David Bertrand

Rats ! And I just upgraded to 12.5.0. But then, NNA had it all planned that way with the December sale.

I have had this problem in every VW installation. My solution is to set up the desired font in the "default" template (menu "text/format text"). It may also work for you.

Petri, about the only thing you could do is place the title block into the design layer. Of course that would mean scaling it for the design layer.

There's a drawing border plug-in object which you can add to a tool palette using the workspace editor. The object info palette allows you to change its characteristics.

Sounds like the sheet may need a size adjustment. Check the menu "Page/Set Print Area" to see if the sheet is fitting within the page boundary. If not, you may have to reduce the sheet size slightly. For example, a standard sheet D size of 22"x34" may be a little too big, and may have to be reduced to 21.66"x33.16", or whatever, to make it fit.

Can you export to a PDF and then view it in Acrobat on a PC?

By the time he learns how to use it, he'll be bankrupt.

The PBS American Masters series has a documentary on Frank Gehry tonight at nine. The film was made by Sidney Pollack. Should be very interesting.

I guess, disk in the mail it is.

Arch.Ken sez: It's such a relief now using it that I can recommend Vectorworks wholeheartedly. Surely some bugs and glitches remain to be worked out (I reserve the right to raise hell about them at a later time) It's great to hear that so few problems are occuring with 12.5. But I think I'll wait until 12.5.1 before upgrading. Since I'm still using a dial-up connection, upgrades are a hassle. I have to contact a salesperson and have him send me a disk.

Check to see whether you have a templates directory and a default template file.

I tried exporting an image as you said and had no problem that I could see. But I printed from Apple's "Pages" word processor. I did the following: Export to Image File 300 dpi resolution Used "pixel dimensions" JPEG best depth best quality compression I printed it to fill the page and it was very smooth. Only enlarging it way beyond page size gave me jaggies on the curved and sloped lines. You might try different file formats; Word seems very particular about that. Maybe try BMP or TIFF. I used to have good luck with Autocad in WMF. Vectorworks doesn't export to that, unfortunately.

Amy, you are in such trouble. I hope your employer doesn't get wind of this.

TomK sez: Tom, I can only compare my performance to myself. You may very well be right: the newer GUI commands could make AC faster. I would have to try them out and see. In the past, I stayed away from GUI because it slowed me down. I was using rel. 2000i. In the office from which I retired, I was usually the most productive; but then, I was also the most experienced. So it's hard to gauge performance of an interface by comparing different indivduals. And it's true, constant moving of the right hand from keyboard to mouse and back was a problem, one I was never able to solve.

Thank you all for the input. The reason I came up with this little exercise is that my speed with Vectorworks still seems below par. I was much faster with Autocad. It may have just seemed faster because I was so busy typing. I would have thought that you?d all be using the ?correct? VW method. It seems to be the most economical. But it does require a lot of mental work. I prefer using some of the methods that you mention, probably double clicking on the line tool, placing the three line segments, and then moving them around. MikeC, I never heard of ?Otrack? and had to look it up. I probably would never use those tools ? real Autocad pro?s keyboard everything. FredM, your method is neat but requires doing mental math (unless I note it on paper first). So I probably wouldn?t be comfortable with that. Chewing gum and walking at the same time, you know. Alan, the rectangle idea is good; it might come in handy for all sorts of tasks. I have no formal training in any CAD. I learned Autocad at age 46 from a high school kid (computer whiz) who tutored me for about two months. His dad was an architect in the office. Prior to that, I worked with a very slow mainframe-based (HP 1000) CAD program. I was very proud of the fact that I almost made it productive. My interest is classic modern architectural history. Who would have thought that modern architecture would ever be ?classic.? I like to practice CAD on those houses, though it?s hard to find dimensioned plans and elevations. So far, it?s strictly a hobby. I use my organizational talents to be more productive.

Here is an exercise that I'm using to practice drawing lines the Vectorworks way. I use only the line tool, and draw using the tab key and data display bar. I'm still finding it surprisingly difficult. It takes a while to develop hand and brain coordination, I guess.

Mike, thanks for the leads. I had forgotten about the architosh forums. I can go there and complain as well.

