Plan an Exhibition Booth Floor Layout

Use Booth Layout Planner to sketch hall floors with drag-and-drop booths, aisles, and exportable plans.

Selling stands is easier when exhibitors see where they sit on the floor. Booth Layout Planner plans an exhibition hall: drag booths, stages, and aisles, catch overlaps, then download PDF, PNG, or CSV.

This guide covers one job only: sketch a workable rectangular hall plan—not CAD fire-safety sign-off.

Not a fire or access authority

Leave aisles roughly 2–3 metres (about 8–10 feet) wide and check local fire and access rules, which this planner does not know. Red outlines mark booths that overlap or stick out of the hall. Aisle markers can overlap because they only show walk paths. Related: Event Checklist Planner, Event Suite, Guest List Tracker. Category: event tools.

Worked example: 600 m² hall, back-to-back rows

Hall size set; back-to-back rows with aisle between pairs
Booths snapped to half-metre (or foot) grid; rename with exhibitor notes
Export CSV for sales CRM; PDF for venue walkthrough
Done definition: zero red overlap booths; aisles drawn first; downloads saved before tab close

Steps on Booth Layout Planner

Open Booth Layout Planner.
Set hall size and unit system.
Place aisles and entrances first.
Add booths (fill rows tools if offered) or drag manually.
Tap a booth to rename, resize, reposition, add exhibitor notes.
Resolve red overlaps until clear.
Number booths in visitor walking order.
Download PDF (A4 plan), PNG, and CSV (position, size, notes).
Share PDF with venue; CSV with sales.
Re-download after every change—nothing is stored between visits.

Common mistakes

Fitting booths first and shrinking aisles later.
Treating the tool as fire-code approval.
Closing the tab without exports.
Planning multi-level or curved rooms the tool cannot model.
Rotating booths (rectangles only, no rotation).

Limits and good to know

Plan drawn in the browser; nothing uploaded or kept.
Rectangles only, one hall per plan; PDF is A4.
Among FreeDailyPro’s 300+ professional tools, premium applications and workflow products, this is the drag-and-drop booth floor sketcher.
Columns, curves, multi-level halls need real CAD/venue drawings.

Sales use of CSV

Booth number, size, and coordinates in CSV help price tiers and avoid double-selling the same space.

Stage and demo zones

Place stages where they do not block emergency routes or main aisles. Even though the tool is not a fire certifier, bad stage placement is obvious in a walkthrough PDF.

Exhibitor preview packs

Email each exhibitor their booth number callout on the PNG plus nearest aisle. Reduces “where am I?” messages on build day.

Traffic flow story

Number booths so the natural walking path from entrance to café to exit makes sense. Random numbering forces exhibitors to give “we’re opposite the red banner” directions.

Anchor exhibitors

Place large anchors where they draw traffic without blocking exits. Even a sketch tool makes bad anchor placement obvious when you export the PNG and squint.

CSV to contract

When a booth is sold, lock its number in the CSV and mark it sold in exhibitor notes. Re-export the plan so operations and sales share one map version.

Build-day paper

Print two A4 plans: one for ops, one taped at the loading dock. Phones die; paper still works in concrete halls.

Power and water marks

If the venue map shows power drops, sketch those as notes on booths even if the tool is shapes-only. Exhibitors with demos care more about power than perfect rectangle art.

Version control

HallA_v7_sold80pct.pdf in the filename stops ops from hanging v3 on the wall after sales sold four more booths.

Dead corners

Corners far from entrances sell slower. Mark them clearly on the plan and price them honestly rather than surprising buyers on install day. The CSV exhibitor note field is a good place to store tier labels.

Load-in arrows

Draw a simple load-in path on a printed plan with a pen if the digital tool cannot show arrows. Dock crews follow paper marks better than verbal “go left at the pillar” instructions.

Indoor market variant

Farmers markets and craft fairs use the same rectangle logic at smaller scale. Keep aisle targets honest for strollers and carts, then export PNG for the public map board.

Rain contingency

If outdoor booths move under a tent, redraw once and label the file outdoor-v-rain so volunteers do not build the sun plan in a storm.

FAQ

Move a booth? Drag; snaps to grid; stays in hall.

Fire check? No—venue and local rules required.

Keep plan? Download before close.

What should I archive? The final export, the settings you used and a dated one-line note, so a reprint starts from the same inputs.

Walk the plan before you sell the first stand

Print the PDF and trace the route a visitor would take from the entrance, past the information desk, through every aisle and out again. Pencil any booth that visitors would miss, any aisle that looks narrow, and any corner that has no natural traffic. These are the places where you may need to adjust the layout, change a price tier, or add signage, and it is far cheaper to find them on paper than on build day.

Send the PDF to the venue so they can check it against their floor drawings, the PNG to exhibitors so each can find their booth, and the CSV to whoever manages sales and contracts. One layout, three outputs. Whenever the plan changes, regenerate all three and replace the old files so nobody works from a stale map.

Keep a change log

Add a short note each time you move or sell a booth: the date, the booth number, and what changed. A running list in a text file is enough. When two exhibitors dispute where they were promised space, the log and the dated exports settle it quickly.

Plan for what the sketch cannot show

Columns, ceiling heights, loading doors and power drops affect real layouts. Ask the venue for their drawing and mark those features on your printout. If a column falls inside a booth, adjust the booth in the tool so it sits clear, and note the change for the exhibitor.

Closing next step

Aisles first, booths second, export always. Open Booth Layout Planner.

Need a floor-plan review checklist for exhibitors? Tell us on the contact page.