Autogate NW Design Tool

Design a gate before you build it.

The Gate Designer helps clients, homeowners, contractors, and fabricators explore driveway-gate ideas, preview layouts, and produce practical technical sheets before committing to a final design.

Try Gate Designer
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$49.95 / month Client Login
free designer access

Visitors can try the designer in preview mode. Logged-in Autogate NW clients and Gate Designer subscribers can save and export their work.

Autogate NW Gate Designer promotional image

What the Gate Designer does

It is not just a picture maker. It is a practical design workspace for exploring gate type, size, rails, pickets, privacy materials, decorative inserts, slide/cantilever details, and printable fabrication-style sheets.

Visual gate preview

Try swing, slide, V-track, cantilever, flat-top, arched, ornamental, privacy, and mixed-material concepts in one place.

Technical sheets

Create dimensioned drawing sheets, materials summaries, installation notes, and supplemental fabrication guidance.

Save & reuse designs

Subscribers and Autogate NW clients can save designs, load them later, and start from standard templates.

Design options — section by section

The designer is organized in a top-down workflow so a gate can move from rough concept to practical drawing packet. These are the main option groups currently represented in the design controls.

Load, save, and drawing identity

Load personal saved gates when logged in.
Load standard/shared gate templates as starting points.
Upload a saved design JSON file.
Set or regenerate the ANW drawing number.
Track revision number, project/client reference, drawing date, and designer name.
Choose what reference appears in the drawing header.
Mark drawing purpose: client approval, bid request, or production.

Gate type, size, finish, and top

Dual swing, single swing, and faux-double single gate.
Single or dual V-track slide gates.
Single or dual cantilever slide gates.
Advisory enclosed/slotted cantilever selections.
Opening width and gate height.
Finish notes: black, unpainted/natural rust, white, dark green, or rustic brown.
Flat top, plain arch, camel arch, and inverted camel arch.
Arch rise, second arched rail, second-arch drop, and second-arch rail size.

Slide gate planning

Slide tail style: continue the gate design or use an open X-braced tail frame.
Tail side for single slide gates: left or right.
V-track tail allowance and cantilever counterbalance allowance.
V-track guide-roller planning notes and roller recommendations.
Cantilever-specific flat-top lockout for arches and top accessories.

Top accessories

Main vertical-picket finials: none, spear point, quad flare, arrow, or fleur-de-lis.
Optional alternating main-picket finial heights.
Separate top cresting row with style, height above top rail, spacing, and end inset.
Style caps / ball caps on side styles.
Warnings when main-picket finials and a separate cresting row are both selected.

Rails and frame

Selectable top rail and bottom rail sizes.
Additional straight rails: none through five rails.
Straight rail type: 1" x 2" channel or 2"–8" x 2" tube choices.
Individual rail-height placement for added rails.
Side style width selection.
Main mullion count and mullion width.
Section-level mullion overrides when a section needs a different bay count.

Default vertical fill and pickets

Default vertical fill: pickets, radial/sunburst pickets, ring row, or wood boards.
Default fundamental picket size and number of fundamentals per bay.
Default filler-picket size for alternating fundamental/filler layouts.
Default picket angle: vertical, 30°, 45°, or 60° left/right, plus horizontal.
Default radial spoke count and radial center X/Y offset.
Board color choices: cedar, redwood, or walnut.
Knuckles: none, single, double, or triple per full-height picket.

Section fills and bay controls

Each gate section can use open pickets, radial pickets, ring rows, wood boards, horizontal rails, custom horizontal rail stacks, blank/no-picket panels, or safety mesh.
Safety mesh sample selection from available image patterns.
Bay treatment can stay uniform or open bay-by-bay customization.
Custom bays can override fill type, picket count, picket size, filler size, mesh sample, radial settings, horizontal rail count, horizontal rail size, and knuckles.
Custom horizontal rail stacks can set rail sizes from top to bottom.

Picket height and specialty layouts

All full-height pickets.
Every-other-short picket pattern.
Short/medium alternating picket pattern.
Short and medium picket height percentages.
Optional finials on shortened pickets.
Radial/sunburst layouts with adjustable spoke count and center offsets.
Ring rows sized around 3.5" rings with 1/2" stock notes.

Decorative details and embellishments

Add multiple independent embellishment objects.
Object types: frame, letter, fill/image, or none.
Frame shapes: circle, oval, rectangle, and diamond.
Letter text with stock and custom font choices.
Stock fonts such as Times Roman Bold, Bookman Old Style Bold, Cowboy, and Helvetica Bold.
Stock fill/casting/image samples from the ornament library.
Per-object center position, width, height, rotation, and keep-aspect behavior.
Repeat controls with columns, rows, and X/Y spacing.

Preview surroundings

Posts and columns around the concept preview.
6" posts, 2 ft columns, and 3 ft columns where appropriate.
Column materials: concrete, stone, and brick.
Stone/brick image texture selection.
Post/column height choices, including auto height.
Lighting selections for preview presentation.
Post caps/tops and optional post lights when columns are not used.

Rendered preview and output sheets

Rendered concept preview for client discussion.
Dimensioned fabrication-style elevation drawing.
Materials / selected components sheet.
Picket cut-list and section/infill summaries.
Supplemental fabrication details for columns, hinge posts, and footprints.
V-track guide-roller and cantilever advisory sheets where applicable.
Download/print/export options for logged-in clients and subscribers.

Program screenshots and outputs

These are examples of the actual outputs the Gate Designer can help produce, from a clean concept preview to printable technical sheets and supplemental fabrication details.

Concept preview. Show the customer a clean rendered gate concept with columns, lighting, decorative infill, and overall proportions before fabrication begins.

Gate Designer sheet one elevation output

Dimensioned gate elevation. Generate a clear drawing sheet with principal dimensions, design notes, and a review box for client approval, bid request, or production planning.

Gate Designer materials and cut list output

Materials and cut-list summary. Summarize selected components, picket groups, infill sections, and decorative items to support estimating and fabrication planning.

Gate Designer supplemental fabrication detail output

Supplemental detail sheets. Add supporting pages for columns, hinge posts, footprints, installation guidance, and other fabrication-oriented details.

Useful for early planning

Explore gate width, height, and basic frame layout.
Compare swing, slide, and cantilever approaches.
Try pickets, rails, mesh, wood-look slats, and privacy fills.
Add finials, rings, letters, frames, and ornamental inserts.
Create drawings that are easier to discuss with clients or fabricators.
Save alternate versions before narrowing down a final direction.
Load standard examples instead of starting from a blank screen.
Export sheets for review, pricing, and project communication.

Gate Designer Subscription

$49.95 / month

Renews automatically each month. Cancel before the next renewal if you no longer need it.

A subscription unlocks saving, loading private designs, and downloading/exporting the design sheets. Autogate NW clients receive Gate Designer access as part of their client account.

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save and export designs Try Preview Mode
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Need a real gate bid, service, or Autogate NW client account? Client accounts have free access to the Gate Designer.

Important note

Gate designs still require proper field verification, safety planning, operator selection, code compliance, and professional judgment. The Gate Designer is a planning and communication tool, not a substitute for final engineering, fabrication review, or installation expertise.