Warehouse Designer
The Warehouse Designer is a full CAD-style floor plan editor — place racking, machinery and zones, then link your layout to live stock data.
Section 01
What is the Warehouse Designer?
1 minute
The Warehouse Designer is a full-featured CAD-style floor plan editor built into Brytebuild. It lets you draw the physical layout of your warehouse — walls, rooms, floors — and populate it with shelving, machinery, workstations and other assets from the library. The resulting plan is linked to your live stock data, so you can see what's on each rack in real time.
- Switch between 2D and 3D views at any time — 3D gives a rendered isometric preview while 2D is better for precise drawing
- Draw walls, rooms and floors using the Draw toolbar, then furnish from the Asset Library on the left panel
- The current layout shown uses Brytebuild Demo — your layout dropdown lets you switch between saved layouts or create new ones
- The canvas shows 420 objects · 38 annotations in the example — large plans are fully supported
- Use Layers to organise objects (Racking, Machines, Building, Zones, Services) and toggle visibility
- Use Views to save named camera positions so you can jump back to specific parts of a large plan
- Link the plan to any warehouse (e.g. Example) to activate the live stock overlay
- Export the plan as an image or PDF. Schedule opens the stock take scheduler for this warehouse.
You can open the Warehouse Designer directly from the left nav, or from the Layout tab on any Warehouse detail record. Both routes open the same full-screen editor.
Section 02
The interface at a glance
1 minute
The designer has four main areas: the top toolbar (layout controls, drawing tools, view toggle), the left panel (layers, views, grid/snap, asset library), the canvas (the floor plan itself), and the right panel (properties, object type filters, site settings, live stock link).
Section 03
The toolbar
2 minutes
The toolbar spans two rows at the top of the designer. The first row handles the current layout file, history, editing mode and view settings. The second row contains all drawing tools, safety annotations and floor/storey controls.
Row 1 — Layout, History, View
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Brytebuild Demo ↓ ▼ ▶ | The current layout file dropdown. ↓ expands to switch layouts or create a new one. ▶ plays/previews the layout in presentation mode. |
| History — undo/redo | Undo and redo the last actions on the canvas. Keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z also work. |
| Move / Rotate | Edit mode toggles. Move lets you drag selected objects. Rotate spins them on the canvas. The active mode is highlighted blue. |
| 2D / 3D | Switch the canvas view. 3D (active — blue) shows a rendered isometric view for presentation. 2D is a flat plan view for precise drawing and measurement. |
| Elev. ▼ | Elevation controls — set the camera height for the 3D view. |
| Tag: off ▼ | Toggle object tags and annotations visible on canvas. Useful for showing/hiding live stock labels when the overlay is active. |
| Schedule | Opens the stock take scheduler for the linked warehouse. Plan and create stock takes directly from the designer. |
| Export ▼ | Export the current view as an image (PNG/JPG) or PDF. Options shown in a dropdown. |
| Save | Saves all changes to the current layout. Always save before closing or switching layouts. |
Row 2 — Draw tools and Safety
| Group | Tools | What they do |
|---|---|---|
| Draw | Select, Wall, Arc, Door, Window, Column, Beam, Floor, Shaft, Roof, Ceiling, Room, Dim, Radius, Chain, Angle, Text | Full set of 2D/3D structural drawing tools. See Section 05 for detail on each. |
| Safety | Egress, Muster, Route | Mark safety-critical paths and points — fire exits (Egress), muster points, and evacuation routes. These appear as overlay annotations on the plan. |
| Floor / Storey | All floors ▼ + 📋 | Switch between floors/storeys in a multi-level warehouse. + adds a new storey. 📋 copies the current floor layout to another storey. |
Section 04
Left panel — Layers, Views & Asset Library
2 minutes
The left panel has four collapsible sections: Layers, Views, Grid & Snap, and the scrollable Asset Library.
Layers
Layers let you organise objects by category and toggle their visibility on the canvas. A fresh plan starts with no layers. Click + Standard set to create the default layer set: Racking · Machines · Building · Zones · Services. You can also create custom layers with + Add. Use layers to hide the racking layer while editing building structure, or to toggle zones off for a clean export.
Views
Save named camera positions with + Save view. This saves the current 3D/2D camera angle, zoom and pan position under a label you choose — e.g. "Despatch zone", "Cold store". Click a saved view to jump back to that position instantly. Useful on large plans where navigating manually is slow.
Grid & Snap
Collapsed by default. Expand to control the grid spacing and snapping behaviour. Snap to grid keeps objects aligned; snap to objects snaps to other object edges and midpoints for precise placement.
Asset Library search
Use the Search assets… box to find any asset by name across all categories. Type part of the name — e.g. "rack" — to filter immediately.
