How to use Space

How-to videos

Three short videos recorded in Space, with captions on screen and no sound. The whole guide is also a PDF: Getting started with Space (27 pages, with the questions and answers).

Start here

Space is kitchen design software made and used in a working cabinet shop. You draw the room and place the cabinets in 3D, and the same kitchen gives you the drawings, the pictures, the cut list and, on the CNC plan, the files for your machine. Move a cabinet and everything follows. There's nothing to redraw.

What each plan includes

Yearly: Basic $990, Shop $1,490, CNC $1,990 (two months free). Every plan includes one user; extra users are $50 a month ($500 a year on yearly plans). View-only shop-floor logins are free. Bathrooms is an add-on for any of the three plans: $19 a month ($190 a year) per shop. No limit on kitchens; 10 GB of files per shop. Homeowners and designers you invite never pay.

Sign in and set up

Sign in and start your shop

1. Go to your address: shop.stillespace.com for cabinet shops, designer.stillespace.com for interior designers, home.stillespace.com for homeowners. Space runs in your browser on a Mac, a PC or a tablet.
2. Type your email and press Email me a sign-in link. There's no password.
3. Open the link in the email, or type the code from it.
4. Tick the box to agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. During the beta there's a second box: Space records how you use it (clicks and the screen, never what you type) so the team can fix problems. Tick both, then press Agree and continue.
5. Check your shop's name (it's filled in if you applied on the website) and press Create shop (designers: Create studio, see Prices and designers). Your shop starts with a sample kitchen in Kitchens, so you can look around first.

The menu on the left has everything else: Shop, Kitchens, Team, Files and License & billing.

Get your shop ready

1. Your details. On the Shop page, fill in your name, town, email, phone and license number. They go on your estimates and drawings.
2. Work from designers (shops). On the Shop page, tick List [your shop] for interior designers in Space, add your town and one line about your work, and press Save. See Prices and designers.
3. How you build (Shop and CNC). Pick a construction standard, or set your own joinery, backs, bases, drawer boxes and plywood thickness. See Building on a saw.
4. Your machine (CNC). Pick your machine and set the tool rack before you download a file. See Cutting on a CNC.
5. Your team. Invite people and free view-only shop-floor logins under Team.

Your first kitchen

From a starting room

Open a kitchen from Kitchens, or press New kitchen. Go to Room and pick L-shape, U-shape, Galley or Empty room; the first three come with cabinets laid out. Click a wall to type its length (center to center), height and thickness. Changing a length moves the far end; the cabinets on it stay put. Then add windows and doors.

From a floor plan or a drawing

For an architect's plan, a PDF or a photo of a sketch: Room → Floor plan, then follow the steps in the panel.

1. Bring in the drawing, a picture (PNG or JPG) or a PDF.
2. Set the scale. Press Measure a line, drag along a dimension you know and type its length. For a full-size PDF you can pick the drawing scale instead.
3. Line it up if you need to: Move it, turn it, and use See-through or Hide it.
4. Trace the room with Draw walls or Draw a room, and drop windows and doors where the drawing shows them.
5. Pick a shape and press Fill with cabinets, or Keep my layout to place them yourself.

From photos of the kitchen that's there now

Room → From photos: choose one to four photos (stand in a corner and get each wall with cabinets), pick the room shape, type the width, depth and ceiling height (14' 6", 14 6 or 14 all work), say which wall each photo shows, and press Build my kitchen. Space builds a first version and lists anything it guessed. If it can't read the photos, Build from the room size instead gives you the same shape laid out the standard way.

Photos are made smaller and stripped of location and camera details on your device, read once, and never saved with the kitchen.

From a cabinet maker's drawings

Room → From photos → Add your drawings: a PDF or pictures of the elevations and plan (up to 6 pages). Mark each page (Wall A to D, Floor plan, island), type the room's inside size, check what Space read, and it builds the kitchen at the drawn sizes. See Start from a cabinet maker's drawings.

The whole house

On a paid plan, Room → Whole house: Import a floor plan (DXF, or a PDF or photo read online), or Draw it room by room; then Build here on the kitchen, laundry, pantry or bathroom. See The whole house.

