TPC Desktop Series. Drawing Learning Guide

Transcription

1 TPC Desktop Series Drawing Learning Guide 1/14 NOTICE The information in this document is subject to change without notice. TRAVERSE PC. Inc. assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document. Copyright 2014 TRAVERSE PC, INC. PO Box NOPAL STREET FLORENCE, OR All rights reserved. No part of this documentation may be reprinted, reproduced or utilized in any form without written consent from Traverse PC, Inc., with the exception that the examples may be stored and retrieved electronically for personal use. Sales: (800) X251 Technical Support: (541) X

2 Table of Contents Using the Drawing Learning Guide... 3 Introducing Quick View Technology... 5 Using the Drawing View... 9 Managing Drawings Adding Objects to a Drawing Adding Text to a Drawing Using Drawing Templates Adding a Legend Drawing Commands Using Pictures in Drawings Using Enhanced Hatching in Drawings Reusing CAD Blocks Adding Tables Using Layers Importing CAD Drawings Typography We will be using the following typography to distinguish items in the text: [Enter] flexibility Brackets indicate keys on the keyboard. Italics are used to highlight words for more emphasis. "Lot 2" System Requirements Numbers or text that you enter or will see on the screen. This version of TPC Desktop requires Windows 8 / 7 / Vista / XP and Internet Explorer Version 6.0 or later. We recommend you have 1 GB of RAM and 75 MB of free hard disk space in which to install the program. Important Licensing Information Our License Agreement allows you to use TPC on only one computer at a time unless you purchase additional licenses. We do offer one courtesy installation for an additional home or field computer, but not for a second user and assuming that the two programs are not being used at the same time. To request a courtesy license contact Traverse PC. 2 Drawing Learning Guide

3 Using the Learning Guide Using the Drawing Learning Guide Welcome to the TPC Desktop Drawing Learning Guide. It s designed to help you learn how to do everyday tasks with Traverse PC Desktop. The Learning Guide is divided into chapters highlighting function areas within the program like Importing Data from a Data Collector and Using ASCII Files. Within each chapter you ll find step-by-step instructions on how to do the most common tasks like adding a line to a legend or adding angled text to a drawing. We ve also included useful hints to help you work more efficiently in TPC and references to the on-line Help so you can continue to learn after you have used the Learning Guide. Almost all of the topics in the Learning Guide apply to all Editions of Traverse PC Desktop. The ones that are limited to specific Editions are clearly labeled, usually at the start of the chapter. Some specific functions are limited to specific Editions and are clearly labeled as such when the function is discussed in the text. This chapter demonstrates Each chapter starts with a list of the things demonstrated in the chapter. This list corresponds with the individual tasks in the chapter. Not available in some Edition Each chapter has an indication like this at the start if it only applies to specific Editions. We provide the starting file Most chapters start by having you open one of the tutorial files provided with the Learning Guide. Just open the file and jump right in. One page per task Most of the tasks fit on a single page. Review all the tasks in a chapter first, then work through the tasks that are of interest to you. When you add up all the tasks in all the chapters there are literally hundreds of lessons in the Learning Guide. Follow the steps Most tasks include steps for you to follow. Each task starts with step 1. Menu commands only For the most part, the Learning Guide will include something like, choose File Save. The bold typeface indicates text you ll see on the screen. In this case, you would left-click the File menu to open it, then left-click the Save command to execute it. Choose means to left-click on a specific item. As you become familiar with Traverse PC Desktop you can also use the short-cut keys and tool bars. Drawing Learning Guide 3

4 Windows Styles Using the Learning Guide Depending on your version of Windows and what visual styles you have selected, your dialogs and screens may look different than what is shown in this Learning Guide. We include styles common in Windows 8, 7, Vista and XP in this learning guide. Windows XP style Windows Vista / Windows 7 style Windows 8 Style 4 Drawing Learning Guide

5 Introducing Quick View Technology Introducing Quick View Technology Overview For surveying and mapping, Quick View is a better way to do CAD (Computer Aided Drafting). You will use Quick View to create your survey drawings (much like you might use a CAD program) but you will also use Quick View to view the data from your data collector, analyze deeds, check the coverage of a TOPO survey, verify the drainage pattern of a subdivision, place a house on a lot and much more. We hate to call it CAD. Here are a couple of the reasons why: With most CAD programs, you have to draw the lines, insert the symbols, add the text and so on - which can add up to a lot of time. With Quick View, you select the settings you want, and Quick View draws it all for you. Just move a few things around, add some text and you have a drawing. In TPC, data like line lengths, elevations, etc. aren't stored in the drawing - they're stored in the survey. The drawing just represents the data. So if a line is 100' long, it's 100' long regardless of whether or not Quick View trims the lines out of the symbols. With TPC, if you tell Quick View to make a line label 0.1" high, you can change the drawing size and scale and that line label will still be 0.1" high. You'll learn some more of the reasons in this chapter. If you try to draw in TPC like you do in CAD you ll end up frustrated. This is the No CAD Zone. Instead, let Quick View do your drawings for you. You ll learn how the Traverse Settings create the drawing for you, typically 90% of it. Start with a drawing template, choose your Traverse Settings then change the objects that are different from the rest, add some text and you re done. Drawing in TPC is much, much faster than it is in CAD and a lot more fun. Getting started 1) From the Tasks View choose Sample Surveys. 2) Double-click the LEARN QUICKVIEW.TRV file. 3) Choose File Save Survey As then enter the name QuickView and choose Save. 4) If prompted to replace the existing file, choose Yes. Drawing Learning Guide 5

6 Introducing Quick View Technology The Quick View Concept TPC has used these same steps since its inception in Now millions of drawings later, it still creates drawings that same way because it works. 1) Create your data and tag the items you want to include in a drawing. 2) Use the Quick View settings to create the drawing objects. 3) Modify the Quick View settings and add Smart Drawing Objects to enhance your drawing. 4) Modify the settings (properties) of any individual objects that are different from the others. 5) Add any additional objects like text or background photos. These five steps provide an efficient drawing method unparalleled in CAD software. 6 Drawing Learning Guide

7 A Quick View Example Let s go step-by-step through an example so you can see how this works. Step 1: Creating and Tagging the Items to Include 1) In the Traverse Manager, put a check mark next to the three Lot 2 related traverses shown here. Uncheck the other traverses. TPC calls a check mark a tag. Each drawing remembers which items in each view are tagged. It s pretty simple. Introducing Quick View Technology Step 2: Use the Quick View settings to create the drawing objects 2) Right-click the Foundation 2 traverse and choose Traverse Settings to display the Traverse Settings dialog. 3) Left-click the Fill tab and select a Solid fill then choose OK. Step 3: Modify the Quick View settings and add Smart Drawing Objects to enhance your drawing 4) Double-click a blank row in the Drawing Manager and enter Lot 2 for the drawing name. Match the other settings here, including the Mortgage template and choose OK. TPC ships with a number of drawing templates that are ready to go. The Mortgage template includes a north arrow, scale bar and title block. These are Smart Drawing Objects. So go ahead, rotate the drawing or change the drawing scale. These objects will update themselves automatically. 5) Pull down the scale list in the Drawing View toolbar and select 50 FT/IN. Drawing Learning Guide 7

8 Introducing Quick View Technology 6) Choose Tools Position Survey on Page. a) Left-click (press and release) anywhere on the drawing. b) Drag the survey where you want it on the page. c) Left-click again to end the command. 7) Double-click any property line for lot 2 in the drawing to display the Traverse Settings dialog. a) From the Control Points tab, choose Set Rebar from the Symbols list as shown here. b) From the Curves / Spirals tab turn on Label and Leader. c) From the Lot Labels tab turn on Name, SqFt and Acres. d) Choose OK. Step 4: Modify the settings (properties) of any individual objects that are different from the others 8) Position the cursor over the South West lot corner point symbol, right-click and choose Properties to display the Point symbol dialog. a) Change the Symbol to Iron Pipe. b) Change the symbol size to 0.12 c) Choose OK. Step 5: Add any additional objects like text or background photos 9) Choose Insert Legend to display the Legend dialog. Choose OK to insert the legend. You did it! You just created a drawing using Quick View Technology. As you use TPC, you ll repeat these steps over and over to create working drawings, finished drawings, exhibits and new drawing templates. 8 Drawing Learning Guide

9 Using the Drawing View Using the Drawing View This chapter demonstrates: Selecting objects in the Drawing View Panning and zooming Traverse settings and object properties Changing traverse settings Trimming symbols Copying traverse settings Adding lot labels Moving objects Overriding traverse settings Drawing settings Saving and recalling traverse settings Hiding objects Drawing Learning Guide 9

10 Using the Drawing View Overview You can do CAD in the Drawing View but PLEASE DON T. TPC Desktop uses Quick View Technology to produce most of the objects in a drawing for you, directly from the data. The idea is to let Quick View generate as much of a drawing as it can. Then you can modify the objects it creates and add your own. The Drawing View has all the CAD tools to break / trim / extend lines, create offsets and dimensions, insert a chamfer or fillet between two intersecting lines, snap to a mid point and lots of other very basic CAD functions. But you will rarely if ever use these tools. So this chapter focuses on using the Quick View Technology within the Drawing View. See the previous chapter for an introduction to Quick View. Getting started 1) From the Tasks View choose Sample Surveys. 2) Double-click the LEARN QUICKVIEW.TRV file. 3) Choose File Save Survey As then enter the name QuickView and choose Save. 4) If prompted to replace the existing file, choose Yes. The Drawing View will open automatically when you load this sample survey. 10 Drawing Learning Guide

11 Selecting Objects in Drawing View Using the Drawing View To work with an object in Drawing View, position the cursor over the object. The cursor will change shape and the status bar displays the name of the object you are over. Understanding cursor shapes Drawing View uses a number of distinctive cursor shapes to distinguish what the cursor is over or what you are expected to do next. - The cursor is over the survey. The status bar displays Survey Press the Ctrl key to drag-n-drop the survey anywhere on the page without changing the coordinates of the survey. Right-click to display the Drawing View context menu. This cursor is also used to pick the diagonal corners of a window when selecting objects. or - The cursor becomes an arrow or four-headed arrow when it is over an object like a symbol, line or text. You choose the cursor you want in View Format View, Mouse tab. The status bar displays the name of the object you are over. - When you press the wheel of a wheel mouse, the cursor changes to this symbol. Just move the cursor in the direction you want to pan within the drawing. The further you move it away from this symbol, the faster the drawing scrolls. When the drawing has panned to where you want it, press the wheel again to cancel panning. Note: your computer s mouse settings may not support this feature. - When you choose the text or angled text commands and left-click the text insertion point, the cursor changes to an underscore inside a box, indicating the height, position and direction of the next character. The cursor advances with each character typed. Press [Enter] to advance to the next line. Press ]Enter] twice or right-click to end the text command. - When you choose the text box command, the cursor changes to an underscore inside the text box you create by left-clicking it s diagonal corners. Press [Enter] to advance to the next line. Press [Enter] twice or right-click to end the text command. Reading the status bar As you move the cursor in the Drawing View, the status bar displays the survey or paper space coordinates of the cursor. If the cursor is over an object, the status bar displays that object s type, name and additional information like the name of the traverse that drew the object. When you need to select an object that is very close to another object, move the cursor until the status bar displays the object you want, then select the object. If you move the Drawing View to a second monitor, it can include its own embedded status bar. Just choose View Format View and turn on Show Private Status Bar. Drawing Learning Guide 11

12 Using the Drawing View Panning and Zooming In order to see the details of a drawing, you will often need to zoom in on part of it. Once you are zoomed in, you may need to pan the drawing (move part of the drawing out of the window to make room for the part you want to see). The Drawing View gives you several tools to help you pan and zoom. Zooming When you zoom in on a portion of a drawing, you make the drawing objects larger by the zoom factor. A zoom factor of 2 would make the drawing objects twice as big as they actually are. A zoom factor of 1 would display drawing objects at their true or actual size. Zooming does not change the drawing scale. For instance, the Zoom Page command shows the entire portion of the page inside the border in the Drawing View. You will notice that the page zooms along with the drawing objects. As you zoom in, the page zooms beyond the Drawing View. You can t see it, unless you pan or scroll to it, but it is there. When you print a drawing, TPC resets the zoom factor to 1.0 and regenerates the drawing for the printer or plotter. This gives you a true scale on the printout. Panning With the Scroll Bars As you zoom in, the Drawing View adds scroll bars to the drawing so that you can move to different portions of the drawing at the same zoom factor. Slide the horizontal or vertical scroll bars to pan horizontally and vertically. Panning With the Left Mouse Button You can also use the left mouse button to pan the drawing. 1) Position the cursor over a blank portion of the page. The cursor can be an arrow or a plus (indicating it is over the survey portion of the drawing). 2) Press the left mouse button and drag the survey. The drawing is actually panning when you do this. 3) Release the left mouse button. If you set your mouse wheel to the Zoom option, you can use your mouse for both panning and zooming. You can use the Ctrl key to position the survey on the page. This is not the same as panning. 12 Drawing Learning Guide

13 Zooming with a Wheel Mouse Using the Drawing View If you have a wheel mouse, you can use the wheel to zoom in and out in the Drawing View. 1) From The Drawing View, choose View Format View and left-click the Mouse tab. 2) Set the Mouse Wheel option to Zoom In/Out (this is the default option). Zoom In and Zoom Out 1) Choose View Zoom Zoom In or Zoom Out. The Drawing View zooms in and out by about 10%. Hold down an [alt] key and use the accelerator keys [I] for zoom in and [O] for zoom out to zoom twice as much. Zoom Window 1) Choose View Zoom Zoom Window. 2) Left-click a corner of the area you want to zoom. 3) Drag the mouse to the opposite diagonal corner. The Drawing View draws a dashed rectangle to indicate the zoom area. 4) Left-click the other corner. The Drawing View zooms and pans so that the zoom window fills the Drawing View window. If the shape of the zoom rectangle you selected does not match the shape of the Drawing View window, The Drawing View extends one of the dimensions to fill the window. Zoom Page 1) Choose View Zoom Zoom Page. The Zoom Page command zooms out until the whole page fits into the Drawing View. Use this to return to a known state after panning and zooming the drawing. Zoom Previous TPC keeps track of your most recent zooms, allowing you to zoom in to check something, then zoom back out to where you were. 1) Choose View Zoom Zoom Previous. Drawing Learning Guide 13

14 Using the Drawing View Zoom Points 1) Choose View Zoom Zoom Points. Anyone who has used CAD for surveying knows how frustrating it is to zoom in on a tangle of point descriptions only to see a larger tangle. This is a common problem when you have lots of survey shots close together. Your only option in CAD is to resize the text to figure out what is what, then possibly change it back later. The Zoom Points command toggles the zoom factor of the point labels, line annotations and point symbols independent of the current zoom factor. Now when you zoom in on a tight cluster of points, turn off zoom points and the Drawing View will draw these entities using a zoom factor of 1.00, making them easier to read and work with. When you print the drawing, the zoom factor is set to 1.0 and Zoom Points has no affect on the printed output. Zoom Points is also turned On when you choose the Zoom Page command. Zoom Extents 1) Choose View Zoom Zoom Extents. The Zoom Extents command works differently from the other zoom commands in that it actually changes the scale of the drawing. It also repositions the survey objects in the drawing so that they all fit. Zoom Extents computes the extents of the survey, then scales it to fit entirely on one page. Windows Extents The Window Extents command lets you determine how much of the survey id included on the page. You specify two opposite, diagonal corners that define the extents and TPC computes a scale at which that much of the drawing will fit on the page. You can then select a more appropriate scale, just like you do after a Zoom Extents. Once you have set the extents of the drawing, any scaling or zooming you do is based on the selected extents. To cancel the Windows Extents and reset the extents of the drawing, choose Zoom Extents. 14 Drawing Learning Guide

