Drawing Templates - North arrow and ScaleBars

This article will go through the steps needed to correctly use and create Drawing Templates. 

Basic n4ce Drawings.   

To create a basic drawing within n4ce we first need to right-click on the Drawings folder and select New > Blank. 

A new Drawing Parameters window will appear, this is where we now need to enter a suitable name and scale. In addition to this, we can also select the tabs located at the top of the window to adjust the paper settings. Once you are satisfied with the settings please select ok. 

	The General Window allows us to enter a suitable name and scale for the drawing.
	The Paper Tab gives us the ability to choose Paper-Size and Orientation.
	The Border Tab provides us with the tools to change many attributes about the Boarder including the layer, colour and Line style. In addition to this, we can also modify the Title box attributes.
	The Offsets Tab allows us to change the thickness around the drawing area to the paper size.

Finally, we now need to create a viewport as this allow us to display Models, CAD and Images. To do this please right-click on the paper and press Create --> Normal. The Viewport Settings window will appear. We can now select which data we would like to display within the viewport. To do this either double-click the data or select the > or < arrows.    

Please Note: We have now added a new feature that allows users to make the Viewport Opaque so it blanks out what is behind it. 

How to create default n4ce Drawing Templates. 

To generate a Default n4ce template we first need to create a blank drawing with the correct paper space. E.g. A1/A2/A3... Next, we can start inserting Text, Lines and images to form a drawing template. 

To insert images please follow these instructions: https://help.appsincadd.co.uk/hc/en-us/articles/360015671097  

In n4ce 4.30 we have now introduced an autofill feature which means instead of modifying text for E.g. Date you will be asked for this information when creating the template so they can be automatically filled from the information you enter. To create the Autofill textboxes we need to put ?? before the Text. E.g.  "??Date: " represents the top text box from the image below. "??Title, ??DrawnBy, ??Revision,
??n4ceVersion and ??Scale" can also be auto-filled by n4ce.

• The question marks tell n4ce that information is needed. 
• The following word allows n4ce to know what type of information is needed.

Note: You can also enter Title:??Title. This will mean the first-word Title will remain unaffected.

North arrows and Scale bars. 

Within n4ce 4.30 we have now introduced new options within symbols which allow North arrows and Scale Bars to be placed to scale/orientation automatically. To set these up first select Symbols > In Project. 

Following this, we now need to choose the correct Symbol E.g. NorthStar and then the Symbol Type.  

Now open the relevant drawing --> right-click and select Place --> followed by the symbol type you would like to place.

A new window will appear where we can select the symbol and change attributes such as scale and pen.  Note: If the symbol does not appear please select Load and import the correct symbol.   

Finally, select ok and place the symbol on the drawing.

Using Layouts to create a drawing.

Note: Within n4ce 4.30 if you have autofill Textboxes this information will be requested after the partition has been created if you have the option selected within the partition parameters.

Create   

• 1 Point - Places a partition in a CAD or Model View using a specific handle point to decide the placement.
• 2 Point - Places a partition in a CAD or Model View using two specific handle points to decide the placement.
• Column - Generates a column of overlapping viewports. The orientation and number of viewports will grow and change as the mouse is moved up or down, having located the initial view.
• Row - Generates a row of overlapping viewports. The orientation and number of viewports will grow and change as the mouse is moved left or right, having located the initial view. 
• Array - Generates an array of overlapping viewports. The orientation and number of viewports will grow and change as the mouse is moved. Having located the initial view the orientation and number of viewports in the first row are defined. Then the number of rows is set with a third click.

Modify

• Delete - This option allows a drawing to be deleted from the project by clicking on a viewport that it uses.
• Move - This option allows a viewport to be repositioned by clicking on it and moving it to a new position with the mouse.
• Align - This option allows a viewport to be reorientated by clicking on it and changing its orientation based on the position it was clicked.
• Rename - This option allows a drawing to be renamed by clicking on a viewport that it uses.

Tools

• Show - Enables / Disables the display of viewport boundaries
• Properties - Displays information about the selected viewport.  
  
• Commit - Moves the current viewport boundary into the dedicated CAD backcloth.
• Grid - This option allows a user-definable CAD grid to be rendered inside the extents of a viewport. This uses the same grid options as any other grid in the project. The advantage of plotting a grid like this is that it is still in Model space, but fits perfectly to the shape of the viewport. As such annotation will clip to the edge of the viewport and appear to be plotted in paper space instead. 

Partition Parameters

Templates - To use a partition within n4ce you will be required to have a template already set up. 

Angle - This is the angle of the 1 point partition when being placed. 

Handle - The Handle needs to be specified so n4ce knows how to place the template.

Scale - The size to which the template is set.

Auto Fill Text - If you have autofill Textboxes this information will be requested after the partition has been created if you have the option selected. 

If you had Auto Fill Text selected you will now be asked to enter a name for the partition followed by the required details indicated by the Drawing Template Text Window. 

Once the text has been inserted we can now click OK and the entered text will be inserted into the new drawing.