Convert raw laser scans into clean 2-D CAD drawings up to 60 percent faster. Nest3D lets surveyors and AEC teams navigate full 360-degree panoramas and dense point-cloud data, click any feature, and place entities directly inside AutoCAD, BricsCAD, or ZWCAD, no heavyweight post-processing, no re-tracing from scratch.
Start your 14-day Free Trial – full features.
Quick Take
- Real-time scan to cad workflow driven from the scan imagery itself
- Output lands on your own layers, blocks, colours, and linetypes
- Manages multiple point-cloud models; toggle scans to stay lightweight
- Benchmarked at up to 60 percent faster than manual point-cloud tracing
What Is Scan-to-CAD?
Scan to cad converts three-dimensional reality-capture data into editable 2-D geometry, floor plans, sections, elevations, site plans—when legacy drawings are missing or unreliable.
Traditional laser scan to cad methods load dense clouds into desktop viewers, slice endless planes, snap to noisy points, and add text or blocks by hand. On big projects, that grind can take days. Nest3D short-cuts the process by letting you click features inside the panorama and convert scan to cad directly in CAD.
Where Traditional Workflows Slow You Down
- Manual-tracing overhead – slicing, snapping, redrawing every wall drains billable hours
- File shuffling – exporting from scan tools to CAD breaks context and wastes time
- Skill bottlenecks – senior drafters handle basics because juniors struggle with noisy clouds
- Re-work risk – missed geometry or wrong elevations surface late and force costly revisions
Nest3D was built to eliminate each blocker
The Nest3D Field-to-Drawing Workflow
- Capture the site Scan with any terrestrial tripod or mobile SLAM unit; export to E57 or FLS.
- Load scans into Nest3D Open the project and attach the recap model in CAD.
- Navigate the scan Orbit, pan, or jump between stations until the target feature is in view.
- Click & extract features Use AI categories, or manual picks, for walls, cylinders, heights, survey points, door openings, and more. Custom buttons drop your blocks or text in one click.
- Watch CAD update Each extraction writes instantly to DWG on the correct layer with your office style, no template swap.
- Manage multiple clouds Toggle scans on or off; route data to the right model when projects combine files.
- Review & deliver Because you drew inside CAD live, the base drawing is production-ready once you stop clicking.
Try this seven-step scan to cad workflow with your own data, Start the Free Trial.
What You Can Extract with Nest3D
- Interior & exterior walls
- Door and window openings
- Survey shots & control points
- Local, absolute & relative heights
- Top & invert levels
- Cylinders & pipes
- Vertical & horizontal section planes
Each extraction can attach a CAD block or annotation, so your drawings stay 100 percent template-compliant while saving up to 60 percent of drafting effort.
Real-Time CAD Drawing That Respects Your Template
Most converters dump neutral polylines on generic layers. Nest3D writes entities exactly where they belong:
- Keeps your layers, colours, and linetypes
- Drops pre-configured blocks (room tags, datum symbols, utility fixtures) with custom buttons
- Maintains annotation scales and text styles
- Cuts end-of-project cleanup to almost zero
Onboarding (included with Pro and Team) shows you how to link any DWG template in under an hour.
Time & Cost Savings – Proven 60 Percent Faster
Customer benchmarks repeat the same story: Nest3D slashes the hours needed to convert scan to cad.
Typical interior survey – 5 000 sq ft
Manual baseline: 4–5 h senior tracing
Nest3D assisted: 1 h junior extraction + 1 h senior QA
Time saved: 2–3 h per project
Multiply across multi-site retail roll-outs, campus surveys, or annual facility updates and the margin impact becomes significant. Bring your numbers to the free trial to verify.
For a stopwatch comparison, see Scan-to-CAD vs Manual Tracing
Common Use Cases
- As-built floor plans – extract walls and points before leaving site
- Renovation & tenant fit-out – deliver measured drawings days earlier
- Multi-site roll-outs – standardise extraction buttons once and let juniors scale drafting
- Topo & elevation checks – pick ground shots in absolute mode for geo-referenced work
- Facility updates – refresh legacy drawings as you verify spaces
- Distributed teams – share lightweight data so remote CAD users work in parallel
Compare approaches
- Manual tracing – the slowest path. Every slice and snap is done by hand, so workloads fall on senior drafters and heavy template cleanup follows.
- Desktop batch converters (e.g. scan2cad) – faster than full manual, but still needs senior or mid-level staff to review the vector output and restyle layers, blocks, and text to match your CAD standard.
- Nest3D real-time extraction – the fastest option. Juniors click features inside the scan while seniors run a quick QA pass. Geometry lands on the correct layers, so template cleanup is minimal.
Plans & Pricing
All plans begin with a 14-day free trial. Cancel auto-renew any time.
Pro - 79 USD per user / month (billed annually)
- Feature extraction suite
- Real-time DWG writing
- Custom button creation
- Vertical & horizontal section planes
- Scan Manager for multiple clouds
- Template-integration training
- Standard support
Team - 99 USD per user / month (billed annually)
Everything in Pro plus
- Point Data Manager for lightweight sharing
- Real-time collaboration across users
- Extended support & roadmap previews
Need enterprise terms? Contact Sales once your trial is active.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which point-cloud formats are supported?
E57 and FLS for terrestrial or mobile scanners.
Which CAD platforms connect?
AutoCAD, BricsCAD, and ZWCAD.
Does the CAD linework update in real time?
Yes. Every click writes immediately to DWG and to an optional lightweight data file for sharing.
Can junior staff operate Nest3D?
Absolutely. Juniors extract; seniors review. Many firms adopt Nest3D to break the senior-drafter bottleneck.
How accurate is the geometry?
Accuracy depends on scan quality, registration, and the points you pick. Best practices are covered during onboarding.
Do you provide services or software only?
Software only. Many customers replace outsourced scan-to-cad services after a month on Nest3D.
What happens if I cancel?
Your licence remains active through the paid term; drawings remain yours.
Still have questions? Chat with us or start your free trial.
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