15 Traverse Settings and Object Properties Using the Drawing View The Drawing View creates the objects like lines, symbols and labels from the Traverse Settings of the traverses that are tagged (checked) in the Traverse Manager. Once these objects are created however, you can change any of its properties as needed. Traverse Settings The Drawing View is very efficient because it uses the traverses to draw your survey. Choose the Traverse Settings you want for each tagged (checked) traverse and The Drawing View can draw 80%-90% of a typical drawing for you. Object Properties Object Settings give you ultimate control of the objects in a drawing. Just position the cursor over a drawing object, right-click and choose Properties. Change the properties you want and choose OK. TPC will redraw the object with your changes. You can modify the object as many times as needed. Combining Object Properties with Traverse Settings When you edit the properties of an object, the Traverse Settings still control the properties you don't edit. For example, if you just change the thickness of a line, the Traverse Settings still control the color, line type, line labels, etc. If you change the Traverse Settings, The Drawing View will redraw the line using the new Traverse Settings but will retain the modified thickness of the line. Combining properties in this way allows you to make sweeping changes to your drawing without requiring you to select and change each individual object. Hints: If your computer seems to be running slowly when the Drawing View is active, choose View Draft Mode. The Drawing View will now display fonts and lines faster, at the expense of quality. As you zoom in on an area of a drawing, the trade-off between speed and quality becomes less pronounced. When used with Point Codes (available in the Professional Edition only), the Traverse Settings are automated. This leaves you with very little more to do to create your map. Drawing Learning Guide 15

16 Using the Drawing View Changing Traverse Settings This is where the Drawing View really shines. It s so easy to change the way TPC draws the traverses in a survey. 1) In The Drawing View, position the cursor over any line of the Lot 2 traverse and double-click (or right-click and choose Traverse Settings from the pop-up menu). 2) In the Control Points tab, choose Recall Settings, select Property Lines from the list and choose OK. Property Lines is a pre-defined setting that comes with TPC Desktop. You can use it as is, modify it and choose Save Settings to overwrite it or just create your own user defined settings for lot lines. 3) Choose Apply or OK to apply the settings to this traverse. Quick View redraws the survey using the Traverse Settings you just selected for the Lot 2 boundary. 16 Drawing Learning Guide

17 Trimming Symbols Using the Drawing View In order to make the point symbols more distinguishable when drawings are plotted and reproduced, many organizations require that survey lines be trimmed out of the point symbols. You may choose to get in the habit of trimming symbols to make your own maps more readable. 1) In the Drawing View, position the cursor over any line of the Lot 2 traverse and right-click. 2) Choose Traverse Settings from the pop-up menu. If you don't see Traverse Settings, leftclick anywhere on the drawing to close the menu then repeat step 1. 3) In the Control Points tab, turn off Trim Symbols. 4) Choose OK. Do you see how the lines go through the symbols? 5) Repeat steps 1 4 above, turning Trim Symbols back on. Trimming symbols doesn't change the line length Notice that the distances on the lines did not change when you trimmed the symbols, even though the lines in the drawing are clearly shorter when the symbols are trimmed. That's because of the Drawing View's data association. The data for the line is not stored with the drawing in the Drawing View - it's stored back in the survey where it came from. The survey tells the Drawing View how long the line is, no matter whether the Drawing View has trimmed the line or not. This is just another reason We Hate to Call It CAD! Background Clearing If you plan on exporting a drawing to CAD, you may want to consider an alternative to trimming symbols called Background Clearing. This method draws a solid filled rectangle or circle between the line and the symbol. The result is a line that looks trimmed, even though it isn t. When exported to CAD, the line has the correct length in CAD because it has not been trimmed. 1) In the Drawing View choose Tools Drawing Settings. 2) In the Clear Background tab, turn on All Survey Space Blocks / Symbols and choose OK. Drawing Learning Guide 17

18 Using the Drawing View Copying Traverse Settings In this task, you will copy the settings of Lot 2 to the other lots. You could manually edit the Traverse Settings of the other lots, but copying the traverse settings is much faster and more fun. 1) Right-click any lot line being drawn by Lot 2 and choose Traverse Tools Copy Traverse Settings. 2) Left-click a lot line or line label in Lot 3. Now left-click one in Lot 4. TPC copies the settings to the traverse as you click it and redraws the survey. 3) Right-click any blank spot in the Drawing View or press the [Enter] key to end the Copy Traverse Settings command. Alternate Method 4) In the Traverse Manager, select (highlight) the traverses you want to be change. 5) Right-click any one of the selected traverses and choose Traverse Settings. 6) Choose the Traverse Settings you want then choose OK. The settings you select will be applied to all the selected traverses. 18 Drawing Learning Guide

19 Using the Drawing View Adding Lot Labels Now let's add lot labels. 1) Right-click any object that's part of the Lot 2 traverse and choose Traverse Settings. 2) Left-click the Lot Labels tab. 3) Match the settings shown here. 4) Choose OK. Copy the lot label settings 1) Right-click the lot label being drawn by Lot 2 and choose Traverse Tools Copy Traverse Settings. 2) Left-click any line on Lot 3 (except for the line that is common to Lot 2). 3) Left-click any line on Lot 4 (except for the line that is common to Lot 3). 4) Right-click to end the Copy Traverse Settings command. The Drawing View redraws the survey with lot labels in all three lots. The lot labels are automatically placed at the center of the traverse, which makes them overlap the foundations. In the next task, you'll learn how to move the lot labels. Drawing Learning Guide 19

20 Using the Drawing View Moving Objects The lot labels created in the last task were automatically placed at the center of each traverse. This position happens to overlap the foundations - so the lot labels need to be moved. In this task, you'll learn how to move the objects you want to move but not the ones you don't. Moving objects is done by dragging and dropping the object (called drag-n-drop). Position the cursor over an object, press and hold the left mouse button, move the mouse until the object is where you want it, then release the left mouse button. It's pretty simple, but if you haven't done it before, it takes a little practice. 1) Position the cursor over the Lot 2 label and drag-n-drop the label away from the foundation. 2) Do the same for the Lot 2 area label. The SqFt and Acres move together because the Drawing View created them as one object. Moving survey lines Try to move one of the foundation lines in Lot 2 using the drag-ndrop method. The Drawing View displays the message Move not allowed. This message reminds you that these lines are associated with survey data and can only be moved by modifying the survey data. The Drawing View prevents you from accidentally moving something you don't want to. Try to move any of the other lines using the drag-n-drop method. Each one displays the Move not allowed message. So how do you move survey objects in the Drawing View? 1) Right-click a foundation line for Lot 2 and choose Modify Objects Move from the pop-up menu. This initiates the Move drawing command. TPC displays this message, prompting you to select Yes if you would in-fact like to move the traverse. 2) To move the traverse, choose Yes and follow the command prompts. To learn more about selecting objects in the Drawing View 1) Choose Help Search For Help On and left-click the Index tab. 2) Scroll down to Selecting drawing objects, highlight it and choose Display. 3) Choose Selecting Drawing Objects and then choose Display. 20 Drawing Learning Guide

21 Using the Drawing View Over-Riding Traverse Settings You can over-ride the Traverse Settings and have the drawing itself control everything in the drawing - all control points, all side shots and all lot labels. It is a very quick way to see what your data looks like. You might over-ride Traverse Settings to take a look at some data you just imported. You might turn on all side shot lines to verify the data you import from your data collector, then turn off side shot lines to verify coverage of the survey area. Over-riding Traverse Settings 1) In the Drawing View, choose Tools Drawing Settings and left-click the Miscellaneous tab. 2) Turn on Over-ride Traverse Settings then choose Edit Settings and select the settings you want. 3) Choose OK until you return to the drawing with your changes. 4) Double-clicking a traverse object like a point symbol or line will display the over-ride settings so you can edit them. 5) Generally, once you start working on a drawing, you will switch back to Traverse Settings. Switching back to Traverse Settings 1) Choose Tools Drawing Settings and left-click the Miscellaneous tab. 2) Turn off Over-ride Traverse Settings and choose OK. Drawing Learning Guide 21

22 Using the Drawing View Drawing Settings Drawing Settings make global changes to the drawing. 1) Choose Tools Drawing Settings. The Miscellaneous tab controls whether or not distance units are included, areas are computed and more. Because they affect the entire drawing, you can easily change how the entire drawing looks without manually changing each object in the drawing. Other Drawing Settings are grouped together on their appropriate tabs, like Dimensions and Dynamic Offsets. Take some time to look at each of these. The Clear Background in particular can make your drawings much more readable by clearing white space around text, leaders and symbols. Saving and Recalling Traverse Settings Once you decide how you want the Drawing View to draw control points, side shots, lot labels and so on, you can save those settings and re-use them anytime. Saving Traverse Settings 1) Choose Save Settings from the Traverse Settings dialog. 2) Select an existing Setting from the list or type a unique name to create a new one. 3) Choose OK to save the settings. The settings in the Traverse Settings dialog will be saved under the selected name. If the current Traverse Settings don t match any of the saved settings the list displays Custom. Recalling Traverse Settings 1) Choose Recall Settings from the Traverse Settings dialog. 2) Select an existing setting from the list and choose OK. The settings you select will be recalled into the Traverse Settings dialog. You are free to modify the settings as needed without affecting the stored setting you just recalled. 22 Drawing Learning Guide

23 Hiding Objects Using the Drawing View The Drawing View does not allow you to delete an object like a line or symbol that is drawn by a tagged traverse or surface. You can however, hide it. Hidden objects act as a placeholder. Because the hidden object still exists in the drawing, the Drawing View knows not to recreate it from the survey. Hidden objects have an added advantage. Sometimes, you want to plot a drawing without a particular object like a legend item or a note. In most CAD programs, you would have to create a new layer, move that object to the new layer, then hide the new layer. In the Drawing View, you just hide it. Hiding objects 1) Right-click any line label and choose Hide from the pop-up menu. The object will disappear from The Drawing View. Displaying hidden objects 1) Choose View Format View, Preferences, Show Hidden Objects. Objects that were hidden are redrawn with a gray shadow. 2) To re-hide the hidden objects, choose View Format View, Preferences, Show Hidden Objects again. 3) You can also use the Show Hidden button on the Mode toolbar. Re-Showing hidden objects 1) Display hidden objects. 2) Right-click any hidden object and choose Show from the pop-up menu. Creating Traverse Gaps 1) Instead of hiding a traverse line and all of its labels, you can right-click the line and choose Gap. This is a special command that tells TPC you don t want this line. If you have lots of items you want to hide in a drawing consider using layer tools and unique traverse and surface settings. Drawing Learning Guide 23

24 Managing Drawings Managing Drawings This chapter demonstrates: How drawings work The Drawing Manager Using page layout mode Choosing a printer/plotter and page size Changing page size and orientation Scaling the drawing Positioning the survey on the page Rotating the survey on the page Temporary drawings Overview If you worked the examples in the Using Quick View chapter, you've already worked with a drawing. Whenever the Quick View is open, it displays the current drawing. If you have not explicitly created a drawing, the Quick View displays the default or working drawing. If you wanted to, you could use the working drawing to finish your map or plat. In fact, that's exactly what you do in the Property Edition of TPC Desktop for Windows since it allows only one drawing per survey. In the Personal, Premium and Professional Editions, which allow multiple drawings per survey, you will generally start a new drawing for your map or plat. To learn more about drawings 1) Choose Help Search For Help On and left-click the Index tab. 2) Scroll down to Drawings, highlight it and choose Display. 3) Choose No CAD Zone Drawings or No CAD Zone Drawing Quick Start then choose Display. 24 Drawing Learning Guide

25 Managing Drawings How Drawings Work In this task you will learn how drawings work in TPC. The default drawing If you have not yet created any additional drawings in a survey, the Drawing View displays the default drawing. If you created this survey in TPC Desktop for Windows, this default drawing is named Drawing 1. If you open a survey file created by a DOS version of TPC, the default drawing is called Quick View, indicating that it uses the Quick View settings stored with that file. Multiple drawings You can have any number of drawings in a survey. A typical survey will have the default or working drawing (Drawing 1) plus one or more drawings for the plats, maps, control diagrams or whatever else. Multiple drawings also come in handy when you can't fit the narrative and affidavits on a single page. In that case, just create another drawing for Page 2 - it's that simple. Drawing Learning Guide 25

26 Managing Drawings Unique Drawing Names Each drawing must have a unique drawing name. You can t have two drawings named As Built in the same survey. TPC provides tools to help you create unique names when you create new drawings. The current drawing The Drawing View always displays the current drawing. Everything you do in the Drawing View becomes part of the current drawing. If you add text, it is added to the current drawing. The traverses you tag or untag in the Traverse Manager and the surfaces you tag or untag in the Surfaces View also become part of the current drawing even if the Drawing View is closed. When you are finished with the current drawing, switch to a different drawing so that any changes you make to the Drawing View don t affect the finished drawing. Later in this chapter we ll explain how to open a drawing. Closing a Drawing In TPC you close a drawing by changing to a different drawing. Drawings are opened and closed with the survey file. As long as the survey is open, all the drawings in the survey are loaded and available. The Drawing View displays one drawing at a time - the current drawing. If you make changes in a Drawing View, you are making changes to the current drawing - always. A Working Drawing We suggest you keep a working drawing around. This can be called anything you want. When you want to work on a drawing, start a new drawing. When you are finished with that drawing, reopen the working drawing. This helps prevent unintentionally changing your drawings. 26 Drawing Learning Guide

27 Managing Drawings The Drawing Manager You manage drawings in the Drawing Manager. The Drawing Manager works like the other Manager views in TPC Desktop. You can access it from the desktop Manage menu or Navigation toolbar. Opening a Drawing 1) Just double-click a drawing to open it in the Drawing View. You can use this to preview the drawings, looking for the one you want. Formatting the Drawing Manager The Drawing Manager shown here is formatted to display the drawing Name, Description and Size. 2) To format the Drawing Manager, choose Tools View Format View. Sorting Drawings You can sort drawings, making it easier to find the drawing you are looking for. 3) Left-click a column header like Name or Size. TPC sorts the drawings from least to greatest. Double-click the column header again to sort the other direction. Double-click it again to redisplay the drawings in their non-sorted order. Drawing Groups Drawings can be organized into groups the same way traverse can be. If you have lots of drawings you will want to group them. 4) To display groups choose Tools Drawing Groups Show Groups. Adding a Drawing 5) Choose Tools Insert New Drawing and choose one of the options like Above Selected Item. Drawing Learning Guide 27

28 Managing Drawings Using Page Layout Mode The Drawing View is set up to give you the feeling of working right on the drawing page itself through its Page Layout Mode. The Drawing View first draws the page, then draws the survey on the page. To best utilize your computer screen, the Drawing View draws just the part of the page that lies within the page margins. Portrait Layout: a white page is displayed against the gray background Hints: You can resize the view to fit the page by choosing View Fit View to Page. This command is available in all Window views and always shrinks the view to fit the data. You can also choose the minimize button [-] in the upper-right corner of the view. 28 Drawing Learning Guide

29 Choosing a Printer/Plotter and Page Size Managing Drawings Often, when you start a drawing, you don't know what page size or scale you will eventually end up with. With TPC, that's not a problem. The Drawing View makes it easy to change the page size part way through your drawing because of the unique relationship between Paper Space and Survey Space. You will learn about them later. With the Drawing View, you have two options: Start the drawing and change the page size and scale as needed. Choose the most likely page size and scale to start with. Either way, choosing a page size works the same way. 1) Choose Tools Print Print Setup and select a printer from the Name list. 2) Choose OK to advance to the Page Setup dialog. 3) Select a paper Size, Orientation and Margins and choose OK. The Drawing View will redraw the new page and position the survey on it. The page size and margins are stored with the drawing. The next time you open this drawing, the Drawing View will recreate the appropriate page size. Choosing a printer The printer you choose affects the Sizes that are listed in the Page Setup dialog and the Fonts that are available for use in the Drawing View. If you are using standard Windows fonts like Arial and Times New Roman in your drawings, you do not need to select the printer before starting the drawing. If you are using printer/plotter specific fonts, select the printer before starting the drawing. In Windows Vista, the only way to select a printer is by choosing Tools Print Print Setup. Drawing Learning Guide 29

30 Managing Drawings Changing Page Size and Orientation If you include paper space objects in your template (north arrow, scale bar, title block, narrative, etc.) you can easily resize and reorient the drawing as needed after the template creates it. More information is available in the Learning Guide chapter on Inserting Objects. 1) Choose Tools Print Page Setup. 2) Choose the Printer, Size, Orientation and Margins you want for the drawing then choose OK. The Drawing View recreates the drawing using the new settings. Storing the Printer with the Drawing Windows applications are set up to use the default Windows printer. If you start a new document in your word processor then choose Print, it assumes you want to print to the default Windows printer unless you choose a different printer. Surveying doesn't fit this Windows mold because some of the drawings go to the plotter. To facilitate this, Drawing View stores the selected printer with the drawing. The next time you open the drawing, Drawing View knows that you want it to go to the plotter. Storing the printer with the drawing is a user setting. From the desktop menu, choose Tools Program Settings, Miscellaneous, Use Windows Default Printer. 1) To store the printer/plotter with the drawing, turn this option off. 2) Turn on Validate stored printer if you use mixed operating systems (Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8) on the same network. Each of these operating systems names printers a little differently. The Validate stored printer option attempts to reconcile these differences when locating the stored printer. 30 Drawing Learning Guide

