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mpkeane

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Everything posted by mpkeane

  1. Using a macbook pro OS 12.2.1 with VW2020 SP6 When a new file is opened, there is a grey rectangle with light blue grid lines in the center of the page. I think this is an origin marker. What is the rectangle called? My problem is that when I draw a freehand line across the grey lines, the tool snaps to the grey line. Even if I have all Snapping turned off, I can't draw across those grey lines without my freehand line catching and ruining the curve I am drawing? Is there a way to delete the rectangle or turn off the snapping aspect? Marc
  2. I am using a macbook pro OS12.2.1 (with external large format monitor), with VW 2020SP6 I have used VW for many years with no problem. Now, when I save a VW document, the "Save Vectorworks Drawing" window that pops up has suddenly become enormous. It fits vertically on my monitor but in the horizontal direction is stretches way off the screen to the left and right. If I slide the save window over to grab the lower right-hand corner, I can shrink the window size vertically, but not horizontally. (I can make the window bigger horizontally but not smaller). I have tried closing and restarting VW, as well as shutting down and restarting the computer. Still the same. How can I "reset", this aspect of VW? Marc
  3. I am using a macbook pro OS 11.5.1 (13" Apple M1 chip) with VW 2020 SP6. Under Tools > Workspaces > Edit Current Workspace, I went into Menus > File > Export > Export PDF, to set a new keyboard shortcut for that menu item. After that, the shortcut worked perfectly until I closed VW and started up the next day. At that point, the same keyboard shortcut activates some other aspect of VW and I have to go back in and reset the shortcut. When I navigate as described above to Export PDF, the keyboard shortcut I had chosen is still shown there as being linked to that menu item but it doesn't work. I click OK, and a notice that the workspace has been modified pops up and, again, everything is fine until I close VW and start it up again. Why does VW not "remember" the changes I have made and saved? Marc
  4. Thank you Boh; I will check out the data tag tool. Marc
  5. Working with a macbook pro, OS 11.2 VW2020 In the Sketchup app, the text of a callout box will automatically give the square footage (square meters) of the surface that it is touching. Can VW do something similar by which the callout tool can be set to automatically display the area of the surface it is pointed toward? Marc
  6. I am working on a macbook pro with OS 11.2 using VW 2020 SP5 In my design layers, I have a number of layers that stack one above the other as they are supposed to. I make a viewport and drop the viewport into a sheet layer with a title block, and that all works fine. However, once I have that set up, if I go to the Organization panel and choose Visibilities and turn on new layers after the fact, whatever I turn on is in the wrong order, laying on top of all the other layers and blocking it. If I erase that viewport and make a new one with all the layers turned on as I need them, it works fine in the viewport. The problem is with turning on and off layers in the Organization palette after the fact. Any idea what could be going wrong?
  7. I am using Vectorworks Landmark 2020 on a macbook pro OS 11.2. I live and work in Japan and often interface with Japanese language. Overall I have had no problem with that but recently when I imported a dxf file that an architect sent to me, all the Japanese text was corrupted. Is there a way to specify the language or font of a dxf import so the Japanese language imports correctly?
  8. Pat, Andy; Thank you for the tips. Now I understand how to use this feature a lot better. Marc
  9. I am working with a macbook pro OS 11.1 and VW 2020. I want to change the date in the title block of certain sheets in my project, but not all the sheets. Using the Object Info palette, I see there is Project Data and Sheet Data, and it seems things on the Sheet Date (like the sheet title) can change sheet by sheet, but things on the Project Date change globally. The strange thing is that there is a Date field in both Project Data and Sheet Data. In my case, changing the date in the Project Data changes the date on all sheets, and changing the date in Sheet Date does nothing. Why are there two date fields in Project Data and Sheet Data? Is it possible to change the date on individual sheets? Marc
  10. I am using VW 2017 on a macbook pro using OS 10.12.6. Does anyone know if VW 2017 will still work if I upgrade to the latest mac OS 10.14? Marc
  11. Thank you Kevin. If only every answer was so painless! Marc
  12. The way VW is set up, to move a selected object, one can use command + shift + the arrow keys. I would prefer to change that to just command + arrow keys (I think that is the way it used to be?) How can we edit command keys? I can't see how to do that in the workspace editor. Marc
  13. OK. I see. Answered my own question. In order to Export, one needs to open the Resource file found in the Vectorworks folder > Libraries > ..... One can Export when the Resource file is opened, and Import when the Working file is opened.
