ZWCAD User Guide 1 ZWCAD User Guide Contents 1. The User Interface ............................................................................................... 6 1.1. The Application Menu ...................................................................................... 6 1.2. The Ribbon ..................................................................................................... 8 1.3. Quick Access Toolbar ........................................................................................ 9 1.4. Menus and Shortcut Menus .............................................................................. 9 1.5. Toolbars ....................................................................................................... 12 1.6. The Command Window .................................................................................. 13 1.7. Dynamic Input ............................................................................................... 17 1.8.
Customize the Drawing Environment ................................................................ 21 2. Create and Save a Drawing................................................................................. 24 2.1. Create a New Drawing .................................................................................... 24 2.2. Open an Existing Drawing................................................................................ 27 2.3. Save a Drawing .............................................................................................. 32 2.4. Crash Report ................................................................................................. 34 3. Control the Drawing Views................................................................................. 36 3.1. Redraw and Regenerate a Drawing ................................................................... 36 3.2. Magnify a View (Zoom).............................................................
...................... 36 3.3. Pan a View.................................................................................................... 40 3.4. Display Multiple Views in Model Space ............................................................. 41 3.5. Work with Multiple Drawings .......................................................................... 44 3.6. Specify a 3D View .......................................................................................... 46 4. Precision Tools and the Properties of Drawing .................................................... 53 4.1. Specify Units, Angles, and Scale ....................................................................... 53 4.2. Drawing Limits............................................................................................... 57 4.3. Grid and Grid Snap ......................................................................................... 57 4.4. Use Object Snaps ............................
............................................................... 60 4.5. Use Polar Tracking and Object Snap Tracking ...................................................... 62 4.6. Use Orthogonal Locking (Ortho Mode) .............................................................. 66 4.7. Work with Linetypes....................................................................................... 67 4.8. Work with Layers ........................................................................................... 70 2 ZWCAD User Guide 4.9. Work with Colors ........................................................................................... 79 4.10. Control Lineweights .................................................................................... 82 4.11. Control the Display of Overlapped Objects ..................................................... 84 4.12. Extract and Calculate Geometric Information from Objects ............................... 87 4.13. Specify
Intervals on Objects ......................................................................... 91 5. Coordinates and Coordinate System ................................................................... 95 5.1. Coordinates .................................................................................................. 95 5.2. Control the User Coordinate System ................................................................102 6. Create Objects ..................................................................................................113 6.1. Draw Linear Objects ......................................................................................113 6.2. Draw Curved Objects .....................................................................................125 6.3. Create 3D Objects .........................................................................................135 6.4. Create Regions ......................................................................
.......................158 6.5. Create Revision Clouds ..................................................................................160 6.6. Create Break Lines ........................................................................................160 6.7. Create Wipeouts...........................................................................................161 7. Modify Objects .................................................................................................163 7.1. Select Objects ..............................................................................................163 7.2. Modify Objects .............................................................................................171 7.3. Modify Compound Objects.............................................................................201 7.4. Use Grips to Edit Objects................................................................................208 7.5. Modify the Properties of Objec
ts.....................................................................217 7.6. Modify 3D Solids...........................................................................................219 7.7. Use Windows Cut, Copy, and Paste ..................................................................231 7.8. Correct Mistakes...........................................................................................233 8. Notes and Labels ..............................................................................................235 8.1. Create Text...................................................................................................235 8.2. Change Text .................................................................................................244 8.3. Work with Text Styles ....................................................................................246 8.4. Check Spelling .................................................................................
.............252 8.5. Smart Voice .................................................................................................254 3 ZWCAD User Guide 9. Dimensions and Tolerances ...............................................................................256 9.1. Overview of Dimensioning .............................................................................256 9.2. Use Dimension Styles ....................................................................................257 9.3. Create Dimensions ........................................................................................271 9.4. Modify Existing Dimensions............................................................................282 9.5. Add Geometric Tolerances .............................................................................288 9.6. Table...........................................................................................................293 10. Blocks, Attribute and Xrefs .
............................................................................298 10.1. Create and Insert Blocks .............................................................................298 10.2. Define and Use Block Attributes...................................................................305 10.3. Reference Other Drawing Files (Xrefs) ...........................................................308 10.4. Dynamic Blocks .........................................................................................322 11. Hatches and Raster Images ............................................................................331 11.1. Hatches....................................................................................................331 11.2. Work with Raster Images ............................................................................340 12. Layout, Plot, and Publish Drawings .................................................................349 12.1. Create Mul
tiple-View Drawing Layouts .........................................................349 12.2. Plot Drawings............................................................................................368 12.3. Publish Drawings .......................................................................................388 13. Share Data with Others ..................................................................................390 13.1. Save and View Slides ..................................................................................390 13.2. Link and Embed Data .................................................................................391 13.3. Work with Data in Other Formats.................................................................401 13.4. Package Files for Internet Transmission .........................................................405 14. Programming ZWCAD ....................................................................................410 14.1.
About LISP ................................................................................................410 14.2. About VBA................................................................................................412 14.3. About ZRX ................................................................................................413 14.4. About.NET................................................................................................414 15. Appendices ...................................................................................................415 Command Name ....................................................................................................415 4 ZWCAD User Guide System Variable .....................................................................................................434 5 ZWCAD User Guide 1. The User Interface You can work with the ZWCAD window and its elements in a variety of ways. For example, you can display and rea
rrange the toolbars, display the command bar, and enable the status bar. The toolbars and command bar can also be floated anywhere on the screen or docked to the edges of the main ZWCAD window. You can customize the menu bar at the top of the window. The following contents include: • The Application Menu • • The Ribbon Quick Access Toolbar • • Menus and Shortcut Menus Toolbars • • The Command Window Dynamic Input • Customize the Drawing Environment 1.1. The Application Menu Click the Application button to search for commands and have an access to tools used for creating, opening and publishing a file. 1.1.1. Search for commands Provide tools used for searching for commands quickly. You can search for commands on the Quick Access toolbar, in the application menu, and on the ribbon. The search results will be directly displayed in the application menu. You can enter any language for searching. Input Zoom to check the matched word In the Application Menu 6
ZWCAD User Guide 1.1.2. Access frequently used tools The frequently used buttons in the application menu include those common tools used for starting or publishing a file, such as: New, Open, Etransmit, Save, Save as, Plot, Plot Preview, Close, Options, etc. NOTE You can close ZWCAD by double-clicking the Application button. 1.1.3. Browse files View the Recent Documents and Opened Documents lists, or view the thumbnail of an opened file. Browse files with Recent or Opened Documents buttons You can sort the recently used files by the following four ways in the Recent Documents. • By Ordered List • • By Access Data By Size • By Type You can display the list of the opened files by using the Large Icons and Small Icons in the Opened Documents, or you can display the thumbnails of currently opened files by using the Large Images and Small Images. NOTE Only saved files can be displayed in the Opened Documents list. 7 ZWCAD User Guide 1.2. The Ribbon 1.2.1. Tabs and P
