User guide

1. Choose the area

Open the studio and search for an address, town or landmark. You can also paste coordinates as 41.7151, 44.8271. TOPOLUMA places an 800 × 800 m square around the result.

• Resize: drag the orange corner handles on the map, or type the width and height in the Area panel.
• Move: drag the handle in the middle of the area.
• Draw: choose Draw on map, then click and drag a rectangle.
• Limits: each side can be 50 m to 15 km and the area up to 150 km². Large areas take longer to load, and generated trees are spaced wider so that at most 60,000 are placed.

The area is a true rectangle in metres with north up. That makes it line up exactly with the local coordinate system of your exports.

2. Layers and contours

Press Generate preview. TOPOLUMA downloads elevation for the area and the OpenStreetMap layers, then draws everything on the map. After that, changing a setting updates the preview instantly — nothing is downloaded again until you move the area.

• Interval: a suggestion appears based on the relief of your site. Flat sites suit 0.5–1 m; hillsides 2–5 m; mountains 10 m or more.
• Index lines: every fifth line by default, drawn heavier and labelled with its elevation.
• Smoothing: removes the stair-step look of coarse elevation data. Use more smoothing on flat land.
• Buildings: heights come from OpenStreetMap where they are tagged. Untagged buildings use the default height you set, and buildings with a number of levels use the height per level.
• Building colours: the bar at the bottom of the map colours buildings by type, height, floors, footprint area or age, or as a black figure-ground. Click a colour in the legend to hide those buildings, click again to show them.
• Correcting a building: click a building on the map (2D or 3D) to open its card. Change the category, the floors, the floor height or the total height (each keeps the others in step), or the year built. Changes are saved with the project and used everywhere: the 3D view, shadows, sun hours, diagrams and exports. A height you set replaces the building's mapped 3D parts with one block. Back to the mapped values undoes the change.

3. Site sections

In the Sections tab choose Draw a section, click the start point and then the end point. The profile opens at the bottom of the map; hover it to read distance, elevation and slope.

• Looking left or right decides which side of the line is shown in elevation.
• Depth behind sets how far behind the cut buildings and trees are drawn. Choose Cut only for a pure terrain section.
• Vertical scale exaggerates heights around a datum line, which is noted on the drawing.

Parcel analysis

The Parcel tab works out what fits on a plot. Draw the boundary on the map, clicking each corner and then the first corner again, or pick a closed shape from an imported DXF, KML or GeoJSON file.

• Size and sides: area, perimeter and side lengths. With the preview generated, also the slope and the buildings already on the plot.
• Front, side and rear: sides along a street are marked as the front automatically. Change any side by hand.
• Setbacks: the distance to keep from each kind of side. What is left to build on is drawn in green on the map.
• Edit the corners: press Edit corners, then drag a corner to move it, drag the dot in the middle of a side to add a corner, or double-click a corner to remove it. Undo goes back a step.
• Planning rules: enter the coverage, floor area ratio, green share and height or floor limits from your permit. Choose the country to see them under the names used there (for example K-1, K-2 and K-3 in Georgia, or GRZ and GFZ in Germany).

The results are a check of the numbers you enter, not a legal assessment.

4. Sun study

The Sun tab shows the site as a solid model lit by the sun, with shadows from the terrain, buildings, trees and bridges. Times are in the site's own time zone.

• Move the sun: drag the time slider, drag the sun along its path, or use the arrow keys. The solstices and equinoxes are one click away.
• Show: choose which layers appear. Hidden buildings and trees cast no shadow.
• Insolation sheet: one panel per date with the shadows and the day's sun path, as PDF, PNG, JPEG or SVG, from A4 to A1.

5. Site analysis

The Analysis tab draws diagrams of the site in a circle around its centre, with a legend, a north arrow, a scale bar and a faded ring of the surroundings. Set the radius in metres; the largest circle that fits inside the area is the limit.

