Travis

The other workstation most likely doesn't have the same fonts installed, so VW has to "pick" another font. Go to File-Preferences-VectorWorks Preferences. Click on Display tab, click on Edit Font Mappings button. Here you can see the original fonts used in the drawing and what substitute fonts they'be been mapped to. If you install the same fonts on both computers, you'll need to go here to "remap" the fonts back to the original. Good luck,

Lawrence, OSX sets partition sizes dynamically, meaning as each application "needs" it. The preferred size is set by the programmer, not the user. If VW is asking for more memory, you likely need to shut down other programs or add more physical memory. I run 1.5gb currently, but most in our office have 768mb. Good luck.

Tony, When batch printing, you get a print dialog box for each page in the batch. You need to be sure to set the quantity in each dialog as it comes up.

As an employer, I'm not a very big fan of the "bluff your way through" school. Rather, be straightforward about your desire/efforts to produce great results regardless which software the potential employer utilizes. I, for one, would be much more impressed with your versatility and your commitment to excellence. However, I would definitely use VW whenever I could ASSUMING I possess that somewhat rare ability to conceptualize in both environments. Acad and VW are not unlike speaking two different languages, or playing two different musical instruments. One must make a mental shift of substantial measure. Good luck.

Erich, Can't seem to duplicate your problem. What version/OS are your running? Our in-house standard dim's use a solid arrow at both ends. Depending on the scale, I can lay down dim lines such that the arrows actually overlap each other until I "uncheck" the box in the OIP. (ie. points 3" apart @ 1:48 scale) See if you have the same response in a new, clean document. It may just be something "corrupted" in one file. BTW, I've often wished for a "smart" option on inside/outside arrows--like there is for rotated text. Anyone else think we ought to submit it to the wish list? [ 01-12-2005, 02:44 PM: Message edited by: Travis ]

Andrew, What an elegant solution! Two 1/4"-thick polygons (for example) at right angles would be much more efficient than either of my suggestions. Only drawback I can see is your version must be rendered in Renderworks to be seen as a chain.

Eric, You import hatches via the Resource Browser, just like textures and PIOs/symbols. I think you'll find import info in the manual. After everything is imported the way you want it (you might even consider setting up your default classes and layers), then create the default template as Jonathan outlined. Good luck,

JB, I can't get the Rectangle tool to draw anything but rectangles--no matter what else I do. I can convert a rectangle to a polygon after it's drawn. . .but that's not what you're asking. Have you tried to get this to repeat in a new, clean document? (Sorry, not really much help.)

Jeff, I use the 2200 several times a day (and twice as much on some Saturdays, because I get more done!). Try the following: 1) Turn off your printer. Restart the computer. Turn printer back on. 2) Edit Printer List from the print dialog box to get to the Printer Setup Utility. Delete all references to the 2200. Add the Epson 2200, making sure to select Page Setup - Minimize Margins. Sometimes the printer reference gets corrupted, this will clear it. I've occasionally needed to restart the computer at this point. 3) Vectorworks - File - Page Setup. Format for: Epson 2200 (Standard - Minimize Margins). Paper Size: US B (11x17), set rotation to suit. Make sure scale is 100%. 4) Page - Set Print Area. If you're drawing at 11x17, set Print Area to One Page. Check Show Page Breaks. You will need to adjust your drawing so all the elements fall within the light gray page break lines. Anything outside the break lines will force tiling (multiple pages) unless you rescale. This consistently yields full-scale, reliably printed pages for us. Please repost if you're still having problems. [ 01-10-2005, 12:38 PM: Message edited by: Travis ]

It will do as well or better than anything else I've seen. VW is very intuitive and does an excellent job of helping you communicate with your client and/or your shop. However, photorealistic means different things to different people. . .please realize that very realistic takes time. You may or may not be satisfied with the "photos" provided (called textures). We've spent several years building up a library of textures that helps our presentations (nearly all wood and stone structures) look more realistic. A cut-list is very doable, but will require a fair amount of discipline during drawing. We've found it quicker to do our take-offs and cut lists manually, but it seems there may be a kitchen-specific add-on available. I would strongly recommend you take advantage of VW's demo program and give it a try.

Eddie, You're asking a lot, and the answer lies in the degree of "realism" you wish to accomplish. 1) Most realistic: Draw a single 2D link of the chain. Draw a circle of the correct diameter to match the guage. Extrude the circle along the path of the chain's link. Convert to a symbol (this way you can modify all of the links at once, if necessary) and duplicate the symbol however many times to create the length of chain. You'll need to rotate every other link 90?. You may then want to create symbols of specific lengths of chain. 2) More efficient: Extrude the single 2D link of chain to the correct thickness; convert to symbol. . .follow above steps. This will be quicker to render and use much less space, BUT the links will appear square when viewed up close. Maybe not a big issue. HTH

Lauren, Took a look at your website. Based on the type of work you do, I'd be very surprised if you didn't recover the additional cost of the Architect package in a few days of billable time. Be aware, as you probably are, that there will be a learning curve and some paradigm changes that you and your team will go through. You'll likely want to budget time and $s for that. But the cost will be well worth it. You might like to read thread: http://techboard.nemetschek.net/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=12;t=004046 Good luck.