anels Under the 2D Drafting&Annotation working space, ribbon will be displayed when you open a file, providing a tool desired for creating and modifying drawings. The ribbon consists of several panels, which are organized into each tab according to their task label. The tools and controls in each panel are also available in toolbars and dialog boxes. If you click the arrow in the lower right corner of the panel, a dialog box related to this panel will be opened. On the panel, multiple radio buttons can be collapsed into a single button. If you click the arrow on the right or at the bottom of the button, all tool buttons in the list will be displayed in a drop-down method. If you click the button in the list, the previous button will be replaced by this button. Click to launch a dialog box Radio buttons The Ribbon tabs and panels 1.2.2. Contextual tabs When you execute some commands or choose objects of a certain type, a special contextual ribbon tab is displayed in the Ribbon in
terface instead of a toolbar or dialog box in the Classic interface. When you end the command, the contextual tab is closed. External Reference contextual ribbon tab 8 ZWCAD User Guide 1.2.3. Switch between Ribbon and Classic menu Users can easily switch between the ribbon and classic menus through the button in the status bar at the bottom of the platform. The task-based workspace 2D Drafting & Annotation is defined by default in ZWCAD 2020. 1.3. Quick Access Toolbar Display the buttons of nine frequently used tools, which are: New, Open, Save, Save As, Plot, Plot Preview, Undo, Redo and Help. And the workspace switch drop-down list. Quick Access Toolbar 1.4. Menus and Shortcut Menus 1.4.1. Menus You can use any of the options on the menu bar at the top of the ZWCAD drawing area in the Classic interface. To press Alt and the Key for the underlined letter in the menu name to open the corresponding menu item list, and then choose menu items from it. For example, to edit the
drawing file, press to open the Edit menu. 9 ZWCAD User Guide Menus 1.4.2. Shortcut Menus Shortcut menus provide quick access to specific commands. A shortcut menu displays when you rightclick an object, toolbar, status bar, the Model tab name, or a Layout tab name. The selections presented in the shortcut menu depend on what you clicked. When you right-click a toolbar, the program displays a shortcut menu that lets you toggle the toolbars on and off. If you select one or more objects and then right click, the program displays a shortcut menu from which you can choose a command to modify the selected objects. Shortcut menus for toolbars Shortcut menus for entities To quickly access the relevant commands currently performed, you can right-click on a different area on the drawing window to display the different shortcut menu, with the shortcut menu you can speed up the access. To display a shortcut menu from which you can choose an object snap and track, press and hol
d down the Shift key, and then right-click anywhere within the drawing window. 10 ZWCAD User Guide Shift + right-click to display shortcut menus for snapping 1.4.3. Last Input "Last Input" option is used for recording the recent manipulations, from the Last Input list on right click menu, you can view the latest manipulations as well as the previous command options, and also manipulate commands by directly selecting from the last input list. Last Input shortcut menus 11 ZWCAD User Guide 1.5. Toolbars Toolbars partially contain buttons that start commands. When you move your mouse or pointing device over a toolbar button, the tooltip displays the name of the button. The Standard toolbar at the top of the drawing area is similar to that found in Microsoft® Office programs. It contains commonly used ZWCAD commands such as COPY, PAN and ZOOM, as well as Microsoft Office standard commands such as New, Open, and Save. Standard toolbar The ZWCAD classic menu initially displays s
everal other toolbars by default: • • Properties toolbar Styles toolbar • • Modify toolbar Draw toolbar • Layers toolbar The default toolbars You can display or hide these toolbars and additional ones. Using CUSTOMIZE command, you can also create your own toolbars. You can move the floating command window anywhere on the screen and resize its width and height with the pointing device. Dock the command window by dragging it until it is over the top or bottom docking region of the ZWCAD window, but you can't change its size. 1.5.1. Displaying and hiding toolbars When you start ZWCAD classic interface at the first time, multiple toolbars are displayed. ZWCAD provides more than a dozen toolbars, which you can customize by adding and deleting tools in both 12 ZWCAD User Guide classic and ribbon interfaces. You can also move and resize toolbars, and you can create new toolbars. You can use a shortcut menu to display or hide toolbars. To choose which toolbars to displa
y 1. Execute TOOLBAR command to open the Select Toolbars dialog box. 2. Choose the toolbars you want to display, and then click OK. TIP Right-click anywhere on a docked toolbar to display the toolbar shortcut menu, and then choose Toolbars. 1.6. The Command Window The command bar is a dockable window in which you can type ZWCAD commands and view prompts and other program messages. You can move the command bar by dragging it. When the command bar is floating, you can drag the top or bottom of the window to change the number of lines of text it displays. You can dock the command bar at the top or bottom of the drawing. Displaying and hiding the command line window 1. Please choose Tools->Command Line Tools->Palettes->Command Line on the ribbon. in Classic interface or 2. You can execute COMMANDLINE/COMMANDLINEHIDE command to display or hide the command line in both classic and ribbon interfaces. 3. Press ‘Ctrl’+’9’ to display or hide it Displaying and hiding the command li
ne 1.6.1. Enter Commands on the Command Line Type the full command name on the command line and press ENTER or SPACEBAR. Some commands also have abbreviated names. Abbreviated command names are called command aliases. 13 ZWCAD User Guide Specify Command Options Once you have entered a command on the command line, ZWCAD displays either a set of options or a dialog box. To choose a different option, enter one of the options in the brackets (either uppercase or lowercase letter is OK), and then press ENTER or SPACEBAR. Execute Commands To execute commands, press SPACEBAR or ENTER, or right-click your pointing device when the command names have been entered or responsive to prompts. Enter and execute commands Repeat and Cancel Commands If you want to repeat a command that you have just used, press ENTER or SPACEBAR, or right-click the drawing. Nesting a command If you are working in the command bar, you can use another command from within a command, called nesting. This kind of
command is also known as a transparent command. To use a command inside an active command, type an apostrophe before you type the command, such as ‘osnap. You can nest commands indefinitely in ZWCAD. Many menu and toolbar macros work this way by default, such as snap. When you have finished with the nested command, the original command res umes. For example, you turn on the object snap while you are drawing a circle, thus you can setup Object snap mode before continuing drawing. Command: CIRCLE Specify the center point of circle or [3P/2P/Ttr (tangency tangency radius)]: 'osnap Resuming command: CIRCLE Specify the center point of circle or [3P/2P/Ttr (tangency tangency radius)]: Specify circle radius or [Diameter]: 14 ZWCAD User Guide 1.6.2. Enter System Variables on the Command Line System variables are available for controlling how certain commands work. For example, GRIDMODE is used to control the status ON or OFF for “GRID” mode; sometimes you use a system variable in o
rder to change a setting. System variable can be used to display the current status as well. 1.6.3. Edit Within the Command Window Navigating and Editing Within the Command Window The standard keys below are provided for navigating and editing text in the command window to correct or repeat commands. • UP ARROW (↑), DOWN ARROW (↓), LEFT ARROW (←) and RIGHT ARROW (→) • • INS (Insert), DEL (Delete) PAGE UP, PAGE DOWN • HOME, END • BACKSPACE Using UP ARROW (↑), DOWN ARROW (↓) and pressing ENTER, you can repeat any command used in the current session by cycling through the commands in the command window. By default, pressing CTRL+C copies highlighted text to the Clipboard. Pressing CTRL+V pastes text from the Clipboard to the text window or the command window. If you right-click on the command window or text window, ZWCAD displays a shortcut menu from which you can copy selected text or the entire command history, select those recently used commands, paste text
, and access the Options dialog box of the Command window. Right click on the command line In general, a command line with two or three lines of previous prompts is given to several commands, called the command history, which is sufficient for viewing and editing. To see more than one line of command history, you can scroll through the history or resize the command window by d ragging its border upwards, or you can press F2 to use the text window. 15 ZWCAD User Guide Command text window The text window is a window similar to the command window in which you can enter commands and view prompts and messages. With a complete command history for the current ZWCAD session displayed, the text window can be used to view the lengthy output of commands such as LIST, which displays detailed information about objects you select. Docking and Resizing the Command Window By default, the command window is docked. The docked command window is the same width as the ZWCAD window. You can resize t
he window vertically by dragging the splitter bar, which is located on the top edge of the window when it is docked on the bottom and at the bottom edge of the window when it is docked at the top. Undock the command window by dragging it away from the docking region. When you undock the window, the floating window is the size it was before. You can move the floating command window anywhere on the screen and resize its width and height with the pointing device. Dock the command window by dragging it until it is over the top or bottom docking region of the ZWCAD window. Modifying a Command If you are working in the command bar, there are several ways that you can modify a command as you work. You can modify the active command using any of the following options: • Object snaps — Type an object snap command, such as nearest or midpoint, to enable a onetime object snap for a single selection. You can also use a one-time object snap to override a running object snap. • Extension sn
aps — Type int after selecting a command, such as Line or Circle, to enable a onetime snap to the logical location where two objects would intersect if they were of infinite length. Type app to enable a similar one time snap if the extensions would not intersect in threedimensional space but would intersect in the current view. 16 ZWCAD User Guide Using the Prompt History Window The Prompt History window displays a history of the commands and prompts issued since you started the current session of ZWCAD. By default, the program tracks up to 256 command lines. There is no limit to the number of command lines you can track, but program performance may be degraded if you choose to track an excessively high number of lines. • To display or close the Prompt History window: Press F2. • To view entries in the Prompt History window, do one of the following: o Drag the scroll bars. o • Use the Up (↑) and Down (↓) arrows to display previously used commands. To copy or paste
text in the Prompt History window, do one of the following to get the text field that you want: o Highlight text using your mouse. o o Press Ctrl + Shift + arrow keys to highlight the desired text. Right-click and choose whether to copy or paste in the pop-up shortcut menu. TIP You can also copy the entire command history by choosing Copy History. 1.6.4. Switch between Dialog Boxes and the Command Line Some functions are both provided similarly though the command line and from a dialog box. In many cases, you can enter a hyphen in front of the command to suppress the dialog box and display prompts on the command line instead. For example, entering LINETYPE on the command line displays the Linetype Manager. Entering LINETYPE on the command line displays the equivalent command line options. There may be tiny differences between the options in the dialog box and those available on the command line. The system variables below affect the display of dialog boxes as well: • • ATTDIA
