Configure your canvas and go from blank to drawing in seconds
Set a name, units, canvas size, and grid — then open a ready-to-use drawing in one click.
The New Project dialog is the single step between the lobby and your drawing canvas. It collects the project name, unit system, canvas dimensions, grid spacing, and display precision — everything the drawing engine needs to open a correctly scaled workspace. The unit system is auto-detected from your browser locale so metric and imperial designers both land on sensible defaults. All settings can be adjusted later in Project Settings, so check the displayed dimensions and units before creating the project.
Open the dialog from the lobby
On the project lobby, click New Project. The dialog opens immediately — no loading required. If you are creating the project inside a folder, the folder context is carried through automatically so the new project lands in the right place.
Name the project
Type a descriptive name in the Project Name field. The field pre-fills with My Garden Design so you can move on quickly and rename later. The name is used for both the project and its first drawing, and it appears in the lobby, the browser tab, and exported PDF covers.
Choose a unit system
Select Metric or Imperial from the Units dropdown. Gardenly3D detects a sensible default from your browser locale, so most designers will not need to change this. Switching units automatically rewrites the canvas width, depth, and grid to round, friendly values in the new system — you will not be left with awkward conversions like 4.572 m or 14.997 ft.
Set the canvas width and depth
Enter the overall site footprint in Width and Depth. You can type a bare number (interpreted in the current unit) or include an explicit unit suffix such as 20m, 65ft, or 5'6". The canvas is the visible page boundary — it does not limit where you can draw, but it frames the printable area and the default 3D view.
Set the grid spacing
Enter a spacing in the Grid Size field. The grid is the background snap reference, so choose a spacing that matches your working scale: choose a spacing appropriate to the dimensions you are drawing. Snap in the drawing tools uses exact multiples of this value, so a well-chosen grid makes placement fast and consistent.
Adjust display precision (optional)
Click the Display Precision accordion to expand precision controls. In metric mode, choose the number of decimal places shown for lengths, areas, and volumes independently (0–3 decimals). In imperial mode, choose the smallest inch fraction displayed (½, ¼, ⅛, or 1/16). Area and volume precision auto-derive from the length setting but can be overridden separately. These settings only affect how values are displayed — all internal calculations always run at full precision.
Choose whether to add a starter lawn
The Add lawn checkbox is ticked by default. When enabled, a green lawn surface is placed on the new canvas as a base layer — useful as a starting surface to draw on top of. Untick it if you prefer to begin from a completely blank canvas, or if you plan to import a site survey image as your base instead.
Create the project
Click Create Project. The dialog provisions the project and drawing in the cloud, then opens the drawing editor automatically on the Design section. If creation reports an error or timeout, read the message and check the Projects list before trying again. A failed request is not confirmation that every creation step was reversed.
Choose a grid spacing that suits the dimensions you are drawing. Check the active snap marker and starting alignment; grid spacing alone does not guarantee where every repeated edge will land.
Display precision never affects geometry accuracy — it only controls how measurements appear in panels, dimension labels, cost estimates, and PDF reports. You can change it anytime in Project Settings without touching any geometry.
Changing the unit system after creation (in Project Settings) rewrites how all measurements are displayed but does not move any geometry. Check the displayed unit when entering new measurements; switching the unit system does not require re-entering existing geometry.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do dimensions change when I switch units in the dialog?
The dialog chooses rounded starting dimensions and grid spacing for the new unit system. Check the displayed values and enter the size you need before creating the project.
Can I change precision later?
Open Settings → Canvas & drawing settings → General → Display Precision. Length, area and volume can have separate display precision.
What should I do after a creation error?
Read the error and check the connection and Projects list before retrying. A timeout message is not proof that every creation step was rolled back.