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Guides & How-Tos

Get more out of every scan.

Practical, jargon-free walkthroughs for turning your iPhone into a floor-plan, BIM, and 3D-tour machine. New guides added regularly.

Reports7 min read

Create a Property Condition Report from an iPhone Scan

Scan the property, take photos, and get a condition report draft with every photo pinned to the measured floor plan — then review it and share as a PDF or a web link.

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Reports7 min read

Move-In / Move-Out Inspection Report with a Floor Plan

Document a rental at move-in, scan it again at move-out, and get a side-by-side condition comparison with photos pinned to the plan — for landlords and property managers.

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Restoration6 min read

Export an Xactimate ESX Sketch from an iPhone LiDAR Scan

Turn a room scan into an ESX file you can import into Xactimate Sketch — what the beta export includes, how to bring it in, and what to verify before you estimate on it.

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Reports5 min read

Share an Inspection Report as a Web Link

Publish a report to a beaverplot.com link anyone can open in a browser — add a PIN, see exactly what the viewer sees, and revoke it whenever you like.

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Real Estate7 min read

Gross Living Area, Above and Below Grade, from a Scan

What gross living area means, how basements are counted, how to split above- and below-grade area from an iPhone scan, and why the result is a disclosed estimate — not an ANSI Z765 measurement.

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On the Job6 min read

Get Paid for Extra Work: T&M Tickets and Change Orders From Your Phone

Extra work without a signature is your word against theirs. Write up a T&M ticket in 60 seconds — photos, time & materials, signed on your screen — and bill it.

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Outdoors5 min read

How to Measure Your Lawn Size From Your Phone

Trace your lawn on satellite imagery and get its square footage in about a minute — no tape measure, no walking the perimeter, and no LiDAR phone required.

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Outdoors6 min read

How Much Mulch, Topsoil, or Gravel Do I Need?

The one formula that answers all three, why a cubic yard covers 324 square feet at an inch deep, and how to go from an area on a map to a delivery order.

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Outdoors8 min read

How to Estimate Deck Materials on Your Phone

Measure the deck by walking it with your camera, then get joists, boards, footings, and stain — plus an honest answer to whether you can LiDAR-scan a deck.

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Getting Started6 min read

How to Make a Floor Plan from an iPhone Room Scan

A step-by-step guide to scanning any room with your iPhone's LiDAR and turning it into an accurate, shareable floor plan — free, with no measuring tape required.

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Real Estate5 min read

How to Share a 3D Home Tour Link from Your iPhone

Turn an iPhone scan into an interactive 3D home tour and share it as a link anyone can open in a browser — perfect for real-estate listings, rentals, and remote buyers.

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BIM & CAD6 min read

How to Export an iPhone Scan to Revit (IFC)

Capture existing conditions with an iPhone LiDAR scan and bring them into Revit as a parametric IFC model — a fast, low-cost way to kick-start an as-built without a full survey.

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BIM & CAD5 min read

How to Export an iPhone Scan to AutoCAD (DXF)

Scan a space with your iPhone's LiDAR and export it as a DXF you can open directly in AutoCAD — dimensioned linework for as-builts, renovations, and drafting, minutes after you walk the room.

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Buyer's Guide4 min read

Which iPhones Have LiDAR for 3D Scanning?

A plain-English guide to which iPhone and iPad models have the LiDAR scanner needed for 3D scanning apps — how to check yours, and why it matters for floor plans and BIM.

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Comparison6 min read

iPhone LiDAR vs Matterport for Floor Plans

An honest comparison of scanning a space with an iPhone versus a Matterport setup — cost, output, accuracy, and which one actually fits floor-plan and BIM work.

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