controls whether INSERT uses a dialog box for attribute value entry. EXPERT controls whether certain warning dialog boxes are displayed. • FILEDIA controls the display of dialog boxes used with commands that read and write files. For example, if FILEDIA is set to 1, OPEN displays the Open Drawing As dialog box. If FILEDIA is set to 0, OPEN displays prompt on the command line. Even when you set FILEDIA to 0, you can get a file dialog box displayed by entering a tilde (~) at the first prompt. 1.7. Dynamic Input Dynamic input provides a command tooltips box near the cursor. It provides another method to enter 17 ZWCAD User Guide commands and system variables. The tooltips box will automatically update information near the cursor. 1.7.1. Enable or Disable Dynamic Input The function is composed of three sub-functions: Pointer input, Dimension input, and Dynamic prompt. On the status bar, right-click the Dynamic input button ( ) and select Settings to display the Drafting Setti
ngs dialog box, through which you can individually the three functional units in Dynamic Input tab. Click the Dynamic input button on the status bar or press F12 key to temporarily enable or disable dynamic input. Dynamic Input in Drafting Settings 1.7.2. Pointer Input Enable pointer input, and the coordinate where the lhair located is displayed in the tooltip next to the cursor. When the command prompts to specify the second point or next point, you can directly input at the cursor position. 18 ZWCAD User Guide Pointer input By default, the pointer input is displayed and inputting with the polar format and relative coordinates. Use Pointer Input Settings to determine whether the coordinate is displayed in polar format or Cartesian format, with relative or absolute coordinate. You can also switch between polar format and Cartesian format with an angel symbol(<) or a comma(,), switch between relative coordinate and absolute coordinate with a pound sign(#) or an at sign(@). 1.7
.3. Dimension Input Enable dimension input, when the command prompts to specify the second point, a distance and angel dimension input is displayed in the tooltip. Dimension input When using grip editing to stretch an object, the available dimension input includes: • Resulting Dimension • • Angel Change Length Change • • Arc Radius Absolute Angel 19 ZWCAD User Guide A：Resulting Dimension; B：Angle Change; C：Length Change; D：Absolute Angle You can switch between these dimension fields with the TAB key. If only some of the dimension fields are needed, you can set it in Dimension Input Settings. For dimension input, after entering one field and press TAB key, if there still other fields to be specified, a sign will be displayed behind the one already entered, and the cursor is constrained to move in a specified range. As shown below, after specifying the angle field, the endpoint of the line is limited to move in the direction of 45 degrees. Angle field is
locked 1.7.4. Dynamic Prompt Enable dynamic prompt, the command prompt is displayed near the cursor, and you can respond at the cursor just as that on the command line. Dynamic prompt has no effect on command line input, you can still response and input on the command line. When using dynamic input, press Down key to see the options in command prompt, and a black dot is displayed in front of the selected option, and you can input it by press ENTER key. 20 ZWCAD User Guide 1.8. Customize the Drawing Environment In ZWCAD, many elements of the working environment can be customized to fit your needs. 1.8.1. Set Interface Options In the Options dialog box, you can change many of the settings that affect the ZWCAD interface and drawing environment. Settings of modifying the interface • Automatic Save (Open and Save tab) — Save your drawing at specified time intervals. To use this option, in the Options dialog box, Open and Save tab, select Automatic Save and enter the interva
l in minutes. • • Color Scheme (Display tab): Change interface theme from dark to light. Color (Display tab) — Specify the background colors used in the layout and Model tabs and the color used for prompts and crosshairs. • Grip color (Selection tab): Change color of different types of grip. • Font (Display tab) — Change the fonts used in the ZWCAD window and in the text window. This setting does not affect the text in your drawings. • Search Path (Files tab) — Set the search path ZWCAD uses to find drawing support files such as text fonts, drawings, linetypes, and hatch patterns. Controlling size and position of each toolbar or window After starting ZWCAD, you can fix or adjust position and size of each toolbar or window by dragging. Software interface includes toolbar, command window, "Properties" palette, "Quick Calculator" window, "Design Center" window, and so on. Toolbars can be floating or fixed. The floating toolbar locates in an arbitrary location of t
he drawing area of ZWCAD window, can be dragged to its new location, adjust its size or fixed. Fixed toolbar attaches to any of the edges in the drawing area. Once the toolbar is fixed, its size can't be adjusted. You can remove the fixed toolbar by dragging it to a new fixing position. When dragging the command window, "Properties" palette and "DesignCenter" window, buoys will be displayed in the corners and center position of the drawing area. If not select buoys but dragging the selected window to an arbitrary position of the drawing area, the window will be on floating state, which users can adjust the size of the window based on the actual needs. When clicking on one of the anchored floats in the process of dragging, the location of the window will be fixed to the top, bottom and left side 21 ZWCAD User Guide or right side of a fixed region of ZWCAD window. At this time, the size of the window can be adjusted in only one direction. Displaying commands on a shortcut menu Shortc
ut menus provide quick access to specific commands. A shortcut menu displays when you rightclick an object, toolbar, status bar, the Model tab name, or a Layout tab name. The selections presented in the shortcut menu depend on what you clicked. When you right-click a toolbar, the program displays a shortcut menu that lets you toggle the command bar, status bar, and various toolbars on and off. If you s elect one or more objects and then right click, the program displays a shortcut menu from which you can choose a command to modify the selected objects. To display a shortcut menu from which you can choose an object snap, press and hold down the Shift key, and then right-click anywhere within the drawing window. Using the command bar The command bar is a dockable window in which you type ZWCAD commands and view prompts and other program messages. To display the command bar, choose Tools > Command Line. You can move the command bar by way of dragging. When the command bar is floating, yo
u can drag the top or bottom of the window to change the number of lines of text it displays. You can dock the command bar at the top or bottom of the drawing. Using the status bar If you elect not to use the command bar, the status bar displays information about the selected command or tool. It also displays the current cursor coordinates, mode settings, and other information about current settings. In addition to displaying information, the status bar is a quick way to access many features. You can click status bar items to make changes, and right click items to display shortcut menus that allow you more choices. Status bar From left to right : 22 ZWCAD User Guide 1. Cursor Coordinates (x,y,z). 2. Snap Mode. 3. Grid Display. 4. Ortho Mode. 5. Polar Tracking. 6. Object Snap. 7. Object Snap Tracking. 8. Dynamic UCS. 9. Dynamic input. 10. Show/Hide Lineweight. 11. Cycle select. 12. Model or Paper space. 1.8.2. Save and Restore Profiles Creating profiles for different users or p
rojects and sharing profiles by importing and exporting profile files are enabled in ZWCAD. By default, your current options are stored in a profile named Default. The current profile name, as well as the current drawing name, is displayed in the Options dialog box in ZWCAD. ZWCAD stores the profile information in the system registry and saves it as a text file (an ARG file). ZWCAD also organizes essential data and maintains changes in the registry as required. If you make changes to your current profile during a ZWCAD session and you want to save those changes in the ARG file, you must export the profile. When you export the profile with the current profile name, ZWCAD updates the ARG file with the new settings. You can re-import the profile into ZWCAD to update your profile settings. 1.8.3. Customization for User Interface Abundant customization is provided for users included following elements: Workspaces Quick Access Toolbars Ribbon Toolbar Menus Sho
rtcut Menus Keyboard Shortcuts LISP Files Partial Customization Files 23 ZWCAD User Guide Input ‘CUI’ command to access the Customize User Interface and make relevant modification base on user’s preference. For example customize a brand new toolbar only with functions you need, changeicon of a function, add or reduce features on the ribbon. 2. Create and Save a Drawing 2.1. Create a New Drawing When the system variables FILEDIA and STARTUP are set to 1, typing NEW opens New Drawing dialog box, from which you can use Default Setting, Template or Wizard to create a new drawing. A new drawing dialog box When the FILEDIA and STARTUP are set to 1 and 0 separately, typing NEW opens Select Template dialog box, from which you can select the desired one or use the default template by clicking the AIDIMFLIPARROW head button next to the Open button. 24 ZWCAD User Guide Select template file dialog box The default drawing template file can be set in the Template Dra
wing File Path from the Files tab in the Options dialog box. Template drawing file path 2.1.1. Start a Drawing from Scratch You can select either imperial or metric units for the new drawing if you choose Start from Scratch in the New Drawing dialog box. The setting you select determines default values which are used for many system variables controlling text, dimensions, grid, snap, and the default linetype and hatch pattern file. • Imperial. A new drawing with the imperial measurement system. The drawing uses internal default values, and the default boundary is 12 × 9 inches. • Metric. A new drawing with the metric measurement system. The drawing uses internal default values, and the default boundary is 420 × 297 millimeters. When you start ZWCAD, there are three options for choosing to draw. You can start from scratch using default settings, you can start from a template file with a preset environment, or you can use a wizard to step you through the process, in each ca
se, you can choose the conventions and defaults you want to use. To start a drawing from scratch 1. On the File menu, click New. (STARTUP=1) 25 ZWCAD User Guide 2. In the New Drawing dialog box, click Default Settings. 3. Under Default Settings, click either English (feet and inches) or Metric. 2.1.2. Use a Setup Wizard From the New Drawing dialog box, you can select "Use a SetupWizard" tab to create a new drawing by the wizard. There are two wizard options illuminated as follows: • Advanced Setup Wizard From this option, you can set units of measurement, the precision of displayed units, and grid limits. Also specify angle settings such as units of measurement style, precision, direction, and orientation based on template zwcadiso.dwt. • Quick Setup Wizard From this option, you can specify units of measurement, the precision of displayed units, and grid limits based on template zwcadiso.dwt. To begin a new drawing using a wizard 1. On the File menu, click New. 2. In the
New Drawing dialog box, click Use a Setup Wizard. 3. Click Quick Setup Wizard or Advanced Setup Wizard. 4. Complete the wizard pages using the Next and Back buttons to move forward and backward. 5. On the last page, click Finish. 2.1.3. Use a Template File Drawing template files contain standard settings and have a ".dwt" file extension. There are two methods provided for creating a new drawing when the system variable FILEDIA is set to 1. When the STARTUP is set to 1, typing NEW opens New Drawing dialog box, from which you can select the desired template to create a new drawing if you click Use a Template tab. When the STARTUP is set to 0, typing NEW opens Select Template dialog box, from which you can select the desired template to create a new drawing. The changes made to a new drawing based on an existing template file do not affect the template file. 26 ZWCAD User Guide Create a Drawing Template File When you need to create several drawings with the default settings, you c