3 layouts

Once the room is drawn, press 3 layouts on the 3D view: Space shows the three best ways to lay it out. Pick one, then change anything (Undo brings the old cabinets back).

Designing

The four modes

• Cabinets: the shelf of lowers, uppers, talls, appliances and fillers, plus the cabinet line and door style.
• Room: walls, windows, doors, openings, the floor plan, starting rooms, Add a room and Whole house.
• Finishes: wood and stain, paint by code, door style, hardware and its finish, the box plywood and drawer boxes, counters, backsplash, floors, walls (with panelling and a chair rail), ceiling and light. Each room can have its own.
• Walk: stand in the room at eye height and look around, the way your client will.

Placing and changing cabinets

• Drag or tap a tile on the shelf. Cabinets snap to the wall and slide to the nearest free spot. If one can't go there, it turns red and says why.
• Click a cabinet for its panel: width, depth, height, drawer heights, shelves, glass and hardware.
• Centre on the wall moves a cabinet or appliance to the middle of the wall and refits the cabinets on each side.
• Islands: the Islands tab on the Cabinets shelf has whole islands, 72" × 36" to 108" × 42" (plain, sink, range, table, turned, butcher's or furniture base) and a peninsula; Space checks the 36" aisle around them. Double-click an island piece to select the whole island, then move, turn (R), duplicate or restyle it.
• Corners and fillers: blind corners, lazy susans and diagonal corners are on the shelf; fillers of 1-1/2" to 4-1/2" go in at walls.
• Mouldings: in an upper or tall's panel, add crown, cornice or a light rail. It runs the wall and mitres at corners.
• Faucets and sinks: click one in the room to pick a different one: 22 faucets in 13 finishes, with a side spray, soap dispenser, filtered-water or instant-hot tap as extras.

Laundry rooms, pantries, built-ins and furniture

• Room → Add a room puts a Laundry room or Walk-in pantry beside the kitchen, joined through a doorway (tap a kitchen wall first). Tap its floor to move, turn or remove it. The Laundry · pantry shelf has washers and dryers by make, the laundry sink base, hampers and pantry shelves. Finishes for gives each room its own finishes. See Laundry rooms and walk-in pantries.
• The Built-ins shelf has hutches, end shelves, a window seat and lockers; the Furniture shelf has nightstands, chests, dressers, sideboards and consoles you size. See Built-ins and furniture.
• Custom pieces (paid plans, 50 a month): Built-ins → Make a piece, describe it or add a photo, sketch, PDF, DXF or 3D model, and Space builds it to adjust part by part. See Custom pieces.
• Bathrooms (an add-on): the Bath tab and Start from → Bathroom…. See Bathrooms.

Moving the view

Let Space check the layout

The List shows the checks: a hood narrower than the range, a dishwasher far from the sink, a tall cabinet right beside a range. Open everything (Shift + O) swings every door and pulls every drawer; anything that hits a wall, a casing, a pull or another front turns red, and the List says what hits what and how to fix it.

Drawings and pictures

Open the List and choose a tab. Each drawing updates as you change the kitchen.

• Floor plan: walls, windows, door swings, every cabinet with its tag, and each wall's inside length with its openings dimensioned.
• Elevations: one per wall, with doors, drawers, appliances, hood, counter, backsplash, outlets, width chains and a height ladder.
• Install sheet: run lengths, fillers to scribe, appliance openings, hood height, sink center, upper ledger height and every outlet.
• Drawing set (PDF): all of the above on letter landscape sheets, each with a title block.

Pictures for your client

These are at the bottom of the List.

• Save a picture makes a high-resolution image of what's on screen.
• Photo-real renders the view on our server in a few minutes: real light round the room, soft shadows, stone that shines. Signed in and saved online. Your shop has 50 a month; more are $10 for 50, for the rest of that month.
• In your photo draws the kitchen into a photo of the room. Take the photo from across the room so one whole wall shows, then put four dots on its corners (or press Guess the corners and check them). The photos stay with the kitchen on that device.
• In your room, on a phone or tablet, shows the kitchen full size where it will go: on an iPhone or iPad in Apple's AR viewer, on Android where you tap the floor.
• 360° view makes a photo sphere that opens on a phone or in any 360 viewer.
• Looks keeps up to four finish schemes on the same layout to show side by side.
• Light: under Finishes, try Day (with a time slider), Evening and Night. Tell Space which way the windows face.

