[Exported image file (all formats: JPG, PNG, TIF,etc) from Sheet Layer very crude]

On 10/25/2017 at 2:26 PM, Pat Stanford said:

Sheet layers have individually settable resolution. Unfortunately, the default resolution is 72 dpi, which may be suitable for screen, but not for printing in most cases.

 

Go to the Organization dialog box (under Tools in the default workspaces) and choose the Sheet Layers tab.

 

Click the Edit Button and change the Raster Rendering DPI to something more reasonable for your use, Normally 150-300dpi is sufficient, but if you have more demanding needs it can be set higher.

 

If you select multiple sheet layers at once prior to clicking the edit button you can change the DPI of all of them at the same time.

 

You might also want to check the Advanced Properties at the bottom the Object Info Palette of the viewport. Since you are scaling DOWN you viewport, all of the line weights will be 4 times thinner. Set the Line Weight Scale and/or the other scale factors to something like 4 to make the lines heavier. You may need to try a few times to get an output you like.

 

 

Thanks. Works like a charm.

 

Ed

[Exported image file (all formats: JPG, PNG, TIF,etc) from Sheet Layer very crude]

My project is on a 24" x 36" Sheet Layer, which contains eight 2D plans and sections created from individual design layers in the file. The Design Layers are at 1/4"=1'-0" and the Sheet Layer is at 1/16"=1'0".

 

The resulting image files from the Export are very disappointing. Detail is lost, lines and text are exaggerated and fuzzy. Dotted and dashed lines done in one style are shown in another. I've tried different things to little avail.

 

I'm attaching the VWX file and my best Export JPG file done at 600 dpi, wireframe.

 

What might be causing these problems? Is this as good as it gets? Is there a step-by-step process for getting accurate image files from VW Sheet Layer drawings? Is the scale change the issue?

 

Thanks in advance . . . VW Community help is great!

 

Ed in Brooklyn

20171024_KST_3-Lev+Alley-01.vwx

[Strange . . . SELECTION (Arrow) Tool goes to 2D POLYGON Tool on clicking]

Please ignore above . . . I figured out what was wrong. I had inadvertently selected the 'Polygonal Marquee Mode' rather than the 'Rectangular Marquee Mode'.

 

This is what happens when one doesn't use the application every day !!!

[Strange . . . SELECTION (Arrow) Tool goes to 2D POLYGON Tool on clicking]

Today a strange thing happens. When using the SELECTION (cursor arrow) Tool for the initial selection of a line or other object it worked OK, but when LEFT CLICK is activated to move or change the dimension of the line or object, the cursor immediately becomes the 2D POLYGON Tool. This happens on all the selection functions, like selecting multiple items inside a drawn rectangle, etc.

 

I've installed the latest Service Pack (4) and quit and re-opened VW several times. But the condition persists.

 

Apple Sierra OS. VW Architect 2017

 

Thanks !!!!

[Best way to show different materials on architectural elements?]

I'm only an occasional (but enthusiastic) user of Vectorworks and need advice for a rather robust project.

 

When modeling exterior walls with painted finish on the inside and, say, brick veneer on the outside, what is the best strategy in VW?

 

• Make the wall out of two separate volume layers using shaders for color and texture . . . corresponding to the way the wall is actually built? Or,
• Applying color and texture to the faces of a single wall volume . . . essentially painting on the color and texture, assuming this is possible in VW (as it is in Sketchup)?

[Line thickness doesn't scale with zooming. VW2017, MacOS 10.12.5]

Issue solved !!!! I had been drawing in TOP view rather than TOP/PLAN. this kind of thing happens when one doesn't use the program that often. Thanks for looking, though.

 

///////////////////////////////////////////

 

I've installed VW 2017 on a new iMac with OS Sierra. Even though the box in 'Preferences' for scaling line weights is checked, the lines in my drawings remain constant.

 

Below are screen shots of approximately the same area to illustrate, along with the VW Preferences pane.

 

Any ideas?

 

Added Note:  When working with VW 2016 on my old Mac Pro with Mavericks OS the line scaling worked fine.

 

 

 

[Data doesn't appear in Obj Info palette when a line or shape is selected]

Oooops !!!

 

Found the problem . . . 'Visibility for the the active layer was turned off inadvertently.

 

Typical of a too infrequent user!

 

Thanks.

[Data doesn't appear in Obj Info palette when a line or shape is selected]

All of a sudden selecting the lines and shapes in plan view does not produce their dimensional, etc, data in the Object Info palette. "No Selection" appears. (see image)

Perhaps I inadvertently changed something, I don't know. But things seem to be OK otherwise.