• Figure-ground, streets and green, building heights: straight from the OpenStreetMap layers. The heights diagram says how many buildings have a mapped height.
• Walking distance: along streets and paths from the centre, in minute bands at the speed you choose.
• Road noise: an estimate from road and rail classes, for a first idea only. It is not a measurement.
• Shadows: building shadows on level ground at a date and time, with lighter shadows 3 hours before and after.
• Sun hours: how many hours of direct sun each part of the ground gets on a date, or on average over the year or one half of it (the 21st of each month). Shadows come from the terrain of the loaded area, the buildings and, if you leave it on, tree crowns treated as solid (leaf-on). The note gives the average and the share of open ground with at least the hours you choose. It is a clear-sky figure: cloud is not counted, and hills beyond the loaded area cast no shadow.
• 3D sketch: the circle as a small site model, seen from the corner you choose.
• Wind: a wind rose over the site plan. Each petal points to where the wind comes from, and its colours show how strong it is. It counts five years of hourly weather records (ERA5 reanalysis, from Open-Meteo), for the whole year or one season. The records describe the region, about 25 km across, not the wind between nearby buildings.
• Land use, building use and age: from OpenStreetMap tags. The diagrams say how many buildings have a use or year mapped.
• Elevation, slope and aspect: from the terrain model, with contours.
• Site figures: coverage, estimated floor area and floor area ratio, green share and street length inside the frame.

The frame can be a circle or a square. Download the diagram you see, or any set of diagrams on one sheet, as PDF, PNG, JPEG or SVG, on A4 to A1 paper.

Your own files and measuring

In the Layers tab, import a DXF (ASCII), GeoJSON, KML or KMZ file, or a shapefile: a survey, a cadastral plan or a site drawing. For a shapefile, choose the .shp together with its .dbf and .prj, or a .zip of them. The files are saved with the project.

• Coordinate system: TOPOLUMA guesses it from the numbers and tells you why. Change it if needed: WGS 84, a UTM zone (Georgia is in zone 38N, EPSG:32638), an EPSG code, a proj4 string, or the local systems TOPOLUMA uses for exports. Built-in EPSG codes cover UTM on WGS 84, ETRS89 and NAD83, Australian MGA, Pulkovo 1942 Gauss-Krüger zones (for example 28408 for older Georgian surveys), Chinese CGCS2000 zones and national grids of the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Finland, Sweden, Greece, New Zealand and Korea. Their datum shifts are the registry defaults, good to about a metre (Pulkovo 1942: a few metres). For any other code, paste the proj4 definition or WKT from epsg.io. A shapefile's .prj that names a built-in EPSG code uses that code's definition.
• Layers: switch each layer on or off and change its colour.
• Set the area: frames the area around the file, ready to generate.
• Measure: the Measure button on the map gives lengths, areas and perimeters.

Site plan editor

The Plan tab is a drawing board in metres over your site: the generated buildings and streets, the parcel and your imported files are underneath, and your drawing goes on top in layers.

