Move your Trikker archive to PlanElec Pro: batch import of .trik files

New in PlanElec Pro (since 30/10/2026): you move a whole archive of Trikker files (.trik) in one go. You drop files, a folder or a ZIP archive with up to 500 files onto the import page. Every file becomes its own project, the original .trik file stays attached to the project, and you see up front which files come with notes. The import is open to every signed-in PlanElec account, including "Try Pro". This article shows how it works and, just as important, what it carries over today and what it does not. The operating details are in the guide: Import Trikker projects.

Written by the PlanElec team. We make PlanElec Sketch and Pro. Trikker is a trademark of its owner; we use the name only to refer to the product. Every statement about Trikker below comes from Trikker's public pages, linked at the end with the date we checked them. Statements about PlanElec describe the state on 30/10/2026; the import page in Pro is authoritative.

Who is the batch import for?

For installation firms and electricians who have worked with Trikker and now want their earlier work in PlanElec Pro as well. According to the Trikker manual, a Trikker project is a file that you store wherever you like, on your own computer (manual 2.0-beta, section 16.2). After years of work that usually means hundreds of files in folders by customer, year or site, sometimes spread over several computers.

For a single file you do not need an archive run: the entry Import Trikker projects accepts one file just like five hundred. The batch import pays off when a whole archive should land in your account at once, each customer file as a project, without repeating the same steps hundreds of times. It is not a quality statement about your old files and not a recommendation to stop using Trikker.

What do you need before you start?

• A signed-in PlanElec account. A Pro subscription is not required; the import is open with "Try Pro" as well. Without an account, PlanElec Sketch remains the route for a single file (see below).
• Your .trik files on your computer, in a folder or in a ZIP archive. Trikker writes automatic backups as .trikback files, by default every 5 minutes into a folder called "Trikker Backups" inside your Documents folder (manual 2.0-beta, section 14.1). Those backups are not your project files. Leave them out of the selection, otherwise older versions of the same project end up in your list.
• A browser. It reads the selection and uploads the files. The conversion then runs on the server.

These are the limits of a single run:

Hidden files and folders such as __MACOSX inside a ZIP are ignored. If your archive is larger, split it and import in several runs. Because identical files are recognised (see below), an overlap does no harm.

How does the import work step by step?

1. Open the import. Choose Import Trikker projects in the logo menu of a project (badge New), in the project list next to New project, or in the command palette.
2. Choose your files. Drop files, a folder or a ZIP onto Drag files, a folder or a ZIP here, or use Choose files or Choose folder. Sub-folders are read; the folder path of each file is recorded.
3. Check the preview. The list shows 50 files checked and a status per file: Ready, with notes, Duplicate or Error. Nothing has been created yet. For files with notes you see what is not carried over or adjusted.
4. Choose the destination. Under Create in you pick My projects or an organisation you belong to.
5. Decide about the opt-in. Use files to improve the import is optional and off by default (see "Failed files").
6. Start. The button reads Create 48 projects. Duplicates and errors are skipped.
7. Let the files upload, then you may close the window. As soon as "All files are uploaded. You can close this window: we will email you once everything is done." appears, the server carries on by itself.
8. Follow the progress or wait for the e-mail. The page Your Trikker projects are being created shows progress and the estimated remaining time and, under Recognised so far, counters such as circuits, protective devices, sockets, light points and boards. Cancel the rest stops the run; finished projects stay.
9. Read the report. It is titled 48 projects created and separates projects without notes, with notes, skipped duplicates and files not imported. View projects opens the project list, Report as CSV downloads the table, Import more files starts a new run. With exactly one project there is Open project.

What does the report show per file?

The report answers three questions:

• What was carried over? Counts of what PlanElec found: boards, circuits, devices.
• What was not carried over? Grouped by topic: the drawing itself, the situation plan, layout and numbering, document data and print settings.
• What was adjusted? Values that PlanElec does not know, such as some cable types or cross-sections, are replaced and the affected cables are marked for review. Combinations are modelled differently: a circuit breaker followed by a 30 mA residual current device, for example, becomes one combined device.

The report contains codes and counts, not an opinion about whether the diagram is correct. It tells you where to look; you still have to look.

What is carried over today?

The batch import uses the same conversion as the .trik import in PlanElec Sketch and turns the result into a Pro project. It reads files from Trikker 2.0 and from older versions such as Trikker 1.5. Today it carries over:

• The single-line diagram (eendraadschema) with its protection chain: supply, boards and sub-boards, main switch, protective devices. Where Pro models a combination differently, the report says so.
• Circuits with their protection and cables.
• Consumers such as sockets, lighting, appliances or a charging point, each connected to its circuit.
• Customer, installation address, installer and approved inspection body data, as far as the file contains it.
• Notes, which land in the cover-sheet notes of the project as far as they fit into 500 characters.
• The situation plan into the floor plan: one named floor per page, walls with their thickness, named rooms, doors with their swing, windows, garage doors and stairs; placed devices are linked to their circuit.

