jfmarch

every time i update the reference file in a target file, the layer i am working in automatically goes to the lowest WG ref. layer in the stack. this happens while i am in viewports as well. what gives?

or you can print to PDF. this is the best way, we have found, to get your printer to do the work that looks exactly like what you see on your screen. and, no one can modify your documents! hope this helps...

as long as the symbols are not in a wall, you can use the 'organize/custom selection...' tool to grab any or all the symbols you want. when you have 'symbol' selected just touch on the folder icon at the right side of the dialog box and you can select the symbol you want. i wish you could grab all door sybols that are placed in walls... hope this helps.

i totally agree with tom kyler- attach a record (whether its a standard VW one, or a custom one of your own making) to symbols of windows. we use custom records and produce schedules referencing the id number that corresponds to the CSI format (08___ for windows, 16___ for lights, 15___ for plumbing fixtures, for example). one other tip- i tend to use symbols of windows that are the elevation indtead of plan views. in that way everyone can easily see what the window looks like, and you can easily add the window shape to your schedule sheet. hope this helps...

classes are good for assigning colors, fills, line weights and dash styles, among other things, but not as far as i know font styles & sizes. you might look at using the 'link text to record...' command for some symbols as a way to control visibility and type of information...

i always use them from the palettes. my fonts are Datafork true type fonts, by the way.

Additional information on this issue: the object i have problems with so far are the drawing label and the revision marker. the drawing label i like to use is configuration 7, configuration 2, printe length 1/2", title text 24, bubble text 50, scale text 10, font is futura. any change to these objects, including changing class, changing line weight, changing scale, will make it default to geneva. all the text sizes in the label will change drastically. i also notice that the font and font size will change in a target file when it is used as a work group refernec file. its a real pain because there is no way to change it back to the way i like it, unless i delete it, replace it with a new one that has the correct info and sizes in the preferences box befeore i place it on the drawing...

we use either futura or helvetica.

i looked through the help file rich and it looks like those toggles are gone- replaced by the viewports it seems.... jim

hello all. i have noticed since upgrading from VW 9.5 that when i am in a text block with the text edit tool, the command-'c' and command-'v' keyboard commands do not work. if i want to copy or paste text to or from a text block i need to use the commands from the pull down menu. has anyone else noticed this? is this related to my other post: Object Fonts ? any response will be appreciated, thanks. [ 06-18-2004, 10:04 AM: Message edited by: jfmarch ]

i sincerely doubt you will get someone to send you a file for a house they designed. there are too many copyright and legal issues involved. plus who would want to give plans away to a complete stranger- for free?!? if you need basic drawing info, there are many books around about drawing conventions and such. i do recall, however, that in some older versions of VW, a house drawing in the 'Resources' folder, perhaps you can check there. hope this helps...

i noticed that when i place a drafting object, it will be inserted into the drawing using the current font. but when i change any aspect of that object (drawing title, revision number, line weight, etc.), it defaults to Geneva, and i can't seem to change it back. can anyone give me some feedback on this? thanks.

"Is there anyway to scale a worksheet on drawing without changing text sizes inside of worksheet?" No. Worksheets cannot be scaled, they are sized relative to the layer they are placed on. you can, though, change the font size within the worksheet. "Also is there a way to zoom in/out in worksheet editing mode?" i haven't found a way to do this. scrolling up & down, or left to right is te only way to move about when in worksheet mode. Hope this helps...

you simply highlight the rows or columns where you'd like to place new ones, go to the worksheet file menu and select "insert row...'. the quantity of rows or column you select will be reflected in the new ones. example, if you select 3 existing rows, 3 new rows will be inserted. hope this helps...

i am not sure what you mean by 'traced bitmap'. i always thought that a bitmap- which is an image- cannot be exploded because it is not a vector drawing. and even if it could, it would probably be useless because you'd have millions of little bits of the image. if you've traced over the bitmap, what you have drawn can be 'exploded', but it is already just lines when you draw. i'm going to stop now because i'm sounding like i'm not making sense....

yes, that's right. i meant DXF not DWF.... thanks

our experience is the same as petri's above- we have not had problems with others using our DWG exports. i used to work in autocad and both ac and vw are setup in similar ways in that you draw everything at full size (1:1). how the program's scale the information is different. what we do when we export is to export as LAYERS, which seems to aid our consultants in sorting through the info. we never export DWF files, they are too big for the effort.

your system and version stats were not posted. but if you are using mac's, OS X, and VW 9.5, the 'print to pdf' button on the print dialog box works great. we no longer have problems with shaded backrounds, or font substititions. we used to use 'print tp pdf', the freeware available on the web. but as i recall, he did not support windows. hope this helps...

what you are describing, somewhat awkwardly, seems to me can be resolved by using the 'save sheet' command accessed from the bottom left of the file window. this would work well for the 'large objects' (?) you describe. once you enter the sheet setup dialog box, keep the 'save view' buitton checked. when it comes to printing time, though, you might have a challenge if the objects are not within the printing window. you could use the vw 'print current view only' button, but that will be tricky with scale. that is where the workgroup reference tool will come in handy... i have never 'drawn' in excel but recently saw that someone did a crude plan use it! i don't have a clue how one can draw accuratley in it, but i do remeber the multiple sheet tabs available in it. vw does not have that type of literal feature. excel is a spreadsheet program, and vw is a graphics program...

have you tried to print with the 'disable driver text rotation' box checked? although we are still on VW 9.5, this probelm went away for us when OS X was released...

i still stand by my previous post. i do not know what is meant by the statement that PDF's are not scalable on the screen. autocad is the big boy on the block, and of course their version of PDF is always going to become an 'industry standard'. we have had NO problems, complaints, gripes, etc., form any printer, printing service, contractors, consultant, etc., about the PDF's we either send out or upload to our website. in fact, since OS X was released, the print to PDF has been imnproved greatly. just becuase VW can't export VWF's doesn't mean its automatically weak or worse than any other program...

probably the easiest thing to do is create an existing & new symbol, and just change the color (or assign and 'existing' or 'new' class) of the symbol. otherwise all symbols have to look the same. hope this helps...

if you try VectorDepot's website, they might have some PIO's all ready to install that will do what you want. hope this helps...

i am not sure if your 'slab' is a floor object. did you draw a rectangle and then convert it to a floor under the model menu? if you did, the slab is a 'floor' and can only be edited through the edit group command. what i would do is draw a circle (or square) over the stair, cut the shape, go into the floor through the edit group command, paste in place the shape, select the floor shape, and than do your clip surface command. grap the pasted shape and delete it, than exit the group. voila! a slabe with a hole in it. hope this helps...

we use the classes to control line thickness, and we're still in 9.5. its works really well especially if the classes are set to 'use at creation'. hope this helps