Section 05
Drawing tools
2 minutes
Click any tool in the Draw group to activate it, then click-and-drag on the canvas to place it. Press Escape to cancel mid-draw and return to Select mode. Press Enter to finish a multi-point shape (e.g. Wall chain).
Select
Click to select objects. Shift-click for multi-select. Drag a box to select all objects in an area.
Wall
Draw straight wall segments. Click start, click end. Walls auto-join at corners.
Arc
Draw curved walls. Click start, click end, then drag to set the curve depth.
Door
Place a door opening in a wall. Shows swing arc in 2D. Drag to set which side the door opens.
Window
Place a window in a wall segment. Shown as a glazing break in both 2D and 3D.
Floor
Draw a floor slab inside the site boundary. Each storey needs its own floor drawn. Use the 🏠 shortcut to trace the existing walls automatically.
Room
Label an enclosed area as a named room — e.g. "Despatch", "Cold Store". Appears as a filled zone label.
Dim
Add a dimension annotation showing the distance between two points in metres.
Text
Place a free text label anywhere on the canvas. Click to place, then type. Useful for zone labels or notes.
Egress
Mark fire exit points. Place on a door or wall opening to annotate it as an emergency exit route.
Muster
Mark the emergency muster (assembly) point. Placed as a pinned annotation visible in both 2D and 3D.
Route
Draw an evacuation route path across the floor plan. Rendered as a dashed arrow overlay.
Structural elements like walls, doors and floors are easier to draw accurately in 2D mode where the grid and snap are visible. Switch to 3D to check the rendered result. You can draw in 3D but dimension tools and snapping are more reliable in 2D.
Section 06
Asset library
2 minutes
The Asset Library (bottom of the left panel) contains all draggable 3D objects you can place on the canvas. Items are grouped into four categories. Drag an asset from the panel onto the canvas to place it. Once placed, select it to edit its properties (size, rotation, colour) in the right panel.
Storage
Cantilever rack · Pallet rack · Pallet spot · Shelving unit · Small-parts bin wall · Storage cabinet
Workstations
Assembly table · Packing station · QC / inspection bench · Tool chest · Tool wall / shadow board · Workbench
Machinery
3D printer · Air compressor · Bench grinder · CMM (measuring machine) · CNC machine · Drill press · Generic machine · Jib crane · Lathe · Milling machine · and more
Logistics
Vehicles, conveyor systems, loading bays and dock equipment for representing goods movement paths.
You can also import custom 3D models using the Import model button at the top of the Asset Library panel. Imported models appear in a separate section and can be placed and scaled on the canvas like any library asset.
Section 07
Right panel — Properties & Site
2 minutes
The right panel has four sections that stay visible at all times. The top section updates contextually when an object is selected; the lower three are always editable.
| Section | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Properties | When nothing is selected: "Select an object to edit it." When an object is selected: shows its editable properties — dimensions, material, colour, rotation and linked data. Shift-click multiple objects to edit shared properties in bulk. |
| Select All of a Type | Six type buttons — Storage, Workstations, Machinery, Logistics, Building, Office. Clicking one selects every object of that category on the canvas. Useful for bulk moves, colour changes, or layer assignments. |
| Site / Ground | Controls the outer site canvas: Site Width and Site Depth in metres (currently 60 × 40 m for the demo). Ground Material dropdown (concrete, tarmac, grass, etc.) and Ground Colour swatch. The site is the outer boundary — walls and floors are drawn inside it. |
| Warehouse (Live Stock) | Link the floor plan to one of your saved warehouses (currently linked to Example). Once linked, turn on the stock overlay (📦 icon in the toolbar) to see live stock quantities displayed on each rack. See Section 08. |
Section 08
Live stock overlay
1 minute
The live stock overlay connects your floor plan directly to Brytebuild's stock data. Once a warehouse is linked in the right panel, turning on the stock overlay (📦 toggle in the view toolbar) overlays the current stock quantity on each rack in the plan.
- Link the plan to a warehouse using the Warehouse (Live Stock) dropdown in the right panel — e.g. Example
- Turn on the 📦 stock overlay (Tag toggle in the top toolbar) to see live quantities on each rack position
- Racks show the quantity currently in the linked barcode container assigned to that rack position
- The overlay refreshes automatically — no need to save or reload. Use the Tag: off / on dropdown to toggle it
- Useful for identifying empty racks, overstocked areas or locating specific containers without physically walking the floor
For a dedicated live stock view without the drawing tools, use the Warehouse Viewer. It shows the same floor plan with the stock overlay always on — designed for use on a wall screen or dedicated monitor on the warehouse floor.