an save time by creating a template file designed to create the same drawing files so that you do not need to specify default settings each time you start. Conventions and settings commonly stored in template files include: • Unit type and precision • • Title blocks, borders, and logos Layer names • • Snap, Grid, and Ortho settings Grid limits • • Dimension styles Text styles • Linetypes Recover the default drawing template file If you have changed the settings in the template file zwcad.dwt or zwcadiso.dwt, you can reset them by creating a new drawing with no template and then saving the drawing as a drawing template file in order to replace zwcad.dwt or zwcadiso.dwt. When the STARTUP is set to 0, you can also create a new drawing with the original default s by clicking the arrowhead next to the Open button to select one of the No Template options from the Select Template dialog box. To start a drawing by selecting a template file 1. On the File menu, click
New. 2. In the Select Template File dialog box, select a template from the list and click Open. 3. ZWCAD opens the drawing as drawing1.dwg. The default drawing name changes to reflect the number of new drawings that have been opened. For example, if you open another drawing from a template, the default drawing name is drawing2.dwg. 2.2. Open an Existing Drawing You can open drawing (.dwg) files, Drawing Exchange Format (.dxf) files and drawing template (.dwt) files. You can also open and check drawings that you suspect are damaged. To open an existing drawing 27 ZWCAD User Guide 1. On the File menu, click Open. 2. In Files of Type, choose the type of file you want to open. 3. Choose the folder containing the desired file. 4. Choose the drawing you want to open, and then click Open. Or double-click the drawing you want to open. TIP You can also open drawings while browsing files on your computer using programs that came with your operating systems, such as Windows File Explorer or
My Computer. Just double-click the file to get it open in ZWCAD. Easily find the drawing you want by viewing thumbnail images of the drawing files as you browse them. TIP To quickly open a drawing file that you recently used, choose File > from the main menu. 2.2.1. Find and Open a Drawing File You can search for a drawing using the name, location, and date filters or properties such as keywords that you added to the drawing. Open drawing Uses Open on the File menu or Standard toolbar to open Select File dialog box, from which you can select the desired file. You can also open a drawing by dragging a drawing into anywhere outside(apart from) the drawing area. However, if you drag a drawing into the drawing area of an open drawing, the new drawing is inserted into the open drawing as a block reference instead of opening it. You can also double-click drawing to launch ZWCAD program to open it. If ZWCAD is running, the drawing opens in the current session. Change the de
fault drawing folder Each time you launch ZWCAD, the path you specified to open the latest drawing is displayed in each standard file selection dialog box. You can also specify a default path to ZWCAD by changing the default drawing folder. 28 ZWCAD User Guide Find a drawing file Clicking Tools > Find button from the Select File dialog box displays Find dialog box, from which you can search drawing by name, location and date filters. You can preview the selected drawing in the Select File dialog box. When the system variable RASTERPREVIEW is on, a preview image with BMP format is generated and saved with the drawing. op Set the search path The Files tab of Options dialog box is used by ZWCAD to search drawing support files. The support files include text fonts, drawings, linetypes and hatch patterns. The system variable MYDOCUMENTSPREFIX is designed to store the location of My Documents folder for the current user. You can also specify the location of temporary files on the Files
tab of the Options dialog box. Temporary files are created on the specified path and then deleted when you exit ZWCAD program. The default temporary folder is specified for the location that Microsoft Windows uses. You should specify another location for temporary files when you run ZWCAD in a write-protected director (for example, if you are working on a network or open files on a CD). The director must not be written-protected and can provide enough disk space for the temporary files. Add identifying information to drawings You can find the specified drawings more easily by adding keywords or other information to them in the Drawing Properties dialog box opened from the File menu. The drawing properties such as title, author, subject, keyword or other important information can help identify drawings more easily. You can also assign hyperlink addresses and multiple custom properties to your drawings. The Drawing Properties dialog box contains the following drawing information: • G
eneral. It contains the drawing type, location, size and other information. This information is stored by the operating system and can be read-only. You can change these values only through Windows Explorer. • • Summary. This tap contains the drawing properties such as author, title, and subject. Statistics. The drawing size, created date and latest modified date and other information are displayed in this tap. • Custom. Specifies the custom file properties. 29 ZWCAD User Guide 2.2.2. Work with Multiple Open Drawings You can open multiple drawings at one time in ZWCAD. There are several methods for switching a drawing to another. • Acting the drawing by clicking it. • • Uses shortcut keys of or . You can change the display styles to Cascade, Tile Vertically or Tile Horizontally from the Window menu. You can also use Arrange Icons to align icons if there are several minimum drawings. • You can quickly reference other drawings to copy and
paste between drawings. You can also use Match command to copy properties from objects in one drawing to objects in another drawing. Object snaps, the Copy with Basepoint (COPYBASE) command, and the Paste to Original Coordinates (PASTEORIG) command is used to ensure accurate placement, especially when copying objects from one drawing to another. 2.2.3. Recover a Damaged File You can recover some or all of data by reverting to a backup file or using commands to find and correct errors if a drawing file is damaged. A drawing file may be damaged by a hardware failure, power outage, and system crash. You can minimize loss by saving files frequently. ZWCAD can recover a slightly damaged drawing file while opening it. If a drawing is damaged, you can use RECOVER command to check and attempt to open it. Then uses AUDIT command to find and correct errors. Though ZWCAD can recover a damaged drawing file, it is not sure that the recovery drawing is the same exactly as the original one. You ha
d better create a backup file if the drawing is important. On the Open and Save tab of Options dialog box, you can specify the backup file are created when you save drawings and set the proper interval time for saving. Then a backup copy file with a ".bak" extension is created when you save the named drawing once again. After that, a backup file is always updated while you executing the command SAVE or SAVEAS. If ZWCAD exits unexpectedly, it attempts to rename the current backup file in order to avoid covering the original one. You can recover a drawing file by saving a ".bak" file to a ".dwg" file. Files can become damaged for many reasons. For example, if you are working on a drawing during a power outage, a system crash, or a hardware failure, your drawing file may become damaged. ZWCAD allows you to open and check damaged files to attempt file recovery. 30 ZWCAD User Guide Recovering a file attempts to open one of the following file types: • Standard drawing files with a ".dw
g" extension. • Drawing Exchange Format files with a ".dxf" file extension. • Drawing templates with a ".dwt" file extension. You can also audit any open file to check it for errors. You specify whether you want ZWCAD to fix any errors that are found automatically. ZWCAD fixes as many errors as possible and any errors that cannot be fixed are reported as "Ignored" in the Prompt History window. To open a damaged file 1. Choose File > Drawing Utilities > Recover from the main menu 2. In Files of Type, choose the type of file you want to recover. 3. Choose the directory containing the damaged file. 4. Choose the damaged file you want to recover. 5. Click Open. To check errors for a drawing file 1. To choose from the opened drawing, click on File > Drawing Utilities > Audit from the main menu. 2. Input Y or N to determine whether to fix the errors that are automatically found by ZWCAD. Drawing Recovery Once terminated by hardware problems, power failure or software problems, the ap
plication is capable of backup the opened drawing file. At the next startup, the program starts "Drawing Recovery" manager in which all of the auto-backup drawing files that have been closed accidentally will be displayed. You can open the file of your demand by double-clicking at the Backup File list on the "Drawing Recovery" if there is any damage to the file, the system attempts to recover the drawing in process of backup. When program or system stopped by accident, the drawing files need to recover are sorted into the following types. • Recovered drawing file saved when the program fails (DWG) • • Autosaved file, so-called "auto-save" file (zw$) Backup file (BAK) • Source drawing file (DWG) 31 ZWCAD User Guide 2.3. Save a Drawing You save drawing files for later use just as you do with other Microsoft Windows applications. You can also set up automatic saving and backup files and save only selected objects. The file extension for drawing files is ".dwg", and unless
you change the default file format in which drawings are saved, drawings are saved in DWG 2013 file format. After you have saved your drawing for the first time, you can save it with a new name. In addition to drawing (.dwg) files, you can also save a drawing in a Drawing Exchange Format (.dxf) file or a drawing template (.dwt) file. If you created your drawing using a template, saving the drawing does not alter the original template. To save a drawing 1. Choose File > Save from the main menu. TIP 1. When you save a drawing the first time, the program displays the Save Drawing As dialog box so that you can choose a directory and type a name for the drawing. 2. DWG 2018 format is perfectly compatible with ZWCAD now. 2.3.1. Save Your Drawing Automatically You can specify to save drawing files automatically in order to minimize the lost data once a problem occurs. If you start the automatic save option, your drawing is saved at specified time intervals. By default, system assigned t
he name filename.zw$ for temporarily saved files, filename here refers to current drawing name. The temporary files are removed automatically when a drawing closes normally. However, these files are not deleted if there is a program failure or power failure. You can recover the drawing by reverting to a previous version of your drawing from the automatically saved file. In order to do that, you have to rename the file using a ".dwg" extension. 32 ZWCAD User Guide 2.3.2. Use Backup Files ZWCAD creates a backup file with the current drawing name and a ".bak" extension to save the previous version of the current drawing when launching "backup automatically" option. You can revert to the previous version of your drawing anytime using a ".dwg" extension in place of the .zw$ extension. 2.3.3. Save Part of a Drawing File You can use WBLOCK command to create a new drawing from part of an existing drawing. You can select entities or a block definition in your current drawing and save t
hem in a new drawing file. The description also can be saved in the new drawing. 2.3.4. Save to a Different Type of Drawing File Choose the format from Files Type in the Save Drawing As dialog box, you can save a drawing to an earlier version of the drawing format (DWG) or drawing interchange format (DXF), or save a drawing as a template file. You can save a drawing with a new name and in any of the following file formats: • Standard drawing files with a ".dwg" extension. You can choose a DWG file format that is compatible with various versions of AutoCAD. • Drawing Exchange Format files with a ".dxf" file extension. You can choose a DXF file format that is compatible with various versions of AutoCAD. • Drawing templates with a ".dwt" file extension. Drawing templates allow you to easily create new drawings that reuse your drawing settings and entities. To save a drawing with a new name or file format 1. Choose File > Save As from the main menu. 2. In the Save Drawing As
