Hatch Library Organization

[ThreeDot]

I'm setting out to update and reorganize my hatch library and am looking for advice on best practice. Some questions:

Do you create several scale-specific versions of the same hatch (e.g., 3/4", 1 1/2", 3", etc.) or, more generically create small, medium, large versions? Does it become cumbersome to manage this going forward or is it easier, with VW 2010, to create hatches at, say, 1" and scale them accordingly per object (0.25=1/4", 1.5=1 1/2", 3.0=3", etc.)?

Do you create vertical and horizontal versions of each hatch or just rotate on a case-by-case basis in 2010.

Do you create different colors/grays of each hatch?

Also, has anyone else noticed that hatches with transparency don't actually print or PDF with transparency?

Thanks

[Ken]

I find that scale-specific hatches are immensely more useful. Are yours not architectural? Even simple horizontal lines, for example, mean different things when spaced apart differently. I don't see any particular advantage of having small, medium and large versions.

Keep in mind that there are two types of hatches. One is a command that fills a selected area, creating a group of lines. It's easy to rotate. The other is an attribute preference that follows your layer scale.

My recommendation is to keep hatching to a minimum because every line should have meaning in architectural drawings. Unless you simply want to portray a "busy embellished look" for whatever reason. Just IMHO.

[Ray Libby]

Also keep in mind hatches can either have Page (size stays constant with all scales) or World (scales with layer scale) Units.