Prices and designers

Prices and estimates

On every paid plan Space prices each kitchen from your own rates. Press Price in the top bar. Every rate starts at $0: until you set yours, the top bar says Set your prices. Under Rates, enter what you charge a foot for each line and wood, your fees and deposit, your custom-piece rate and your notes. Every room, custom piece and piece of furniture gets priced. Estimate (PDF) downloads it; Send estimate sends it to the homeowner you invited to accept online. Showing your price to invited clients is off unless you turn it on. See Prices, estimates and the Price tab.

For interior designers

Interior designers have their own app at designer.stillespace.com: the same 3D studio and drawings, plus your clients, a presentation for each kitchen, and the cabinet shops in Space that build them. Sign in, type your studio's name under Start your design studio and press Create studio; then fill in Your details on presentations and drawings on the Studio page.

1. Add a client under Clients: name, email, phone and the address of the job. Press New kitchen on a client to start their kitchen.
2. Design it in 3D: walls, cabinets, finishes, appliances and photo-real pictures.
3. Present it: in Kitchens, press Present. Space opens the presentation and copies its link for your client: your details, the finish board, the appliances, the pictures and the kitchen in 3D. No prices.
4. Send it to a shop: in Kitchens, press Send to a shop, pick a listed shop, add a note and press Send. The shop gets its own copy with your studio's and your client's details.
5. Follow it under Sent to shops: With the shop, Estimate in or Estimate accepted, and Messages and estimate to answer the shop.

Working with clients

Invite someone into a kitchen

1. In Kitchens, press Share on the kitchen.
2. Type their email (and name, if you like), pick Homeowner or Designer, and press Send invite. Up to 20 people per kitchen.
3. They get an email, sign in with no password, and see the kitchen in 3D. They can walk through it and write to you.
4. The Share panel shows each person as Invited or Joined. Remove takes someone off.

Guests never pay and don't count as users on your plan. They don't see your other kitchens or your settings.

A view-only link

For a contractor or anyone who just needs to look: Copy a view-only link in the Share panel. Anyone with the link can open that kitchen without signing in, but can't change it.

Messages

Everyone on a kitchen writes in its Messages: you, your team and the people you invited. Invited people can't change the kitchen; they write what they'd like changed.

For homeowners

Designing your own kitchen is free. Open the homeowner design page, sign up with your email, and lay out your room the same way shops do: cabinets, finishes, paint colors and a walk-through.

• No cabinet prices are shown while you design on your own.
• The drawing set is $149 per kitchen, one time: the floor plan, every elevation and the install sheet as a PDF, plus renders, four photo-real pictures, a 360° view and a link a contractor can open. It includes one free revision.
• The set can't be refunded once it's downloaded, unless something is wrong with it, and it has no cut files.
• If a shop or designer invited you to a kitchen, use the link in their email instead. You never pay for a kitchen you were invited to.

Building on a saw

The Build tab in the List turns the kitchen into parts for a table saw or panel saw, built the way your shop builds.

Tell Space how you build

At the top of List → Build, pick a Construction standard: Face frame (the default: face-frame boxes in 0.74" ply, tab and slot, on legs); Frameless 3/4 with 1/4 back in dado; Economy 5/8 sides; or European 32 mm. Change any setting and it becomes your own (Custom). Every box in the kitchen follows, in the cut list and in the room; Back to face frame (the default) resets it.

• Joinery, backs, tops, bases: tab and slot, dado and rabbet, butt joints with screws or confirmats, dowels, pocket screws or biscuits; backs applied, in rabbets, a dado or a groove, or captured; a full top or stretchers; legs, a notched toe kick or a plinth.
• Face frames and fronts: match the line, on every box, or frameless; make doors and fronts or order them.
• Drawer boxes, slides, pins: make the drawer boxes or order them; undermount or side-mount slides; 5 mm or 1/4" shelf pins, or fixed shelves.
• Sheets and saw: carcass, back and front thickness in inches or mm, any plywood or your own sheet good, dado depth, saw kerf, toe-kick height, edge banding.

