How to Use iGuide Stitch: A Beginners Guide

Overview

Stitch is the iGuide desktop app (PC and Mac) for reviewing your project after you scan and before it goes to the drafting team. Use it to align your laser data, check coverage, hide panos, leave notes for drafters, adjust your images and set the view your tour opens on.

Stitch is optional. You can align your data and upload straight to the Portal from the PLANIX app, with no computer needed. Open Stitch when you need more:

Fixing bigger alignment issues
Adjusting pano brightness, color and verticals
Taking still pictures (snapshots) from your panos
Splitting a project into separate buildings or floors

This article walks through the full Stitch workflow, from installing the app to exporting a clean .TAR file for upload.

Getting Set Up

1. Download and install Stitch

Go to goiguide.com/downloads and scroll to the Stitch section.
Select Stitch for PC or Stitch for Mac.
Click the button showing the version number, then follow the on-screen prompts.

2. Keep Stitch up to date

When a new version is available, Stitch prompts you as it opens. Follow the on-screen instructions.
If the automatic update fails, repeat Step 1. The new download installs over your current version.

3. Move your project to your computer

Finish all your scans before you transfer.
Copy the entire project folder from your phone to your computer, not individual files.
If the PLANIX folder isn't showing on your computer, unlock your phone and allow access.
The exact steps depend on your phone and computer. See How to Transfer Stitch Data to a Computer (R1) for every combination.

4. Open your project in Stitch

Open Stitch and select the whole project folder, not a floor folder inside it.
Selecting a floor instead of the project is the most common reason a project won't open.

5. Get to know the workspace

A. Toolbar: across the top. Save, export, adjust images, take pictures and more.

B. Tree view: on the left. Shows your project, buildings, floors and every scan. Scans in red are hidden from the tour.

C. Pano strip: across the top. Shows the pano you've selected.

D. Laser data view: below the pano strip. Your floor plan built from the laser data, with a dot for each scan position.

Aligning Your Data

Alignment lines up every scan so your floor plan, pano placement and tour are accurate. Do it first, before you place panos or export. Leaving it to the end causes problems with both.

1. Check how your scans overlap

Open the floor plan view and look at how the laser data from each scan lines up.
Use straight walls and corners as your guide.
Doubled walls, walls that don't meet or a distorted floor plan mean a scan is out of place.

2. Move or rotate misaligned scans

Select the scan that's out of place.
Rotate or move it by hand until the walls line up cleanly.
This is common in large or complex spaces.

3. Clear overlapping scans

Scan positions must be at least 50 cm (19.7 in) apart. Closer scans usually block export.
Stitch flags overlapping scans in the floor plan view. Look for scan icons sitting on top of each other.
Move one scan further away, or disable one. Disabling removes the scan from export without deleting its data.
Best fix: keep the 50 cm gap when you're on site.

4. Align vertical scans

Vertical scans sit on their own floor in the tree view.
Align them the same way as your other scans, using the walls and floor in the laser data as reference.
Check each one lines up before you export.

Skipping alignment leads to a distorted floor plan, misplaced panos, export errors and a possible draft rejection.

Panos and Notes for Drafters

1. Hide panos and floors you don't want in the tour

One pano: middle-click it, or right-click and choose Hide in iGUIDE.
Several panos: select them in the tree view, right-click and choose Hide selected scans in iGUIDE.
A whole floor: right-click the floor in the tree view.
Hidden panos turn red. They're still drafted, they just won't appear in the published tour.
Missed one? You can hide panos in the Portal after the iGUIDE is published.

2. Set the initial pano and viewing angle

The initial pano is what viewers see first when they open the iGuide. The front door is usually a good choice.
Right-click the pano, set it as the initial pano, then set the viewing angle.
You must set an initial pano before Stitch will export. You can change it later in the Portal.

3. Add user or drone panos (optional)

User panos are 360 images not taken with your iGUIDE camera, such as a drone shot of the property.
Right-click a floor, choose Add user pano, then upload and position the image.
User panos appear in the tour without laser data or navigation arrows.
Use a 2:1 image: PLANIX 7200 x 3600 px, under 10 MB. R1 11008 x 5504 px.

4. Leave notes for the drafting team

Notes go in two places. Keep labels on the plan short and put the detail in Project comments.

