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#1 John Rhodes

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Posted 16 September 2020 - 01:06 PM

Hello,

Can an imported image be used in a symbol? I have title blocks as symbols for some uses and while my logo image appears in the drawing, it doesn't get included when I make a symbol of the title block. If this can't be done, it's ridiculous.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

John



#2 Jon Davis

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Posted 16 September 2020 - 01:40 PM

Why would you make the title blocks symbols, and not just use a title block set up as a template, with all necessary info already on it?


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#3 John Rhodes

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Posted 16 September 2020 - 01:47 PM

What do you mean by template? As in an otherwise blank drawing with the title block already there and then draw inside of it? I use the title blocks with borders as a symbol, place that in a new drawing and then put things in with multi-drawing quite often, which is the case here.

 

Thanks



#4 John Rhodes

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Posted 16 September 2020 - 02:28 PM

By the way, I'm still in v2016. At a glance, SP may be getting too convoluted to proceed updating for my needs. Project options, system options, drawing options, templates, multi-drawings, plan sets, etc. While I understand these things, I don't find the need to have so many ways to get to the same place, or so it seems. Don't even want to start on the current problem of images and/or paint not wanting to show in symbols I create. I've been using SP, among others, for many years and perhaps I'm a little set in my ways but when a truck is needed, I don't go looking for a spaceship. But that's just me.

 

Thanks for the replies. With all the advancements in SP, I once again found it quicker to just trace elements of an image and leave them as outlined rather than painted solid as it should have been.



#5 John Rhodes

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Posted 16 September 2020 - 05:40 PM

Sorry. v2018



#6 Jason Bishop

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Posted 16 September 2020 - 06:52 PM

Plan sets are your friend. Saving a template in plans sets saves a huge amount of time. Especially if you have multiple builders with different borders,etc.

Multi draw was good, and I used it for 15 years. Plan sets are far better.

The border as a symbol will work I guess. Just import the image and place where you like. Then save the drawing as “Border”. Then use in Mutlidraw and reuse the “Border” drawing over and over.

Adding the symbol ‘border’ each time is a huge waste of time.
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#7 Keith Almond

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Posted 16 September 2020 - 08:19 PM

To answer your question though, NO you can't use an image in a symbol.


Keith

There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

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#8 Jon Davis

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Posted 17 September 2020 - 07:07 AM

multi drawings are horrible, plan sets are the way to go if available to you in your version of software... once I swapped over, it was so easy. and I'll never go back. 



#9 Jon Davis

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Posted 17 September 2020 - 07:11 AM

What do you mean by template? As in an otherwise blank drawing with the title block already there and then draw inside of it? I use the title blocks with borders as a symbol, place that in a new drawing and then put things in with multi-drawing quite often, which is the case here.

 

Thanks

 

You should have a folder called title blocks. You can open the file, just like opening an existing drawing file. Edit the title blocks that you use most often to have the information on them you want, which can also be project specific by putting on the title block in the template, for name of drawing a code like #name_of_drawing in that block, would then pull information from the project once used in a drawing file in the plan set. Chose that title block, and under project information if you've put in a drawing name, "John Doe's Drawing" then when you look at the plan set sheet, the title block would automatically have the name "John Doe's Drawing" on every sheet.


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#10 John Rhodes

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Posted 17 September 2020 - 08:52 AM

I used plan sets for a while but got tired of switching windows to modify things. If I recall, you couldn't do much with the drawings ON the plan set sheet/window but rather had to keep going back to another window. For example, when annotating elevations I can copy and paste notes from one elevation view to another on the main multi. On plan sets, each view had to be annotated separately so more time spent there. Also, it seemed SP kept losing my reference to the border templates. I had/have one setup for each sheet size and many times when I would go to setup my plot sheets, the border drawing reference would have to be specified again. (In other words, there would be no borders in the plan sets half the time)



#11 Jon Davis

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Posted 17 September 2020 - 12:08 PM

I think a lot of that has been rectified in the updated version, except no you still can't edit something from within the plan set sheet. You can however, right click on it and open it from the sheet. It's not that big of a deal and you get use to it quickly. 



#12 Kevin Rabenaldt

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Posted 17 September 2020 - 07:12 PM

Jon, for those that have switched to plansets, more power to you.  I have tried plansets a couple of times, and I prefer multi drawing.  I have a lot of plans setup using multi and I don't want to have some in multi and some in plansets.  Just me.



#13 John Rhodes

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Posted 19 September 2020 - 10:29 AM

Kevin, 

I'm the same way. I have so many plan in multi drawing format, it seems awkward to switch and two different things going on. I've gotten so familiar that plan sets seemed to take just as long, especially when I need to edit things. (Sometimes on plan sets I would drag a drawing onto a sheet and it wouldn't go or be there for whatever reason. Perhaps scale but it was aggravating at times. Good concept if you could make changes right on the plan sets maybe.)



#14 Keith Almond

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Posted 20 September 2020 - 08:40 AM

Just out in left field, why do you need your title block as a symbol?


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There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

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#15 John Rhodes

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Posted 21 September 2020 - 10:52 AM

I'm not using plan sets right now for various reasons. Therefore, I just make multi-drawings by placing the title block and bringing drawings into it. This way I don't have to always make sure I have certain settings updated in the "template" drawing file since those are saved with the drawing. Maybe I'm missing something but it seems quick and easy to me.



#16 Mark Petri

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Posted 21 September 2020 - 12:42 PM

So, the title block does not need to be a template, but just a drawing. If any concern about parts moving, just put them on locked layers or building options.


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#17 John Rhodes

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Posted 22 September 2020 - 04:30 PM

The only issue with just keeping them as drawings is, if I change some settings at the system level, those drawings don't get updated. When I put a symbol into a newly created file to make my plot sheets, that isn't an issue. (I could reset to system but that's another step that has to be remembered and hopefully not cause problems).

 

Thanks for your reply.



#18 Keith Almond

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Posted 22 September 2020 - 06:19 PM

... if I change some settings at the system level, those drawings don't get updated ...

 

Neither do your symbols. Either way you have to fix something, and it's easier to fix a drawing, than explode a symbol, change it round, and then recreate it.

 

How is the symbol easier to update than the drawing?


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There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

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#19 John Rhodes

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Posted 24 September 2020 - 01:27 PM

Not sure on the approach, but I haven't had to change my border symbol in a long time. Also, wouldn't you have to keep moving the border "drawing" file into a project? This is where SP can get clunky in my opinion. 



#20 Tom Rogers

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Posted 24 September 2020 - 02:16 PM

That is why you set it in the title block folder and use templates or plan sets, there is no need to have to move the title block around.  Like most things it comes down to learning curve and what you are used to.  


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