Every setting, with the box in 3D opens the Construction tab: a base, upper or tall box drawn from your standard, Together or Apart to show the joints, beside every setting. Drag to turn it; tap a part to change how it's built, and type the box's width, height and depth. Your sheet goods there adds a plywood or panel you buy, with its species, color or a photo of its face, core, thickness and price a sheet. What the drawer boxes are made of, and their corners, is chosen under Finishes.

Read the saw sheets

Each material is laid out on 96" × 48" sheets as rips first, then crosscuts in each strip, with the grain kept the right way. Each sheet shows its rips numbered and the cut order written out, for example: Rip 1: a 23-1/4" strip. Crosscut: 30, 30, 30.

The offcut rack. When a job's last sheet leaves a clean full-length strip, press Keep the offcut to put it on the rack. The next job with the same material cuts matching offcuts first; once they're cut, press Used the offcuts.

Download

• Cut sheets (PDF): one sheet per page with its cut order, then the cut list, face frames, what to order and hardware.
• Cut list (CSV): opens in any spreadsheet.

Cutting on a CNC

On the CNC plan, Space writes the machine files for every sheet, checks each one a second time, and gives you labels and assembly sheets. Every hole is drilled, so boxes go together with screws and no layout.

1. Pick your machine

Cut → Rack and tools → Machine: pick the machine maker and the control the files are written for, then the units, the tool changer (automatic, or one file per tool), where Z zero is and the top spindle speed.

2. Set your tool rack

Set each tool's rack number, rpm, feed, plunge and depth of pass, then the safe, retract and home heights and how far through cuts go into the spoilboard. Save and rewrite the files rewrites every file and tells you if the second check now holds a sheet, and why. Space refuses two tools on one number, a drill over 4,000 rpm, and a through cut deeper than 0.020" into the spoilboard. Save settings file and Open settings file move your settings to another computer.

3. The Cut screen

• Run order (left): the test coupon first, then every sheet with its second-check result and minutes.
• The sheet (middle): every part and every move. Press play to watch the sheet cut, or drag to scrub.
• Tools and set-up (right): the tools this sheet uses and a checklist for every sheet: ply, rack, pins, Z zero, and the air cut for this file.
• Downloads: Download .tap, Air cut, Second check, All files (.zip) and Part labels.

4. What's in the download

5. Labels, orders and assembly

The Shop tab in the List has Part labels (PDF) on 2" × 4" sheets with a QR code each, Assembly sheets (PDF) one page per cabinet, the Door & drawer order (PDF) for your door shop, face frames, the materials list and the cut list.

6. Explode, one-off jobs and signs

• Click any base, upper or tall and press Explode to see the box pulled apart, its CNC parts and how it goes together.
• Open a DXF… on the Cut screen takes any drawing; each layer gets a cut (cut out, drill, pocket, groove, engrave or leave it) that you can change.
• Make a sign V-carves lettering into a board: words, typeface, letter height, board size, corners and depth, then Make it.
• On the machine's computer, press Choose a folder once; after that, downloads save straight into it.

Before every cut

The second check

Every file Space writes is read again by a separate checker that shares no code with the file writer. It looks for cuts too fast or too deep, plunges, rapids through the wood, cutting with the spindle off, tools not in your rack, cuts off the table, and an air cut that reaches the wood. Checked means the sheet passed. Held means it has no file to download; the reason is on screen and in the HOLD folder. Check .tap files… in List → Shop reads any file you have.

Every job, every file

1. Measure the sheet with calipers and set the real thickness.
2. Check the rack against the tool list for the sheet.
3. Set XY and Z zero where the README says: the sheet against the pins, Z on the spoilboard top, vacuum on.
4. Run the air cut for every file and watch the whole sheet. Nothing should come near the wood.
5. Cut the coupon before the first sheet of each job and check it: parts free, holes at depth, pockets flat.
6. Then cut the sheet, and stay at the machine for it.

