Hatch Patterns

• Hatch Patterns Overview
• Editing Hatch Patterns
• Editing Placed Hatches: Why You Should Be Using Our P-Hatch Tool
• Adding Hatch Patterns
• Assigning a Real-World Scale to a Placed Hatch Pattern
• Having a Hatch Issue? Download Our Updated Hatch Patterns Manually
• Related Webinars
• Troubleshooting

Our Hatch tool is a simple way to access hatch patterns intended for site plan usage. Grouped with our F/X Site tools, Hatch provides quick access to hatches for:

• Details
• Drip irrigation areas
• Groundcovers
• Site and Reference Note (RefNote) items such as mulches
• Site areas designated by Truecolor

 

Want more information on site and RefNote hatches? Visit our documentation sections on Placing a Site Hatch and Saving a Hatch.

 

Note: Hatch patterns can be used for a variety of purposes. Before using this tool, you will need to create an appropriate layer and make that layer active.

Our default hatches are hosted on the cloud (online). Previously, the hatch files were downloaded automatically into the folder LandFX/Hatch when you installed our software. Under this cloud setup, each of the hatches will live on our website until you place it in a drawing. When you place a hatch for the first time, the software will download the PAT file containing that hatch and place it in the appropriate location in the Hatch folder. Storing our blocks and hatches on the Cloud streamlines our installer and allows us to add new blocks and hatches dynamically, making them available with a simple software update. For more information, see our Cloud-Based Blocks and Hatches page.

Hatch Patterns Overview

The Hatch Patterns are standard AutoCAD hatch patterns and custom patterns that we have evaluated and included in our system at specific scales. Our default scale settings reflect our interpretation of the optimal hatch pattern for site plan usage. You can edit this scale setting if you feel it should be different. Once you change the scale to any of our default hatches, your scale setting will be saved in the user-xxxx.xml file within the folder LandFX\Hatch for safekeeping. More information

 

 

As long as your scale is set, the size of the hatch pattern will remain the same – regardless of the scale of the drawing, or whether you are in Model Space or Paper Space.

 

 

 

Access our Hatch tool:

 

 

 

 

or type FX_SiteHatch in the Command line

 

 

Editing Hatch Patterns

After testing each hatch pattern with a number of different scales, we made a determination of which scale seemed the most appropriate for usage on site plans. We set this scale as the default hatch scale. We've also applied a default rotation (i.e., the angle at which a pattern will be viewed when placed in a drawing) and even a default layer for each of our hatch patterns to be placed on. However, you can easily make changes to any or all of these settings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A preview dialog box of the hatch pattern you selected will open.

 

 

 

 

5. You are no longer able to change the rotation of a default Land F/X hatch pattern. We have added several rotations to all appropriate hatches, so you shouldn't need to. Still want to change the rotation? Here's how.

 

6. If you want, you can type the name of the layer where you want the hatch to be placed.

Specifying a layer name here will place the hatch on that layer instead of the default, including when you're placing hatches for Area/Volume Reference Notes (RefNotes). You can refine your drawing setup routine by loading in the definitions of these layers that you define by using our Layer States tool to save a list of layers and their properties.

If you already have saved hatches in the system with assigned custom layers, you'll need to navigate to the user section of the hatches and re-input the desired layers.

 

 

Click OK to save your settings.

Always test the output of any adjusted hatch pattern in Paper Space. The system will automatically scale the pattern appropriately for Model Space. Remember: When you change a hatch pattern's scale, you're changing it for all future use by the whole office. Be careful!

To get an accurate printout of all settings as they sit in the hatch library, run PRINTHATCHES and select the category you'd like to print. The system will automatically lay out all hatches within that section so you can save into your office Standards reference folder.

 

 

 

Editing Placed Hatches: Why You Should Be Using Our P-Hatch Tool

Need to add to or subtract from an existing placed hatch in your drawing? If so, we recommend using our P-Hatch tool rather than the native CAD Hatch Edit command.

P-Hatch provides a quick way to add to or subtract from hatches by "painting" the hatch pattern into your drawing using one of several possible "brush" patterns. It's also a safe way to edit placed hatches without compromising the hatch boundary.

 

It's especially important to use P-Hatch to edit hatched areas that contain individual blocks such as shrubs, site amenities, or generic blocks. We've seen some major issues result from the use of Hatch Edit for this purpose – especially when user has attempted to select individual shrubs or other block to trim the hatch beneath them.

 

The issue often arises when a user uses the Add Boundary option within the Hatch Edit command and then clicks individual blocks within the hatch to trim the hatch beneath those blocks. This practice can result in hundreds of small boundaries within the hatch boundary (a major cause of poor drawing performance), while also negating the overall Area property for some of the hatches.

 

In these cases, we strongly recommend using P-Hatch, which makes instant edits to the hatch pattern while protecting the hatch's boundary and area total.

Adding Hatch Patterns

Our Save Hatch tool provides a convenient method for adding existing hatch patterns to our hatch pattern database. For more information, see our Save Hatches page.

Assigning a Real-World Scale to a Placed Hatch Pattern

You might want a hatch that shows pavers, wood planks, or other objects to appear at a scale where the hatch components show at the same measurements in your drawing as they would on the site itself. For example, you might have a hatch depicting 8-inch pavers, and you want the pavers to actually measure 8 inches in your drawing. If so, here's what to do.

We have plans to introduce a true-scale section of hatches, but they are still under construction. This feature will be a part of a phase two of our hatch pattern roll-out.

Are you experiencing any of the following issues with your hatches?

• Hatches looking fragmented or broken apart
• Hatches with scales that are too large or too dense
• Hatches that place blank or empty
• Hatches that are not appearing in schedules
• File size bloating

 

If so, follow our steps to download our updated hatch patterns manually.

• Hatches We dive into the Land F/X hatch libraries, take a look at how Land F/X manages hatches, and show you how to integrate your own custom hatches and develop a better understanding of the inner workings of the Land F/X hatch system as a whole. (58 min)

Troubleshooting

Issue: Hatches are appearing as solid rather than patterns

 

Hatch Scale Issue: A hatch doesn't look right

 

Hatch Scale Issue: A hatch is either too dense or does not render

 

Issue: Hatch Island / Hatch Multiple feature is not working properly

 

Issue: Super Hatch & Land F/X software

 

Issue: Hatch definition not found – error message

 

Issue: Hatch preview slides (thumbnails) are incorrect – several slides are identical but have different names

 

Issue: Unable to see hatches or colorized plants in a 3D model (AutoCAD or Civil 3D)

 

Issue: When you change a hatch description when editing that hatch, a new duplicate hatch is being created with the original description

 

Issue: Error message: The hatch no longer exists

 

Issue: Colors are displaying incorrectly in Model Space

 

Issue: While working offline, you are unable to access hatch patterns you've already used. The thumbnail previews in the Hatch dialog box are blank.

 

Issue: You tried to place a Stipple hatch pattern, but the hatch is placing incorrectly outside the polyline area

 

Issue: Your hatches are showing up incorrectly, or as random lines or solid colors

 

Issue: Your hatch libraries are blank or empty

 

Issue: A placed Land F/X hatch looks fragmented or isn't joined like it should be

 

Issue: You are unable to change the rotation of a hatch pattern

 

Issue: A placed Land F/X hatch looks different from its thumbnail preview slide in the Hatch dialog box

 

Issue: You've assigned custom layers to some of our hatch patterns, and those layers are missing from the hatches