31 Managing Drawings Scaling the Drawing Finding an initial scale 1) Choose View Zoom Zoom Extents or just press Alt + C for Center. The Drawing View computes the largest scale at which the survey will fit on the current page, centers the survey on the page and displays the current scale on the status bar. After a Zoom Extents, the toolbar shows the computed scale. Changing the scale Pull down the scale list in the format bar and choose a scale. If the scale you want is not available in the pull down list of scales, just type it in. Smart Drawing Objects TPC s scale bars and title blocks display the current scale automatically through the use of variables. You can include the variable $SCALE in any object and TPC will replace it with the current drawing scale. Adding your own scales 1) From Drawing View, choose Tools Scale List to display the Imperial Scales dialog. 2) Select Add to add a scale of your own. 3) Choose OK. You can now select the scale you added from the scale list on the format bar. Drawing Learning Guide 31

32 Managing Drawings Positioning the Survey on the Page To position the survey on the page, 1) Move the cursor over the survey until it changes to a plus symbol. The status bar will display Survey press the Ctrl key to drag survey to let you know you are over the survey but not over any particular object in the drawing. 2) Hold down the Ctrl key, drag-n-drop the survey at the new position on the page, then release the Ctrl key. The Drawing View lets you see your survey as you move it on the page and displays a line showing where the drawing has moved from and to. Positioning the survey on the page this way does NOT change any survey coordinates. Alternate Method If you want to move the survey on the page by a more precise method, 1) Choose Tools Position Survey on Page and follow the command prompts on the Status Bar at the bottom of the screen. You will have the opportunity to choose a base point and insert point and you can use snap tools to position the survey precisely. Rotating the Survey on the Page 1) To rotate the survey on the page, choose Tools Rotate Survey on Page and follow the prompts in the status bar. Rotating the survey on the page does NOT change any survey coordinates, therefore it does NOT change any of the bearings (directions) on the drawing. Instead, the coordinate system behind the drawing is rotated and north now points in a different direction. 32 Drawing Learning Guide

33 Temporary Drawings Managing Drawings When you open a traverse in its Traverse View, you can create a drawing that draws just that traverse only. TPC calls this a Temporary Drawing. In a temporary drawing, you can make whatever changes you need to the temporary drawing in order to analyze the traverse data, but when you close the Traverse View, the temporary drawing is destroyed. Hints: Temporary drawings are created from the TRAVERSE.DRT drawing template. If you want to change how temporary drawings are displayed, replace the TRAVERSE.DRT file. More information is available in the Drawing Templates chapter of the Learning Guide. Why have temporary drawings? A temporary drawing lets you analyze the traverse data in the Drawing View without affecting the current drawing. In the temporary drawing, you might want to make the point labels larger so you can read them, or add elevations to the point label, or change the line type of the side shots. Changes like these can make it easier to see what the traverse is doing. Creating a temporary drawing 1) From any Traverse View, choose Tools Draw This Traverse Only. TPC replaces the current drawing with a temporary drawing. 2) To return to the current drawing, choose Tools Draw This Traverse Only again. Saving a temporary drawing If you make changes to a temporary drawing, then close either the Traverse View or the Drawing View, TPC displays a message prompting you to save the temporary drawing as a permanent drawing (unless you have disabled this prompt). If you choose Yes, TPC will create a new permanent drawing that includes just the traverse displayed in the Traverse View and will copy the settings of the temporary drawing to it. Once that is done, TPC will destroy the temporary drawing. Once you understand why TPC is asking you to save the drawing changes, you may want to choose Don't show this window again. TPC won't prompt you to save a temporary drawing with changes - it will just destroy it. To turn it back on, choose Tools Program Settings, Drawing View from the desktop and turn on Show Save Traverse Drawing Prompt. Drawing Learning Guide 33

34 Managing Drawings Testing Your Skills In this task, you ll test your skill at using Drawing View. 1) Open the SKILL3.TRV file in the Samples folder and save it as TEST7.TRV. 2) Start a new drawing called View Lots and do the following Untag all but lots 107 and 108 in the Traverse Manager Choose a page size of 8.5X11 with 1 margins and Landscape orientation. Change the drawing settings so they are similar to what is shown here 3) Print the View Lots drawing. Your drawing should look something like this. 34 Drawing Learning Guide

35 Adding Objects to a Drawing Adding Objects to a Drawing This chapter demonstrates: Understanding object files The predefined object library Inserting a north arrow Modifying objects Inserting a scale bar Inserting a title block Inserting traffic symbols Inserting an object multiple times Creating your own objects Drawing Learning Guide 35

36 Adding Objects to a Drawing Overview This is a really fun chapter because it introduces the object library that comes with all Editions of TPC Desktop. You will find hundreds of objects you can use in your drawings. You ll learn that Smart Drawing Objects like the scale bar and title block are dynamic. As you change the scale of the drawing, they dynamically change to display the current scale. As a result, it s less work for you to maintain your drawings. Understanding Object Files Each object has an associated file that stores the object. The Bike Path symbol for example, is stored in the bike path.dxf file. You select objects based on their file names, so TPC uses descriptive file names like left proposed.dxf for a proposed left traffic arrow. When the object library organizes objects into folders, it is really organizing the object files into file folders. When you move an object from one folder to another to better organize the objects, you are really moving the object file from one file folder to another. If you are an experienced CAD user, the following will be of interest to you. DXF File Format Objects are stored in DXF (Data exchange Format) files, widely used as a means of exchanging data among CAD programs. The use of this common CAD standard allows TPC to import objects from your existing CAD programs (more about this later), include objects verbatim when you export a Drawing View drawing as a DXF file and for some CAD experts, allows direct editing of the object files. Blocks and Objects are similar CAD programs refer to each line, circle, arc, etc as an entity or element. They also allow you to group individual entities into blocks or cells. You can then use the blocks to operate on the group of entities. If you are familiar with blocks, you can think of the Objects in the Object Library as blocks. The objects in the Object Library can be inserted, exploded, rotated, resized and copied just like blocks in CAD. But don't limit yourself to blocks alone. TPC's Objects are so much richer in many ways, while being easier to work with than CAD blocks. 36 Drawing Learning Guide

37 The predefined Object Library Every Edition of TPC Desktop for Windows includes a predefined Object Library. Adding Objects to a Drawing The Object Library supplies ready-made parts of the drawing like North Arrows, Scale Bars, Point Symbols and Title Blocks. These are professionally drawn objects you can insert into any drawing. Using Object folders Drawing View organizes drawing objects into folders. Most TPC Editions ship with the following folders. ALTA ALTA certificates. Corners - BLM corners with place holders for sections, LS number, etc. Miscellaneous - sample logos and stamps. North Arrows - simple, fancy and custom north arrows. PLSS BLM scale bar and northarrow, township diagrams and labels, etc. Point Symbols - dozens of standard symbols. Scale Bars - standard scale bars in varying sizes Title Blocks - custom looking title blocks with placeholders for scale, filename, etc. Traffic - traffic arrows, handicapped symbols and more. Adding your own folder You can create your own object folders like the Your Own Symbols folder shown here (rightclick in the large window and choose New Folder), then create and store your own drawing objects as needed. Drawing Learning Guide 37

38 Adding Objects to a Drawing Inserting a North Arrow 1) Choose Insert Block. Position the mouse anywhere over the Drawing View window to display the Block dialog. 2) Double-click the North Arrows folder. 3) Left-click any of the files to display the block in the Preview window. 4) Highlight the block you want and choose Open or double-click a block to open it. Drawing View will draw the block at the current cursor position in the drawing. 5) Drag the object to the desired location and left-click. That's all there is to it. Moving the North Arrow 1) To move the North Arrow in the drawing, any time after it has been inserted, just drag-ndrop it to the desired location. It's easier to do than it is to explain. Rotating the North Arrow with the Drawing TPC lets you rotate the survey on the page. Blocks like the north arrow shown here can rotate with the drawing automatically. 1) To set a block to rotate with the drawing, position the cursor over the block in the drawing, right-click the mouse and choose Properties. 2) Left-click Apply User Rotation then choose OK. 38 Drawing Learning Guide

39 Adding Objects to a Drawing Modifying Objects Once an object is inserted, it can be resized. Resizing via the properties dialog 1) Right-click the object and choose Properties. The Drawing View displays the Block dialog. 2) If Height is active, enter the appropriate object height next to it. 3) If Scale is active, enter the appropriate number of units you want for the object height. Using Scale and Units When you specify size by Scale, the size of the object is determined by its unit height. Each unit is a foot, meter or chain. Objects with a unit height change size as the drawing scale changes. At a scale of 20 ft/in, an object 20 units high will be an inch tall. At a scale of 40 ft/in, that same object will be half an inch tall. Resizing with the mouse 1) Right-click the object and choose Modify Objects Resize. Drawing View draws a resize box around the object. 2) Drag-n-drop any of the 8 small rectangles on the perimeter to resize the object. Rotating Objects On-Screen To rotate an object on screen 1) Insert one of the traffic symbols anywhere on your drawing. 2) Right-click the traffic symbol you just inserted and choose Modify Objects Rotate. 3) Following the command line prompts on the status bar, select a base point and angle. Moving Objects On-Screen Besides drag-n-drop, you can positions objects more precisely with the Move command. 1) Right-click the traffic symbol you just inserted and choose Modify Objects Move. Following the command line prompts on the status bar, select a base point and insert point. You can combine these with the snap commands or the Ortho option for precise placement. Drawing Learning Guide 39

40 Adding Objects to a Drawing Inserting a Scale Bar 1) Choose Insert Block. Position the mouse over the Drawing View window to display the Block dialog. 2) Double-click the Scale Bars folder. 3) Left-click any of the files to display the block in the Preview window. 4) Highlight the block you want and choose Open or double-click a block to open it. The Drawing View will draw the block at the current cursor position in the drawing. 5) Drag the object to the desired location and left-click. Using scale variables The scale bar objects use variables to display the current drawing scale. The variable shown in the Preview window is $SCALE. When the scale bar is inserted into a drawing, Drawing View replaces the $SCALE variable with the current drawing scale. If you change the scale of the drawing, the scale bar updates automatically to display the new scale. To learn more about variables 1) Choose Help Search For Help On and left-click the Index tab. 2) Scroll down to Variables - Drawing View, highlight it and choose Display. 40 Drawing Learning Guide

41 Inserting a Title Block Adding Objects to a Drawing 1) Choose Insert Block. Position the mouse over the Drawing View window to display the Block dialog. 2) Double-click the Title Blocks folder. 3) Left-click any of the files to display the block in the Preview window. 4) Highlight the block you want and choose Open or double-click a block to open it. The Drawing View will draw the block at the current cursor position in the drawing. 5) Drag the object to the desired location and left-click. Editing the Title Block information 1) Right-click the Title Block and choose Groups / Blocks Convert to Group. You will not see any difference, but Drawing View will convert the Title Block from a Block to a Group - allowing you to edit the individual objects in the Title Block. 2) Right-click any Title Block text you want to edit and choose Properties to display the text dialog. 3) Make the changes you want to the text and choose OK to update the Title Block. If the text you are editing begins with $ or %, that text is a variable. You can replace the variable with your own text or leave it as is. Title Blocks typically include the following variables. $SCALEPERINCH -drawing scale $FILENAME -survey filename $JOB -survey job number %DATE -the date the drawing was created $DATE -current date (updates each time the drawing is opened) $CLIENT -client name from Survey Information dialog $SURVEYOR -surveyor name as entered in the Surveyor dialog $UNITS -survey units $DISTANCETYPE -distance type used for drawing $DATUM, $PROJECTION, $GRID CRS information for the survey Drawing Learning Guide 41

42 Adding Objects to a Drawing Inserting Traffic Symbols 1) Choose Insert Block. Position the mouse over the Drawing View window to display the Block dialog. 2) Double-click the Traffic folder. 3) Left-click any of the files to display the block in the Preview window. 4) Highlight the block you want and choose Open or double-click a block to open it. Drawing View will draw the block at the current cursor position in the drawing. 5) Drag the object to the desired location and left-click. Inserting An Object Multiple Times Sometimes, you want to insert more than one object at a time. This is typical of traffic symbols like handicap parking spaces. TPC accommodates this through the Repeat option of the Insert Block command. 1) Choose Insert Block from Drawing View and select the object you want to insert multiple times. When you return to the Drawing View, you will see the word [Repeat] on the status bar next to the snap options. The upper-case R indicates that you can press the [R] or [r] key on your keyboard to Repeat the current command. 2) Press [R] for Repeat and left-click each insertion point. You can also repeat a command by left-clicking the Repeat button in the Mode toolbar. 42 Drawing Learning Guide

43 Creating Your Own Objects Adding Objects to a Drawing By now you are probably asking, "Can I add my own objects to the Object Library?" The answer is YES! The Premium and Professional Editions of TPC Desktop for Windows include tools to create and store your own objects. Here are some examples of objects you might want to create for your Object Library: To learn more about creating your own blocks 1) Choose Help Search For Help On and left-click the Index tab. 2) Scroll down to Creating Blocks Drawing View, highlight it and choose Display. Hints: If you have TPC Desktop Premium or Professional, you can import your dxf blocks from your old CAD program. Refer to the Reusing CAD Blocks chapter in the Advanced Learning Guide. Drawing Learning Guide 43

44 Adding Objects to a Drawing Testing Your Skills In this task, you ll test your skill at using Drawing View. 1) Open the SKILL3.TRV file in the Samples folder and save it as TEST9.TRV. 2) Insert the following objects into the drawing Scale bar Title block change it to a group and put your name in the Drawn By field A traffic arrow set the height of the arrow to 1 A rip-rap symbol The Oregon stamp found in the Miscellaneous folder Add any other objects you want. We had to set the size of this fancy north arrow to 1. 3) Print the drawing Your drawing should look something like this. 44 Drawing Learning Guide

45 Adding Text to a Drawing Adding Text to a Drawing This chapter demonstrates: Picking up where Drawing Settings leave off Using fonts Current text settings Adding a monument note in Survey Space Adding a street name using Angled Text Adding a drawing title in Paper Space Adding a narrative using a Text Box Adding record data to an existing label Pasting text from the clipboard Drawing Learning Guide 45

46 Adding Text to a Drawing Overview You will use the drawing settings and traverse settings in the Drawing View to label lines, lots and points within your drawing. Once that's done, you are ready to add street names, block numbers, a title, narrative, some notes and whatever else the drawing requires. The Drawing View has three text commands found in the Draw menu. Text - inserts horizontal text using the current text settings. Angled Text - asks you to specify the text angle then inserts text using the current text settings. Text Box - asks you to specify a box, then inserts text within the box, using automatic word wrap to stay within the box width. To learn more about adding text 1) Choose Help Search For Help On and left-click the Index tab. 2) Scroll down to Text, highlight it and choose Display. 3) Choose Inserting Text then choose Display. Getting Started 1) From the Tasks View choose Sample Surveys. 2) Double-click the LEARN TEXT.TRV file. 3) Choose File Save Survey As then enter the name QuickView and choose Save. 4) If prompted to replace the existing file, choose Yes. 46 Drawing Learning Guide

47 Picking up Where Drawing Settings Leave Off Adding Text to a Drawing The Drawing View uses the Drawing Settings and Traverse Settings to draw much of the drawing's text for you. In the example shown here, the lines, curves and lots have all been labeled with these settings. These labels are all associated with the survey data - if you change the position of one of the associated points in the survey - the curves, lines and areas update automatically. Editing existing labels You can move these labels and change their properties - whatever you want. Paper Space vs. Survey Space The existing line, curve and lot labels are all in Survey Space. They are tied to the survey coordinates of a particular line, curve or lot. If you reposition the survey on the page, these labels move with the survey. When you add a note about a certain corner or line, you should create the text in Survey Space and position it near the corner or line. If you reposition the survey on the page, this text moves with the survey - just what you want it to do. Text like the drawing title or a narrative should be created in Paper Space. Paper Space objects are tied to the nearest corner of the drawing. When you reposition the survey on the page, Paper Space text does not move with the survey - it stays where it's supposed to on the page. Drawing Learning Guide 47