Are there any galleries of Vectorworks drawings showing 2D plans and elevations? All I see are 3D renderings which are nice but very mechanical. And I'm not currently into 3D. I visited the site of another CAD product who's name I won't mention, but whose initials are PowerCADD. There they had some really stunning 2D drawings with lots of personal expression. I would like to see what is being done currently with Vectorworks 2D graphics, and hopefully to make my symbols look a little better as well. Thanks all.

87 pages with additional 6 pages of really simple demo drawings. . . . Also have the original brochure and a little write up description by Mike Ford. A nice souvenir. Should get you a bundle on ebay. I've redone many of my hot keys and they work better. Only now, I keep hitting "2" for line instead of "L." "T" for trim is much better. I've also discovered a way to make the tabbing easier and this may be of use to former Autocad people. I start a line by clicking the mouse on the start point. Then I take my hand completely off the mouse and use it to enter numbers. I tab with my left hand. This way I'm able to concentrate on one thing at a time (uni-tasking). It's much less stressful and I make fewer mistakes.

Nemetschek actually stated in the past that VW12 would be ready for the Intel Macs in line with Apple's release If I'm not mistaken, Apple took everyone by surprise when they came out with their Intel machines early.

Pete and Larry, thanks for the advice. I should have addressed this problem long ago. Now I?ll have to sit down and redo all my tool keystrokes. Larry, how many pages are in that Autocad 1.0 manual?

mike m oz sez: I don't want VW to become an Autocad clone I would like VW to clone the Autocad command structure complete with CLI and accessible vectorscript. Otherwise, I like the features of VW. Autocad commands are verbal; drawing is like writing a story, ?line-from-int-to-midp?. Anyone who has learned to touch-type can get into Autocad rather quickly. Vectorworks has abstract commands: ?2? for line; ?Opt-Shift-L? for trim (my favorite); ?Opt-=? for 2D rotate. In Autocad, it?s ?L,? ?TR,? and ?RO,? or ?line,? ?trim,? and ?rotate.? Also, first time users find the ?TAB? type-a-number, ?TAB? type-a-number sequence a little awkward and frustrating, especially if you are holding down a mouse button with the other hand. In time one can learn the VW commands and it won?t seem like such a problem, but this might explain why Autocad drafters are so reluctant to change. Another thing I?ve noticed after working with Vectorworks for over a year (I?m retired, so there?s no pressure) is that mouse actions are very exacting with VW. You have to look for the cursor cue before clicking. That means scanning along an object until the right cue comes up, and possibly over-shooting. One has to be very precise in handling the mouse. Mouse actions in Autocad can be very sloppy (and quick) and still hit the mark. Type ?midp? and click anywhere on the line and it will go to the midpoint. Trimming in Autocad is lightening fast: ?trim,? swipe, and click, click - done. Most commands are like that. In Vectorworks, I?m finding it more pleasant to draw a line by going to the starting point and drawing a line, of no particular length, in the direction that I want to go. Then I make adjustments in the OIP. Same with rectangles or circles. Just start the object in the right place, make it a random size, and then make corrections in the OIP. It?s a more visual approach, but probably too slow for experienced users.

I'm only familiar with AutoCad and can't comment on the others. AutoCad can handle big jobs. A number of people can work on a project at the same time. I don't understand why VW couldn't allow multiple drafters, but apparently it's difficult because workgroup referencing hasn't been perfected. See this thread: http://techboard.nemetschek.net/ubbthrea...=true#Post60374 I thought Revit was a stand-alone program, not an AutoCad add-on.

mike m oz sez: Ask old Autocad users about Release 13 and they will cringe before your eyes. I used Autocad release 13 in both DOS and Windows versions and had no serious problems. But I heard about others having difficulties with it. When we went to 14, I lost at least one of my favorite functions, and it took until rel. 2000 until it was restored. Software can never be perfect. The best we can hope is that it doesn't get worse with each upgrade. When something doesn't work right, the first thing I do is to look for a work-around. That's about all you can do.

For some reason, mine is located in the Vectorworks directory and is called Vectorworks Log.