Overview
Map Conversion is a browser-based tool for converting floor plan files into IMDF (Indoor Mapping Data Format) packages ready for upload to Microsoft Places. No server required — everything runs in your browser.
You can also import an existing IMDF ZIP to re-correlate features with updated Microsoft Places resources.
Step 1 — Building
Enter the building name and address. The address is used to georeference your floor plan to real-world coordinates.
- Sign in to Microsoft Places — loads your existing buildings from Places and auto-fills all fields including address and coordinates.
- Geocode — searches OpenStreetMap for the address and places a map marker. Drag the marker to fine-tune the position.
- Re-correlate IMDF — switch to this mode to import an existing IMDF ZIP. The app skips steps 2–5 and goes straight to correlation.
Step 2 — Floor Plan Upload
Drag and drop or click to upload your floor plan. Supported formats:
- JPG / PNG — raster images. Most common for scanned floor plans.
- PDF — first page is rendered at 2× scale using PDF.js.
- DXF — CAD line drawings are parsed and rendered as a canvas image. Lines, polylines, and LW polylines are supported.
- DWG — not supported in the browser. Export to DXF, PDF, or image from your CAD tool first.
Step 3 — Levels
Define all floors in the building. Each level has:
- Ordinal — integer floor number. Ground = 0, first above ground = 1, basement = −1.
- Name — display name (e.g. "Ground Floor").
- Short name — abbreviated label (e.g. "G").
If signed in to Places, click Load from Places to import floors and their sort orders automatically.
Step 4 — Georeference
Anchor your floor plan to real-world GPS coordinates by placing anchor points.
- Click Add Anchor Point, then click a known location on the floor plan (left pane).
- Click the same real-world location on the map (right pane).
- Repeat for at least 2 anchors. 3 or more gives a more accurate affine transform.
- Use Satellite view for better landmark identification.
- Drag anchor markers on the map to refine position.
Once 2+ anchors are placed the transform is computed — the status line confirms this.
Step 5 — Draw & Label
Tools
| Select (S) | Click a feature to select it. Drag vertex handles to reshape. Right-click or middle-click drag to pan. Hold Space + drag to pan. |
| Draw (D) | Click to place polygon vertices. Click near the first (orange) point to close, or double-click. Scroll to zoom. |
| Auto-detect | Click inside any enclosed room boundary. The app flood-fills from that point, detects the wall outline, and creates a polygon automatically. |
| Desk | Click to place a desk pin marker (individual desk, point feature). |
| Desk Pool | Draw a polygon to mark a group of desks / open workspace area. |
| Delete (Del) | Click a feature or pin to remove it. |
| Read Labels | Runs OCR (Tesseract) on the floor plan image to detect room labels and auto-apply names and categories to detected features. |
| Detect All | Automatically scans the entire floor plan for enclosed regions and creates features for all of them. Progress shown as a percentage. |
| Fit (0) | Reset zoom to fit the full floor plan in view. |
Keyboard shortcuts
S — Select toolD — Draw tool+ / - — Zoom in / out0 — Fit to canvasSpace + drag — PanDel / Backspace — Delete selected featureEsc — Cancel current polygon / return to Select
Auto-detect tips
- Click inside a room, not on a wall line.
- Zoom in first for better accuracy on small rooms.
- Walls are detected using adaptive thresholding — the contrast and dilation settings are tuned for standard architectural drawings.
- Door gaps are bridged by a ~50cm dilation step. Very wide or unusual door symbols may still cause issues — close the polygon manually over the door opening if needed.
- Run Detect All first, then Read Labels to name everything in one pass.
- Duplicate detection is automatic — clicking the same area twice will not create a duplicate feature.
IMDF semantic categories
Use the quick-select category buttons in the toolbar or choose from the full list in the sidebar. Common categories: room, office, conference.room, hallway, stairwell, elevator, restroom, storage, structure.
Step 6 — Correlate
Link drawn features to existing Microsoft Places resources. The floor plan canvas on the left shows all features — click any polygon or pin to highlight it in the table. Scroll and zoom the canvas to navigate.
Loading resources
- Sign in to Microsoft Places — loads rooms, workspaces, and desks from the Graph API.
- Import Places CSV — upload a CSV exported from the Map Import tool (
PlaceId, DisplayName, Type, Identity, ParentId) or a Desk Report CSV (Building, Floor, Section, Desk, Mode, Info).
- Skip — proceed without loading resources. You can still link features manually later.
Auto-correlation
Click Auto-correlate to automatically match named features to Places resources using name similarity (Dice coefficient) and type compatibility. Confidence is shown as High / Medium / Low per row. Review and override any matches before exporting.
Step 7 — Export
Exports a valid IMDF ZIP containing:
building.geojson — building metadatafootprint.geojson — building outline polygonlevel.geojson — one feature per floorunit.geojson — all rooms, spaces, desk pinsmanifest.json — package metadata
All coordinates are georeferenced to WGS84 using the affine transform computed from your anchor points.
To upload directly to Microsoft Places, select the destination building and click Upload to Places. This calls the same ingestMapFile API used by the Map Import tool. Microsoft Places processes the package within a few minutes.
The downloaded ZIP can also be uploaded via the Map Import tool.
Limitations
- One floor plan image per session — each upload replaces the previous one.
- DXF support covers LINE, LWPOLYLINE, and POLYLINE entities only. Complex CAD features (hatching, blocks, dimensions) are ignored.
- OCR accuracy depends on image resolution and font clarity. Low-resolution or hand-drawn plans may not label correctly.
- Georeferencing accuracy depends on the quality and number of anchor points. Use 3+ anchors and verify against satellite imagery.
- IMDF requires buildings to already exist in Microsoft Places — they cannot be created via this tool.
- All processing is done in the browser. Large PDF or high-resolution images may take a moment to render.
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