• Draw: choose a tool on the left (or press V, H, L, P, G, R, C or T) and click. While drawing, type a length and press Enter: 12.5 goes 12.5 m towards the mouse, 12.5<30 at 30° from east, 3,4 3 m east and 4 m north. For a rectangle type its width and height, for a circle its radius. Hold Shift for 15° steps.
• Snap: the cursor jumps to corners, midpoints, centres, edges or the grid; switch each on or off at the bottom right.
• Edit: click to select, Shift-click to add, or drag a box. Drag to move, drag a corner to reshape, and use the panel to change colours, line weight, fill, rotation and size. Ctrl+Z undoes.
• Import drawings: use the upload button above the plan or drop files on it. Pictures (PNG, JPEG, WEBP, TIFF, SVG) and PDF pages are placed as images to trace over; give the drawing scale (for a PDF exported at 1:500, say) or a width, or place it and calibrate it. DXF drawings become editable lines and shapes on their own layers; check the units (an Archicad or AutoCAD plan is usually in millimetres). DWG must be saved as DXF first.
• Drawings in map coordinates: a DXF in UTM (such as the cadastral …_UTM38.dxf files from the Public Registry) or in longitude/latitude is placed exactly where it is on the ground. The zone comes from the file name or from where the map is; check it in the import window, which says where the drawing lands. If it is outside the site area, the area can move to it; a parcel on a layer such as NAKVETI can become the site's parcel. Text written in AcadNusx comes in as Georgian.
• Calibrate: select the drawing, choose Calibrate, click two points whose real distance you know (the ends of a dimension line), type the distance in metres and press Enter. Align moves, turns and scales the drawing so that points on it land on points of the site (parcel corners): click a point on the drawing, then where it belongs, two pairs or more, then Enter. With more than two pairs the remaining error is shown.
• Dimensions (D): click two points, then where the dimension line goes, or type how far off it stands. The value is the measured length in metres and follows edits; write your own text in the panel if needed. Drag the middle handle to move the line.
• Roads (A): click along the centre line; width, surface and centre line are set above the drawing or in the panel. Parking (K) rows can be at 90°, 60°, 45° or parallel, with accessible bays (with their access aisle and sign) at the start.
• Symbols (Y): cars, benches, street lights, bins, bike stands, shrubs, hedges and people, drawn to scale; turn and scale them in the panel. Hatches (lines, cross-hatch, brick, dots, grass) go on any closed shape from the panel.
• Buildings take a name or number and floors (3 m each), shown at their centre. Position and size are typed in the panel. Snaps include intersections and perpendiculars. Ctrl+G groups, Ctrl+Shift+G ungroups, Ctrl+X cuts.
• Measure (M): click points to read distances; Enter closes the shape and shows its area. Nothing is drawn.
• Rotate (O): works as in AutoCAD. Select the shapes (or click one with the tool), click the base point (it snaps, for example to a corner), then turn with the mouse; Shift keeps 15° steps. You can also type an angle, such as 30 or -15, and press Enter. A click finishes, Esc cancels.
• Layers: new drawings go on the highlighted layer. Lock a layer to keep it from being picked, hide it, or change its colour and opacity.
• Your files: Edit in the plan copies an imported drawing into editable layers. The original file stays as it was.
• Site elements: Building (B) draws a footprint with a height and roof, Tree (E) plants a tree, Row of trees (W) plants them along a line at a set spacing, Parking row (K) lays bays along a kerb. Their sizes are in the bar above the drawing. Any closed shape can become a building or grass, paving, water and other ground finishes in the panel.
• Presentation: switch the view to Presentation to see the plan with textures, trees, roofs and shadows. Choose where the light comes from, how high the sun is, and the colour and brightness in the panel.
• Clear the surroundings (X): drag a box over generated trees or buildings you do not want, or click one tree to remove just that one. Choose in the bar above whether the eraser takes trees, buildings or both. The cleared area is a shape on the Landscape layer: select it to change what it removes, delete it or press Ctrl+Z to bring everything back.
• Download: pick the paper (A4 to A0), the scale and the format. In the Drawing view, PDF and SVG are vector: lines stay sharp at any zoom, text can be selected and the SVG keeps one layer per category, ready for Illustrator or Inkscape. The Presentation view is an image; choose its quality (Draft 96, Standard 150, High 300 or Ultra 600 dpi). The panel warns if the drawing does not fit at the chosen scale and offers a scale or paper that fits. Under “On the sheet” you can leave out buildings, contours, layers and more. The title strip shows the title, site, scale, date, an optional drawing number and the coordinates of the plan origin.

6. Export

Choose any combination of formats. A single format downloads directly; several download as one ZIP with a README.txt describing coordinates, units, sources and licences.

PDF and SVG plans are drawn at a true scale. Pick Fit to sheet to get the largest standard scale that fits, or choose a scale — the panel tells you if it does not fit the paper.

Importing into CAD and BIM

AutoCAD, BricsCAD, Vectorworks

Open the DXF directly. Units are metres. Contours sit at their real elevation, so commands that use Z (such as creating a TIN surface in Civil 3D) work straight away. Layers are named CONTOUR_MINOR, CONTOUR_INDEX, BUILDINGS, ROADS_MAJOR and so on.

ArchiCAD

Use File → Interoperability → Merge with the 2D DXF and choose metres. For a 3D site, use the IFC file — the terrain arrives as a mesh and buildings as context masses — or build a Mesh from the contours.

Revit

Insert the DXF with Insert → Import CAD (units: metres, positioning: origin to origin). To create a toposolid or toposurface, pick the imported contours as the source. The IFC file links with Insert → Link IFC and keeps its georeference.

SketchUp, Rhino, Blender

Use OBJ (Z-up for Rhino and SketchUp, Y-up for Blender) or the 3D DXF. Rhino also opens the 2D DXF with contours at their elevations.

QGIS

Drag the GeoJSON into QGIS. Everything is in WGS 84 with an elevation attribute on contours and height_m on buildings.

3D printing

The STL is a closed, watertight solid: the terrain surface, side walls and a flat base, plus each building as its own closed shell. Set Print size to the longest side you want in millimetres and add vertical exaggeration if the site is flat. Slicers such as PrusaSlicer, Cura and Bambu Studio merge the shells automatically.