12 replies to this topic

[Tom McConnell]

Store details or notes in separate drawings using one scale per drawing (¾” in one ½” in another, and so on). This keeps all dimension and text uniform as long as you set up correctly in the Drawing Options for this drawing. When this drawing is updated, all drawings referencing it get the updated version.

 

·         In Navigation window, right click over the plan set drawing

·         Click on Add Drawing

·         Navigate to your standards drawing

·         Right click over newly added drawing and click Edit

·         Set Drawing Mode, Scale and/or Options

·         Click label tab and uncheck Label if desired. Close Edit window

·         Right click over newly added drawing and click Move

·         Move drawing away from other drawings on page

·         Right click over newly added drawing and click Crop

·         Hover over this drawing and adjust sides of window to crop only the details or notes you require

·         Right click over newly added drawing and click Move

·         Move newly added drawing to desired location on page

 

Please let me know if this help or needs clarifying.

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[Keith Almond]

Sorry Tom, but that doesn't help at all.

 

I want to add all the construction notes across multiple pages in the plan sets. I know how to use plans sets and scale etc. I've been using Softplan since version 5. It's just that with multiple drawings on each page, I can't see where the notes are going to cross into another drawing when adding the notes to the plans. If I add the notes to the plans without regard to the final layout, I can't fit everything on the separate sheets without realigning all the notes anyway. If I just add the plans and end up with 10 drawings that's no good. I need to minimize the amount of drawings too. If you look at the multi drawing that I posted, you can see how the notes are fitted into any open space.

 

I probably didn't explain that too well either.

 

It's a delicate balance, and I'm trying to do it blind ....

[Ron Globke]

I agree Keith.

I have been using multi-drawing for so long with no problems.

Now I have so much time put in just setting up print pages.   I Probably haven't spent

2 hours in the help screen in the last three years.  Now I have been on literally 3 days 

straight just trying to figure the plan set crap out.  I still don't understand it. 

[Sam Morgan]

I will continue to use multi drawing.  Plan sets have been no use to me at all.

[Warren Ducote]

I now use Plan Sets exclusively. It certainly took some getting used to and getting my head wrapped around it. I used multi drawing for many years and when I started using plan sets, I was not very impressed with it, but the more used Plan Sets the more I liked it.

 

I will add that using two or more monitors does make it much easier to work in Plan Sets.

 

There is certainly room for improvement though. I do wish that in Plan Sets you could add notes  or details to a drawing from within Plan Sets and to be able to edit and move those notes and details without going to an individual page to do so.

[Tom McConnell]

I use Plan Sets exclusively also. For Plan Sets my biggest gripe is not being able to use keyboard shortcuts for the all the commands especially cursor size. In general, not having a "F" key or keyboard shortcut for "Attach" . I also use two monitors, but for 3D, not for Plan Sets.

[Yvon Gonthier]

That's when your "F" key becomes another type of "F" key ;o)

[admin]

Here are a couple of additional ideas which may help with Plan Set Pages.  The trick may be not to add the notes into the plans, but rather add them onto the plan set pages around your inserted drawings.

1. You can add speed notes directly to plan set pages.
2. If you have a set of notes you commonly use..
   • You can make a big speed note with multiple typical sub notes in it.
   • Add it directly to your plan set page.
   • Right click on it to explode.
   • Move the notes around the inserted drawings as desired.
   • Erase the notes that you don't want.
3. In 2016 you can setup Plan Set Templates
   • Construct a plan set with your notes directly on the page
   • Save as a template.
   • When you construct a new plan set, base it off the saved template.
   • Modify the notes on the pages as desired.

Of course you can also keep using multi-drawings if they suit your needs well. Plan Sets were designed to streamline assembly and management of printed document sets, but if the multi-drawing tools are more suited to your workflow, please use them.

[Brian Ficek]

I have been using the plan sets since they came out with 2014 and love them.  I think I use mine a bit different that everyone.  Working for myself I have multiple clients/contractors.  With 2014 I used to copy my title block to the project directory and when I went to set up my sheet set I would select that title block in that current project directory.  I could then add my construction notes/ square footage to the title block drawing and it would show up on all sheets in that set.  it worked great.  With 2016 and the plan set template I have now taken it a step further.  I basically use my same title block but put it in my contractors directory.  I have since created a template for that contractor so I can reuse that template for his customers.  I did have to take the notes and square footage off the title sheet and create a new construction notes drawing for each project.  I then add drawing (construction notes) to my plan sets on which ever sheet it needs to go on.  So all of my general notes, square footage etc. go in the drawing.  If need be I can crop out notes I don't need for that sheet.  I do single and twin homes for the same contractor so I have set up a twin home title sheet template and a single home title sheet template.  So far so good in 2016 on the plan sets.

[Tom McConnell]

That's pretty much how I do it Brian. Title block and all. Easy as pie.

[James Holley]

I'm just now starting to use plan sets. The learning curve was a day or so, but I will say, it is totally beating the multi draw and having to have from 7 to 12 Title Block pages open in all those tabs.

Each time I use it, I learn a few more tricks, but then, I was learning trick on my own back in 1992 when I was teaching myself the program from two VERY large manuals.
In the beginning, I used many trick to get a plan set put together much faster.

But, as SP updated and improved, and after several years in the beginning being a beta tester, I got so much better, but still, to this day, I am still learning more ways to do things better and faster.

So, even though the multi draw is still an option, I do believe I will be a plan set user faithfully within the next week or so.
It helps a great deal with batch printing when you have several varying scale details in one page and use the text auto scale function, as I would often have the drawing/title block printing off the page due to the actual text space that the drawing screen recognizes for the scaled text in the plan view.

[Steve Haarmann]

I was originally reluctant to switch over to plan sets.

Like everyone else I had a  multi-drawing system that worked for me.

 

It did not take long for me to become a huge fan of plan sets after I took some time to understand it.

Now it is totally intuitive.

Much faster.

Much more control over all aspects of plan set creation.

 

In retrospect the ONLY reason I stayed with multi-drawings was the comfort zone I was in.

I encourage anyone who has not used plan sets to give them try.

I would not go back to multi drawings for any reason !!!

[Keith Almond]

... I would not go back to multi drawings for any reason !!!

 

I don't think that I would either Steve.