# How to import shape files?

**URL:** <https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/how-to-import-shape-files/31183>\
**Category:** Rhino for Windows\
**Created:** [April 6, 2016, 1:26pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/how-to-import-shape-files/31183 "2016-04-06T13:26:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 12\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![vcube](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/vcube/32/110535_2.png) [@vcube](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/vcube)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 1:26pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/how-to-import-shape-files/31183/1 "2016-04-06T13:26:37Z")

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Hello,

I need to import 3D shp files created by the ESRI software.  
Does anyone know a good way to get this done ?

thank you for your help

Andreas

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**Author:** ![wim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/wim/32/747482_2.png) [@wim](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/wim)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 2:28pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/how-to-import-shape-files/31183/2 "2016-04-06T14:28:40Z")

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Just [searching Food4Rhino](http://www.food4rhino.com/browse?searchterm=shape+shp) for `shape shp` shows there are two plugins that should let you do that: [Meerkat](http://www.food4rhino.com/project/meerkatgis?etx) and [@it](http://www.food4rhino.com/project/open-data-gis-osm?etx).

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**Author:** ![vcube](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/vcube/32/110535_2.png) [@vcube](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/vcube)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 3:11pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/how-to-import-shape-files/31183/3 "2016-04-06T15:11:51Z")

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thanks Wim… i will check it out!

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**Author:** ![vcube](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/vcube/32/110535_2.png) [@vcube](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/vcube)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 5:02pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/how-to-import-shape-files/31183/4 "2016-04-06T17:02:23Z")

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meerkat seems to work only for 2d file as far as i understand, so that won’t work…

still testing @it, but no success so far…

is there maybe a 3rd party conversion tool to get these horrible shape files into something like 3ds or dwg or obj…?

best

Andreas

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**Author:** ![Helvetosaur](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/helvetosaur/32/635974_2.png) [@Helvetosaur](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/Helvetosaur)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 5:32pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/how-to-import-shape-files/31183/5 "2016-04-06T17:32:25Z")

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You should be able to import them into [QGIS](http://www.qgis.org/en/site/) (open source) and then export them as something Rhino-usable… Otherwise, there is RhinoTerrain, but that is rather expensive… --Mitch

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**Author:** ![Bogdan\_Chipara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/bogdan_chipara/32/476579_2.png) [@Bogdan\_Chipara](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/Bogdan_Chipara)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 10:15pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/how-to-import-shape-files/31183/6 "2020-09-04T22:15:51Z")

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It would be better if Rhino could read shapefiles directly. I see Rhino used for urban planning more and more…

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**Author:** ![scottd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/scottd/32/494002_2.png) [@scottd](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/scottd)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 10:27pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/how-to-import-shape-files/31183/7 "2020-09-04T22:27:30Z")

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We thought it might be cool if Rhino ran inside ARCGIS: [GitHub - nicoazel/ArcRhino: AECTech Hackathon 🦏 Rhino.Inside project for 🌎 ESRI ArcGIS Pro · GitHub](https://github.com/nicoazel/ArcRhino). DOne right this could give everyone the flexibility to control the transfer.

There is also You can download shapefiles of OpenStreetMap from [BBBike](https://extract.bbbike.org/). A workflow is to download an OSM file directly from OpenStreetMap and import the data using [Elk](https://www.food4rhino.com/app/elk) along with [USGS elevation data](https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/) for topos.

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**Author:** ![Bogdan\_Chipara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/bogdan_chipara/32/476579_2.png) [@Bogdan\_Chipara](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/Bogdan_Chipara)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 10:45pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/how-to-import-shape-files/31183/8 "2020-09-04T22:45:44Z")

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> [@scottd](#):
>
> We thought it might be cool if Rhino ran inside ARCGIS: [https://github.com/nicoazel/ArcRhino](https://github.com/nicoazel/ArcRhino). DOne right this could give everyone the flexibility to control the transfer.

Yes but this requires arcgis. I don’t need it , i won’t install a software just to convert a file

> [@scottd](#):
>
> There is also You can download shapefiles of OpenStreetMap from [BBBike](https://extract.bbbike.org/).

Sometimes shapefiles are provided by municipalities, those files include future proposals, additional data which is not on OpenStreetMap.

> [@scottd](#):
>
> using [Elk](https://www.food4rhino.com/app/elk)

Elk is very unreliable. In many situations those files are very large in size.

Much more easy is to have shp import in rhino. It is an open format, no?

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**Author:** ![kai.aurelien.zhu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/kai.aurelien.zhu/32/686784_2.png) [@kai.aurelien.zhu](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/kai.aurelien.zhu)\
**Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 2:38am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/how-to-import-shape-files/31183/9 "2020-09-05T02:38:29Z")

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Hi Scott, I was wondering how feasible it would be to integrate Rhino.Inside into QGIS? ArcGIS is great but many find the cost of licencing prohibitive. There seems to be a gap for integrating GIS and the AEC tool ecosystem, Rhino.Inside.QGIS could make a big difference I feel.

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**Author:** ![scottd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/scottd/32/494002_2.png) [@scottd](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/scottd)\
**Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 4:19am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/how-to-import-shape-files/31183/10 "2020-09-05T04:19:23Z")

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Because QGIS does not have .net SDK running Rhino.inside gets tricky. Much of the problem is related to this discussion: [https://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/64479/is-it-possible-to-use-dotnet-to-show-a-qgis-map](https://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/64479/is-it-possible-to-use-dotnet-to-show-a-qgis-map)

But it does not mean it is impossible. I might first figure out if rhino.inside can be loaded thru the QMap Python interface. Although no interface would show, there might be a lot you could do with geometry and files.

I would pose a question to the rhino.inside forum here to work thru the possibilities. Our developers may have a better idea on how feasible it is.

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**Author:** ![CD\_Lewis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/cd_lewis/32/642642_2.png) [@CD\_Lewis](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/CD_Lewis)\
**Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 9:22pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/how-to-import-shape-files/31183/11 "2025-02-01T21:22:23Z")

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Given how ubiquitous shapefiles are for boundaries provided by governing authorities, is it too much trouble to support import into Rhino? Anything I design will have to fit within a boundary and some boundaries are too idiosyncratic to rebuild from scratch, even with unlimited time. Building maps from layers from different sources would be a lot nicer in Rhino, which actually has a scale, than in vector art tools (scale? what scale?).

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**Author:** ![wim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/wim/32/747482_2.png) [@wim](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/wim)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2025, 3:45pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/how-to-import-shape-files/31183/12 "2025-02-02T15:45:59Z")

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Hi -

> [@CD\_Lewis](#):
>
> […] is it too much trouble to support import into Rhino?

You could try Grasshopper to import Shapefiles. That doesn’t seem to work with all formats of those files but you could then also try Grasshopper plug-ins such as Heron or ShrimpGIS.  
-wim