Using VW 2016.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Ed in Brooklyn

 

 

 

 

[Snaps in 'Snap to Grid' go to half the grid unit as well as the full unit]

A much belated thanks!

 

[Beginner's Question - 2D and 3D]

I've drawn plans and some lines and structures lie flat and can be seen in oblique views of the plan, and others remain in plan view. See image.

 

How can I put all the lines into the oblique capable view so I can build a 3D model on them?

[Snaps in 'Snap to Grid' go to half the grid unit as well as the full unit]

When I have the snap grid set--for example to 1 inch--points and lines also snap to half the unit, to 1/2 inch as well. Is this normal? How can I make things only resolve themselves on the desired grid?

Thanks !!!

[Do hatches scale?]

I'm putting a hatch texture on a 2-D drawing at 1:48.

When I make it into a Viewport on a composite sheet the hatches do no scale. Can this be fixed?

Thanks.

[Background turned pale green and no proportional line widths, etc.]

I've been woking in 2D on plans, sections, etc. and suddenly the white background became pale green and all lines became hairline width. I suspect I keyed something by accident but I don't know what it is.

VW 2016 Mac

Any help?

Thanks!

[Changing side/direction of door swings?]

JimW,

Thank you so much! I kept looking in the dialog box for the door and not in the Object Info data. Another step up the learning curve.

Ed in Brooklyn.

[Changing side/direction of door swings?]

I'm new to inserting doors and windows in walls. My swinging doors keep opening the same way and from the same hinge side. How can I reverse this? When I make the door? How? Can I do it after the door has been inserted?

Thanks!

[How to remove color tints from standard wall types in plan?]

I guess the larger question is 'How does one edit or customize the wall types for appearance?'

When I select a wall, the lines on the exterior of the wall, the 'profile' lines, are much heavier. I want all the lines to be very thin . . . like .03 mm. Right now the heavy 'profile' lines block out the finish (drywall) construction.

I'm looking for thin lines and no color fill, only pattern fill--like insulation and the diagonal hatch for brick, etc.

Again, thanks for any help.

[How to remove color tints from standard wall types in plan?]

I want to use the pre-loaded wall construction types in my plans, such as "Ext Bearing-2x6-Brick." Wood is these types is pale yellow, brick is pale red.

Is there any way of turning off the colors and saving the hatches to signify materials?

Thanks!

[Changing window types?]

Thanks, Jim

I've just copied the previous window or door and changed the parameters. And Yes, it would be great to have each in a design be a resource.

[Changing window types?]

I'm just beginning to use the Window and Door insertion tools and am having a problem.

When I open the 'Create Object' menu for windows and enter the type and parameters of the new window type I want, click OK, and try to insert it . . . VW inserts the PREVIOUS window type, not the one I thought I had just created.

Is there any way to have VW 'forget' the previous one?

Thanks!

[Beginner's Question: Creating simple 2D walls, no materials texture, etc.]

Thanks! This helped.

[Beginner's Question: Creating simple 2D walls, no materials texture, etc.]

I can't seem to figure out how to make walls as simple bounded areas in 2D with no materials texture or components. The list after I click on the Wall selector shows only a series of common construction types. I basically just want 'profiled' walls in several thicknesses for schematic and design development purposes.

Are these 'plain' walls a built-in option? If not, how can I generate them? Can I create custom wall types?

Thanks!

Ed in Brooklyn

VW 2015

[Pale green cast on screen and exported images . . .]

Thanks!

Worked perfectly.

[Pale green cast on screen and exported images . . .]

I just opened a project file done in VW 2010 with VW 2013. It is a complex 3-D architectural model.

The working space has a light gray-green cast to it rather than white. Likewise, when I export the file as a .jpg image the cast is on that file as well.

Any ideas where it is coming from and how to eliminate it?

Many thanks!

Ed in Brooklyn

[Renderworks very slow, screen goes black for before rendering . . .]

Yes !!!!

Thank You!

[Renderworks very slow, screen goes black for before rendering . . .]

Final Quality Renderworks is giving me problems. (VW 2013, MacPro, OS 10.5.8).

Usually it is quite fast even on very complex models with shaders, trees, etc.

But today, for a very simple models -- only a half-dozen prismatic elements -- is it very slow. When the rendering command is given, the screen goes black for about 15 seconds and then the image appears block by block. All in slow motion.

Any ideas about what's happening?

many thanks in advance.

Ed