48 Adding Text to a Drawing Using Fonts Here are some rules and suggestions for using fonts in your drawings. True Type fonts Drawings can use any font that is installed on your computer. This gives you a broad range of styles to choose from. If you have True Type fonts installed, the Drawing View will choose those over any device specific fonts. This gives you the best control over font quality from device to device. If you send one drawing to your printer, the fonts should look the same as another drawing sent to your plotter. Suggested fonts Arial - this is the default font in Drawing View. It reproduces well and is easy to read. Courier New - fixed space font typical of pen plotters. Times New Roman - the serifs on this font make it pleasing to the eye for narratives. Lucida Calligraphy - gives your plats that hand-drawn look. Mixing fonts The rule here is - The fewer fonts, the better. We suggest limiting your drawings to 2 or 3 different font types. You might use Arial for all labels and Times New Roman for your title and narrative. Or you might use Lucida Calligraphy for your title and Times New Roman for the narrative. Fixed font size Unlike most CAD programs, the Drawing View holds the font size you specify regardless of changes you make to the drawing scale. If you specify a 12/100 th font at 20ft/in, that font will still be 12/100 th after you change the scale to 30ft/in. Minimum font size A font size of 0.10" will reproduce well under most circumstances. A font size of 0.08" may not. Consider using a minimum font size of 0.10" on all your drawings. You county surveyor or contracting agency may specify a compliant minimum font size. 48 Drawing Learning Guide

49 Current Text Settings Adding Text to a Drawing The Drawing View maintains current text settings. You do not need to specify the font, height, weight and color each time you execute a text command because the text command uses the current text settings. The current text settings are displayed on the Format bar. If you don t see the Format bar, see the instructions below for displaying it. The Format bar shown here is set to Arial, 0.30" height, Normal font weight and Green color. The Solid line and 0.05 pen width apply to lines but not to text objects. Changing the current settings To change any of the current settings, 1) Left-click the down arrow on the right side of the list to expand the list. 2) Left-click the new item from the list. The Format bar will show the current selection. Editing text objects The current settings are applied to any text object you insert in the drawing. This streamlines the text entry for the drawing. Once the text is inserted into the drawing, you can still modify its properties as needed. 1) Right-click it and choose Properties. 2) Make the changes you want and choose OK. Displaying the Format Bar If your Format bar is not displayed in the Drawing View, turn it on as follows. 1) Choose View Customize View. 2) In the Toolbars tab, check the Format box and choose Close. Drawing Learning Guide 49

50 Adding Text to a Drawing Adding a Monument Note in Survey Space Generally, when you make a note about a monument, you place the note near the monument and use a leader to associate the note with the monument. You will create the text object in Survey Space so that it moves with the survey, retaining its proximity to the monument. For this example, we'll add a note to the SE corner of Lot 2. 1) Right-click any blank spot on the drawing and choose Modes. a) Make sure Paper Space Mode is turned off then left-click outside the pop-up menu to close it. 2) Choose View Zoom Zoom Window. 3) Left-click near the center of the drawing then left-click again near the bottom right corner of the drawing. This zooms you into the bottom right quarter of the drawing. 4) Set the Format bar to Arial, 0.10", Normal and Black as shown here. 5) Choose Draw Text. 6) Left-click below and to the right of the SE corner of Lot 2. This is the text insert point. 7) Type FOUND 1" I.P. 0.85' and press Enter to advance to the next line. 8) Type OUT OF POSITION and press Enter twice to end the command. 9) Choose Draw Leader. 10) Left-click below and to the right of the note. 11) Hold down the Ctrl key to put the Drawing View in Ortho mode (causes lines to be drawn horizontal or vertical only) and leftclick below and to the left of the note. Release the Ctrl key. 12) Move the cursor up near the SE corner of Lot 2 and left-click to place the leader arrow near the monument. Your note should look something like this. 13) Choose View Zoom Zoom Page to zoom back out to full page. 50 Drawing Learning Guide

51 Adding a Street Name Using Angled Text Adding Text to a Drawing In this task, we will add the street name First Avenue west of and roughly parallel to the west line of Lot3. You can zoom in on this area by using View Zoom Zoom Window. The Drawing View should already be in Survey Space Mode. We want the street name to be in Survey Space so that it retains its position relative to the lots. 1) Using the Format bar, change the font size to 0.15". 2) Choose Draw Angled Text. 3) Left-click the text insert point. The insert point becomes the bottom-left corner of the first character typed. 4) Move the cursor up and to the right. Drawing View draws a line from the insert point to the cursor, showing the text angle. When this line is about parallel to the west line of Lot 3, left-click. 5) Type First Avenue and press [Enter] twice to end the Angled Text command. 6) Choose View Zoom Zoom Page to zoom back out to full page. To learn more about angled text 1) Choose Help Search For Help On and left-click the Index tab. 2) Scroll down to Angled text, highlight it and choose Display. 3) Choose Inserting Angled Text then choose Display. Drawing Learning Guide 51

52 Adding Text to a Drawing Adding a Drawing Title in Paper Space Generally, text like the drawing title and narrative should be created in Paper Space. As Paper Space objects, their position on the drawing is fixed relative to the nearest drawing corner. If you place the drawing title one-half inch down and one-half inch over from the upper left corner, then change the page size of the drawing. The drawing title will still be onehalf inch down and one-half inch over from the upper left corner of the new page. 1) Using the Format toolbar, change the font to Times New Roman and the size to 0.20". 2) Right-click any blank spot in the drawing and choose Modes. a) Make sure Paper Space Mode is turned on then left-click outside the pop-up menu to close it. 3) Choose Draw Text. 4) Move the cursor to the upper left corner of the drawing. Watch the left side of the status bar where it reads Paper: X=0.8 Y=-0.5. These are the Paper Space coordinates and indicate the position of the cursor in inches to the nearest corner. As you move the cursor the values change. 5) Position the cursor until the Paper Space coordinates read Paper: X=0.5 Y= ) Left-click to establish the insert point of the text. 7) Type LOT PIN SEARCH AND CONSTRUCTION and press [Enter] to advance to the next line. 8) Type SETBACKS LOTS 2, 3 & 4 and press [Enter]. 9) Type SOUTHVIEW SUBDIVISION and press [Enter]. 10) Type FLORENCE, OR. and press [Enter] twice to end the command. 52 Drawing Learning Guide

53 Adding a Narrative Using a Text Box Adding Text to a Drawing To create the narrative, you are going to insert the word NARRATIVE, use the Text Box command to type in the narrative and draw a line under the word NARRATIVE. 1) Choose View Zoom Zoom Window. 2) Left-click near the upper left corner of the drawing, then left-click near the center of the drawing. Drawing View will zoom in on the upper left quarter of the drawing. 3) Using the Format toolbar, change the font size to 0.15". 4) Choose Draw Text. 5) Position the cursor under the drawing title, where you want the word NARRATIVE to start then left-click to establish the insert point of the text. 6) Type NARRATIVE and press Enter twice. 7) Using the Format bar, change the font size to 0.12". 8) Choose Draw Text Box. 9) Left-click the insert point of the narrative text, directly below the insert point for the word Narrative. 10) Move the cursor down and to the right then left-click to establish the size of the text box. Note: Make the text box taller than you think you will need it to be. If your text box is not tall enough to contain the text, you will not see all of the text in the drawing and will need to resize the text box. 11) Type THE PURPOSE OF THIS SURVEY IS TO ESTABLISH THE BOUNDARIES OF LOTS 2, 3 AND 4 IN SOUTHVIEW SUBDIVISION and press Enter twice to end the command. 12) Using the Format toolbar, change the line thickness to 0.02". 13) Choose Draw Line. 14) Left-click beneath the bottom left corner of the word NARRATIVE. 15) Hold down the Ctrl key to create a horizontal line and move the cursor to the right side of the narrative, then left-click to establish the end point of the line. 16) Right-click anywhere to tell Drawing View you are finished with the Line command. Drawing Learning Guide 53

54 Adding Text to a Drawing Adding Record Data to an Existing Label Drawing View makes it easy to insert record data into your drawing. As an example, we'll add the record distance 291.5' to the north line of Lot 4. 1) Use the View Zoom Zoom Window to zoom into the north line of Lot 4. 2) Right-click and choose Properties. 3) In the Line Label dialog, add [291.5 ] to the text. 4) Choose OK. 5) If you drag-n-drop the label, you will notice that the record data moves with it. That's because you added the record text to the existing label. 54 Drawing Learning Guide

55 Pasting Text from the Clipboard Adding Text to a Drawing Windows applications store and retrieve text from what Windows calls the Clipboard. 1) You copy text from any Windows application by selecting the text to copy and pressing Ctrl + C. Some applications also have a Copy command. 2) You retrieve text from the Clipboard by positioning the cursor where you want the text inserted and pressing Ctrl + V. Some applications also have a Paste command. 3) There is also a cut command that first removes the selected text from the application then places it on the Clipboard. The command for this is Ctrl + X. Some applications also have a Cut command. To paste text into a new text object 1) First select the text in a Windows application and copy it to the Clipboard. You can copy text from any of TPC s views or dialogs. 2) Select any of the text commands in TPC (Text, Angled Text or Text Box) and paste the Clipboard text into it by pressing Ctrl + V. To paste text into an existing text object 1) Right-click the text, choose Properties. 2) Position the cursor in the text where you want to insert the Clipboard text. 3) Choose Paste. Drawing Learning Guide 55

56 Adding Text to a Drawing Testing Your Skills In this task, you ll test your skill at adding text to a drawing. 1) Open the SKILL3.TRV file in the Samples folder and save it as TEST11.TRV. 2) Using the Page Setup dialog, specify a Legal size drawing and Portrait orientation. 3) Using a 0.2 Arial font, add a drawing title, like LOT PIN SEARCH, BLOCK 2, SOUTH VIEW SUBDIVISION, FLORENCE, OR. Make it a paper space object and place it 0.5 down and 0.5 over from the upper left corner. 4) Using a 0.12 Arial font, add the note FOUND 1 I.P. above and to the right of the NE corner of lot 103. Make it a survey space object and draw a leader under it, pointing to the NE corner. You can use Ortho mode to make sure the part of the leader under the text is exactly horizontal. 5) Add the angled text PACIFIC OCEAN in 0.15 Arial west of lot 104 and approximately parallel to the west boundary of this block. This text should also be in survey space. 6) Using the Text Box command, add a short narrative east of lot 104. Use an appropriate font size. The narrative should be in paper space. Draw a horizontal line above the narrative and put the word NARRATIVE above it. 7) Print the drawing Your drawing should look something like this. 56 Drawing Learning Guide

57 Using Drawing Templates Using Drawing Templates This chapter demonstrates: All drawings are created from templates Starting a new drawing with a template Changing page size and orientation What a template includes Creating a new template Editing an existing template Using groups in templates Overview Forget about CAD templates If you have used templates in other CAD programs, you know that in addition to creating a template for each type of drawing, you also had to create templates for each drawing size and orientation. The end result is that you ended up with lots of templates to manage or you didn t use templates at all because they were too much work. A better way to do templates You are in for a pleasant surprise with TPC s drawing templates. Innovative features like paper space objects and groups make it possible to create just one template for each drawing type. Creating a new template is as easy as saving a drawing and changing an existing template is a snap! Not available in the Property Edition Although all the editions use the default templates, most of the template functions are not available in the Property Edition of TPC Desktop. To learn more about drawing templates 1) Choose Help Search For Help On and left-click the Index tab. 2) Scroll down to Drawing templates, highlight it and choose Display. Drawing Learning Guide 57

58 Using Drawing Templates All Drawings are Created from Templates The most common use of templates (even though it is invisible to the user) is in the initial drawing Traverse PC creates when you start a new survey (Drawing1). It is created using the DEFAULT.DRT template. If you want to change the way this initial drawing is created, overwrite the DEFAULT.DRT template. When you start a new drawing, you first choose the template you want to use. Temporary drawings are created using the TRAVERSE.DRT template. If you want to change the way temporary drawings are displayed, overwrite the TRAVERSE.DRT template. Starting a New Drawing with a Template You will be more aware of templates when you start new drawings. 1) From the Drawing Manager, choose Tools Insert New Drawing and choose Append to End. 2) Click Browse, select the template you want to use and choose Open. Automatic survey position and scale The drawing template creates the new drawing using the stored scale and position in the template. Consider a mortgage inspection template. The surveys would always be drawn at the same place on the page and at the same scale, allowing you to include your boilerplate mortgage inspection text right in the template. 1) If the position and scale aren t right, just choose View Zoom Zoom Extents and set your scale. 58 Drawing Learning Guide

59 What a Template Includes Using Drawing Templates Drawing templates store the following information about the drawing. When you start a drawing using a template, all this information is available in the new drawing. Page size, orientation (landscape vs. portrait) and margins. Output device (which printer or plotter) if you have turned off Use Window s default printer in the desktop Tools Program Settings, Miscellaneous. Drawing scale and position of survey. Stock objects stored in the template like border, north arrow, scale bar, title block, legend, line table, etc. Objects you added like text, lines, rectangles, etc. Drawing settings for control points, side shots and lot labels. Drawing Settings like [X] Plot Backsights. Templates do not store any traverse or survey data. Creating a New Template Creating a new template is very easy. 1) Just choose Tools Save Drawing as a Template. 2) Enter the File name for the new template then choose Save. The Drawing View writes a new template file. Drawing Learning Guide 59

60 Using Drawing Templates Editing an Existing Template To edit an existing template, create a new drawing based on that template, edit the drawing then save the drawing as the same template or a new one. 1) From the Drawing Manager, choose Tools Insert New Drawing Append to End and create a new drawing with the template you want to edit. 2) Make the changes you want to the template. You can add new objects, modify existing objects, delete objects, move objects around, change the page size, orientation and margins, add a border whatever. 3) Choose Tools Save Drawing as a Template. 4) In the Save Drawing template dialog, highlight the template you are editing and choose Save. 5) If the template is Read Only, right click it s filename, choose Properties and turn off [ ] Read Only and choose OK. Then repeat step 4. 6) When prompted to overwrite the existing file, choose Yes. Hints: This is how you would change the DEFAULT.DRT and TRAVERSE.DRT templates to meet your needs. Creating additional templates Creating additional templates based on existing templates is easy. 1) From the Drawing Manager, choose Tools Insert New Drawing Append to End and create a new drawing with the template you want to edit. 2) Make the changes you want to the template. You can add new objects, modify existing objects, delete objects, move objects around, change the page size, orientation and margins, add a border whatever. 3) Choose Tools Save Drawing as a Template. 4) In the Save Drawing template dialog, enter the File name of the new template and choose Save. 60 Drawing Learning Guide

61 Using Groups in Templates Using Drawing Templates By storing groups in templates, instead of blocks, you can extend the ability to edit the drawings created by templates. In this task, we ll consider storing the title block as a group. 1) From the Drawing Manager, choose Tools Insert New Drawing Append to End. 2) Use the Browse button in the New Drawing dialog to select the default.drt template for the new drawing then choose OK. 3) Position the cursor over any text object in the title block. The status bar or Tool Tip should display Group, Text, Paper space, 0 Layer. 4) Position the cursor over the INSERT NAME text, right-click and choose Properties. 5) Enter your name or initials and choose OK. Groups vs. Blocks Groups and blocks are both collections of other objects. In this case, the title block is a collection of lines and text. One of the primary differences is that you can edit the individual objects within a group whereas you can t within a block. For this reasons, template objects that you commonly edit, like the title block, can be stored in the template as groups. To learn more about groups and blocks 1) Choose Help Search For Help On and left-click the Index tab. 2) Scroll down to Groups, highlight it and choose Display. 3) Scroll down to Grouping Drawing Objects and choose Display. Drawing Learning Guide 61

62 Adding a Legend Adding a Legend This chapter demonstrates: Adding a legend to a drawing The parts of the legend Adding symbols automatically Editing legend item descriptions Editing legend item symbols Adding text items to a legend Adding line types to a legend Rearranging legend items Deleting the legend Overview Just about every drawing has a legend. The legend identifies symbols, lines and conventions used in the drawing. The legend reduces the text needed on the drawing since [ ] can always denote record data and can always denote a found 1" Iron Pipe. Smart drawing objects The legend in Drawing View is a smart drawing object. It knows how to interact with the drawing and update itself as you add to or modify the drawing. This interaction makes your drawings more efficient and accurate. To learn more about adding a legend 1) Choose Help Search For Help On and left-click the Index tab. 2) Scroll down to Legends, highlight it and choose Display. 3) Choose Legends then choose Display. Getting Started 1) From the Tasks View choose Sample Surveys. 2) Double-click the LEARN LEGEND.TRV file. 3) Choose File Save Survey As then enter the name Legend and choose Save. 4) If prompted to replace the existing file, choose Yes. 62 Drawing Learning Guide

