Plotlay Open the app →

Learn · Designers and builders · Lesson 15 of 15

Add your own objects to the Library

You willCopy a Library item and change it, build one from parts that resize by its parameters, or bring in a maker’s 3D model.
Time6 min
Why it mattersCustom joinery or a product you specify often, drawn on plans, in 3D, on elevations and in schedules like any item.

Try it in Plotlay → Opens Plotlay with this lesson beside it. Nothing to install.

Steps

  1. Open the Library tab and click + Add to Library. Choose Build from scratch, Copy a Library item, Import a 3D model or Import a shared object. On any item’s card the Copy button (or Make a copy to edit in the inspector) starts a copy of that item.
  2. A copy keeps the item’s own recipe: change its settings on the right (for a bookcase: 5 shelves, oak), give it a name, then Save.
  3. From scratch, the builder opens full screen: the parts on the left, the 3D in the middle (drag to orbit, click a part to select it), the plan symbol under it, and the part’s properties on the right. Open Parameters first: set its size and add the values you will reuse, such as t 18 for the board, drawers 2 and shelf_w 600.
  4. Add parts with + Add a part: boxes, panels, shelves, legs, handles, glass, turned and extruded shapes, and Door or drawer front for anything that opens. Each part’s position and size take a formula: width - 2*t, depth - 18.
  5. For a front, choose Opens: a drawer gets its box behind it and slides out in 3D; a door swings from its hinge side. Use Copies to repeat a part (in it, i counts from 0 and n is how many), and Mirror for the same part on the other side.
  6. In Library details choose its category, keywords, rooms, how it is placed (a towel rail On a wall at 1500 off the floor), clearance zones, and what schedules show: manufacturer, model, product code, supplier and price. A fire or HVAC item can join the asset register with its standard and how often it is serviced. Check Plan symbol: from the 3D seen from above, just its outline, lines you draw, or like another item. Then Save and choose where to keep it: this project, your library, or your team’s.
  7. It is now under My objects at the top of the Library. Click it and click the plan to place it; select it to change its parameters in the inspector.

Tips

  • Editing a saved object asks whether placed ones change too: Update everywhere it’s used, or Only new placements. Other projects take the new version the next time they open.
  • Each placed object carries its own copy, so a guest or a shared link sees it without your library.
  • Export gives a .plotlayobj file another Plotlay account can import.
  • A 3D model (glTF .glb or .gltf, or OBJ, up to 10 MB) is simplified on the way in. You are asked its real width, because models are often drawn in other units.
  • Find or make in the Library checks items against sizes, drawers, an open shelf, how it mounts and its finish, says what differs, and makes one that fits when nothing does.
  • On a phone you can make a copy of a Library item and adjust its settings; the builder needs a tablet or a computer.

Common mistakes

  • Typing numbers where the size should follow the object: write width - 36, not 1764, or it won’t resize when placed at another width.
  • Putting fronts inside the carcass: place them at depth - 18 so they sit on the face and open outwards.
  • Choosing This project only for something you will use again: keep it in your library instead.
Check yourself

You built a vanity whose drawer fronts are `width - shelf_w - 2` wide. You place it 1500 wide with shelf_w 600. How wide are the fronts?

Words in this lesson

Joinery (bench run)
Built-in cabinetry along a wall, such as a kitchen or laundry bench with base cupboards, drawers and handles. Plotlay draws it on plans, elevations and in 3D.
Library
Real-sized things to place, by category and subcategory: kitchen, bathroom, furniture, lighting, power, heating, stairs, outdoor, site, commercial, vehicles, plants. Search in your own words (GPO, countertop), filter, and star favourites.
Schedule
A table drawn from the plan: rooms and finishes, doors, windows, plants or materials. It updates as the plan changes and downloads as CSV.
Guest roles
What a person you invite may do: Can view (look and walk through), Can comment and pick options, or Can edit. Viewers need no account.

Related lessons

Lay out a commercial building from the LibraryFind the racking, bays, counters, beds, racks and kits that suit a warehouse, office, airport, hospital or school, and place them with their clearances.4 minChoose finishes and add fit-out to a roomSet a room’s floor tile and paint, and place a fitting such as a towel rail against a wall to the millimetre.5 minHave an agent find or make an objectAsk the connector for an item to a requirement and get one that fits, never a near miss passed off as a match.3 min

Steps checked in the app on 18 October 2026.