On a control that isn't proven, do all of that before every new job until you've cut a full kitchen without a problem. If anything looks wrong, stop and email hello@stillespace.com with the file and a photo.

Saving and your files

• Autosave. Space saves to your account as you work.
• Kitchens lists every kitchen in your shop and whether it's synced. Open it from any computer you sign in on, or press Sync now.
• Project file. Save file in Kitchens writes the whole kitchen, including an imported floor plan, to one file. Open it anywhere with Open kitchen file….
• Files. The Files page keeps photos, floor plans and PDFs for your team, up to 10 GB per shop.

Account and billing

How monthly plans run

1. 14 days free. Card on file. Cancel before day 14 and you pay nothing.
2. 3 months, month to month. Cancel any time; the plan ends at the end of the month you've paid for.
3. 12-month term at the same monthly price. We email you two weeks before it starts. If you cancel during the term, the plan stays on and is billed until the term ends.
4. Then month to month. Cancel any time.

Yearly plans start with 14 days free, are then paid up front with two months free, and renew each year until you cancel.

Manage your account

Only the shop's owner or an admin manages the plan, under License & billing and Team.

The full rules are in the cancellation policy and the terms.

Questions

Help articles

Short answers, one question each.

Getting around

• How do I sign in?Space has no passwords. You sign in with a link or a code that we email you.
• Why does Space ask me to agree to the terms?The first time you sign in (and when the terms change), Space asks you to tick "I agree" to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
• My sign-in email or code didn't arriveWhat to check when the sign-in email is missing or the code says it didn't work.
• What computers, browsers and phones work with Space?Space runs in a current web browser with 3D graphics (WebGL) turned on; designing is easiest on a computer with a mouse.
• What happens to my information?The short version of Space's privacy page: what we keep, who sees it, and how to ask for a copy or deletion.
• How do I contact support?Email hello@stillespace.com, and include the details that help us fix things quickly.
• Drawing the room, walls, windows and doorsUse Room mode to draw walls, start from a ready-made shape, trace a floor plan, and place windows and doorways.
• Adding, moving and changing cabinetsAdd cabinets and appliances from the shelf, then move, resize, turn, duplicate or remove them.
• Choosing paint, wood, counters, floors and hardwareUse Finishes mode to change every surface, find any paint by its code, and save up to four looks to compare.
• Looking around and walking through the kitchenTurn, zoom and see the plan view, cut walls away, and walk through the kitchen at eye level.
• Photo-real pictures, In your photo and In your roomPhoto-real renders the view on our server with real light; In your photo draws the kitchen into a photo of the room; In your room shows it full size on a phone or tablet.
• Laundry rooms, walk-in pantries and finishes per roomAdd a laundry room or walk-in pantry beside the kitchen on the same screen, move it, give it its own finishes, and fill it from the Laundry · pantry shelf.
• Built-ins and furnitureThe Built-ins shelf has hutches, end shelves, a window seat and lockers; the Furniture shelf has nightstands, chests, dressers, sideboards and consoles you can size.
• 3 layouts: let Space lay out the kitchenPress 3 layouts and Space shows three different ways to lay out the room. Pick one to start from, then change anything.
• Start from a cabinet maker's drawingsAdd a PDF or pictures of elevations and a plan; Space reads the printed sizes, you check them, and it builds the kitchen at the drawn sizes.

Designing your own kitchen

• How do I start designing my kitchen?Go to the homeowner designer, fill in a short sign-up, type the code we email you, and start designing for free.
• Does my kitchen save? Where is it saved?Your kitchen saves by itself to your Space account while you're signed in and online; there's no Save button.
• Buying the plan set ($149)What the $149 plan set includes and how to pay for it through Stripe.
• Downloading your plan set, renders and 360° viewAfter paying, use the Plan set button to download the PDF, make four renders, save a 360° view and copy the contractor link.
• Sharing your kitchen with a contractorAfter buying the plan set, send contractors the PDF and a view-only link that opens your kitchen in 3D.
• Can I change my design after buying the plan set?Yes. Keep designing; the plan set, renders and contractor link always follow your latest layout at no extra cost.
• Can I get a refund for my plan set?The plan set isn't refunded once downloaded, but if something is wrong with it, we'll fix it or refund you.
• Troubleshooting for homeownersFixes for a blank or slow 3D view, a kitchen that seems lost, and using another device.

