose Furniture > Import furniture... or drag and drop a 3D model file in a Sweet Home 3D window. These operations display a wizard that helps you to choose a 3D model file if necessary and define its characteristics in a few steps.

1. | If you launched the wizard with the Furniture > Import furniture... menu item, choose a file at OBJ, DAE, 3DS, LWS format or a ZIP file containing a file of this type after clicking click on Choose model button. Once the model is loaded, click on Continue.
2. | Orientate the model with arrow buttons in such a way the front view displays the front face of the 3D model. Sometime some 3D models are incorrectly rendered because their back and front faces are inverted. If this is the case, check the Invert back and front faces check box. Then click on Continue.
3. | Change if necessary the name, the size, the elevation, the color of the imported model and whether this model is movable and is a door, a window or a staircase. When a 3D model is imported to home furniture list or home plan, check Add to catalog check box if you want to import it also into furniture catalog. Uncheck the Keep proportions check box if you want to change the width, the depth or the height of the 3D model independently of each other. Click on Clear color button if you prefer to keep the default colors of the 3D model, after you changed its color. Then click on Continue.
4. | Turn the 3D model with the mouse to get the best point of view on the model for the model icon displayed in furniture catalog, furniture list and home plan. Then click on Finish.

Once the furniture import wizard is closed, the imported model will appear in the furniture catalog and/or home plan and furniture list, depending on the options you chose. You may edit it in the home plan as any piece of furniture added from default catalog. The name of furniture imported in the catalog appears in italics in catalog. To edit the characteristics of an imported model with furniture import wizard, double-click on it, or select it and choose Furniture > Modify....

• | Importing a 3D model with a drag and drop of its file into a Sweet Home 3D window may not be available on Linux.
• | If you need to rotate a 3D model by steps of 1° instead of 90°, maintain the shift key pressed while clicking on the arrow buttons at the second step.
• | The text field of the Category combo box is editable in case you need to create a new category of furniture.
• | When magnetism is active, only doors or windows can be placed on a wall with the mouse, and only this kind of furniture is able to make a hole in walls. Therefore, don't forget to select the Door or window check box if you want an imported piece of furniture to behave this way.
• | Only staircases are able to make automatically a hole in the ceiling and the floor of uppers levels. Therefore, don't forget to select the Staircase check box if you want an imported piece of furniture to behave this way.
• | Importing a 3D model into furniture catalog or into home depends on whether the catalog has focus or not when you choose Furniture > Import furniture.... If the furniture list, the home plan or the 3D view has focus when you choose this menu, the imported model will appear in catalog only if you check the Add to catalog check box, at the third step of furniture import wizard.
• | The unit displayed by default in furniture import wizard depends on your country. You may switch to Centimeter, Meter, Millimeter or Inch in the preferences pane.
• | As furniture catalog is shared by all Sweet Home 3D windows, no operation done on catalog (i.e. import, modifications and deletion) can be undone.
• | The characteristics of imported catalog furniture are automatically stored in preferences and their 3D model and icon files are stored in folders specific to Sweet Home 3D.
• | The Furniture > Import furniture library... menu item will let you also import some libraries of preconfigured furniture stored in SH3F files and available on Sweet Home 3D web site.