How to create color plant symbols in plant catalog

[pch]

I want to create colorized plant symbols within my plant catalog but have been unsuccessful so far. I've tried two methods:

A) Duplicate one of the supplied generic symbols in the 2D_PSyms library. Edit the new symbol adding a simple color fill to it. Edit my plant catalog creating a new plant definition and attaching to the definition my new colorized plant symbol. The colorized symbol appears in my plant catalog. So far so good. I use the Place Plant tool to place an instance of the plan into my drawing...the plant places sucessfully but there is no color.

Here is the other option I've tried.

B)Edit a symbol from within the Plant-Catalog in the document's System Folder. Add a simple color fill to the symbol. I use the Place Plant tool to place an instance of the plant (it is displayed as colorized in the Set Default Plant Tool Options dialog box) on the drawing...again the plant places successfully but there is no color.

I recently purchased the Landmark Training CD for Version 11 and they demo colorized plant symbols being placed from the Plant Catalog into the drawing. However, they do not describe how the colorized symbols were created.

Vectorworks/Landmark 11 - Windows XP

Thanks.

[Robert Anderson]

The plants in the plant catalog behave like other objects; that is, they will take on whatever fill color you have selected in the Attributes palette when you place them.

[pch]

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm not sure I understand your reply. Here is what I believe you are saying.

It does not matter if you edit plant symbols and colorize them prior to placing them in the drawing because upon placement they take on the current settings from the Attributes palette.

Is that correct?

Thank You.

[Robert Anderson]

Sort of. Depends on what part of the plant you colorize. All the standard plants have a large filled shape -- usually a polygon -- that is the first drawn shape and serves as the background for the plant. This is what is colored using the assigned attributes, and you are correct in saying that it doesn't matter what color you make this part of the symbol.

If you wanted to add, say, yellow or red blooms to a plant symbol, these colors will be preserved, as long as they are not the first (backmost) filled shape in the plant.