  14. Thank you for the links. Actually I have watched all the Landmark video tutorials and also checked the Knowledge Base and also Vectorworks help. I found nothing that addressed this issue in the first two, and in VW help I found this: To export resources: 1. In the Resource Browser, select the resource(s) to export. 2. Select Export from the Resources menu. However, when I select a resource in the Resource Browser and then go to the Resources menu, there are 6 choices: View As; Show Object Types; Find Resource; New Resource in...(file name); Import; and Reference. There is no "Export" choice available. Is there a different Resource Browser somewhere else that has Export? (I am trying to export plant symbols from Plant Objects in the Resource browser to my User Folder so they will be always available in my Plant tool.) Marc
  15. When I import a new plant symbol, I go to the Resource Browser, right-click (mac) on a plant symbol, choose Import, and a new window opens called Import Symbol(s). In the new window there are two radio buttons: Preserve Folder Hierarchy and Select Destination Folder. If I choose the former the destination is fixed. If I choose the latter, the only choice I am given is the file I am actually working on at that time. Nowhere do I see how I could choose the User folder or Workgroup folder. How can I select that as a destination folder? Marc
  16. I understand how to import a new plant symbol using the Resource Browser from the Plant Object file into the VW file I am working on. But how do I make that new plant symbol a default symbol so it will be available in all future VW files instead of just the one I am working on now? Marc
  17. The experience of using the Plant Tool is hampered by the need to do a number of manual processes to link the VW database of plants with a plant symbol ? work that should be done by the computer itself. Presently, one places a symbol on a page (a generic ornamental tree for instance) and then must assign a plant definition to the symbol. VW provides a database of thousands of possible plants, which is excellent, but in order to link the symbol with the specific plant definition, the user must open secondary windows, make a duplicate of the generic symbol, search through various databases (trees, shrubs, ground covers etc are all separate requiring separate loading), and link a specific plant to the generic symbol creating a plant specific symbol. There is no need to create duplicate "plant-specific" symbols and there is a much better way to assign a plant definition to a symbol, as follows. Plant Symbols: All that are needed are 20 or so generic symbols: Deciduous tree, deciduous shrub, coniferous tree, coniferous shrub, etc. There is no need to take the generic deciduous tree symbol and create a duplicate plant-specific symbol for a Betula nigra, and another for a Betula nigra 'Heritage' and another for a Betula nigra 'Cully' ad infinitum. All that is needed is to link new plant definitions to generic symbols. The information that appears in the Plant Tag and in the Object Information palette will change, but there is no need to make an entirely new symbol, otherwise one must make hundreds or thousands of new symbols for every possible plant and that becomes impossibly unwieldy. Linking Symbols and Definitions: The present system requires that one clicks the plant tool, and then opens a separate Plant Settings window (always inefficient to have to open new windows), then open a SECOND new window to get to edit the definition then open a THIRD new window to get plant data from the VW plant database! This whole process is slow, and inefficient and feels like a throw-back to an earlier age of computers. The Ideal: When you search for a item on the Amazon website, a song on iTunes (both of which have databases that are MUCH larger than VW plant database), one simply types the name of what one is looking for and as one types, suggestions for what you are looking for appear as a scroll window under the window you are typing in. VW should do the same thing. You choose the plant tool. Immediately a small window appears and as you type the plant ID or the botanical name or the common name, a list of possible suggestions appears. Within a second you have found your plant in the database (trees, shrubs, groundcovers all together) and linked it to a generic symbol. Summary: The method of assigning a specific plant definition to a generic plant symbol in VW is antiquated. The computer should do the hard work of linking the large database of plants to generic plant symbols in the above manner, which would greatly improve the overall fluidity and efficiency of the VW experience.
  18. The existing process of placing a schedule on a plan and then modifying it in any manner is antiquated and inefficient. (My experience is with placing Plant Schedules on plans within Landmarks, but this comment most likely applies to all schedules in VW. ) Placing a Schedule: Rather than a separate menu item to place a schedule, there should simply be a Schedule Tool so that everything in VW works in the same way. The proposed Schedule Tool would allow you place an item, and the tool's preference panel would let you choose what type of item you want to place. Why should schedules be any different from plant symbols or dimensions or a text box or any other object? Modifying a Schedule: This is the main problem. Once placed on a plan, in order to modify the shape or size of the schedule, the size or attributes of the font used, or the content of any cell, one must first double click on the schedule to open a separate spread-sheet window, then open another series of windows to modify the row height or column width, and yet another window to modify the font attributes. Even changing the content of a cell is done in the old-fashioned way where one can't change the content "in the cell" but must change it in a separate window. The whole process is extremely slow and feels like a throw-back to a previous era of computers. The Ideal: Schedules should work like any other aspect of VW. The size and shape of the schedule itself should be as easy to place as a rectangle shape or a text box. Modifying the shape and size of the schedule (or any row or column) should be a click-and-drag operation, just like any other shape in VW. Modifying the text style or content should be done through the text menu or the Object Info Palette just as with any other text box in VW. Modifying the content of any cell should happen "in-place" "in-the-cell" without the need for open a secondary window, just like any other text box in VW. Summary: The schedules in VW feel like a throw-back to an earlier age of computers that have been allowed to remain unchanged within an upgraded software. They are out of place, out of date, and need to be redesigned to improve the overall fluidity and efficiency of the VW experience.
