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Positioning doors and windows


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There must be a better way to install windows/doors in walls than the primitive method I've been reduced to using. I've could never get the insertion of symbols to offset from the corner of a room instead of the centerline of the wall at the corner. So I typically place a small line in the wall where I'd like the edge of the window/door to be. This way I can place a window/door in the wall and drag it to its proper location by snapping to the line. Very slow. What am I missing?! Any help is greatly appreciated. confused.gif" border="0

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

This is easy.

1. Insert your symbol or plug-in object in the wall;2. Make sure your symbol is selected (it will have its own "handles" showing);3. If it's not open, open the Object Infomation palette. Click on the Position button.4. A dialog will appear allowing you to position the wall-inserted object precisely relative to the wall extents.

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I was aware of this positioning tool but have not had much call for it in conjunction with the as-built survey work I usually do as a first step in the remodel work I do. Is there any way to make that positioning diagram measure to the EDGE of the window instead of the center? When I measure up rooms I am measuring wall segments and window widths (frequently of a size that makes on-the-fly calculations of their centerline tedious). It would be helpful when I enter a windows placement relative to a wall end if the measurement was from the window edge closest to the corner in question. I realize this is not how one dimensions most windows in new construction but it is how things get measured in survey work. Any help is appreciated!

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Are you using the offset insertion mode tool? That is available when you callout plug-nis or symbols and allows you to use any point as a reference and depending on which mode you choose to grab your symbol( left edge, center etc)you can precisely locate the door jamb relatively to any portion of the wall you choose as a reference.

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

You can use a combination of the Insertion Tool offset mode along with the Snap to Distance to get a precise offset the first time. For offset symbol insertion, see VW9 manual page 11-10. For Snap to Distance, see VW9 manual page 4-7. Snap to Distance works nicely along the face of walls, etc.

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Michael, for what it's worth, I also do a lot of as-built drawings for remodels and I've gotten really fast (as I'm sure you are too) checking window/door locations using lines. I draw a line at the appropriate corner then use the move command. Then I actually use another line line to measure to the window edge. Then I use the position button to and add or subtract to move the plug-in. It sounds like a big pain, I know, but it guarantees me accuracy, and in the whole scope of a job it is a very small piece, $$$-wise. PLC

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Thanks for all the good input everyone. I went back and tried that insertion tool technique again to see if it would work. I think I've discovered my problem. Sort of torn on whether its your fault or mine. I frequently tab over to the length input (still waiting for my MAc OSX 4 button mouse driver to make this easy again)at the top of the window to make my entries and I would think this would work for establishing of distance along a wall from a reference point. And it does...with one caveat. If in the course of inserting that door, you cause the floating door image to be inserted with the swing going to the opposite side of the wall from where you inserted your reference point you get a slightly shorter distance than the one you entered for your length because it is measuring that small diagonal across the wall. In other words, your entered length is the hypotenuse of a right triangle that has the offset distance as the size of its longer leg. Whew! For those of us who use the length input a lot this is a little counterintuitive,especially because walls are not always orthogonal and one cannot always rely on the x and y entries to get the offset (a more reliable method when one is using orthogonal geometry). I guess I'll make a point (no pun intended) to stay on the same side of the wall for now. But I think it would make more sense to make the entered length figure constrained to the axis of the wall when you are in insertion mode. I mean, if you're sliding along that wall to begin with it kind of seems like we all understand that's the reference axis anyway. Thanks for all the help. Further commentary is always appreciated.

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