63 Adding a Legend Adding a Legend to a Drawing 1) From the Drawing View, choose Insert Legend. 2) From the Legend Settings dialog, choose the options shown here then choose OK. TPC inserts a legend in the lower left corner of the drawing. Moving the legend 1) Position the cursor over any part of the legend except on any legend item, then drag-n-drop the legend where you want it. To move the legend, the cursor must be over the legend but not over a specific legend item. Just watch the status bar. When the cursor is in the correct position, it will display Legend. If the cursor is over a legend item like Rebar, you can rearrange the items in the legend. Drawing Learning Guide 63

64 Adding a Legend The Parts of a Legend 1) Position the cursor over the word Legend. The Drawing View displays Legend, Paper Space, 0 Layer in the status bar. 2) Position the cursor over any item description in the legend like Rebar. The Drawing View displays Legend Item, REBAR, Paper Space in the status bar. 3) Position the cursor over any symbol in the legend like the Rebar symbol. The Drawing View displays Block, Rebar, Paper Space in the status bar at the bottom of the screen. The part of the legend the cursor is over makes a difference. To move the legend on the drawing, the cursor must be over the legend but not over a particular legend item. To rearrange the items within the legend, the cursor must be over the particular legend item you want to move. Legend items Legend items are the lines within the legend. Each legend item has a symbol on the left and the description of that symbol on the right. Together, these form a legend item. You can edit and rearrange legend items within the legend, add new legend items, hide legend items and/or delete legend items. If you position the cursor over a legend item, the status bar will display Legend Item, followed by the description of the legend item like LINE SCALE BREAK. The legend The legend itself is any part of the legend that is not part of a particular legend item. If you position the cursor over the word Legend or any other part of the legend (except a legend item), the status bar will display Legend, Paper Space, 0 Layer. 64 Drawing Learning Guide

65 Adding a Legend Adding Symbols Automatically By default, the legend adds symbols automatically as they are used in the drawing. In the drawing shown here, we changed the SW lot corner to the Monument In Case symbol, so the Drawing View added it to the legend. Rules for automatic symbols A symbol can be used any number of times in the drawing, but can only appear once in the legend. If the drawing is modified so that a symbol is no longer used, that symbol is removed from the legend. If the symbol is deleted from the legend, the Drawing View will add it back in because it is used. Hide the legend item instead. Hiding a legend item If the legend includes a generic symbol like a tick mark or triangle that you don't want shown in the legend, you must hide the symbol. If you delete it, the Drawing View will just add it back in since it is a used symbol. 1) To hide a legend item, position the cursor over the legend item, right-click and choose Hide. 2) To unhide the legend item, choose View Format View Preferences Show Hidden Objects. Right-click the hidden legend item and choose Show. Turning off automatic symbols 1) Position the cursor over the legend (not a legend item). 2) Right-click the legend and choose Properties to display the Legend Settings dialog. 3) Turn off the Automatic Point Symbols option. The Drawing View leaves the legend items in the legend, but doesn't automatically add any new symbols that are used in the drawing. At this point, you could delete any of the existing legend items and the Drawing View would not automatically add them back in. Drawing Learning Guide 65

66 Adding a Legend Editing Legend Item Descriptions When a point symbol is added automatically to the legend, the default name of the symbol is used for the description. The default name is the name that shows up in the symbol list. If the default name is not descriptive enough or you want to add to the default name or change it in any way, you can. 1) Position the cursor over the description of the legend item you want to change. 2) Right-click and choose Properties. 3) In the Legend Item dialog enter the description of the legend item. Press Enter to move to a new line of text as needed. The Drawing View redraws the legend, adding extra lines as needed for the description. 66 Drawing Learning Guide

67 Adding a Legend Editing Legend Item Symbols Symbols that are added to the legend may not be the appropriate size, color or rotation to match the way the symbol is used in the drawing. If not, you can edit the legend symbol so that it does match the drawing. 1) Position the cursor over the symbol of the legend item you want to change. 2) Right-click and choose Properties. TPC displays the appropriate dialog for the symbol. 3) Make the changes you want and choose OK. You will probably want to specify the Height of the legend symbol. Rotating a symbol If a symbol (like a quarter corner) is rotated in the drawing, you can rotate it in the legend. 1) Position the cursor of the symbol, right-click and choose Properties. 2) In the symbol dialog, enter the appropriate rotation angle and choose OK. The legend evaluates the rotated symbol and adjusts the line spacing of the legend items to accommodate the rotation. Drawing Learning Guide 67

68 Adding a Legend Adding Text Items to a Legend Sometimes you need to add a simple text item to a legend to indicate that [ ] brackets are used to denote record data or an asterisk * is used to denote information that is found on page 2 of the drawing. Making this text part of the legend eliminates the need to position and align the text to fit the other legend items. 1) Position the cursor over the legend. The status bar should display Legend, Paper Space, 0 Layer. 2) Right-click and choose Append Text Item to Legend. A Text Legend Item dialog will appear, with a question mark for both the symbol and the description. 3) Enter the appropriate text and choose OK. If you are entering brackets, leave a few spaces between the brackets like this [ ]. 4) To change the symbol later, right-click it and choose Properties to display the Text dialog. 5) To change the text later, right-click the it and choose Properties to display the Legend Item dialog. 6) Enter the description and choose OK. 68 Drawing Learning Guide

69 Adding Line Types to a Legend 1) Position the cursor over the line you want to add. 2) Right-click the line and choose Append to Legend. Drawing View will open the Legend Item Description dialog box. It will have a short description highlighted in the text box Adding a Legend 3) Enter the appropriate description for the line and choose OK. 4) To change the description after this legend item has been added to the legend, right-click the question mark and choose Properties to display the Legend Item dialog. Make your changes and choose OK. Rearranging Legend Items When point symbols are added automatically to the legend, they appear in the order they are encountered in the symbol list. When you add items manually to the legend, they are appended to the legend in the order you add them. If the resulting sequence is not correct, you can change it by rearranging the legend items. 1) Position the cursor over the legend item you want to move, then drag-n-drop the legend item within the legend. That's it. Here, the Monument In Case legend item was moved to the top of the legend and the 15' CONSTRUCTION SETBACK item was moved to the bottom. Deleting the Legend Each drawing can have one and only one legend. If you don't want the legend, just delete it. 1) Position the cursor over the legend. The status bar will display Legend, Paper Space, 0 Layer. Right-click and choose Delete. Drawing Learning Guide 69

70 Adding a Legend Testing Your Skills In this task, you ll test your skill at adding a legend to a drawing. 1) Open the SKILL2.TRV file in the Samples folder and save it as TEST12.TRV. 2) Change the symbol for the SW corner of lot 106 from a Set Rebar to Set Monument. 3) Insert a legend into the drawing. 4) Add the 10 construction setback line to the legend. 5) Add the property boundary line to the legend. 6) Update the legend items to match the text shown below. 70 Drawing Learning Guide

71 Drawing Commands Drawing Commands This chapter demonstrates: Current object settings Command steps Undoing commands Nested commands Entering exact values Using Ortho mode Using fine mode Snapping to objects Overview In the preceding chapters, you learned that the Drawing View has many built-in tools and conventions that minimize the actual drawing needed to complete a record of survey. These built-in tools and conventions take advantage of data association between the Drawing View and the survey. By using them, you'll complete your drawing in less time and with fewer errors. Using drawing tools with the Drawing View The Drawing View has the tools to draw most of your record of survey for you. It isn't uncommon to have the Drawing View draw 80% to 90% of the finished drawing right from the survey data. Your numbers may vary, but much of what's left is just adding text and repositioning objects to make the drawing look better. It's here, in the final 10% to 20% of the drawing, that you will use the drawing commands. To learn more about adding text 1) Choose Help Search For Help On and left-click the Index tab. 2) Scroll down to Drawing Commands, highlight it and choose Display. 3) Choose Drawing Commands then choose Display. Getting Started 1) From the Tasks View choose Sample Surveys. 2) Double-click the LEARN DRAW COMMANDS.TRV file. 3) Choose File Save Survey As then enter the name Draw Commands and choose Save. 4) If prompted to replace the existing file, choose Yes. Drawing Learning Guide 71

72 Drawing Commands Current Object Settings The Drawing View maintains current object settings. When you execute a command, you do not need to specify the font, height, weight, line type, line thickness and color because the commands all use the current object settings. The current object settings are displayed on the Drawing View Format bar. The Format toolbar shown here is set to Arial, 0.10" height, Normal font weight, Black color, Solid line and 0.01 pen width. Other object settings The Drawing View Format bar does not list all the object settings used by the Drawing View. Instead, it lists the settings you are likely to change most often. Other object settings can be modified by right-clicking an object after it is drawn and choosing Properties. Changing the current settings To change any of the current settings, 1) Left-click anywhere on the Drawing View to make it the active view. 2) Left-click the down arrow on the right side of a list to expand it. 3) Left-click the new item from the list. The Format bar will show the current selection. Changing available fonts TPC queries your printer to determine which fonts to list in the format bar. Only those fonts available on the currently selected printer are listed. You can not edit this list yourself. 72 Drawing Learning Guide

73 Command Steps Drawing Commands Every command has sequential steps you must follow. For instance, before you start typing text, you must specify an insert point for the text. As you are typing text, you must press the Enter key to advance to a new line, and so on. Example command step The first step of the Insert Text command displays the prompt, LeftClick start point (Insert/End/Mid/inTersect) in the status bar. The Drawing View continues to display this prompt until you left-click the text insert point, at which time it changes to the second step of the text command and displays the prompt, Enter=new line, Enter+Enter=end. So the Insert Text command steps look something like this: Prompt LeftClick start point (Insert/End/Mid/inTersect) Enter=new line, Enter+Enter=end Your action Left-click the text insert point or snap to an Insert, End, Mid or Intersection point in the drawing. Type the text. Press Enter to advance to a new line. Press Enter twice to end the command. Canceling a command 1) To cancel any command in progress, press the Esc key. Ending fixed step commands Some commands prompt you for a fixed number of steps. After the final step, the command ends. The Circle command is a good example of this. It prompts you to specify an insert point and a radius then draws the circle and ends automatically. Repeating a command Commands like Copy or Insert Block can be repeated any number of times by selecting the [Repeat] option. Ending variable step commands Some commands include a step or steps that repeat indefinitely until you end the command. The Insert Polyline command is an example of this. It prompts you to specify an insert point followed by a prompt to specify the next vertex. Each time you left-click, a new vertex is added to the polyline. 1) To end a variable step command, right-click or press enter. The command will end with the last completed action. Drawing Learning Guide 73

74 Drawing Commands Undoing Commands You can undo commands in the Drawing View. 1) Choose Edit Undo: last command. The menu will list the name of the last command. The Drawing View will undo the last command - adding, removing, or changing objects as needed. Changing the undo count The Undo Count is the number of sequential undo commands stored in memory. Once the maximum number of commands has been stored, the oldest command must be dropped before a new one can be added. Once a command is dropped, it cannot be undone. 1) Choose View Format View Preferences tab. 2) Modify the Undo count value and choose OK. Hints: Because the commands are stored in memory, increasing the undo count can impact your system resources and slow down Traverse PC. If you notice that TPC is responding sluggishly after increasing the undo count, you may want to decrease it to a number that does not adversely affect the program operation. Nested Commands Drawing View can nest any number of commands. For example, if you are entering text and need to execute the Zoom Windows command to see the text better, choose View Zoom Zoom Window. Drawing View suspends the text command while it walks you through the Zoom Window command steps. Once the Zoom Window command is finished, Drawing View resumes the text command with the next character you type. Zoom and Scrolling The most common nested commands are the zooming and scrolling commands. If you can t quite select the end of a line at the current resolution, just zoom in. If the end of the line you want is beyond the edge of the view, slide the scroll bars or press the wheel on your wheel mouse to pan to the end of the line. When you are finished panning, the previous command resumes automatically. Canceling a nested command When you cancel a nested command with the Esc key, Drawing View cancels the nested command and resumes the previous command. If you wish to cancel the resumed command, you must press Esc again. 74 Drawing Learning Guide

75 Drawing Commands Entering Exact Values You have several options for entering exact values as you draw. Option 1: Hold down the Shift key as you left-click. The Drawing View displays the properties of the object, using the position of the mouse click to populate the appropriate values. Change the appropriate values and choose OK. Drawing View redraws the object using the values in the dialog. Option 2: If the command displays a value on the status line, use the arrow keys to edit the value or just type in your own value and press Enter. Option 3: Create the object then right-click it and choose Properties. Make the changes you want in the dialog. Note: Some commands or steps within a command do not allow you to enter exact values. Using Option 2 to enter an exact radius for a circle 1) Choose Draw Circle. 2) Left-click the insert point. 3) Move the cursor away from the insert point. The Drawing View will draw the circle at the current cursor position. The radius is displayed on the status bar. 4) Use the left arrow key to erase the radius and type in your own. 5) Press Enter to end the command. Paper Space vs. Survey Space The circle properties dialog shown here indicates that the circle is in Paper Space. As a result, the coordinates (X, Y) are Paper Space coordinates and Radius is displayed in inches regardless of scale. A Survey Space circle would display the coordinates and radius in survey units like Feet or Meters. Drawing Learning Guide 75

76 Drawing Commands Using Ortho Mode Ortho mode is used to draw lines horizontally and vertically in Paper Space or East-West / North-South in Survey Space. 1) Choose Draw Line. 2) Left-click the insert point of the line. 3) Move the cursor to the right of the insert point. The Drawing View draws a temporary line to the cursor. 4) Now hold down the Ctrl key and move the cursor. The Drawing View replaces the line with a horizontal line, ending at the X value of the cursor position. 5) Left-click to establish the end point of the first line segment. 6) While still holding down the Ctrl key, move the cursor down the page. The Drawing View draws a vertical line, ending at the Y value of the cursor position. 7) Left-click to establish the end point of the second line segment. 8) Right-click to end the line command. Paper Space vs. Survey Space In a normal (un-rotated) drawing, the only difference between Ortho Mode lines in Paper Space or Survey Space is the coordinate system used. If the drawing is rotated however, a Survey Space line that is running East-West will not be running horizontally on the page. It will be drawn matching the rotation of the drawing on the page. A Paper Space line would still be drawn vertically or horizontally. Using Fine Mode For finer control as you are selecting a text angle or insert point, hold down the left Shift key on your keyboard. TPC reduces the cursor movement by a factor of 10, allowing you to select a more exact position with the next left-click of the mouse. You can use fine mode just about any time you pick a point or specify an angle my positioning the cursor. 76 Drawing Learning Guide

77 Snapping to Objects Drawing Commands Snapping lets you pick and use an existing point in the drawing for the next step in the current command. Let's say that you want to add a porch to the south side of the foundation on Lot 2. 1) Right-click any blank spot on the drawing and choose Modes. Turn off Paper Space then left-click outside the menu to close it. 2) From the Format toolbar, choose the solid line type, 0.01" thickness and Black. 3) Choose Draw Line. 4) Press the [M] key to snap to a Mid point. 5) Position the cursor anywhere over the south line of the Lot 2 foundation and left-click. The Drawing View computes the midpoint of the line and uses it as the insert point of the first line segment. 6) Move the cursor down the page about half an inch (the exact amount is not important), hold down the Shift key and left-click to display the Line dialog shown here. 7) Enter 12 for H Dist and 200 for Bearing then choose OK. 8) Move the cursor to the right, hold down the Shift key and left-click. 9) Enter 33 for H Dist and 190 for Bearing then choose OK. 10) Press the [E] key to snap to an End point. 11) Position the cursor over the south foundation line, somewhere near the East end, and left-click. 12) Right-click to end the line command. Your porch should look like the one above. To learn more about using equations 1) Choose Help Search For Help On and left-click the Index tab. 2) Scroll down to Equations, highlight it and choose Display. 3) Choose Entering Equations then choose Display. Drawing Learning Guide 77