On the plan: click the pencil and paper icon in the toolbar, then click in the laser data view to place a label such as A, Kitchen or Do not draft.
In Project comments: left-click the project name at the top of the tree view to open the comments box. Drafters see these comments first, every time they draft your project.
Example: label a room A on the plan, then write "A = closet" in Project comments.
Label any area you don't want drafted Do not draft.

5. Add ceiling height and reference lines (optional)

Ceiling height: click the floor title in the tree view and enter it in the floor settings. It appears on the feature sheet only.
Reference lines: press L to draw lines. Hold Shift for guide lines.
Reference lines aren't exported in the .TAR file, but stay visible on other floors through the underlay.

Image Adjustments

1. Adjust your panos

Press A, or click the wizard hat icon in the toolbar, to open the adjustment panel.
Straighten: fix a tilted or offset pano with the Verticals slider.
Brighten: raise Brightness on a dark pano, then balance it with Contrast. Watch the preview as you go.
White balance: click the eyedropper on something that should be white. For a stubborn blue tint, lower the Blue slider (this affects every blue in the image).
Use Prev Pano and Next Pano to move through the project.

2. Save and apply presets

Save up to 3 presets with the settings you like.
To apply one, click Auto Color, choose the preset, then click Load. R1 projects skip Auto Color.
To apply a preset automatically on import, press W to open Settings.

3. Take still pictures from your panos

Snapshots let you pull regular photos from any pano, so you don't need a second camera on site.

Select the scan in the tree view.
Click the camera icon in the toolbar.
Click and drag to frame the shot. Use the FOV slider to zoom, but don't go too wide or the image will distort.
Turn on the grid and pick an aspect ratio: 3:2, 4:3 or 16:9. Landscape only.
Click Capture. Use Prev and Next to find the best angles in other scans.

Snapshots save in order to the _Snapshots folder in your project folder. Adjust brightness and contrast on the pano first, and your snapshots pick up those changes.

4. Edit raw pano images before upload (optional)

Use this to remove a camera reflection, lens flare, dust spots or personal photos the homeowner doesn't want online.

Back up the original images first. Your edits overwrite them.
In Stitch, right-click the pano and choose Open Folder.
Edit the image in any editing software and save over the original file.
Back in Stitch, right-click the pano folder and choose Reload. Check that your edit came through.

Stitch reprocesses the pano on its own, and you can carry on with your normal workflow.

Organizing and Exporting Your Project

1. Organize floors and buildings

Add a floor: right-click a building.
Rename a floor: click the floor name.
Move panos: select them and drag them onto another floor.
Add a building: right-click the project name. Each building shows its own area totals.
Floor settings: click a floor title to set above or below grade, exterior wall thickness and ceiling height.
Underlay: right-click a floor and choose Set underlay floor to see another floor underneath it. Choose None to turn it off.

2. Separate a detached building

Scanned a detached garage or workshop with the house? Give it its own building.

Right-click the project name and add a new building.
Select the scans that belong to it (click the first, Shift-click the last) and drag them onto the new building's floor.
Leave a note in the laser data so drafters connect the two buildings, for example "Add stairgate to workshop" and "Add stairgate to main building main floor."

Some Operators capture all exterior shots on a separate floor on site, then move them onto the main floor in Stitch. It's optional, but can speed up capture.

3. Merge scans (if needed)

Never mix R1 and PLANIX Pro projects.
Move folders in File Explorer or Finder, keep the folder hierarchy as it is, and rename folders if there's a conflict.

4. Save and export

Click the second toolbar button to save.
Click the third toolbar button to export.
If Stitch shows an error, read it, fix the issue and try again.
Wait for the export to reach 100%.

Your .TAR file is saved to a new _Export folder in your project. Don't rename or move anything in this folder.

Export fails if you skip these:

An initial pano is set
Overlapping scans are cleared

Troubleshooting

Issue: My project won't open in Stitch. Solution: Select the full project folder, not a floor inside it. Make sure you transferred the whole project from your phone, not single files.

Issue: My export keeps failing. Solution: Read the error message first. Then check that an initial pano is set, your scans are aligned, no scans are overlapping and the folder structure hasn't changed.

Issue: The PLANIX folder isn't showing on my computer. Solution: Unlock your phone and allow access, then try the transfer again.