  19. VW 2013 has improved its Plant Tool by making it possible to modify the size of the plant symbol after placement on the drawing through the Object Info Palette. Now the same symbol can be used for an 8' spread Acer palmatum and a 15' spread Acer palmatum. That improvement was much appreciated. I was very disappointed to find, however, that the information about the plant name in the tag is still locked to the symbol and cannot be changed in the OIP. That means that one needs a separate and unique symbol for every single plant one might use: genus, species, and variety. The number of symbols required is utterly mind-boggling. Have I got this wrong? It seems like such a fundamental flaw ? to require a designer to browse through thousands of symbols to find the right plant. Is there any way to modify the plant name so that the same generic symbol (deciduous tree for instance) can be used for any plant of that type? Thank you. Marc
  20. I am a landscape architect, and as such use the Plant Tool a lot. The way the plant symbol (2D, Plan View) control is set up now, I feel, is incredibly troublesome to use so much so I have considered not using VW. Because the plant symbol cannot be resized in the OIP, and because the plant information is directly associated with the plant symbol, a designer needs to have a separate and unique symbol for every single plant they could ever use at every possible size!! One quickly realizes this means having hundreds if not thousands of separate and unique symbols. Impossible. What would much better, I feel, is this. When we used to hand-draft, we only used a limited set of symbols on our plans: a few each for deciduous shrubs and trees, coniferous shrubs and trees, herbaceous plants, ground covers, and a few specialty symbols. The total number required might be around 20 unique symbols. Beyond that, one cannot distinguish between them on a plan anyway. So what is required is a basic set of around 20 symbols, which could differ for each designer. A database of plant information would be built separately from the plant symbols. When a designer uses the Plant Tool, they would locate a given symbol on the plan. Then through the OIP, they could set the size of the plant in question. One would not need, for instance, to have a separate symbol for an 2", 4" and 6" caliper Japanese maple. Also through the OIP (or by double-clicking the plant symbol and bringing up a text box), the designer could either manually enter information about the plant (type in: Acer plamatum 'Bloodgood') or, by entering a alpha-numeric code, they could link the text box to the plant database and automatically infill that information. In summary, my suggestion for a new Plant Tool is one that has these two features: 1) The size of the plant symbol can be modified through the OIP. 2) The plant information database would be separate from the plant symbol and linked through information entered in the Tag Text box. Does anyone else agree with these suggestions? Marc
  21. I am working on a MacBookPro with OS 10.6.8 and VW 2010. Is there a function in VW to apply a "curly brackets" to a design? Not as a part of text, but to link a comment with a group of objects, or point towards a section of a drawing. (These are curly brackets >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bracket#Curly_brackets_.7B_.7D) Marc
  22. I am working on a MacBookPro with OS 10.6.8 and VW 2010. In an existing file that is already fully developed, I have begun to have trouble with the Callout Tool. If I try to modify any existing callout, when I exit the input window, I get the spinning lollipop of death for about a minute. New callouts seem to open and close without trouble but all the existing ones seem to be corrupted and freeze up when I try to exit them. Any idea how to fix this? I already tried quitting and restarting VW as well as the computer itself to no avail. The callout tool in a new VW file works just fine and if I copy the callouts that are giving me trouble in this one file into a new file, they work just fine. It seems to be the just one file that is corrupted. Where is the callout data kept and can it be "re-booted" so to speak? Marc
  23. One other additional piece of info, the callout tool in a new VW file works just fine. If I copy the callouts that are giving me trouble in this file into a new file, they work just fine. It seem to be the one file that is corrupted. Where is the callout data kept and can it be "re-booted" so to speak? Marc
  24. I am working on a MacBookPro with OS 10.6.8 and VW 2010. In an existing file that is already fully developed, I have begun to have trouble with the Callout Tool. If I try to modify any existing callout, when I exit the input window, I get the spinning lollipop of death for about a minute. New callouts seem to open and close without trouble but all the existing ones seem to be corrupted and freeze up when I try to exit them. Any idea how to fix this? I already tried quitting and restarting VW as well as the computer itself to no avail. Thank you. Marc
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