dialog box, under Files of Type, choose the file format. 3. Specify the name of the file you want to create. 4. Click Save. TIP You can also export drawing files to various file formats. 33 ZWCAD User Guide 2.3.5. Reduce the Time Required to Save a Drawing File In order to reduce the time of saving a drawing file, you can specify the incremental save percentage on the Open and Save tab of Options dialog box or from the ISAVEPERCENT system variable. The incremental save updates only the portions of the saved drawing file you changed. Drawing files will contain a percentage of potentially wasted space when you use incremental saves. This percentage increases after each incremental save until it reaches the specified maximum value, and then a full save is performed. When the ISAVEPERCENT system variable is set to 0, all saves are full saves. This option required more time to save a drawing file but can reduce the size of drawing files. It is recommended you perform a full save befo
re transmitting or archiving a drawing. 2.4. Crash Report An error report module will intercept any unhandled exception generated by ZWCAD, build a complete debug report, and optionally send a crash report. Sending crash report may help assess the stability of ZWCAD software while working in the user environment, and improve the quality of our product. When errors are encountered in the procedure of some programs, a dialog box pops up for the user to record the cause of the error and send crash report automatically created by the software to the assigned email address so as to help us diagnose the cause of the error and improve our software. Once the software encounters exceptional shutdown, a folder named BugReport will be automatically generated under the catalog C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\ZWSoft\ZWCAD\\\CrashReport. If your operating system is Microsoft Windows 7, the catalog will be X:\Documents and Settings\Current User\Application Data\CrashReport
. One more thing, if your operating system is Microsoft Windows XP, in which all of the compressed packages generated for the exceptional situations are contained with *.ZCR, *.DMP, *.REG as well as error drawing files included in each package. Here DMP file shares the same name with the compressed package automatically generated. 2.4.1. Describe Error Contents When errors occur in the program, a dialog box prompts "ZWCAD.EXE has encountered a problem and 34 ZWCAD User Guide needs to close, we are sorry for the inconveniences" for the user to input descriptions of the problem in the text window showing "Describe what you were doing when the error occurred", whereas it is an optional requirement. 2.4.2. View Contents of Error Report Files Generally, the software generates four error reporting files, individually named as *.ZCR, *.DMP, *.REG and the crashed drawing file itself. In this error report dialog box, you can see the contents of error reports by clicking on the "Click h
ere" link. You can optionally select a file in the "Error Report Contents" dialog box, or double-click a file to view its contents. 2.4.3. Send Error Report Clicks on "Send Error Report" button on the Error Reporting dialog box, then you can send the information of assigned error reports to CrashReport@zwcad.com as well as its problem descriptions. If the network isn't connecting, a prompt box pops up telling you that "The error report wasn't sent, please send the file to CrashReport@zwcad.com". From this prompt box, you can see the name of error report file together with its saving path. Don't Send Additionally, the user can choose not to send an error report. 35 ZWCAD User Guide 3. Control the Drawing Views 3.1. Redraw and Regenerate a Drawing As you work on a drawing, visual elements may remain after the completion of a command. You can remove these elements by refreshing, or redraw, the display. To redraw (refresh) the current window display 1. Choose View > Redraw from the
main menu. Information about drawing entities is stored in a database as floating point values, ensuring a high level of precision. Sometimes a drawing must be recalculated, or regenerated, from the floating point database to convert those values to the appropriate screen coordinates. This occurs automatically. You can also manually initiate a regeneration. When the drawing is regenerated, it is also redrawn. To regenerate the current window, type REGEN on the command line. If more than one window is displayed, type REGENALL to regenerate all the windows. 3.2. Magnify a View (Zoom) You can use ZOOM command to zoom in or zoom out the drawing view to meet y our need. ZOOM does not change the absolute size of objects in the drawing; it changes only the magnification of the view. With this zooming feature, you can change the magnification of your drawing at any time. The cursor changes to a magnifying glass when a zoom tool is active. Zoom out to reduce the magnification so you can see m
ore of the drawing, or zoom in to increase the magnification so you can see a portion of the drawing in greater detail. NOTE If you are working in a layout viewport and cannot zoom, the layout viewport may be locked. The scale and view do not change in model space while panning or zooming in a locked layout viewport. 3.2.1. Zooming in and out One of the easiest ways to change the magnification of the drawing is to zoom in or out by a preset increment. On the Zoom toolbar, the Zoom In tool doubles the current magnification of the drawing. The 36 ZWCAD User Guide Zoom Out tool reduces the magnification of the drawing by half. The portion of the drawing loc ated at the center of the current viewport remains centered on the screen as you zoom in and out. Zoom out 3.2.2. zoom in Zooming methods To zoom, you can use any of the following methods: • • To define the portion of the drawing to zoom, create a window. To zoom in real time, use the Zoom Real-time tool on the Standar
d toolbar. • Rotate the mouse wheel to zoom in and out. Zoom to Magnify a Specified Rectangular Area You can specify a rectangular area defined by two corners to display the objects within that area as large as possible. The lower-left corner of the specified area becomes the lower-left corner of the new view. Zoom in using Window To zoom into an area using a window 1. Choose View > Zoom > Window from the main menu. 2. Select one corner of the window around the area you want to magnify. 3. Specify the opposite corner of the window around the area you want to magnify. 37 ZWCAD User Guide Zoom in Real Time With the Real-time option, you zoom dynamically by moving your pointing device up or down. By rightclicking, you can display a shortcut menu with additional viewing options. To zoom in real time 1. Choose View > Zoom > Realtime from the main menu. 2. Hold the left mouse button, then drag the cursor. 3. To zoom in, move the cursor up the screen; to zoom out, move the cursor d
own the screen. 4. To stop zooming, release the mouse button. To zoom using a mouse with a wheel 1. Rotate the wheel away from you to zoom in or toward you to zoom out. 2. Each rotation of the wheel away from you zooms out .8 times; each rotationtoward you zooms in 1.25 times. 3.2.3. Displaying the previous view of a drawing After you zoom in or pan to view a portion of your drawing in greater detail, you may want to zoom back out to see the entire drawing. On the View > Zoom menu, the Previous tool lets you restore the previous view. Selecting this tool repeatedly steps back through up to 25 successive zoomed or panned views. 3.2.4. Zooming to a specific scale You can increase or decrease the magnification of your view by a precise scale factor measured relative to the overall size of the drawing or in relation to the current display. When you change the magnification factor, the portion of the drawing located at the center of the current viewport remains centered on the screen
. To change the magnification of the view relative to the overall size of the drawing, type a number representing the magnification scale factor. For example, if you type a scale factor of 2, the drawing appears at twice its original size. If you type a magnification factor of .5, the drawing appears at half its original size. 38 ZWCAD User Guide You can also change the magnification of the drawing relative to its current magnification by adding an x after the magnification scale factor. For example, if you type a scale factor of 2x, the drawing changes to twice its current size. If you type a magnification factor of .5x, the drawing changes to half its current size. To zoom to a specific scale relative to the current display 1. Choose View > Zoom > Scale from the main menu. Or On the Zoom toolbar, click the Zoom Scale. Or Type ZOOM in the command line, choose the Scale option and then press Enter. 2. Type the scale factor, followed by an x (such as 2x). 3. Press Enter. 3.2.5. Co
mbining zooming and panning With the Center option, you can scale objects and specify a new view center. You can specify the scale factor relative to paper space unit or to the current view. To change the center of the current view 1. Choose View > Zoom > Center from the main menu. 2. Select the point you want to be located at the center of the new view. 3. Specify the zoom scale factor or the height of the drawing in drawing units. 3.2.6. Displaying the entire drawing ZOOM Extents displays a view that includes all of the objects in the drawing as large as possible. The view can display the objects on layers that are turned off but do not include objects on frozen layers. ZOOM All displays all of the objects within either the user-defined limits or the drawing extents, whichever view is larger. You can use the Zoom All tool on the zoom toolbar to display an entire drawing. If you have drawn any entities outside the defined limits of the drawing, the extents of the drawing are disp
layed. If you drew all entities within the limits of the drawing, the drawing is displayed all the way to the drawing limits. The Zoom Extents tool on the zoom toolbar displays the drawing to its extents, making the image fill the 39 ZWCAD User Guide display to the greatest possible magnification. 3.3. Pan a View Use PAN command or use the window scroll bars to shift the location of your view. With the Real-time option of PAN, you pan dynamically by moving your pointing device. Like panning with a camera, PAN does not change the location or magnification of objects on your drawing; it changes only the view. By right-clicking, you can display a shortcut menu with additional viewing options. You can move the view of a drawing displayed in the current viewport by scrolling, panning, or rotating the view. Doing this changes the portion of the drawing you are viewing without changing the current magnification. Scrolling lets you move around in the drawing horizontally and vertically. Pa
nning lets you move the drawing in any direction. Rotating lets you view your drawing from any angle. 3.3.1. Using scroll bars To assist you in navigating within a drawing, horizontal and vertical scroll bars are available in each drawing window. The size of the scroll box in relation to the scroll bar indicates the current level of drawing magnification. The position of the scroll box in relation to the scroll bar indicates the location of the center of the drawing in relation to the extents of the drawing (the smallest rectangle containing all the entities in the drawing). 3.3.2. Using the Pan command You can move the drawing in any direction using the pan command. Panning shifts or slides the view of the drawing horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. The magnification of the drawing remains the same, as does its orientation in space. The only change is the portion of the drawing displayed. To pan, you can use any of the following methods: • For precise panning, specify tw
o points defining the magnitude and direction of the pan. The first point, or base point, indicates the starting point of the pan. The second point indicates the amount of pan displacement relative to the first point. • • To pan in real time, use the Pan Real-time tool on the Standard toolbar. If you have a mouse with a wheel, press and hold the wheel, and then move the mouse. To pan in real time 40 ZWCAD User Guide 1. Choose View > Pan > Realtime from the main menu. 2. Move the cursor in the direction you want to pan. 3. To stop panning, press Enter, ESC or choose Exit from the shortcut menu. To pan using a mouse with a wheel 1. Press and hold the wheel, and then move the mouse in the direction you want to pan. (The MBUTTONPAN system variable controls this feature.) 3.4. Display Multiple Views in Model Space Model space viewport is the drawing area that you can divide them into one or more adjacent rectangular views on the Model tap. Among multiple viewports, you have to
