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What is the easiest and most reliable way to cut a drawing in 3 ?


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I have an A1 1:200 drawing that has to be presented at 1:100 and it means spliting the drawing onto 3 seperate sheets, is it just a matter of using the rectangular selection tool and copy then paste the sections indiviually onto new sheets or is there a smarter way ?

Thanks

Viper x

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What version are you using? In version 11 you can (and probably should) draw the entire project and then use VIEWPORTS to break it into pieces.

In version 10 and before you will need to do it 'manually' with clipping and/or masking. There are a couple different ways, none of them as good as the VIEWPORT solution.

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earlier versions can use layer links with masking blockouts. i would not suggest cutting and pasting a single drawing into different parts- it defeats the purpose of a CAD program and is an inefficient drawing technique.

if you have version 11 you have to use viewports! it sthe only way to go, and if you ever have to change a part of the drawing, they are automatically updated...

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Viper:

It sounds like what you are doing is tileing. Before the era of large format printers, this was the only way to get a large sheet by taping letter size sheets together.

Though I have not tried it, I believe the program will do this for you in the drawing. Go to Page>Set Print Area.

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I am on VW 10.

I need to keep it simple as I am still not an expert at VW.

I have a finished town planning drawing that was drawn at 1:200 and prints perfectly on an A1 sheet.

I now need to prepare a tender drawing but 1:200 is too small to read the planting details, so it has to be at 1:100

So I have copied a version of the drawing and changed the scale to 1:100 but of course it now requires to be cut in 3 sections to get the drawing on A1 sheets.

Can I not just complete the tender drawing at 1:100 then copy and paste (using the rectangular selection tool) the 3 different sections of the entire drawing into 3 new A1 drawings?

I know this is a simplistic approach but I have not got the time to learn and test more complex ways to do this at present.

Thanks Viper x

[ 10-06-2004, 06:30 AM: Message edited by: Viper x ]

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You could also consider moving the page to each of your three sections in turn and create a pdf of each page. In that way you can check in Reader on screen if you have the right areas.

I've never had to do this but did have to recently get some A0 drawing copies made and found the only print shop in my area that could do it retaining fonts and detail needed it as a pdf. They were set up for Autocad.

Without the expense of printing a A0 sheet this also allowed me to check the output appearance on screen before sending file for printing.

Pdf programs to that size easily available if you don't have one. OSX has it built in - are you mac based?

All the best

Alan

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Better than copying and pasting to another file, save the enlarged file as "A-1", then save it again as "A-2", and then again as "A-3.

In each new file, use the "Move Page" tool (on the 2D Tools palette, behind the "Pan" tool) to drag the print border to the part of the plan that's to be printed on that sheet.

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Woohhhh......

You are over estimating my expertise at this software.

All those suggestions are sure to be excellent but one cannot head off attempting these new moves when hard copies need to out to tender in a day or so.

Often learning new moves in this software can end up taking hours or more, not to mention the many posts I read elsewhere with people having problems with these very techniques [Eek!]

My idea is to copy the relevant third of the drawing plus a small extra portion that is common to the sheets that would normally be joined, and then mark the cut with a dotted line, that way the cut line and extra bit is common to the different drawings and so loosing details in the cut line is not a problem.

I can see there is much smarter ways to do it but they will have to wait until I have a week to practice without the frightening chance of getting into a panic with deadlines looming [Eek!]

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Viper;

Isn't it nice that so many people are taking an interest in your problem.

My last suggesion to you assumed that you wanted separate pieces of paper. But it appears that you intend on cutting and taping.

Your solution is very easy. Place your dotted cut lines where you want them on the drawing. Then using the move page tool, drag your page marque to the desired location and print. Repeat this three times and you will have your three sheets with the dotted lines on them where you need to cut.

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I do need 3 seperate pieces of paper, each one A1 and at 1:100.

You suggestion sounds good but each sheet also needs a title block and each sheet needs lots of the same notations on them, so it may be just as easy to copy the full A1 drawing under 3 names and delete the portions I don't need.

The other scary thing is the drawings need to be sent to commercial print shops and believe me they will do nothing other than push a button so I am loath to give them anything but the complete drawing to print, already they resist dealing in VW and the viewer.

And yes I am very encouraged by peoples interest. [smile]

Learning this program can be [Eek!] at times.

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... At the risk of too much information;

Jim, you posted:?? ?? ?? ? ?? ? ? ?? ??

"....yes, and use the 'workgroup reference' tool! you would have a reference file you work in, and a target file for printing only."

Workgroup reference is a great tool, the problem with it is if you attempt to use the move page tool "odd" things happen to workgroup referenced objects when the move page tool is used. The reference needs to be "broken" prior to the use of the move page tool. This may be fixed in 11(?) but up to VW10 it was a problem that requires a work around.

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quote:

Originally posted by Jim Smith:

... At the risk of too much information;

Jim, you posted:?? ?? ?? ? ?? ? ? ?? ??

"....yes, and use the 'workgroup reference' tool! you would have a reference file you work in, and a target file for printing only."