Invited to a kitchen, and designers

• I'm an interior designer. Which part of Space do I use?Designers either look at kitchens a shop shares with them (free) or design in their own Space account on a plan.
• The designer app: clients, presentations, shopsAdd clients, design their kitchens, send each one a presentation link, and send a finished kitchen to a cabinet shop in Space to price and build.
• A shop shared a kitchen with me. How do I open it?For homeowners and designers a cabinet shop invited. Open the invite email, sign in with that same email, and the kitchen opens.
• What can I do on a kitchen a shop shared with me?Look at the kitchen in 3D, walk through it, and write to the shop. You can't change the design.
• Accepting an estimateThe invited homeowner accepts the shop's estimate by typing their full name; this counts as an electronic signature.
• What is a view-only link?A link anyone can open to look at one kitchen in 3D, with no sign-in, no messages and no changes.

Cabinet shops

• Setting up your shopSign in at app.stillespace.com, name your shop, and you'll land on your Shop page with a sample kitchen.
• Inviting your team and how seats workOwners and admins invite people on the Team page; each active person and each waiting invite uses a seat.
• The Kitchens listStart, open, share, rename and save kitchens from the Kitchens page, and read what each "Where" label means.
• Syncing, working offline, and "(from this computer)" copiesKitchens save on the computer first and sync to the shop when online; if a kitchen changed in two places, Space keeps both.
• The studio for shops: what each button doesA map of the shop studio's top bar, the List panel and its tabs.
• Prices, estimates and the Price tabOn the Basic, Shop and CNC plans, enter your own rates and Space prices each kitchen and makes the estimate. Every rate starts at $0.
• Jobs and stages in the studioUse Jobs in the studio to track each kitchen's stage, read and write messages, send the estimate and copy a view-only link.
• Sharing a kitchen with a homeowner or designerInvite the homeowner and designer to one kitchen from the Kitchens page, see who joined, remove people, or copy a view-only link.
• Cut lists, labels and machine filesThe Shop tab works out every box, part and sheet from the kitchen and makes labels, cut lists, orders and machine files for your CNC.
• Machine files for your CNC (any brand)Set your machine's maker and control once in Rack and tools, and Space writes the cut files for every sheet, reads each one back before you get it, and adds air cuts, the test coupon and a setup sheet. Or take the DXFs into your own CAM program.
• The Files page and your storage limitUpload photos, plans and PDFs for the shop; each shop has 10 GB of file space.
• Plans, the trial and billingSpace is free during the beta. Then: Basic $99, Shop $149 and CNC $199 a month, each with a 14-day trial; Shop and CNC are 3 months, then a 12-month term.
• Moving to a new computerSync on the old computer, sign in on the new one, then set up the things that are kept per computer.
• Troubleshooting for shopsFixes for sync stopping, an expired license on an offline computer, files not saving to the folder, and other common problems.
• Construction standards and the offcut rackPick a construction standard in Build, or set your own; the Construction tab shows the box in 3D; the offcut rack keeps the last sheet's clean strip for the next job.
• Custom pieces: describe it and Space builds itMake a piece from a description, photo, sketch, PDF, DXF or 3D model; adjust every part; on Shop and CNC it goes into the cut list and price.
• The whole house: import or draw it, then buildRoom → Whole house: import a DXF, PDF or photo of the house plan, or draw it room by room, then build in the kitchen, laundry, pantry or bathroom.
• Bathrooms (an add-on)Bathrooms is an add-on for the Basic, Shop or CNC plan, $19 a month. With it you get the Bath tab and the Bathroom… starter in the studio.
• What does each plan include?Basic is for designers, Shop adds the cut list and saw sheets, CNC adds the machine files. Each one includes everything in the plan before it.

Getting help

Email hello@stillespace.com. To help us answer quickly, include:

• Your shop name and the kitchen's name.
• What you did, what you expected, and what happened.
• A screenshot, or the project file.
• For cutting questions: your machine and control, the file, and the README from the download. Stop the machine first.