78 Using Pictures in Drawings Using Pictures in Drawings This chapter demonstrates: Inserting a picture Referencing the survey to a picture Rescaling and repositioning a survey with a picture Creating survey coordinates from a picture Moving a picture Inserting a picture as a vicinity map Editing a Picture Overview In this lesson, you ll learn both how to insert an aerial photo and overlay your survey on it and insert a vicinity map. You ll be working with picture objects in your drawings. To learn more about this topic 1) Choose Help Search For Help On and left-click the Index tab. 2) Scroll down to Pictures, highlight it and choose Display. 3) Choose Pictures then choose Display. Getting Started 1) From the Tasks View choose Sample Surveys. 2) Double-click the LEARN PICTURES.TRV file. 3) Choose File Save Survey As then enter the name Pictures and choose Save. 4) If prompted to replace the existing file, choose Yes. 78 Drawing Learning Guide

79 Using Pictures in Drawings Inserting a Picture Make sure the Drawing View is in Survey Space. 1) From the Drawing View, choose Tools Layers. Left click the Background layer and choose Current and then Close. You don t have to put the picture on the background layer, but doing so gives you better options if you need to change the drawing order or to Ignore or turn the layer Off without affecting other objects on the drawing. 2) Choose Insert Picture. 3) Locate the file SAMPLE5.JPG in the TPC program folder. Hint: Using the Thumbnail view in the Open Picture File dialog displays each picture to help you pick the right one. 4) Double-click the SAMPLE5.JPG to return to the Drawing View. 5) Left-click two points on the drawing that will become diagonal corners of an imaginary box around the picture. You will see the picture expand or contract as you move the mouse. The two points define both the size and position of the picture in the drawing. In the example shown here, we ve placed the picture below and a little to the right of the survey. Hint: It is a good practice to not try to position the image too close to the survey points you want to reference the picture to because it can make it harder to see where you need to click on the picture. Drawing Learning Guide 79

80 Using Pictures in Drawings Referencing the Survey to a Picture When you reference the survey to a picture, TPC does three things: Rotates the picture to match the orientation of the survey Resizes the picture to match the drawing scale Positions the picture in relation to the survey Once everything is referenced, you can scale the drawing or reposition the survey on the page and the picture and survey retain their proper relationships. 1) Right-click any part of the picture and choose Reference Survey to Picture from the context menu. 2) Left-click two reference points on the survey that you can also locate on the picture (1 & 2 shown here in red). You can use the snap commands to select the exact survey coordinates of your reference points. 3) Now left-click these same two points, in the same order, on the picture (3 & 4 shown here in red). 4) The picture and survey are redrawn in their new referenced positions. That s all there is to it. Hints: If the picture comes in on top of some of the text on the drawing, you must move its layer backward. Right-click the picture and choose Drawing Order Move Layer to Back. You will want to take some time in choosing the points to use in referencing the survey to the picture. You will find that the farther apart the points are, the better your survey data will match the picture. You may also find that choosing diagonal points helps. You may find that you need to edit the picture after you bring it into Traverse PC. TPC makes this very easy and you will learn more about this in the pages ahead. 80 Drawing Learning Guide

81 Rescaling and Repositioning a Survey with a Picture Using Pictures in Drawings Once you have referenced the survey to a picture you can rescale the drawing or drag-n-drop the survey anywhere on the page, and the picture and survey retain the proper reference to each other. That s because both objects are in Survey Space. One of the neat things about Survey Space is that ALL Survey Space objects are based on the same coordinate grid and the same scale even pictures. Drawing Learning Guide 81

82 Using Pictures in Drawings Creating Survey Coordinates from a Picture You can create survey coordinates from any picture that is displayed in the Drawing View by clicking where you choose with your mouse. With our picture and survey referenced, we will be able to calculate the forested and non-forested areas of the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter. 1) Using the View Zoom Zoom Window command, zoom in on the NW 1/4 NW 1/4. You will see that the southern area is forested and the northern area is not. 2) Choose Tools Add Points to Traverse. 3) Enter Forested in the Name field. 4) From the Format list, choose Deed. 5) From the Settings list, choose Unit Boundary. 6) Select Method 3. 7) Enter 1000 in the Starting Label. 8) Match the other settings shown here. 9) Choose Append. These settings will allow us to easily see the points we are creating while giving us a unique series of point labels plus a good description for each point. Note that the Status Bar is now telling us to LeftClick point to add (Insert/End/Mid/intersect). It is now time to start creating our new points. 82 Drawing Learning Guide

83 Using Pictures in Drawings 10) Place the cursor over the edge of the forest in the NW 1/4 NW 1/4 and left-click. You will see a blue square appear on the screen where you clicked. 11) Left-click your way across the edge of the forest. 12) When you click the forest edge near a section subdivision line, observe the tool tips and make sure you are not over a line, otherwise TPC will automatically snap to the end point of the line under the cursor and you won t get the point you want. 13) Click anywhere near the end of a line to add the corresponding section subdivision corner. 14) When you have clicked the last point, press [Enter] to end the tool. Your survey should now look something like this. You told the Add Points to Traverse command to leave the Traverse View open, which it has. You can open the Closure View and get an area for the forested portion (we got 11.5 acres). You can create a non-forested traverse by recalling existing points or the same way you created the Forested area. You can display the area on the map using Lot Labels if you choose. Drawing Learning Guide 83

84 Using Pictures in Drawings Modifying a Picture You can modify the way pictures are displayed in TPC. Cropping or Resizing the Picture If you need to make the picture fit better on the drawing, 1) Right-click anywhere on the picture and choose Modify Objects Crop or Resize from the context menu. TPC draws a tracker rectangle around the picture. 2) Drag any one of the eight points of the tracker rectangle to change the size and shape of the picture. 3) Once you are satisfied with the size and shape of the picture, right-click to end the tool. Hints: Cropping a picture deletes a portion of the image from the screen. Resizing a picture changes the size (and possibly the shape) of an image. Mirroring or Flipping the Picture If you need to mirror or flip the picture because it was taken from the wrong direction, 1) Right-click anywhere on the picture and choose Properties from the context menu. 2) Turn on Flip or Mirror and choose OK. Hints: Mirroring a picture means to invert a picture left to right. To flip a picture means to invert a picture top to bottom. Rotating the Picture 1) Right-click anywhere on the picture and choose Properties from the context menu. 2) Enter the rotation angle in the Rotate field and choose OK. or 3) Right-click the picture and choose Modify Objects Rotate from the context menu. 84 Drawing Learning Guide

85 Inserting a Picture as a Vicinity Map Using Pictures in Drawings In the example shown here, we ve inserted an aerial photo of the vicinity of the survey in the upper right-hand corner of the drawing along with a compass rose picture for our north arrow. We put both of the pictures in Paper Space as we want to position them in relation to the corner of the drawing. Viewing this File If you would like to see this file in TPC, 1) From the Tasks View choose Sample Surveys then highlight SAMPLE SITE SURVEY.TRV and choose Open. Repositioning the Vicinity Map You reposition a picture like you do any other drawing object. 1) Position the cursor over any part of the vicinity picture (photo) in the upper-right corner, then drag-n-drop it using the left mouse button. Restoring the Original Shape of the Picture The original picture has a certain height and width. As you crop, resize, mirror, flip or rotate the picture, the ratio of height to width may change, making the picture look out of proportion or the picture may appear distorted in other unsatisfactory ways. 1) To restore the original proportion and orientation of the image, right-click anywhere on the picture and choose Modify Objects Reset Modified Attributes. Enhancing the Picture We ve also placed a circle around the shoreline shown in the drawing and added the text SITE and MERCER LAKE. The circle and text are just drawing objects we ve placed on top of the picture. Drawing Learning Guide 85

86 Using Pictures in Drawings Editing a Picture You can edit pictures in your favorite picture editor directly from TPC. This allows you to make changes to the image file that cannot be done in Traverse PC. 1) Right-click any part of the picture you want to edit and choose Properties from the context menu to the display the Picture Settings dialog. 2) Choose Edit. TPC opens the picture in the picture editor you have selected in the Program Settings dialog. 3) Make the changes you want in your picture editor and save the changes back to the same filename. Choosing File Save from your picture editor will do this. 4) Close your picture editor to return to the Picture Settings dialog, then choose OK. Selecting a Picture Editor 5) From the desktop menu choose Tools Program Settings, Miscellaneous. 6) Enter the path and filename of your picture editor in the Picture Editor field and choose OK. The mspaint program that ships with the Windows OS is the default picture editor, but you can use any editor capable of reading the picture types you are using. 86 Drawing Learning Guide

87 Using Enhanced Hatching in Drawings Using Enhanced Hatching in Drawings This chapter demonstrates: Filling drawing objects Clearing text in fills Appending a fill to the legend Filling traverses Moving objects and layers forward and backward Overview TPC uses the term Enhanced Hatching to refer to the three types of fills now available in TPC Desktop. The three types are, 1) solid fills 2) pattern hatching and 3) bitmap fills. Of the three, the pattern fill most closely matches what many CAD programs call hatching. To learn more about this topic 1) Choose Help Search For Help On and left-click the Contents tab. 2) Scroll down to Hatching. 3) Double-click Hatching to expand the chapter, then double-click Hatching and Fills. Getting Started 1) From the Tasks View choose Sample Surveys. 2) Double-click the LEARN HATCHING.TRV file. 3) Choose File Save Survey As then enter the name Hatching and choose Save. 4) If prompted to replace the existing file, choose Yes. 5) Activate the Drawing View by left-clicking it or choosing Window Drawing View. Drawing Learning Guide 87

88 Using Enhanced Hatching in Drawings Filling Drawing Objects We ll start by filling the wooded area shown on the map. 1) Right-click the dashed polyline that defines the dense wooded area on the Northeast property line and choose Properties. 2) In the Polyline dialog, pull down the Fill list and choose Forest (filled). 3) Change the line type to Solid. 4) Turn on the Closed toggle. 5) Select the Curve Fit option for Smoothing. 6) Choose OK. TPC smoothes the polyline and fills it with the Forest (filled) hatching. Now, let s fill the lake located West of the property. 7) Right-click the aqua colored polyline to the West of the property, labeled MERCER LAKE and choose Properties. 8) From the Polyline dialog, select Water (filled) for the Fill, turn on Closed and choose OK. In the pages ahead, you ll learn how to add these fills to the legend and clear the embedded text to make the drawing more readable. 88 Drawing Learning Guide

89 Using Enhanced Hatching in Drawings Clearing Text in Fills Now let s clear the text in the lake fill, making the drawing easier to read. 1) Right-click the text object MERCER LAKE inside the polyline you just filled for the lake and choose Properties. 2) From the Text dialog, choose Clear Background. 3) Choose OK. TPC clears the area immediately behind the text with the background color for the drawing. 4) Now drag-n-drop the MERCER LAKE text object anywhere in the lake fill. Notice that the cleared background moves with the text object. 5) Now drag-n-drop it outside of the lake fill, then drag-n-drop it back onto the lake fill. 6) Now drag-n-drop it so that only part of it is in the lake fill. This helps you get a feel for what TPC is doing when it clears the background of a text object. Note: As you drag-n-drop the text object, portions of the fill may be erased. However, as soon as you drop the text object, the fill reappears properly. Drawing Learning Guide 89

90 Using Enhanced Hatching in Drawings Appending a Fill to the Legend You can add the fills you use to the legend. 1) Position the cursor anywhere over the legend except on a legend item and right-click. The status bar at the bottom of the screen should display Legend. If it displays Legend Item, you are not over the legend. 2) From the context menu, choose Append Fill Item to Legend TPC displays the Fill Type dialog. 3) Expand the Fill list and choose Forest (filled). 4) Note: The Color shown here in the dialog is used for Fill types like hatches and solids, but is not used by bitmap fills like the Forest (filled) type. 5) Choose OK. TPC adds a legend item for Forest (filled). You don t have to use the default name for a fill type. You can change it to whatever you want. 6) Right-click the Forest (filled) text for this legend item and choose Properties. 7) Replace the Forest (filled) text with DENSE WOODED AREA and choose OK. 90 Drawing Learning Guide

91 Using Enhanced Hatching in Drawings Filling Traverses You can also fill traverses with any of the fill types. We ll use this feature to shade the buildings shown on the map. 1) Locate the COVERED TRAILER AREA near the center of the property. This feature was drawn by the TRAILER COVER traverse. 2) Right-click any of the lines of the covered trailer area and choose Traverse Settings from the context menu. 3) In the Fill tab, expand the Fill list and choose Solid. 4) Choose Yellow for the fill Color. 5) Notice the Clear Background toggle in the Lines section. If you fill a traverse, TPC can clear the fill from each line label, making the labels easier to read on the final map. 6) Choose OK. TPC fills the covered trailer area with yellow, but now you can t see the COVERED TRAILER AREA text and the dimensions are harder to read. What happened? In the next section, you ll learn how to bring objects forward or send them backwards. Drawing Learning Guide 91

92 Using Enhanced Hatching in Drawings Moving Objects Forward and Backward The fill that you just placed in the COVERED TRAILER AREA was drawn on top of the text. The text is still there, but it is hidden behind the solid fill. To view the text again, you will need to move the fill to the background, behind the text. But first, let s take a look at objects vs. layers. Layer Tools and Editions The Layer Tools that are referenced below are only available in the Premium and Professional Editions. Moving Objects forward or backward is available in All Editions. Objects vs. Layers 1) To move an object forward or backward, right-click the object and choose Drawing Order from the context menu. 2) Choose an option like Move Layer to the Front. TPC re-orders the object or layer and redraws the view. 3) If you don t get the results you expected, it could be that you need to move the entire layer forward or backward. Other layers may have precedence over the layer the object is on, in which case it isn t enough just to move the object, you must move the layer. With a little practice you ll get the hang of moving objects and layers forward and backward. 92 Drawing Learning Guide

93 Moving the Traverse Fill Backwards Using Enhanced Hatching in Drawings The traverse fill is on the same layer as the traverse lines. To move it backwards, we have to move the traverse line layer backwards. 1) Right-click any line of the COVERED TRAILER AREA and choose Drawing Order Move Layer to the Back. 2) To make the drawing look even better, right-click both a major and minor contour line and move their layers to the background also. Clearing the Line Labels You can also clear the fill from behind the line labels, making them easier to read. 1) Right-click the COVERED TRAILER AREA traverse and choose Traverse Settings. 2) Turn on Clear Background in the Lines section, then choose OK. 3) You can also move the line labels outside of the fill if you want. Moving the Contour Lines Backwards You usually don t want a contour line running through a building so the fill is a good way to hide it. Note: Contouring is only available in the Premium and Professional Editions but the contours that we created in the Professional Edition will be displayed in all editions. 1) Right-click any line of the 80 contour line running through the COVERED TRAILER AREA and choose Drawing Order Move Layer to the Back. Drawing Learning Guide 93

94 Reusing CAD Blocks Reusing CAD Blocks This chapter demonstrates: What kind of DXF file you need Using the Get Blocks from File command Organizing the blocks Controlling line widths in blocks Overview Drawing View can reuse most of the blocks you currently use in your old CAD software. It does this by reading a DXF file that includes block definitions and writing a separate block file for each one. These block files can then be reused in your Drawing View drawings. The Inserting Objects chapter in the Advanced Learning Guide shows how you can organize these blocks into folders using Drawing View's Object Library. You'll be impressed at how easy it is to keep track of your drawing blocks using the Object Library. Whether you have an entire point code library you want to convert or a single block like your company logo or surveyor's stamp, this chapter will help you recapture your CAD investment as you move to TPC Desktop for Windows for all your surveying needs. To learn more about reusing CAD blocks 1. Choose Help Search For Help On and left-click the Index tab. 2. Scroll down to Blocks, highlight it and choose Display. 3. Choose Using Blocks from Other CAD Programs then choose Display. 94 Drawing Learning Guide

95 Reusing CAD Blocks What kind of DXF File You Need A typical DXF file is organized into sections something like this: General header information / Table / Block definitions / Entities Any blocks that are inserted in the CAD drawing are stored, one time each, in the Block definition section. This is the section Drawing View gets the blocks from. Getting the blocks from an existing drawing If you have a particular CAD drawing that has blocks you want to reuse, export the drawing as a DXF file from your CAD program. Then use TPC to get the blocks from the DXF file. Each time you use a CAD drawing with a block you want in the Drawing View, you can repeat these steps. Converting all your blocks at once If you want to move all your CAD blocks over to TPC's Drawing View one time and be done with it, you can create a drawing that contains all the blocks you want to convert, then export the drawing as a DXF file from your CAD program and use TPC to get the blocks from the DXF file. Using the Get Blocks from File Command 1. From the Drawing View, choose Tools Get Blocks From File. 2. Navigate to the DXFBlocks.DXF file and double-click it. TPC reads the DXFBlocks.DXF file and creates a separate file for each block found in it. The new blocks are added to TPC's \Blocks\ folder where they can be easily moved into folders in the Object Library. Drawing View uses the block name stored in the DXF file as the file name for the new block so you will probably recognize the new blocks by their file names. That's all there is to it. You now have blocks you can reuse in Drawing View. 3. Close the Create Blocks from DXF File dialog by left-clicking the X in the upper right corner. Drawing Learning Guide 95