VW seems to be a little faster under 9.2.2 than OSX on the same machine. However, the additional functionality of OSX has convinced us to use it even on the G4 machines we have. However, our G4s used for CAD are running at at least 1.25ghz rather than your 800mhz. From our own experience, I wouldn't recommend OSX on an 800mhz platform?especially in a professional environment, running CAD-level programs. 512MB of memory is plenty if you're not trying to render in 3D. Otherwise, I'd suggest at least 1g. I've never used PowerCADD, so can't compare. Wouldn't trade VW for any other CAD software I'm familiar with, for whatever that's worth. Recommendation: Compare VW features to your needs. If they fit, try upgrading one of your 800mhz machines to 1.25mhz (or faster) and increase RAM to at least 768mb. Then you'll have one machine to use for rendering and as a benchmark to decide when to upgrade or replace the others. (CPU upgrades are less than $500 and take about 10 minutes to install, RAM even less--we've done these upgrades on three machines without a problem; they continue to work right alongside the G5s.) Good luck.

Thanks, Peter. And may I just add a heartfelt thanks for the time and energy you invest on this board. May sugarplums (or perhaps just great designs complete with elegant ways to express them) dance in your head!! To a great new year.

I might just add, Eric, that you'll need to go in and change the Print Setup back to the large sheet size before you send it out for "full size" printing.

Recently a client asked us to design an additional structure at the far edge of his property. Since we'd already pulled a building permit for a previously completed remodel, the site plan with the proposed remodel was already complete. Rather than copy and paste the several layers making up the original site plan, I simply WGR'd the original drawing from the new one. It was very quick, and the addition showed up as built. Submission drawings for planning review are already complete. And I'm the only one that worked on either set of drawings. Good luck.

Thanks, Nicholas. You're comments are far more tactful, and insightful, than my thoughts have been. I might just recycle an old clich? for Michael's benefit (or perhaps just my own): You'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

Are you using Viewport(s)? Or are you printing a stack of design layers? I've had better luck using Viewports.

I don't know of a way to scale patterns. Hatches can be scaled from the hatch dialog. From the Attributes pallett, select Hatch from the fills menu. Then select Hatch. . . from the bottom of the middle drop-down menu. There's an option to scale one or all of the layers that make up the hatch. Hope that helps. [ 12-16-2004, 06:31 PM: Message edited by: Travis ]

Is your model 2D or 3D? Do the roof faces show in wireframe, but not when rendered? If so, how are you rendering?

A workaround is to paste a carriage return (CR) into the leader/trailer boxes. I just copy it from a text block and then paste it in. Often it's easier to grab a letter or two either side of the CR and then edit in the OIP. HTH

MW, I think you're getting advice on several different points. I'll try to synthesize them here. 1) Many items in the VW object libraries are Plug-In Objects (commonly called PIOs) that come with some of their attributes editable from the Object Info Pallet (the OIP). I believe this is what Peter refers to. 2) Some items in the VW object libraries, and anything one might create from the Organize - Create Symbol action, are Symbols. Meaning they don't have attributes editable from the OIP. They can be edited only by double-clicking on them after they've been inserted in the drawing or via the Resources menu as I described above. 3) You can always Ungroup a PIO, edit it however you like using 2D and 3D tools, and then "reassemble" it into a Symbol . . . or a new PIO if you care to learn VW programming ins and outs. But, like you alluded to, this is a lot of work especially for an infrequently used item. Each of the above only apply after the item has been inserted in the drawing. You'll not have much luck trying to edit items directly from the Resources pallet that don't reside on an open drawing. To further muddy the issue, I find the shower PIO to be fully editable from the OIP both with respect to baseline dimension and height. I can further edit lip height, shape (corner, Dee, round, arc, etc), and so on. Are you using Architect? (At least I got to have fun with lots of acronymns!) Good luck.

Liek, Make sure you have VW resolution set to 300dpi in the print dialog. Should help with the jagged-line issue especially. Other than the occasional (and I mean rare) rotated text issue, we've not had any of the problems you mention. HTH

MW, You must first insert the symbol in your drawing. Then select the drawing as the active resource file (the upper pull-down in the resource pallet). Now highlight the symbol and you'll find Edit available on the Resources menu. It seems one must have the resource file itself open to be able to edit a symbol. Not a bad safety net. Good luck,

jan, Great tip re the fillet tool. However, I can't make the same trick work with the chamfer tool. Clicking in the middle of a rectangle converts it to a polygon, but doesn't chamfer the corners! Perhaps we could request the Chamfer tool function like the Fillet tool.