make one view current for executing view commands. When you begin a new drawing, it is displayed in a single window. You can view the drawing in a second window, or you can divide one window into multiple windows. You can also open and display multiple drawings. 3.4.1. Set Model Space Viewports In large or complex drawings, displaying different views reduces the time needed to zoom or pan in a single view. Also, errors you might miss in one view may be apparent in the others. Viewports created on the Model tab completely fill the drawing area and do not overlap. As you make changes in one viewport, the others are updated simultaneously. Three model space viewports are shown in the illustration. 41 ZWCAD User Guide Model space viewports Use Model Space Viewports You can do the following operations at the model space viewport: • Set Grid, and UCS icon modes; Pan; Zoom; and restore named views. • • Save orientations of UCS with individual viewports. When executing a comma
nd, you can draw from one viewport to another. • Name a viewport arrangement in order so you can reuse it on the Model tab or insert it on a layout tab. • When you work on 3D models, it is much help that setting up different UCS in individual viewports. Split and Join Model Space Viewports From the separated viewport, you can continue to split or join them. The illustrations below show several default model space viewport configurations. Left Right 42 ZWCAD User Guide Horizontal Vertical Above Below Select and Use the Current Viewport To make the desired viewport the current viewport, you click on it through the existing viewports. When the cursor stays at the current viewport, it is displayed as crosshairs instead of an arrow. You cannot change the current viewport when a view command is in progress. Working with Multiple Views of a Single Drawing You can open and work with several views of the same drawing simultaneously. After you divide a single window into mult
iple windows, you can control each window separately. For example, you can zoom or pan in one window without affecting the display in any of the other windows. You can control the grid, snap, and view orientation separately for each window. You can restore named views in individual windows, draw from one window to another, an d name window configurations individually so you can reuse them later. As you draw, any changes you make in one window are immediately visible in the others. You can switch from one window to another at any time, even in the middle of a command, by clicking the window's title bar. You can divide a single drawing window into multiple tiled windows (called viewports) on the Model tab. You can control the number of windows created and the arrangement of the windows. You can also save and restore named window configurations and display a list of the current and saved window configurations. To create multiple views 1. Choose View > Viewports from the main menu. 2. In
viewports menu, choose 1, 2, 3, or 4 viewports. 3. Type h if you want the horizontal orientation, or type v if you want the vertical orientation. 43 ZWCAD User Guide To join two views 1. Choose View > Viewports > Join from the main menu. 2. Click anywhere inside the window you want to keep. 3. Click anywhere inside the adjacent window you want to join to the first wi ndow. To restore a named window configuration 1. Type -VPORTS and press ENTER. 2. On the command line, type Restore. 3. Type the name of the window configuration you want to restore. 3.5. Work with Multiple Drawings With the multiple document interface (MDI) feature, you can open more than one drawing in ZWCAD. Because you can open and work on several drawings at one time, you can copy, cut, or paste an entity from one drawing to another. Each drawing appears in a drawing window, which has the following advantages: • • You can see two or more drawings side by side. You can easily copy entities from one drawing to
another. Under the Window menu, the following three methods that determine how drawings are arranged are provided for user's choice. • Cascade • • Tile Horizontally Tile Vertically 44 ZWCAD User Guide Tile Vertically When you work with more than one drawing open in its own window, you can easily, cut, copy, and paste in between drawings. If you copy an entity from one window to another and then want to undo that action, you must undo it from the drawing into which you copied the entity. If you cut and paste an entity and then want to undo that action, you must undo it in both drawings. 3.5.1. Save and Restore Views You can save views by name and restore them for plotting or when you need to refer to specific details. A named view is comprised of specific magnification, location, and orientation. You can also restore up to 10 previous views. When you end drawing, the previous views cannot be restored. If you want to restore views among sessions, you have to save the d
rawing along with views by name. When you restore views, you can view all saved views along with their information. You can delete views when you do not need them. A drawing can be saved along with unlimited views. Save a View When you name and save a view, the following settings are saved: • • Magnification, center point, and view direction The location of the view: the Model tab or a specific layout tab • Layer visibility in the drawing at the time the view is saved 45 ZWCAD User Guide • User coordinate system • 3D perspective and clipping If you have divided the drawing window into multiple views, you can save the current window arrangement so that you can recall it to the screen later. The number and placement of the windows are saved exactly as they are currently displayed. The settings for each window are also saved. Restore a Named View With the -VIEW Restore, you can restore a named view to the current view. Named views can be used to do the following: •
Restore views on the model space viewport or layout viewport. • Specify the area to the plot. • Determined which model space view is displayed when opening the drawing. You can specify a layout view when you open the drawing only if you save the drawing from that specified layout tab. 3.6. Specify a 3D View You can set a 3D view to facilitating verifying the 3D effects of the drawing, constructing and visualizing 3D models. An isometric view is a typical viewpoint that helps you create a 3D view which reduces the number of visually overlapping objects. You can specify a new viewpoint to create new objects or modify the existing objects. 3.6.1. View a Parallel Projection in 3D You can view a parallel projection of 3D models at any location in model space. To determine the angle or viewpoint, you can: • Select a preset 3D view from the View toolbar. • • Type angles or coordinate that represents the viewing location in 3D. Modify a view of the current UCS, the WCS or a s
aved UCS. • Change the 3D view dynamically using pointing device. Viewing 3D model is available only in model space. If you are working in paper space, the 3D viewing commands such as VPOINT and PLAN cannot be used to define paper space views. The view in paper space is always a plane view. 46 ZWCAD User Guide The plane view is a view that you look at the origin (0, 0, 0) from a point at the positive Z axis. This method results in a view of the XY plane. You can restore the view and coordinate system that is the default for most ZWCAD drawings by setting the UCS orientation to World and then setting 3D views to Plan View. 3.6.2. Set the Viewing Direction You view three-dimensional drawings by setting the viewing direction. The viewing direction establishes the viewing position, the Cartesian coordinate corresponding to the viewpoint looking back at the origin point, the 0,0,0 coordinate. When you view a drawing from the default viewpoint (0,0,1), you see a plan view of the d
rawing. You can change the viewing direction to look at the drawing from a different vantage point or to work on a three-dimensional model from a different orientation. To set a new viewing direction 1. Choose View > 3D Views > Viewpoint from the main menu. 2. Click the preset button. 3. Click the preset view you want to use. 4. You can set the current viewing direction to the plan view of the current user coordinate system (UCS), a previously saved UCS, or the World Coordinate System (WCS). To dynamically set a view direction 1. Choose View > 3D Views > Viewpoint from the main menu. 2. Click the appropriate tools to dynamically change the viewpoint. 3. To complete the command, click OK. 4. You can dynamically rotate the viewpoint within the XY plane and relative to the XY plane, and you can pan and zoom the drawing. As you change the viewpoint, the drawing display automatically updates. To display a plan view of the current drawing 1. Choose View > 3D Views > Plan View from the mai
n menu. 2. It concludes three plan views: Current UCS, World UCS, and Named UCS. Choose one what you want. 47 ZWCAD User Guide 3.6.3. Isometric Choose Preset 3D Views You can define perspective views of a model to create realistic effects. Select predefined standard orthographic and isometric views by name or description. These views represent commonly used options: Top, Bottom, Front, Left, Right, and Back. In addition, you can set views from isometric options: SW (southwest) Isometric, SE (southeast) Isometric, NE (northeast) Isometric, and NW (northwest) Isometric. To understand how the isometric views work, imagine you are looking down at the top of a box. If you move toward the lower-left corner of the box, you are viewing the box from the SW Isometric View. If you move toward the upper-left corner of the box, you are viewing it from NW Isometric View. Draw 2D Isometric Views With Isometric Snap, you can create 2D objects that appear to be 3D solids. By setting Isometric Sn
ap on the Draft Settings dialog box and turning on Snap and Grid, you can easily align objects along one of three isometric planes. However, although the isometric drawing looks like 3D, it is actually a 2D representation. Therefore, you cannot extract distance and areas, display objects from different viewports, or delete hidden lines automatically. Set Isometric Grid and Snap By aligning along three major axes, isometric drawing simulates a 3D drawing from a specified viewpoint. When the snap angle is set to 0, the axes of the isometric plane are 30 degrees, 90 degrees, and 150 degrees. 48 ZWCAD User Guide With Isometric Snap-on, you can work on any of three isometric planes, each with a pair of associated axes. • Left. The left isometric plane defined by a pair of 90- and 150-degrees axes. The snap and grips align along the 90- and 150-degree axes. • Top. The top isometric plane defined by a pair of 30- and 150-degrees axes. The snap and grips align along the 30- and 150
-degrees axes. • Right. The right isometric plane defined by a pair of 90- and 30-degrees axes. The snap and grips align along the 90- and 30-degrees axes. In addition to using ISOPLANE command to switch isometric planes, you can also use shortcut key F5 or CTRL+E. specifying one of the three isometric planes results in Ortho and crosshairs to be aligned along the corresponding isometric axes. For example, when Ortho is on, the points you specified align along the simulated plane you are working on. Therefore, you can draw the top plane first, and switch to the left plane to draw another side, and then switch to the right plane to complete the drawing. Draw Isometric Circles You can create an isometric circle on the current isometric plane using Ellipse Isocircle. The Isocircle option is available only when the Isometric Snap is on. 49 ZWCAD User Guide 3.6.4. Define a 3D View with Coordinate Values or Angles You can define a viewing direction by typing the coordinate values
of a point or two rotation angles (angle from the XY plane and angle from the X-axis). The specified point indicates your position in 3D space when you view the model while looking toward the origin (0, 0, 0). The viewpoint coordinate values are relative to the WCS unless you modify the system variable WORLDVIEW. The conventions for defining standard views are different among different industries. In architectural (ARC) design, the perpendicular plane of XY plane is the top view or plan view; in mechanical design, the perpendicular view is the front view. DDVPOINT is designed to rotate views to specify a viewing direction. The following illustration shows a view defined by two angles relative to the X-axis and the XY plane of the WCS. 3.6.5. Change a 3D View Dynamically You can view objects from any viewing direction by holding down the mouse or other pointing devices and moving dynamically. With dynamic viewing, you can display the effects of changing viewpoint while you change th
