Yes and no. Although you cannot import your drawings into Pool Studio as editable shapes, you can import any drawing as an image into the background and trace over it. Pool Studio supports the following formats for background images: .BMP , .JPG , .PNG , .TGA and .TIF.

For instructions on creating an image file from an existing AutoCAD file, read PART 1.

If you already have an image file created, head straight to PART 2.

To watch a video of this process, CLICK HERE!


PART 1:
To create the image file, you would open your design in AutoCAD (or other design software), line up your design on your screen, and hit the Print Screen button on your keyboard. This will take a snapshot of exactly what you have on your screen when the button is pressed. Next, go to Start, All Programs, Accessories, and find Paint. In Paint, go to Edit and choose Paste. You should now see your AutoCAD screen in Paint. Go to File and Save and save the Bitmap image to a location such as your Desktop or My Documents.

*****For advanced AutoCAD users, there is also an “Export” command that should allow you to turn your design directly into am image file


PART 2:
In Pool Studio, go to "View" menu at the top of the screen, then choose "Background", then choose "Load Image" and select the image file to insert it in the background. Next, to ensure the image is to scale, go back to View and Background and choose "Fit Image to Distance". Once you do, you will want to draw a single line to set a given distance. For example, if you know the distance from your house to the property line is 10 feet, you will draw the line from the edge of the property line to the edge of the house and a small box will pop up asking you what that given distance is. After you enter it, 10 feet in this example, the background image will resize to a 1 to 1 scale. Now you can trace over the image with your line and arc tools. Make sure to be in the proper stage, meaning when tracing the pool, to be in the pool stage, and when tracing the deck, to be in the deck stage. If you are having any trouble seeing the background image, you can turn the grid off at the top of the screen, or go to View, Background, and choose Invert change the colors of the background picture.

Again, to watch a video of this process, CLICK HERE!