Autogate NW Gate Designer

Starting point: a large, plain, sturdy gate

The default design is intended as a simple single-swing gate with enough structure to discuss automation attachment, rail placement, fabrication, and customer-facing proportions.

Use it as a neutral starting idea, then adjust the type, size, rails, pickets, fills, and drawings below.

This page is meant to move from a rough idea toward a saved gate design packet. The upper section is for choosing and adjusting the design. The lower section is for reviewing the result, saving it, and printing or exporting the drawings.

1. Start or load a design: choose a saved gate, import a downloaded design JSON file, or begin with the current default settings.
2. Design a gate: work through gate type, size, frame, rails, fills, decorative details, and surroundings.
3. View a gate design: inspect the rendered concept and the fabrication drawing packet.
4. Save / export: save the current design packet when the concept is ready to keep or share, or download a design JSON file to keep a local copy for later import.

Local design files: Use Download design JSON to keep a design file on your own computer. Use Upload design JSON in Start or load a design to bring that file back into the designer later. Imported files are loaded as unsaved designs and are checked before their settings are accepted.

This is the first stop in the design workflow. Start with the current default gate, load one of your saved gate designs, or import a design JSON file that was downloaded earlier.

This section sets the basic gate identity. It should be handled before fine details, because changing gate type, size, top style, or slide tail settings can rebuild later controls.

Gate width should be discussed as a practical planning choice, not just a number typed into the designer. The best width depends on who will pass through the opening, what equipment needs clearance, where the posts or columns will sit, and how the gate hardware affects the usable opening.

Set the structural layout before choosing section fills. Rails determine the horizontal zones of the gate, and mullions determine the left-to-right divisions inside those zones.

Think of the layout in two passes. First, work top to bottom: the rails divide the gate into stacked sections. Then work left to right inside each section: the mullions divide that section into bays.

The simplest order to remember is:

• Gate frame
• →
• Rails
• →
• Sections
• →
• Mullions
• →
• Bays
• →
• Bay overrides

Once the frame, rails, and mullions are set, use this section to decide what each section contains.

Use this section for visual and ornamental details added to the gate itself.

Uploading image artwork and optional masks

For logos, decorative fills, panels, and other image-based objects, the clearest result usually comes from preparing the image before upload. The designer reads the image as artwork placed over the gate, so the file should already show which parts are metal, which parts are solid backing, and which parts should let the gate show through.

Black / darkUse for the visible metal/object lines or silhouette.

WhiteUse for solid filled areas where pickets, mesh, or other gate details should be hidden behind the artwork.

TransparentUse outside the object where pickets, rails, or background should remain visible. If using a bright color as the transparent color in an image editor, make sure it is actually saved as transparency.

Recommended file type: Use PNG or transparent GIF for artwork that needs transparency. Avoid JPG for these objects because JPG has no true transparent background.

Optional mask image: A mask is only needed when the visible artwork cannot carry the needed white/transparent areas cleanly. Upload the main image normally, then upload a matching mask image if needed. The mask should have the same canvas/proportions as the main image: white wherever pickets or other gate details should be covered, and transparent everywhere the gate should show through. The program saves it beside the artwork as filename_mask.ext and hides it from the object list so it does not appear as a separate object.

Lettering controls use two selectors. The first selector chooses the source group. The second selector then shows only the fonts or letter / symbol images available in that group.

Preview surroundings are for the client-facing concept image. They help show the gate in context, but they are not treated as fabrication instructions for the gate frame itself.

The lower half of the page is for checking, documenting, saving, and exporting the current design. It follows the same top-down idea as the design controls.

Slide gates have extra planning details that do not apply to a basic swing gate. The designer includes separate reference sheets where needed so the main gate drawing can stay readable.

Opening width can mean different things to different people. A client usually thinks of the driveway clear passage they want when the gate is fully open. A designer may be thinking about the space between posts or columns. An installer may be deciding whether post holes go beside the driveway, partly notched into the driveway edge, or set back from the driveway edge.

Gate dimensions in the designer are actual gate dimensions. The gate width and gate height used for the design describe the physical moving gate leaf or leaves, not automatically the full driveway clear opening after posts, columns, hinges, reveals, operators, or hardware are accounted for.

On swing gates, hinges are commonly placed between the post and gate with a reveal such as 3". When the gate opens, the gate thickness and hinge hardware can still project into the usable passage. For example, a 120" driveway may need posts set back or outside the driveway edge so the open gate still leaves the desired 120" of clear passage.

Best practice: agree on the desired clear driveway passage, post or column placement, hinge/reveal assumptions, and ground conditions before digging. For production work, wait until the posts or columns are set and the actual post-to-post distance is measured before ordering or fabricating the final gate leaf width.