e view. You can execute move or zoom operations as the 3D Orbit is active. When the 3D Orbit is active, you are not allowed to modify objects. To close 3D Orbit, press Enter, ESC or choose Exit from the shortcut menu. 3.6.6. Hide Lines or Shade 3D Objects Hides or shapes for 3D objects in the current drawing suppresses the display of the objects (partly or entirely) that are located behind other objects or generates a simply shaded image displayed in the current 50 ZWCAD User Guide view. Hide Lines You can suppress the objects (partly or entirely) that are located behind other objects using Hide. The system generates wireframe representations including hidden lines when you use VPOINT or VIEW command to create objects in 3D view. You can use HIDE command to remove the hidden lines to verify the current placement of these surfaces. When you view or plot wireframes, complex drawings usually appear too cluttered to convey accurate information. Hiding background objects that in real
ity would be obscured by objects in the front background simplifies the display of the drawing and clarifies the design. Shown in the following picture: Before hide Hide Hiding background lines makes the display much clearer, but you cannot modify hidden-line or render views. It may take a long time to calculate and obscure hidden lines if the drawing is complex. However, you can speed up the process in the several ways. For example, you can avoid drawing details that will not be visible at the scale at which you are displaying or plotting the drawing. You can also exclude objects from the hiring process by zooming into a part of the drawing. Remove hidden lines on one or more selected objects to improve performance. When the system variable DISPSILH is set to 1, HIDE command displays only the silhouette lines of the objects. It does not display the inside edges generated by a nested face of an object. When the current view is shaded, hiding lines on solid objects also suppresses dr
awing the mesh image and instead displays the objects using wireframe representation with the back lines hidden. 51 ZWCAD User Guide Add Simple Shading to 3D Objects Although hiding lines can enhance the drawing and clarifies the design, shading produces a more realistic image of your model. You can modify shaded objects as you normally would. When a shaded object is selected, the wireframe and grips appear on top of the shading. 52 ZWCAD User Guide 4. Precision Tools and the Properties of Drawing 4.1. Specify Units, Angles, and Scale Specify the units of measurement you want to use, their format, and other conventions. 4.1.1. Determine Units of Measurement When you start drawing, you specify the units of measurement, their formats as well as the number of the decimal fraction. Set the Units Format You can set the display format of the unit. These formats include scientific, decimal, engineering, architectural and fractional notation. To enter architectural feet and inches f
ormat, you can indicate feet using the prime symbol ('), for example, 72'3. You do not need to specify inches by entering quotation marks ("). You can set the unit type and precision in the Quick Setup wizard, the Advanced Setup wizard, or the Units Control dialog box. These settings control how your coordinate, offset, and distance entries are interpreted, and how coordinates and distances are displayed. 53 ZWCAD User Guide The input format of three-dimension coordinates is the same as the input format of the two-dimension coordinates: scientific, decimal, engineering, architectural and fractional notation. The unit format for creating and listing objects, measuring distance and displaying coordinate locations is different from the dimension units setting used in creating dimension values. With ZWCAD, you typically draw at full size (1:1 scale), and then set a scale factor when you print or plot your drawing. Before you begin drawing, however, you need to determine the relationship
between drawing units and real-world units. For example, you can decide whether one linear drawing unit represents an inch, a foot, a meter, or a mile. In addition, you can specify the way the program measures angles. For both linear and angular units, you can also set the degree of display precision, such as the number of decimal places or smallest denominator used when displaying fractions. The precision settings affect only the display of distances, angles, and coordinates. ZWCAD always stores distances, angles, and coordinates using floating point accuracy. Convert Drawing Units When you create a new drawing in one system of measurement (imperial or metric) and then change to the other system, use SCALE to scale the model geometry by the appropriate conversion factor to obtain correct distances and dimensions. The conversion is shown as follows: For example, to convert inches to centimeters, you scale the drawing by a factor of 3.25. To convert from centimeters to inches, the sca
le factor is 1/3.25 or about 0.3077. 4.1.2. Set Angle Conventions You can specify the location for angle 0 and the positive direction for the angle measurement: clockwise or counterclockwise. You can also specify the format and the number of the decimal fraction. Specify the measurement unit and precision. The units include decimal degrees, deg/min/sec, gradians, radians, and surveyor’s units. Specify where the angle measurement starts from: east, west, south, north or others. For example, to enter a coordinate relative to the current coordinate for a property line that is 54 feet, 7 inches long with a bearing of 60 degrees north, 12 minutes, 6 seconds east, enter @54'7"
nd when setting up a drawing, you don't need to set the scale until you print it. For example, when you draw a mechanical part 40 inches in length with ZWCAD, you actually draw it as 40 inches, rather than applying a scale factor as you draw. When you print your drawing, you can assign the scale at which the drawing is to print. Scale, however, does affect the way a few elements such as text, arrows, or linetypes print or plot in your drawing. For these, you can make adjustments when you first set up your drawing so that they print or plot at the correct size. For example, when you draw text, you need to determine the text size so that when you print it later at a particular scale, the text height is correct. After you determine the eventual scale of your finished drawing, you can calculate the scale factor for the drawing as a ratio of one drawing unit to the actual scale unit represented by each drawing unit. For example, if you plan to print your drawing at 1/8" = 1'-0", your scale
factor ratio is 1:96 (1/8" = 12" is the same as 1 = 96). If you want your printed scale to be 1 inch = 100 feet, your scale factor ratio is 1:1200. The following table shows some standard architectural and engineering scale ratios and equivalent text heights required to create text that measures 1/8 inch high when you print the drawing at the specified scale. Standard scale ratios and equivalent text heights Scale Scale factor Text height 1/16" = 1'-0" 192 24" 1/8" = 1'-0" 96 12" 3/16" = 1'-0" 64 8" 1/4" = 1'-0" 48 6" 3/8" = 1'-0" 32 4" 1/2" = 1'-0" 24 3" 3/4" = 1'-0" 16 2" 1" = 1'-0" 12 1.5" 1 1/2" = 1'-0" 8 1" 3" = 1'-0" 4 0.5" 1" = 10' 120 15" 1" = 20' 240 30" 1" = 30' 360 45" 1" = 40' 480 60" 55 ZWCAD User Guide 1" = 50' 600 75" 1" = 60' 720 90" 1" = 100' 1200 150" You can use these scale factors to predetermine the size of your drawing to make sure that it fits on a specific size paper when you print it. You control the size
of your drawing by the drawing limits. To calculate the drawing limits to match the size of your paper, multiply the dimensions of your paper size by your scale factor. For example, if the paper you use to print measures 36 inches x 24 inches and you print your drawing at 1/8" = 1'-0" (in other words, using a scale factor of 96), the size of your drawing measured in drawing units is 36 x 96 (or 3,456 units) wide and 24 x 96 (or 2,304 units) high. Keep in mind that you can print the finished drawing at any scale, regardless of the scale factor you calculate. You can also print on paper of a different size and use the Layout tabs to create different views of your drawing and to position and scale those views differently. The scaling factor is not related to the size of the entities you draw; it simply provides a preliminary guide to help you establish the text height and drawing limits when you begin your drawing. You can change the text height and draw limits at any time. Apply scale f
actors You can set the following factor to determine whether the drawing is plotted on the model space or paper space. • Text. Sets text height in the text style (STYLE) or in the process of creating text. The text plotted height should be set in proportion to scale factor in model space. The text created on the layout should be set at 1:1. • Dimension. Sets dimension scale in the dimension style (DIMSTYLE) or through system variable DIMSCALE. • Linetype. To plot objects from the Model tap, use system variables CELTSCALE and LTSCALE to set the scale for non-continuous lines. To plot objects from a layout (paper space), use system variable PSLTCALE. • Hatch. Sets hatch scale in the Hatch and Gradient dialog box or through system variable HPSCALE. • View. When you plot a drawing from a layout, you may need to use ZOOM XP command, where XP is a ratio that is relative to the paper size (scale factor of reciprocal). Setting the text height The text height setting control
s the height of the text, measured in drawing units. Set this value initially 56 ZWCAD User Guide so that text used for your most common annotations, when scaled to the size at which you will print a drawing, measures 1/8-inch high on the printed drawing. For example, if you plan to print your drawing at 1/8" = 1'-0" and you want your text to be 1/8-inch high in the final drawing, create that text 1 foot high (in your real-world drawing units) so that when you print it, it appears 1/8-inch high on the paper. You must create text 4 feet high that you want to print 1/2-inch high. To set the text height 1. Choose Format > Text Style from the main menu. 2. Type a value in the Fixed Text Height under Text Measurements. 3. Press OK to save the current settings. NOTE The default text height applies only if the current text style height is 0.0. Otherwise, the text height for the current style takes precedence. 4.2. Drawing Limits You can specify the drawing limits that form an invisible bo
undary around your drawing. You can use the drawing limits to make sure that you do not create a drawing larger than can fit on a specific sheet of paper when printed at a specific scale. For example, if you plan to print your drawing at 1/8" = 1'-0" (in other words, using a scale factor of 96) on a sheet of paper measuring 36 inches x 24 inches, you can set drawing limits to 3,264 units wide (that is, 34 x 96) and 2,112 units high (22 x 96), which allows a 1-inch margin around the edges of the printed image. To set the drawing limits 1. Choose Format > Drawing Limits from the main menu. 2. Specify the x-coordinate and y-coordinate of the upper right drawing limit and the lower left drawing limit. You can also click Select to specify the drawing limits by selecting points in the drawing. 4.3. Grid and Grid Snap The grid is a rectangular pattern comprised of cells that extends over the area you specify as the grid limits. Displaying grids and using grids snap improve the performance of
regenerating. 57 ZWCAD User Guide Using the grid is like placing a sheet of coordinate paper under a drawing. The grid is not plotted. When you turn Snap mode on, the cursor adheres or snaps to the invisible grids. Therefore, you can specify precise points with the arrow keys, mouse or other pointing devices. Grid and snap settings are effective tools to use in your drawing to ensure accuracy. Although many users find it convenient to match grid points to snap settings, they are independent of each other and should not be confused. Grid points are for visual reference only; they do not affect your drawing and they do not print. Snap points are, by themselves, not visible; however, when set, they constrain the creation of new entities. In addition, the cursor can be restricted to move orthogonally only or guides can display on the screen automatically at specified polar angle increments. 4.3.1. Change Grid and Snap Spacing You can turn Grid and Snap-on and off and specify their s
pacing on the Snap and Grid tab at the Drafting Settings dialog box. Grid spacing does not have to match snap spacing. A wide grid spacing can be used as a reference while a closer grid spacing helps you specify points accurately. 4.3.2. Setting color for grid line. Grid major/minor lines can be switched to different color base on your preference. Open ‘Options’ dialog box→ ‘Display’ → ‘Color’→‘2D model space’→ ‘Grid major/minor lines’ . You can choose color from index color, true color or color books. 4.3.3. Setting a reference grid A reference grid displays as a pattern of regularly spaced cells. You can turn the display on and off, and you can specify how far apart the cells are spaced. The reference grid extends only to the limits of the drawing, helping you to visualize the boundary of your drawing and to align entities and visualize distances between entities. You can turn th e grid on and off as needed. You can also change the spacing of the gri