96 Reusing CAD Blocks Organizing the Blocks From the Drawing View, choose Insert Block. The Drawing View displays the Blocks dialog. All the new blocks are listed as dxf files. Previewing the blocks 1. Highlight any dxf file to preview its block. To create a new folder 1. Left-click the new folder button to the right of Look in or right-click any blank spot in the file list and choose New Folder. The dialog adds a New Folder to the list. 2. Type an appropriate name for the folder and press [Enter]. To move blocks into folders 1. Drag-n-drop any dxf file to any folder. You can also use the [Ctrl] and [Shift] keys to select multiple dxf files then move the selected files into a folder. 2. Left-click Cancel to close the Block dialog. TPC has sufficient code to re-use most CAD blocks. If you encounter a block that does not reproduce properly in TPC, contact TCP technical support. 96 Drawing Learning Guide

97 Controlling Line Widths in Blocks Reusing CAD Blocks Some programs, like AutoCAD, use a zero line width convention to draw a single pixle line. Combined with the fact that AutoCAD doesn t allow lines to have a width (you must use a polyline or light weight polyline to specify a width) the blocks you insert may have thicker lines than you want. To accommodate these different line width conventions, TPC lets you overwrite any symbol, setting all its line widths to zero. 1. Right-click the block and choose Properties. 2. Turn on Zero line width all and choose OK. In the example shown here, the north arrow on the right has all line widths set to zero. Drawing Learning Guide 97

98 Adding Tables Adding Tables This chapter demonstrates: Understanding tables, table items and styles Making room for the tables on the drawing Adding a curve table for all curves Formatting an existing table Adding and removing line labels to a table manually Including record data in a table Adding a coordinate (point) table 98 Drawing Learning Guide

99 Overview Adding Tables The Drawing and Traverse Settings label the curves and lines automatically following these basic rules. Distance and/or Direction must be set to Above or Below in the settings dialog to label lines. Label must be turned on in the Curve/Spiral section of the settings dialog. The labels are inserted at the center of the line or curve. Line labels that are short enough to fit on the line are drawn parallel to the line. Line labels that are too long are drawn horizontally next to the line with an optional leader back to the line. Curve labels are always drawn horizontally next to the curve with an optional leader back to the line. Line and curve tables help organize these labels. To learn more about tables 1. Choose Help Search For Help On and left-click the Index tab. 2. Scroll down to Tables, highlight it and choose Display. 3. Choose Drawing Tables then choose Display. Getting Started 1. From the Tasks View choose Sample Surveys. 2. Double-click the LEARN TABLES.TRV file. 3. Choose File Save Survey As then enter the name Tables and choose Save. 4. If prompted to replace the existing file, choose Yes. Drawing Learning Guide 99

100 Adding Tables Understanding Tables, Table Items and Styles Tables and Table Items Tables are comprised of Table Items. The Line Table numbers its items L1, L2, etc. The Curve Table numbers its items C1, C2, etc. When a line or curve label is added to a table, the Drawing View adds the label to the appropriate table, then replaces the label in the drawing with the table item number (L2, C4, etc.). If the table style is Manual, items can be added to and removed from the table manually. In this case, you decide the table item sequence by the order in which you select items to include in the table. When you remove a table item from a Manual table, the Drawing View renumbers the table items so that the numbers are sequential and updates the table item references in the drawing automatically. You can add a column to a table to include record data. Styles The table style determines which labels from the drawing get added to the table. Manual - you must select a label to append it to the table. The order in which you select the labels determines their order in the table. All - adds all curve labels to the curve table or all line labels to the line table. Auto - available only for the line table, it automatically adds those labels that are too long for their lines. 100 Drawing Learning Guide

101 Adding Tables Making Room for the Tables on the Drawing The 8.5 X 11 page size doesn't leave much room to put the tables on the drawing. Let's switch to a legal page size. 1. From the Drawing View, choose Tools Print Page Setup. 2. If you get the message that The printer is not available, choose OK. 3. From the Size list, choose Legal and click OK. Changing the scale 1. Left-click the down arrow next to the current scale on the Format bar. 2. Left-click 80 FT/IN from the list. The Format bar redisplays the current scale as 80 FT/IN. Reposition the survey on the page 1. Move the cursor over one of the lots on the drawing, but not over any objects like a line or text. The cursor should change to a + symbol. This symbol indicates that you are over the survey and that any Ctrl + drag-n-drop operation will reposition the survey on the page. 2. Use the Ctrl key and drag-n-drop the survey in the position on the page shown here. Drawing Learning Guide 101

102 Adding Tables Adding a Curve Table for All Curves Frequently, when you use a curve table, you place all the curves into the table. This makes it easy to look up curve information. The Drawing View allows you to manually place curves in the table or include them all. In this task, we'll include them all. 1. From the Drawing View, choose Insert Curve Table to display the Curve Table dialog. 2. Turn on Border. 3. From the Style list, choose All. This style forces all curves into the table. 4. Change the Format to BHRCQ. 5. Change Hold to Lower Left. 6. Choose OK. Reposition the curve table As a rule, the original position of a table is hardwired (TPC determines where the table is inserted into the drawing). So you will probably want to reposition it where you want it. 1. Move the cursor over any part of the table. The Status bar will display Curve Table. 2. Drag-n-drop the table so that it is down near the Legend. Dynamic tables Because you set the Hold option to Lower Left, the position of the Lower Left corner of the table will not change. As you add/remove/edit table items, the table is free to dynamically expand up and to the right as needed. To learn more about the options in this dialog 1. In the Curve Table dialog, press the F1 key or left-click the? then left-click any item in the dialog. 102 Drawing Learning Guide

103 Adding Tables Formatting an Existing Table You can change any of the table properties, even after the table has been created. 1. Position the cursor over any part of the table except over any table item. The status bar should display Curve Table. 2. Right-click and choose Properties. 3. Reformat the table any way you want, then choose OK. TPC will redraw the table with the new format options. Multiple columns You can specify the number of columns in the Columns field of any table dialog. TPC duplicates the column sequence specified in Format for each Column value you enter. Here is a line table with 2 columns specified. Drawing Learning Guide 103

104 Adding Tables Adding and Removing Line Labels From a Table Manually We'll use the line table to illustrate how you can manually add to and remove from a line or curve table. Notice that the two line labels shown here are drawn horizontally next to their lines. When a line label is too long to fit parallel to the line, the Drawing View automatically draws the label horizontal and places it next to the line. These two labels are candidates for the line table. 1. Position the cursor over the N30 40'00"E label. 2. Right-click and choose Append to Table. The Drawing View will tell you that the table doesn't exist and ask if you would like to create it. Choose Yes. Drawing View displays the Line Table dialog. 3. Choose Border. 4. Drawing View automatically sets the Style to Manual. 5. Set Hold to Lower Left. 6. Choose OK. Adding another label 1. Now position the cursor over the S30 40'00"W label, right-click and choose Append to Table. Drawing View adds this label to the table. Manually removing items from a table When you create a line or curve table with the Manual style, you are responsible to select the labels you want to include in the table. As such, you can also select the items you don't want in the table. 1. Position the cursor over the table item you want to remove from the table. 2. Right-click and choose Delete. When you remove a table item, the Drawing View does the following: Removes the item from the table. Renumbers the table references (L1, L2, etc.) to accommodate the change. Redisplays the label at the line. 104 Drawing Learning Guide

105 Including Record Data in a Table Adding Tables The Drawing View lets you add an additional column to any table. This is a great way to add record data to the table. The table takes care of organizing the data, so you can move the table, change font size - just about anything, and the record data tracks right with the table. Adding a column heading 1. Position the cursor over any of the column headings in the line table. The status bar should display Line Table, Table Item, L0, 0 Layer. 2. Right-click and choose Properties. 3. Add ;RECORD DATA to the column headings in the text box and choose OK. The semicolon ( ; ) tells the Drawing View that the following text goes in the extra column of the table. To specify the extra column, you can use any of the following characters :; - / \. Adding the record data 1. Position the cursor over any part of the L1 item. The status bar should display Line Table, Table Item, L1, 0 Layer. 2. Right-click and choose Properties. 3. Insert ;[32.5] following the distance in the text box and choose OK. Drawing Learning Guide 105

106 Adding Tables Adding a Point Table TPC refers to this as a Point table since it can include point labels and descriptions in addition to coordinates. Before you can add a point table to your drawing, you must display survey point labels in the drawing. The point table includes only those points that would be drawn without the table. 1. Right-click any property line for Lot 2 and choose Traverse Settings. 2. Turn on Point in the Points section and choose OK. 3. Choose Insert Point Table. 4. Specify YXZD for the Format and choose OK. TPC displays the point table in the drawing. Note: Including P in the Format creates new point label references P1, P2, P3. This can be useful if you have long point labels, but most of the time you will want to omit P from the Format. Note: The Point Table lets you include additional point information like convergence and scale factor, that may not be available in the Traverse Settings. 106 Drawing Learning Guide

107 Adding a Lot Table Adding Tables The Lot table displays information about the traverses that make up the drawing. This can be handy for including areas and closures in a drawing. Before you can add a lot table to your drawing, you must display lot labels in the drawing. The lot table includes only those lot labels that would be drawn without the table. 5. Right-click any property line for Lot 2 and choose Traverse Settings and choose the Lot Labels tab. 6. Turn on any option like Name or Acres section and choose OK. 7. hoose Insert Lot Table. 8. Specify ABE for the Format and choose OK. TPC displays the lot table in the drawing. Note: Including N in the Format creates new lot label references T1, T2, T3. This can be useful if you have long lot labels (traverse names). Note: The Lot Table lets you include additional point information like length, linear error and relative, that may not be available in the Traverse Settings. Drawing Learning Guide 107

108 Using Layers Using Layers This chapter demonstrates: What are layers? Changing the current layer Adding objects to a layer Changing an object s layer Controlling object properties by layer Managing layers Turning layers off and freezing layers Locking layers Ignoring layers Isolating layers Overview TPC uses layers to store drawing objects. Layers can be turned off, frozen, locked, ignored, and so on. You can set the color, line type and line width of objects to BYLAYER so that these properties are controlled by the layer the object is on rather than the object itself. TPC s layers are similar to the layers used in CAD programs. To learn more about this topic 1. Choose Help Search For Help On and left-click the Contents tab. 2. Scroll down to Layers. 3. Double-click Layers to expand the chapter, then double-click Layers. Getting Started 1. From the Tasks View choose Sample Surveys. 2. Double-click the LEARN LAYERS.TRV file. 3. Choose File Save Survey As then enter the name Layers and choose Save. 4. If prompted to replace the existing file, choose Yes. 5. Activate the Drawing View by left-clicking it or by choosing Window Drawing View. 108 Drawing Learning Guide

109 What Are Layers? Using Layers You can think of layers as transparent overlays within the drawing. The drawing's scale, zoom and coordinate system apply to all layers, so a point on one layer lines up perfectly with the same point on another layer. Layers are used to group similar objects. Each drawing has a point symbols layer for instance, to hold the point symbol objects. There is a line layer for lines, a point label layer for point labels and so on. You might create a Notes layer for survey notes you put on the drawing or a Streets layer for street names. Predefined Layers TPC uses predefined layers to hold the objects that the Drawing View draws. You will see an asterisk ( * ) next to these layer names in the Layers dialog, indicating they are predefined layers. Predefined layers work just like user layers except that you cannot delete them and objects placed on a predefined layer cannot be moved to another layer. All of TPC s predefined layers start with TPC as in TPCLines and TPCPoints. The layer name indicates which objects are stored on each predefined layer. Traverses vs. Layers TPC uses traverses to accomplish what CAD programs must rely solely on layers to do organize the drawing data. The concept of traverses is unique to TPC. As you build a survey in TPC, you create traverses. The traverses create an inherent structure for your survey that can be used to create your survey drawings. To include a traverse in the current drawing, just tag it. The Drawing View then draws the traverses using drawing settings or individual traverse settings. What the Drawing View is actually doing is creating the drawing objects for you and placing them on their predefined layers. You could complete all your survey drawings without ever using layers directly. Just make the changes you want to the objects that the Drawing View created, add your own text and plot the drawing it s that simple. Layers ensure compatibility with CAD programs and add functionality to your drawings. Drawing Learning Guide 109

110 Using Layers Changing the Current Layer When you add an object to a drawing, the Drawing View adds the object to the drawing s current layer. Only one layer at a time can be the current layer. To put the object on a specific layer, you can draw or insert the object and then change it s layer or change the current layer to the specific layer you want and then draw or insert the object. There are three ways to change the current layer 1) using the Layers dialog, 2) right-clicking an object or, 3) using the Layers toolbar. Using the Layers Dialog 1. Choose Tools Layers or rightclick any blank spot on the drawing and choose Layers from the pop-up menu. 2. Highlight a layer and choose Current. TPC will display the name of the layer you selected above the list of layers. 3. Choose Close to exit the Layers dialog. Right-clicking an Object 1. Right-click any object on the layer you want to be the current layer. Hint: When you position the cursor over an object, its layer is displayed in the status bar. 2. From the pop-up menu, choose Layer Tools Modify Layer Current. TPC will set the current layer to the object s layer. Using the Layers Toolbar 1. Expand the list of layers and select the layer you want to be the current layer. Regardless of which method you use to change the current layer, if the Layers toolbar is turned on, it will display the current layer. 110 Drawing Learning Guide

111 Adding Objects to a Layer Using Layers When you add an object to a drawing, the Drawing View adds the object to the drawing s current layer. If you have not selected a current layer, TPC will add the object to the default layer layer 0. Example Let s add the text Mean High Water to the Text layer and place it next to the 30.0 contour. This is a way to further delineate this contour as the mean high water line. 1. Choose Tools Layers. 2. Left-click the Text layer to select it, then choose Current. This makes the Text layer the current layer. 3. Choose Close to close the Layers dialog. 4. Choose View Zoom Zoom Window and follow the instructions on the status bar to zoom in on the 30.0 contour at the west end of the property. 5. Choose Draw Angled Text and follow the instructions in the status bar to add the text MEAN HIGH WATER above the 30.0 contour line. The Text layer is still the current layer. You can add other text to this layer just by inserting more text. When you are finished adding text to the Text layer, change the current layer to the next layer you want to add objects to. Drawing Learning Guide 111

112 Using Layers Changing an Object s Layer When you add an object to a drawing, it is added to the current layer. If this isn t the layer you want the object to be on, you can change the object s layer. 1. Right-click the object you want to change and choose Properties. 2. Right-click the down arrow at the right side of the Layers field to display the full list of available layers. 3. From the Layers list, select the layer you want to move the object to. 4. Choose OK to close the dialog. TPC removes the object from its old layer and inserts it onto the new layer. 5. To check the new layer of the object, position the cursor over the object. The status bar displays the object s layer. Predefined Layers You cannot add or remove objects on a predefined layer. For example, you cannot draw a polyline and move it to the TPCLines layer. Neither can you move a survey line from the TPCLines layer to the default layer. Because of these predefined layers rules, the properties dialogs do not include the predefined layers in the Layers list. Also, the properties dialog of most survey objects display the predefined layer the object is on, but do not allow you to change the layer in the dialog. 112 Drawing Learning Guide

113 Controlling Object Properties by Layer Using Layers Each object s color, line type and line width can be controlled by the object s own properties or by the layer it is on. When you have a large number of objects to change, controlling the properties of objects by layers can be a real time saver. The Line dialog shown here indicates By Layer for the Color and Line properties of the line. The By Layer option is available in the Color and Line lists of most objects properties dialog. It is also available from the Control Point and Side Shot settings dialogs and can be used for both Drawing Settings and Traverse Settings. Using By Layer The By Layer selection causes this property of the object to default to the layer it is on. Change the layer, and the property changes. Change the layer s color or line type and the object s property changes to match it. Changing Object Properties to By Layer If you have already created a drawing or have imported objects into a drawing and want to control object properties by layer, you can update individual properties of all objects on a layer to By Layer. As an example, let s update all 0 layer colors to By Layer. 1. Right-click any drawing title or narrative and choose Layer Tools Modify All Objects Color All Objects BYLAYER. 2. Choose Tools Layers, Show By-layer Settings and change the color of layer 0. Some objects like the legend are still in control of their own objects, so those colors don t change. Drawing Learning Guide 113