Workgroup reference is a great tool, the problem with it is if you attempt to use the move page tool "odd" things happen to workgroup referenced objects when the move page tool is used. The reference needs to be "broken" prior to the use of the move page tool. This may be fixed in 11(?) but up to VW10 it was a problem that requires a work around.

This the type of unforeseen problems I have encountered on my VW journey and why I am very nervous trying new moves whilst a "real" drawing is at stake, when you have deadlines hanging above your head it is just scary.

Great info all the same and I will try these moves in time. [Cool]

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quote:

Originally posted by Viper x:

I do need 3 seperate pieces of paper, each one A1 and at 1:100.

You suggestion sounds good but each sheet also needs a title block and each sheet needs lots of the same notations on them, ....

This is where using a polygon mask come in handy. It allows you to "delete" information wthout deleting it. if you use separate layers you can snap the masks to one another so that the image is precisely aligned. The common information can reside on separate layers as well.

As far as the print shop, try using PDF. It is a universal standard and does not require special software such as the viewer.

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Trouble with PDF is you require a full version of Acrobat for a start, also many print shops are only accepting plt files and most don't want anything to do with VW.

Thanks for your help I will look into masking but to be honest I am so nervous of hidden bugs and the like I am reluctant to try anything new until this job is out.

I realise the copy and paste is crude but it is foolproof it seems.

Viper x

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Hi Viper;

The trick with using copy and paste is that some elements might exist across your cut line. A wall for example will only copy in it's entirety. If that wall must exist on two different sheets, then copy and paste would be difficult.

If I understand correctly, you simply want to divide up your image into 3 separate images that will print on 3 separate A1 sheets. As you have VW10 and not VW11, viewports are not an option.

This is what comes to my mind. You can block out your image using solid polygons with a white fill. Set the line attribute to none so that the polygon outline does not print. This will allow you to mask you image as needed.

Use the move page tool to position the page to fit your image and print.

I would create three layers to correspond to the three pages that you want to print. Each layer would have the entire image on it, either by layer link or copy and paste. With all layers visible, you can draw your polygon masks on each layer to create the approprate third of the master image With the move page tool, simply move the page for each layer, print, move to the next layer, move page, print, etc.

What you see on the screen is what will print. So if you hide areas with your mask, then they will not print.

There may be a better way, but I think this would work.

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quote:

Originally posted by Viper x:

Trouble with PDF is you require a full version of Acrobat

Or you can use pdf995, $9.95 or free with advertising, which makes a great large format PDF file.

http://www.pdf995.com/

And if your print shop likes PLT, why don't you send them that? Just download the drivers for their plotter and install it as a new printer on your computer, then print to it, checking the "Print to File" box.

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"Trouble with PDF is you require a full version of Acrobat for a start"

How did you come to this opinion. I stated clearly in my previous post that pdf programs are easily available, not just Adobe Acrobat.

I'm Windows based and the pdf995 already mentioned is excellent, goes to the size you need, requires little or no input from your print shop other than what they would normally do to print files. And it's free until you want to remove the pop up that accompanies it each time and that's no big deal.

OSX on the Mac has a print to pdf built into the operating system

Worried about bugs, messing up your work. Is making a copy of your file so difficult. Then you can try any suggestion without worry of losing your work.

If you are going out to a print shop to print these how were you going to present the file to them for printing anyway. Do they have Vectorworks, or Vectorworks Viewer? I've had no joy exporting as a DXF. Fonts and text alignment all over the place. Pdf worked great for me.

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I e-mail the VW file to a print shop who has a viewer and they print with no problems as long as they don't have to undertake any work on the file.

I have been told by VW that plot files are not the best choice as they are very limited in their ability to print anything more than simple drawings and of course VW can contain much more complex finishes.

As for bugs, yes I can save the drawing and then practice these new options but not when I have a approaching deadline for full tender drawings looming, you just have to read the tech board and see many clever people than me grappling with unforeseen problems every day, keep it simple, one step at a time is what I learnt with this software, otherwise there can be tears . [Eek!]

As for pdf's I have only known Acrobat as the program to use so I will look into the other suggestions.

The pdf path is tempting as print shops just are not interested in messing around with VW and the viewer.

Thanks for all the help [smile]

[ 10-08-2004, 07:59 AM: Message edited by: Viper x ]

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Viper

One easy way to print your drawings is to have three separate title blocks on separate layers, one for each portion of your drawing (#1, 2, & 3). For the first drawing, make sure yur other two title block layers are invisible, move the title block to where you want it. Place white filled rectangles with no line weight below the title block (you can use 'move to back' tool, so you cannot see the portion of your drawing that will show through the title block (yout title block layers should be at the top). When everything looks good, save this in your 'save View' as Sheet 1. Do the same for the other two sheets. The print office we used would go to each saved sheet to print, or alternatiely, save the file three times just for printing (if your printers prints directly from Vectorworks. Saving as pdf's is very easy on a Mac, but I'm not familiar with the PCs.

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