Sheet Setup Webinar

Note: The following catalog of content covered in this webinar is time stamped to allow you to follow along or skip to sections of the video that are relevant to your questions. You can also search for content on this page using the FIND command in your browser (CTRL + F in Windows, Command + F in Mac OS.)

• Intro and TOC
• Goals
• Diagrams
  • Xref Layout Example
  • Drawing Process
• Creating Templates
• Setting Up Your Title Blocks (Layout Sizes)
• External References (Xrefs)
• Drawing Cleanup
  • Zoom Extents
  • User Coordinate System (UCS)
  • Checking the Units and Scale
  • Nuke Tool
  • Saving and Renaming the File
• Viewports
• Recap & Layer States

 

0:00 – 4:17: Intro & TOC

 

4:17 – 6:45: Goals

1. How to set up your sheets without using the Sheet Setup Manager
2. How to create clean templates that will save time and be used for all purposes
3. Have a better understanding that sheet setup is more than just opening the DWG and starting your design
4. Have a standard process for your office that is easy enough to not require a big checklist

 

6:46 – 16:07: Diagrams

Xref Layout Example Diagram (6:46)

 

Drawing Process Diagram (9:42)

Note: For security and ease of use, and to prevent loss of your work, we highly, highly recommend keeping all of your sheet drawings in separate files and then Xrefing them into the main drawing.

 

Question: The recommendation to keep all sheets in separate drawings is all well and good for, say, a drawing that has 10 sheets. But what about a drawing that only has 2 sheets? (14:29)

 

Answer: Yes, we still recommend keeping the sheet in a separate drawing. You’ll still give yourself that added backup. It’s not that much extra effort to set up that extra sheet. As a result, processes such as error checking will be much faster and easier.

 

16:08 – 25:37: Creating Templates

Template types (16:08)

Template for a working drawing

 

Template for title block and details

 

The Template Settings in the Options dialog box (17:30)

 

Opening an existing template (18:12)

 

Creating a drawing template (18:35)

 

Note: We will be setting up a clean template with basic settings such as units and Paper Space layout settings.

 

Setting the units for our template in the Drawing Units dialog box (example: Architectural Inches) (19:17)

 

Setting the Paper Space Linetype Scale to 1 (allows you to see linetypes such as dashed lines correctly) (19:50)

 

Setting the UCS Follow to 0 (allows you to zoom correctly when in different layouts) (20:50)

 

Saving the drawing as a template (DWT file) (22:13)

 

Note: It’s a good idea to name the template with the units you’ve set in it (for example: Architectural Inches or Decimal Feet). This way, you’ll have a separate template for each unit settings.

 

Creating and saving another template for a different unit setting (23:45)

 

Selecting a template that will open automatically whenever you open a new drawing (QNEW setting) (24:29)

 

25:38 – 33:55: Setting Up Your Title Blocks (Layout Sizes)

Modifying the Page Setup Manager to set the plot style, plotter name, paper size, etc. (26:36)

 

Saving the title block file (28:00)

Saving the title block as a block for quick and easy placement in a drawing using the Land F/X Save Block tool (30:48)

Note: We recommend saving your title block in the folder LandFX/blocks/discipline_graphics in a folder named user_defined.

 

Previewing and accessing your blocks (32:48)

 

Placing the title block into a clean drawing (33:00)

 

33:56 – 40:47: External References (Xrefs)

Note: Proxy objects in drawings can create corruption issues, leading to big problems! Some of them can spread into any CAD file you open. Thus, you should avoid having another project open. (34:45)

 

Opening the base plan (36:00)

 

Setting CAD to show the Proxy Objects dialog box and enable Command Invoke in the CAD Options (36:11)

 

Overview of the Proxy Information dialog box, which shows all proxy objects in the drawing (38:00)

 

Overview of a typical drawing setup (details, title blocks, model, etc.) (39:30)

 

Checking for Xrefs (40:12)

 

40:48 – 51:29: Drawing Cleanup

Zooming to Extents ...

... to find errant objects outside the scope of the intended drawing, and performing a manual drawing cleanup (40:48)

 

User Coordinate System (UCS) (42:40)

 

Checking the drawing units and scale (43:40)

(It’s imperative to make sure the units in the main drawing match the units in the Xrefs – Decimal Feet, Architectural Inches, etc.) (43:40)

 

Cleaning the drawing with the Land F/X Nuke tool (44:12)

(The Nuke tool automates every drawing cleanup step you would perform manually, with one click.)

Performing an initial manual cleanup before running the Nuke tool, as well as freezing any layers that you don’t want to nuke  (45:20)

 

Saving and renaming the file (46:40)

Checking the Linetype Scale (LTSCALE) (45:50)

 

Confirming that the drawing has no proxy objects (47:50)

 

Starting a new drawing (48:10)

 

Attaching the Xrefs (48:48)

 

Creating a new UCS (50:12)

 

Restoring the World Coordinate system (UCS) (51:25)

 

51:30 – 1:00:32: Viewports

Opening a template and setting up a Viewport (51:30)

 

Setting up and configuring a Viewport (52:24)

 

Creating multiple Viewports on one sheet (53:20)

 

Freezing Viewport layers (55:55)

 

Example of a drawing with a tab for each sheet – each sheet is a separate file. (57:15)

 

Managing and maintaining the sheet files with the Sheet Setup Manager (58:10)

 

1:00:33 – end: Recap and Extras

Recap of sheet setup (1:00:33)

 

Layer states (1:03:45)

(Note: Each Xref should be on its own layer.)

 

The Save Layer State tool (1:04:20)