How big of a space can I scan?

The Short Answer

There is no specific limit on how big of a space you can scan (except for the device memory), and you can scan room by room, several rooms at once or up to a whole floor. We recommend scanning each floor separately and stairways separately. 

Multiple scans can be converted into a single, global model, so how you break up the scans is flexible. More information on merging scans here.

The Long Answer

LiDAR-enabled iPads (which include Pro models 2020 and newer) and iPhone 12 Pro/Pro Max and newer will generally allow you to scan the largest areas at once, as the Canvas app allows you to walk around as you scan. In our testing, however, the RAM of the device will tend to max out at about one floor of a typical home, so large homes or multi-story homes will still require breaking up into multiple scans.

However, it's really more about how long it takes to scan a space, and if you're able to do so using good technique. Try to keep any scans less than about 20 minutes long. Once you start approaching 20 minutes, it's a good idea to start looking for a place to end the scan so you can start a new one.

Similarly, if you're unable to scan an entire floor without sticking to our Scanning Best Practices, it's a good idea to break the floor into more than one scan.

Important: Canvas is optimized for residential-sized spaces. As you take Canvas into larger commercial and industrial environments, you may run into different limitations, which you can learn more about here: I want to scan non-residential spaces. Will Canvas work outside the home?

The three most important things are that you: 

• Capture all sections of the home that you expect to show up in your CAD model somewhere in your individual scans
• Scan through connecting areas (like doorways) into the adjacent space (if you do intend to merge it with other scans)
• Avoid zig-zagging in and out of many rooms in a row within a single scan