ADA shop drawings software for sign shops
For estimators and project managers pricing and producing ADA and wayfinding sign packages
The short version
- Price from the plan. Mark each sign location with a sign type, then open Quick Counts for a type-by-floor total.
- Type each message once. It fills the sign preview, the message schedule, and the braille together.
- Braille you don’t retype. Every message is translated into Unified English Braille (Grade 2) automatically.
- Errors caught before the shop. Copy that runs off the sign and anything raised inside a 6″ pictogram field are flagged on the plan.
- Production art out. The Braille SVG export lays out every sign as vector art with its message and braille, ready for a router or engraver.
Why ADA shop drawings take so long
On most jobs the same information gets typed three or four times: sign locations marked up on the floor plan, counts tallied into a spreadsheet for pricing, every message typed into a schedule, then typed again into the artwork with its braille. Each copy is a chance for a room number or a braille cell to drift from the others, and a revision means chasing the change through all of them.
How Planqix does it
First pass: counts for pricing
Upload the floor plan (PDF, PNG, JPG or TIFF) and drop a location for every sign with just its sign type — no message or artwork needed yet. Quick Counts gives you the total of each type on each floor, and you can filter it to code-required signs only, or to optional wayfinding only, when you price. Exterior and glass-mounted signs can carry their own type suffix so they count separately.
Second pass: messages, braille and production art
Upload your typical artwork for each sign type (SVG, PNG or JPG) and set the copy height your spec calls for. Add each location’s message and Planqix renders it on the sign with its Unified English Braille underneath. The message schedule exports as CSV or XLSX, and the Braille SVG export gives you production art for the whole project.
Review: the client marks up the same project
Send the client a link to the free viewer. They review the plan and leave redlines on it, and the redlines come back into the project you are already working in.
What Planqix checks for you
- Copy or braille off the edge — the message, at the copy height set for the type, would print past the edge of the sign.
- Something raised in the pictogram field — tactile copy or braille falls inside the 6″ field ADA 703.6.1 requires around a pictogram.
- TBD copy — a message or sign type still reads “TBD”.
Flagged locations are drawn with a red dashed cloud on the plan, and a filter shows only the ones left to fix. The checks are ADA-specific; for local requirements, set copy heights to your spec and use the code-required flag to separate mandated signs from wayfinding.
Common questions
ADA signs and wayfinding are very custom. Can Planqix handle our sign types?
Yes. You set up your own sign types with your own artwork, sizes, and copy height per type, so the previews and exports follow your standards, not ours. Exterior and glass-mounted signs can get their own type suffix (A4 becomes A4.X or A4.V, or whatever suffix your office uses) so they count separately when they are fabricated differently.
Can it produce ADA shop drawings from my floor plan?
Planqix produces the production art: the Braille SVG export lays out every sign as vector art with its message and Unified English Braille (Grade 2), ready for a router or engraver. Your sign location plan, message schedule, and Quick Counts come from the same project, so a message change updates all of them.
How do I know the braille is right?
Every message is translated into Unified English Braille (Grade 2) automatically as you type it, so nothing is typed twice. Planqix also flags locations it is unhappy with: copy or braille that runs off the edge of the sign at your copy height, a pictogram whose 6-inch field (ADA 703.6.1) overlaps tactile copy or braille, and any message still reading TBD.
What about local code requirements beyond ADA?
The built-in checks cover the ADA items above. For anything local, set the copy height each sign type needs to match your spec, and mark which signs are code-required. The schedule and Quick Counts can then be filtered to code-required signs only, or to optional wayfinding only, when you price.
Can I get counts for pricing before the messages are done?
Yes, that is the usual first pass. Mark every location with just a sign type, then open Quick Counts for a type-by-floor total you can price from. Messages and artwork come in the second pass, on the same project.
Do I have to give up my design software?
No. Keep designing your sign types in Illustrator, Inkscape, or whatever you use now and upload them as SVG, PNG, or JPG. Planqix handles the placement, schedules, counts, braille, and client redlines around them.
Comparing tools
If you are weighing Planqix against other sign planning software, see Planqix vs SignAgent, or read the full getting started guide to see every step before you sign up.
Solo is $25/mo after a 14-day free trial. Month to month, no contract, cancel any time.