What is not carried over today?

Please read this section before you move an archive.

• Parts of the situation plan, such as wires, symbols without a counterpart in Pro and images of imported floor plans. The report names them.
• The supply cable to the meter. You add it in Pro under the connection.
• Layout details. Fixed circuit letters as such (the letters appear in the circuit name, but Pro numbers by itself), manual page breaks and how sub-boards are displayed.
• Document data and print options. The logo (Pro prints the logo from your profile), phone and e-mail of the inspection body, date and revision, the document language and the print options.

If you only have a floor plan as a PDF, scan or image, the floor plan recognition in Pro reads it. It proposes walls, rooms, doors and windows and asks you to confirm the scale before you accept anything; see AI floor plan recognition. Treat everything that is not listed under "What is carried over today?" as not carried over. The report of each file is the authority.

How does PlanElec recognise duplicates, and what happens to the original?

Duplicates. PlanElec compares files by content (a SHA-256 fingerprint), not by name. A copy in another folder, a file that is in your ZIP twice, or a file from an earlier run counts as a duplicate and is skipped. The comparison runs within the chosen destination, so in My projects or in the organisation.

The original stays attached. The .trik file is stored as a project file in the project files of the project. Your files on your computer are only read, never changed or deleted. So the original is still available if you want to compare it with the report or import it again later.

Failed files: what happens to them?

Some files will not convert: damaged files, files that are not Trikker files, or content the converter cannot read. They get the status Error in the report, with a reason code, and no project is created for them.

With the opt-in Use files to improve the import (off by default), or with a click on Send for analysis, PlanElec may analyse a file that did not import cleanly in order to improve the import; the original is then kept for up to 12 months. Without either, PlanElec deletes the original of a failed file after 30 days. The analysis does not change the result for your own file today. The usage statistics of the import contain counts and codes, not file names.

How long does it take?

That depends on the number and size of the files. The import page shows an estimated remaining time. What matters: once the files are uploaded, you do not have to wait. PlanElec converts them in the background, creates the projects and sends an e-mail to your account when everything is done. The e-mail contains only numbers and a link to the report, no file names and no customer names. This is the duration of the technical process, not a statement about how much time the move saves you: checking the imported diagrams takes the time it takes.

Sketch or Pro: which one for which job?

PlanElec Sketch and PlanElec Pro both read .trik files, but for different jobs:

Without an account, or if you first want to see what a typical file turns into, open it in Sketch. That is free, and you see the same kind of import report. After opening, Sketch points to the archive move ("Move your whole Trikker archive?", button Go to PlanElec Pro). More about Sketch is in Introducing PlanElec Sketch. The comparison of all three tools, with sources, is in Trikker, PlanElec Sketch or PlanElec Pro.

After the import: what you should still check

A project that was created from a .trik file is a starting point, not a signed-off document.

1. Open a few projects of different kinds (a house, an apartment, an extension) and compare the single-line diagram with the printed original.
2. Read the notes and the "not carried over" list of those files.
3. Check the circuits, the ratings of the protective devices and the cables marked for review.
4. Complete what is not carried over: logo, print options and the supply cable. Compare the floor plan with the situation plan of the original.
5. Run the AREI/RGIE self-check in Pro on projects you want to keep working on. It covers the supported rules and shows open points. It is not a certificate. The content of every plan remains your responsibility, and the inspection is carried out by the approved inspection body.

We do not guarantee that an imported diagram meets the AREI/RGIE, and the import does not replace your own check. For the background to the two documents, see single-line diagram or situation plan.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a Pro subscription?

No. You need a signed-in PlanElec account; the import is open with "Try Pro" as well.

Does Trikker need to be installed or running?

No. The conversion reads the contents of the files. You only need the files themselves.

Are my original files changed or deleted?

No. They are only read.

Can I import a Trikker PDF this way?

No. The import reads .trik files. A PDF of a floor plan can be read by the floor plan recognition, as described above.

What happens to the situation plan in my .trik files?

It goes into the project's floor plan: floors, walls, rooms, doors, windows, garage doors and stairs, with placed devices linked to their circuit. The report names anything from it that is not carried over.

Can I try it with one file first?

Yes: with Import Trikker projects and a single file, or without an account in PlanElec Sketch. Both use the same conversion.

I have more than 500 files.

Import the archive in several runs. Files that were imported before are skipped as duplicates.

Sources and date

The Trikker statements were checked on 29/10/2026. The Trikker pages show no publication date, so the date is the date of our check.

Features change. If something here is out of date, write to us and we will correct it.