114 Using Layers Managing Layers 1. Choose Tools Layers to display the Layers dialog. The Layers dialog lets you manage the layers in a drawing. You can add or delete layers, turn them off, change layer properties, set the current layer and more. Each layer in the drawing is included in the layer list. The icons in the layer list indicate the current status of each layer. Predefined Layers Each drawing includes Predefined layers that are indicated by the asterisk (*) at the end of the layer name. These layers are created to hold objects like line labels and point symbols. You cannot delete predefined layers, but you can do most other layer functions with them. Displaying the Object Count 1. Left-click Display Count to turn on this option. The object count is appended to the layer names. This can be a very handy way of identifying which layers are populated and which layers are not especially when importing someone else s drawings. 114 Drawing Learning Guide

115 Adding Layers Using Layers You can add up to 200 of your own layers. These are sometimes called User layers as opposed to Predefined layers. You will give the new layer a layer name and then treat it like any other layer. You can make it the current layer and add objects to it, turn it off, freeze it, lock it, etc. To add a Text layer, 1. Choose Add. 2. Enter the layer name Text in the Layer name dialog then choose OK. TPC adds the Text layer and displays it in the list of layer names. Notice that layers are listed alphabetically. Deleting Layers You can delete any User layer that does not contain any objects. Just highlight one or more layers and choose Delete. If you select a layer that does not qualify for deleting, the Layers dialog displays a message telling you that one or more layers could not be deleted. Cleaning Up Layers When importing drawings from CAD programs, you may find dozens of unused layers. Many CAD programs restrict your ability to clean up these layers, forcing you to wade through them. These layers clutter up the drawing in TPC but are easy to delete. 1. Choose Select All. 2. Choose Delete. TPC deletes any user layers that do not have objects on them then displays this message. To learn more about the Layers dialog 1. Press F1 while in the Layers dialog and left-click the Layers link. Drawing Learning Guide 115

116 Using Layers Turning Layers Off Turning a layer off makes it invisible in the Drawing View. Layers that are turned off are still exported to CAD files like DGN and DWG. Turning a Layer Off 1. Position the cursor over one of the dashed contour lines. 2. Right-click and choose Layer Tools Modify Layer Off. The dashed contour lines are on the TPCContourMinor layer, so this is the layer that gets turned off. Turning a Layer Back On 1. From the Layers dialog, highlight the TPCContourMinor layer and choose On. 2. Choose Close to close the Layers dialog and return to your drawing. Note: You can select any number of layers in the Layers dialog, then choose a command like On or Off. TPC will execute the command for each selected layer. Freezing a Layer Freezing a layer makes it invisible in the Drawing View like turning off a layer. Frozen layers are exported to CAD files like DGN and DWG as frozen layers. After being imported into a CAD drawing, frozen layers can be thawed and used in the drawing. Because frozen layers are not recomputed during a drawing regen, your drawing will update itself faster. If you have layers with lots of objects (like contour lines) or complex objects, consider freezing these layers until you need to print the drawing. 116 Drawing Learning Guide

117 Locking Layers Using Layers When you lock a layer, objects on that layer cannot be moved or modified. You can still add objects to a locked layer, but once the object is inserted or drawn, it too is locked and cannot be moved or modified. Locking a layer makes sure you don t accidentally move or edit an object you don t want to move. If you do try to move or edit an object on a locked layer, TPC will display the message This operation is not allowed on a locked layer. Locking a Layer 1. Position the cursor over any major contour line (TPCContourMajor layer), right-click and choose Layer Tools Modify Layer Lock. Try moving one of the major contour lines or labels. TPC will display the above message. Unlocking a Layer 1. Right-click any major contour line and choose Layer Tools Modify Layer Unlock. Moving Survey Objects Regardless of whether or not you lock any layers, TPC does not allow you to move the survey objects like point symbols and lines that are associated with survey data. If you try to move them, TPC will warn you that it can t. These objects can only be moved by translating, rotating or recomputing the original survey data. They can be moved on the drawing page by using Ctrl + drag-n-drop. The drawing can be rotated on the page by going to Edit Drawing Settings, Miscellaneous tab. Drawing Learning Guide 117

118 Using Layers Ignoring Layers The ability to ignore layers is critical in drawing surveys, yet is not available in CAD programs. When you ignore a layer, the mouse doesn t know it is over the objects on the layer. As a result, you can work on the layers you want without interference from the layers you don t want. When you have objects that are very close to each other, the objects may overlap, making it hard or impossible to select just the objects you want. Ignoring the layers of the objects you don t want makes it easier to select the objects you do want. Ignoring a Layer 1. Right-click a dashed contour line and choose Layer Tools Modify Layer Ignore. Position the cursor over any of the dashed contour lines. You will notice that the cursor doesn t react to the dashed contour lines they are being ignored. Noticing a Layer 1. Open the Layers dialog, highlight the TPCContourMinor layer and choose Notice. 2. Choose Close to return to the drawing. Ignoring a Single Object If two objects are drawn over the top of each other and you position the cursor over the objects, TPC will notice the one that was drawn first and ignore the other. If you move or edit the object, the one that was drawn first will be moved or edited. 1. To ignore the object that was drawn first and notice the other object instead, hold down the Ctrl key as you position the mouse over the objects. 118 Drawing Learning Guide

119 Isolating Layers Using Layers When you isolate a layer, TPC turns off all the other layers so that you see just the isolated layer. The isolated layer also becomes the current layer so that any new objects you add to the drawing are inserted on the isolated layer. Because layers that are turned off are not written to a DXF file, isolating a layer is an easy way to include just the objects you want in an exported DXF file. Isolating a Layer 1. Right-click a solid contour line and choose Layer Tools Modify Layer Isolate. TPC makes this layer the current layer and turns off all other layers. You can add objects to the isolated layer, edit the existing objects (if the layer is unlocked) or whatever else you want. When you are finished, just restore the layers and pick up where you left off. Restoring the Layers 1. Right-click any drawing object and choose Layer Tools Modify Layer Restore. TPC restores the layers as they were, including the original current layer. Drawing Learning Guide 119

120 Importing CAD Drawings Importing CAD Drawings This chapter demonstrates: Importing a CAD file into an existing drawing Converting an object to a traverse Importing multiple CAD files Converting all objects on a layer Importing an existing CAD drawing Changing the drawing extents As with most of the examples shown in this Learning Guide, this chapter involves a real survey. 120 Drawing Learning Guide

121 Overview Importing CAD Drawings DXF files are Drawing exchange Files designed to exchange drawings between CAD and graphics programs. A DXF file contains entities, layers, blocks, line types, fonts, etc. TPC supports DXF files as defined by AutoDesk. TPC can read and write DXF files. DXB files are binary DXF files. TPC reads and writes DXB files. DWG files are proprietary drawing files created by AutoCAD. Each version of AutoCAD has its own DWG format. TPC can read and write DWG files. DGN files are MicroStation/Intergraph files. TPC can read and write Bentley V7 and V8 DGN files. Importing DXF, DXB, DWG and DGN Files This chapter uses DXF files to show you how to work with all three file types. Everything in this chapter applies to DXF, DXB, DWG and DGN files. Coordinates vs. Drawings Most editions of TPC Desktop can read a DXF file and strip the coordinates out of the file. The Premium and Professional Editions however, can import a DXF, DXB or DWG file into a drawing with layers, blocks, polylines, etc. You end up with a drawing much like you would if you imported the DXF, DXB or DWG file into a CAD program. Professional Edition DGN import/export is available only in the Professional Edition. To learn more about this topic 1. Choose Help Search For Help On and left-click the Contents tab. 2. Scroll down to DXF Files or DWG Files. 3. Double-click DXF Files or DWG Files to expand the chapter, then double-click Importing DXF Drawings or Importing DWG Drawings. Getting Started 1. From the Tasks View choose Sample Surveys. 2. Double-click the LEARN IMPORT CAD.TRV file. 3. Choose File Save Survey As then enter the name Import CAD and choose Save. 4. If prompted to replace the existing file, choose Yes. 5. Activate the Drawing View by left-clicking it or by choosing Window Drawing View. Drawing Learning Guide 121

122 Importing CAD Drawings Importing a CAD File into an Existing Drawing When you import a CAD file into an existing drawing, TPC holds the current drawing extents, position and scale. When you opened this survey, the Property Boundary traverse was tagged so that it is drawn in the Drawing View as shown here. You are ready to import a CAD file into the current drawing, adding the layers, blocks and entities. 1. If the property boundary doesn t look like the one shown here, choose View Zoom Zoom Extents. 2. Choose Tools Import Data Into Drawing to open the Import dialog. 3. Click the down arrow next to Source and choose AutoCAD ASCII DXF. 4. Choose Browse, locate the LEARN13A.DXF file and double-click 122 Drawing Learning Guide it. TPC will return to the Import dialog and display the LEARN13A.DXF file in the Filename field. 5. Choose Import. If TPC asks you to save your file. Choose No. 6. TPC reads the file then displays Finished in the status box. 7. Choose Close. Drawing View will update the drawing to show the objects you just imported from the LEARN13A.DXF file. Take a moment to zoom in on parts of the drawing and look at the detailed information. In the next chapter, you ll learn how to convert these objects to survey points.

123 Converting Objects To Traverses Importing CAD Drawings Now that you have imported a CAD file, TPC can help you convert the drawing objects to actual survey points. These points can then be exported to your data collector for stakeout or for use in other computations. We ll convert a single curb line to a traverse. 1. From the Drawing View, choose View Zoom Zoom Window. 2. Left-click the upper-left and lower-right corners of the area shown here in the North West parking area. 3. Locate the curb line for the RV DUMP STATION. 4. Position the cursor over the outside line of the RV DUMP STATION (the status bar below the Drawing View should read, Polyline, CURB layer). 5. Right-click and choose Convert to survey from the pop-up menu. 6. Enter RV DUMP STATION for the Name. 7. Set the Format to Deed w/curves and the Settings to Foundations. 8. Enter RV1 for the Starting Label. The first point converted will be RV1, the next point converted will be RV2 and so on. 9. Enter TFC for the Description. TPC will add TFC to the description of each survey point it creates for the RV DUMP STATION curb, indicating that these points are the Top Face of Curb. 10. Choose Append. TPC evaluates the selected objects, in this case the RV DUMP STATION curb, and creates however many unique survey points it needs to recreate the object. In the case of this curb line, TPC will create 6 points, RV1 through RV6, put them in a traverse and recreate the tangents and curves of this polyline object. Drawing Learning Guide 123

124 Importing CAD Drawings Viewing the Created Traverse To see what TPC created from this drawing object, go to the Survey View and double-click the RV DUMP STATION traverse that is now displayed. The RV DUMP STATION traverse recreates the RV DUMP STATION polyline as a series of traverse points, including tangents and curves. Because the polyline was closed, the traverse is also closed. TPC is very smart about how it converts drawing objects to survey points. Checking Your Work and Others By generating this kind of information, TPC becomes the perfect tool to check the construction drawings before going into the field to stake the project. You ll see if the curb returns have the correct radii, if the figures close, if there are overlaps or other blunders. By just keeping your eyes open as you move from the construction drawings to stakeout, you can catch the mistakes you might otherwise overlook. 124 Drawing Learning Guide

125 Importing Multiple CAD Files Importing CAD Drawings The CAD file you just imported includes the surface features of this project like curbs and traffic striping. In this topic, we want to import another drawing that contains the underground features for the same project. The underground features could have been included in the first CAD file, but the engineering company responsible for the drawings chose to divide this project into several drawing files for the contractors. TPC accommodates this setup by allowing you to import as many CAD files as needed into any drawing. 1. If the Traverse View is still open, close it now. If TPC displays the Save Drawing Changes? dialog, choose No. 2. Left-click the Drawing View to activate it. 3. Choose Tools Import Data Into Drawing to open the Import dialog. 4. Choose Browse, locate the LEARN13B.DXF file and doubleclick it. TPC will return to the Import dialog and display the LEARN13B.DXF file in the Filename field. 5. Choose Import. 6. TPC will give you an opportunity to save the file. Choose Yes and then OK. 7. TPC reads the file then displays Finished in the status box. 8. Choose Close. TPC redraws the drawing with the imported objects. 9. Choose View Zoom Zoom Window and select an area of the drawing to look at more closely. Now use the Drawing View scroll bars to move around the drawing. There is a lot of detail in this drawing. You have the complete electrical, sewer, storm drain, underground storage tanks, grading the works. And the best part is that all of it can be used by you and TPC. Drawing Learning Guide 125

126 Importing CAD Drawings Converting All Objects on a Layer Zoom in on any of the parking areas. Let s convert all the light poles to survey points. Once converted, they can easily be exported and staked in the field. 1. First position the cursor over any parking stripe. The tool tip will display the STRIPING layer name. Right-click the mouse and choose Layer Tools Modify Layer, then Ignore. You will still see the parking stripes, but the mouse will not react to them, making it easier to select the light poles you are interested in. 2. Position the cursor over any one of the light pole symbols. The status bar below Drawing View should read Block Reference, PSDCO, SD-STCR-PROP-SYM layer. 3. Right-click the mouse and choose Layer Tools to display the pop-up layer tools menu. 4. Choose Convert All Objects to Survey. 5. TPC displays a dialog warning you that there are 116 objects on this layer and asking if you want to continue. This is just a safeguard in case you accidentally selected the wrong layer. Choose Yes to continue. 6. Enter PARKING LIGHTS for the Name. 7. From the Settings list, choose Symbols Only. Then left-click the [ ] button next to it to display the Traverse Settings PARKING LIGHTS dialog. a. Select Circle from the Symbols list and choose OK. 8. Enter PL1 for the Starting Label and PL for the Description. 9. Choose Append. TPC creates a new traverse called PARKING LIGHTS then looks through the drawing and creates a survey point for each of the 116 objects on the SD_STCR_PROP_SYM layer. 126 Drawing Learning Guide

127 Importing an Existing CAD Drawing Importing CAD Drawings If you have a CAD file you can import it right into TPC and continue working on it as you would have in a CAD program but with all the advantages of TPC. You ll want to import the file into an empty drawing so that the only objects in the drawing are the ones from the existing CAD drawing. Create an Empty Drawing 1. From the Drawing Manager, choose Tools Insert New Drawing Append to End. TPC displays the New Drawing dialog. 2. Enter a drawing name. 3. Choose Empty.DRT from the template list. 4. Check Clear All Tags. 5. Choose OK. TPC displays a blank drawing in the Drawing View. Importing the CAD File 1. Choose Tools Import Data Into Drawing to open the Import dialog. 2. If TPC prompts you to save the file choose Yes. 3. Set the Type to Generic DXF, choose Browse, locate the LEARN13A.DXF file and double-click it. TPC will return to the Import dialog and display the LEARN13A.DXF file in the Filename field. 4. Choose Import. 5. TPC reads the file then displays Finished in the status box. 6. Choose Close. The Drawing View computes the new drawing extents and automatically scales the drawing to fit the page (if the drawing does not automatically appear in the Drawing View, you may need to do a View Zoom Zoom Extents). In the next chapter, you ll learn how to select a part of the drawing to work with. Drawing Learning Guide 127

128 Importing CAD Drawings Changing the Drawing Extents When you import a CAD file into TPC, the Drawing View automatically computes a scale so that the whole drawing fits on the current page (if it doesn t, you will need to do a View Zoom Zoom Extents). Sometimes, you will want to change the page size so that you can work with the entire drawing at an appropriate scale. At other times, you will want to limit the part of the drawing you work with. TPC lets you manually set the drawing extents, allowing you to work with just a part of a drawing. 1. Choose View Window Extents. 2. Left-click a point just beyond the North West corner of the construction site (upper left corner of the drawing shown here). 3. Now left-click a point just beyond the South East corner of the construction site (lower right corner of the drawing shown here). TPC recomputes the scale at which the selected extents will fit on the page and centers the new drawing extents on the page. TPC may redefine either the horizontal or vertical extents in order to make the window fit the page. The zoom commands like Zoom In, Zoom Out and Zoom Page use the new drawing extents. Resetting the Drawing Extents 1. You can reset the drawing extents anytime by choosing View Zoom Zoom Extents. 128 Drawing Learning Guide