d at any time. To turn the grid on and set the grid spacing 1. Choose Tools > Drafting Settings from the main menu. 58 ZWCAD User Guide 2. Click the Snap and Grid tab. 3. Click the Grid On box. 4. Under Grid tab, input a value in the Grid X Spacing field and Grid Y Spacing field separately. 5. Click OK. Status bar Right-click on the Grid Display button to choose Settings. TIP To toggle the grid display on and off at any time, click the Grid Display button on the status b ar, or press F7. 4.3.4. Setting snap spacing Another way to ensure drawing accuracy is to turn on and set snap spacing. When snap is turned on, the program restricts the selection points to predetermined snap intervals. Although it is often helpful for snapping by means of matching the snap spacing with grid spacing, the setting is not required. To turn snap settings on and set snap spacing 1. Choose Tools > Drafting Settings from the main menu. 2. Click the Snap and Grid tab. 3. Click the Snap-On box. 4. Under S
nap tab, input a value in the Snap X Spacing field and Snap Y Spacing field separately. 5. Click OK. Status bar Right-click on the Snap Mode button to choose Settings. TIP To toggle snap settings on and off at any time, click the Snap Mode button on the status bar, or press F9. 4.3.5. Using isometric snap You can use the Isometric Snap option to create two-dimensional isometric drawings. With the isometric option, you are simply drawing a simulated three-dimensional view on a 2D plane, much the same as you might draw on a piece of paper. Do not confuse isometric drawings with three-dimensional drawings. You create three-dimensional drawings in three-dimensional space. The isometric option always uses three preset planes, which are denoted as left, right, and top. You cannot alter the arrangement of these planes. If the snap angle is 0, the three isometric axes are 30 degrees, 90 degrees, and 150 degrees. 59 ZWCAD User Guide When you check the Isometric Snap option and select an
isometric plane, the snap intervals, grid, and crosshairs align with the current plane. The grid is always shown as isometric and uses y coordinates to calculate the grid spacing. If you click the Draw Orthogonal check box, the program restricts the drawing of entities to the current isometric plane. To turn the Isometric Snap And Grid option on 1. Choose Tools > Drafting Settings from the main menu. 2. Click the Snap and Grid tab. 3. In Snap Type tab, select the Isometric Snap check box. 4. Click OK. Tip To choose a different isometric plane and toggle between three isometric planes, press F5. 4.4. Use Object Snaps Object snaps enable you to quickly select exact geometric points on existing entities without having to know the exact coordinates of those points. With object snaps, you can select the endpoint of a line or arc, the center point of a circle, the intersection of any two entities, or any other geometrically significant position. You can also use object snaps to draw entiti
es that are tangent or perpendicular to an existing entity. You can use object snaps whenever the program prompts you to specify a point, for example, if you are drawing a line or other object. To turn on the ESNAP mode, any of the following ways are available: • Choose Tools > Drafting Settings from the main menu to open the Drafting Settings dialog box, toggle to Object Snap tab, and then tick the Object Snap On checkbox. • Press F3. • Click the Object Snap button on the status bar. When using object snaps, the program recognizes only visible objects or visible portions of objects. You cannot snap to objects on layers that have been turned off or to the blank portions of dashed lines. 60 ZWCAD User Guide When Object Snaps is turned on, a marker and a tooltip are displayed when you move the cursor over an object snap location on an object. 4.4.1. Setting object snaps You can set object snaps using any of the following methods: • • Choose Tools > Drafting Setting
s > Object Snap, and then click one of the object snap tools. On the Object Snap toolbar, click one of the object snap tools • • On the status bar, right-click on the Object Snap button to choose Settings. Press and hold down the Shift key while right-clicking anywhere within the drawing window to display the object snap shortcut menu, and then choose the object snap you want to set. 4.4.2. Object Snap settings If you need to use one or more object snaps repeatedly, you can turn on running object snaps on the Grid and Snap tab of Drafting Settings dialog box. The object snap mode keeps on unless you turn it off. For example, you can use an object snap to draw a line to the center of a circle. If several objects snap on, the system chooses automatically the most suitable object snap. If there are two possible object snaps at the selection area, the system chooses the one that is closer to the center of target box. If you turn several object snaps on, you need to check which one
is in effect when you specify a point. If several object snaps are eligible at a given location, press the TAB key to cycle through the possibilities before you specify the point. 4.4.3. Object Snap Restrictions With the object snap on, you can snap objects only visible on the screen, including objects on locked layers, layout viewport boundaries, and polyline segments. You cannot snap to objects that are not visible, including objects that are not displayed, objects on turned-off or frozen layers, or the blank portions of dashed lines. The object snap is available only when you are prompted to specify a point. There isn't any information about object snap displayed if you try to use an object snap at the Command prompt. 61 ZWCAD User Guide 4.4.4. AutoSnap Tools The automatic snap tool is a visual aid tool for snapping that help you see and use object snaps more efficiently. When any object snap is on, the system displays a marker and a tooltip when you move your cursor on ov
er a snap point. AutoSnap turns on automatically when an object snap is on. By default, AutoSnap marker, tooltip and magnet are on. You can change the settings of AutoSnap on the Options dialog box. AutoSnap consists of the following snap tools: • Marker. The object snap location is displayed when the cursor moves over or near an object. Marker shape is determined by the snap it is marking. • • Tooltip. Indicates which part of the object you are snapping to in a flag at the cursor location. Magnet. Attracts and locks the cursor onto the nearest detected snap points. Provides a visual that is similar to snapping to a grid. • Aperture box. Surrounds the crosshairs and defines an area within which, when you move the cursor, the system evaluates objects for object snaps. You can determine the aperture box is displayed or not, and the aperture box size can be changed too. To change the size of the object snap target box 1. Choose Tools > Options from the main menu. 2. Switch to
the Drafting tab. 3. Under Aperture Size, slide to adjust the desired size. 4. Click OK. 4.5. Use Polar Tracking and Object Snap Tracking Auto tracking includes polar tracking and object snap tracking. You can turn them on and off by repressing POLAR and OTRACK button on the Status Bar. When the polar tracking mode is on, the cursor moves along the specified angle. When the object snap tracking is on, the cursor moves along an alignment path based on the snap point. 4.5.1. Polar Tracking When polar tracking is turned on, guides display on the screen automatically at the polar angle increment 62 ZWCAD User Guide that you specify. For example, if you draw a line with polar tracking turned on with angle increment set as 65 degrees, the rubber-banding line displays at 65-degree increments. Polar tracking and orthogonal locking cannot be used at the same time-turning one option on turns the other option off. To enable polar tracking and specify the polar angle increment 1. Choose T
ools > Drafting Settings from the main menu. On the Object Snap toolbar, click the Object Snap Settings button. Type DSETTINGS on the command line and then press Enter. 2. Switch to the Polar Tracking tab. 3. Select the Polar Tracking On checkbox. To specify the polar angle increments: 1. Select an angle from the Increment Angle drop-down list. 2. Mark the Additional Angles checkbox and click New to define a custom angle increment. 3. Click OK. TIP To toggle polar tracking on and off at any time, click the Polar Tracking button on the status bar or press F10. To draw objects using polar tracking 1. Turn on polar tracking and start a drawing command, such as ARC, CIRCLE, or LINE. You can also use polar tracking with editing commands, such as COPY and MOVE. 2. As you move your cursor to specify points, notice the dotted polar tracking line that appears at the tracking angles you specified. Points you specify while the line is displayed conform to the polar tracking angle. Z-Tracking P
olar tracking on Z-Axis is available now in 3D design. You can draw lines parallel to Z Axis easily without any other construction lines. 63 ZWCAD User Guide Automatically snap grip in Z axis direction Specify Polar Angles You can set a polar increment angle to polar tracking. The default angle includes 90, 45, 30, 22.5, 18, 15, 10 and 5 degrees. You can also type a desired angle in the Additional Angles textbox. The value is stored in the system variable POLARANG. The orientation of angle 0 and the direction of object snap are dependent on your settings in the Drawing Settings dialog box (UNITS). The following illustration shows the alignment paths displayed as you move your cursor 90 degrees with the polar angle increment set to 30 degrees. To set polar tracking angles 1. Choose Tools > Drafting Settings from the main menu. 2. In the Drafting Settings dialog box, on the Polar Tracking tab, select Polar Tracking On. 3. From the Increment Angle list, select the desired angle. 4.
To set additional tracking angles, select Additional Angles. Then click New and enter the angle value in the text box. 5. Under Polar Angle Measurement, specify whether polar tracking increments are 64 ZWCAD User Guide based on the UCS or relative to the last object you created. 6. Choose OK. Specify Polar Distances AutoSnap restricts cursor movement to increments of a polar distance you specified on the Snap and Grid tab of Drafting Settings dialog box. For example, if you specify a length of 6 units, the cursor snaps the length specified to lengths of 0, 6, 12, 18, 24, and so on. When you move the cursor, a tooltip displays the nearest PolarSnap increment. Only when polar tracking and snap mode are on, you can restrict point entry to polar distance. To set polar snap distance 1. Choose Tools > Drafting Settings from the main menu. 2. In the Drafting Settings dialog box, on the Snap and Grid tab, select Snap-On. 3. In Snap Type, select PolarSnap. 4. Under Polar Spacing, enter the
polar distance. 5. Choose the Polar Tracking tab and select Polar Tracking On. 6. Select an angle from the Increment Angle list. You can specify your own angles by choosing Additional Angles and then New. 7. Choose OK. 4.5.2. Object Snap Tracking You must set an object snap and turn the object snap model on before you can track from an existing object's snap point. Object snap tracking can track along alignment paths that are based on object snap points and display tooltips at the acquired points. After you acquire a point, horizontal, vertical and polar alignment paths relative to the point are displayed when the cursor moves over their drawing path. For example, you can specify a point along a path that is based on an object endpoint or midpoint or an intersection between objects. In the following picture, the Endpoint object snap is on. You create a line by clicking its start point (1), move the cursor over another line's endpoint (2) to acquire it, and then move the cursor alon
g the horizontal alignment path to locate the endpoint you want for the line you are drawing. 65 ZWCAD User Guide By default, the object snap tracking is set to Orthogonal. Alignment paths and tooltips are displayed at 0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees from acquired object points. However, you can use polar tracking angles instead on the Polar Tracking tab in the Drafting Settings dialog box. You can also use system variable TRACKPATH to control the display of polar and object snap tracking alignment paths. 4.5.3. Tips for Using Object Snap Tracking With AutoTrack is on, you may try the following techniques: • When you set Perpendicular, Endpoint, and Midpoint object snap and turn on object snap tracking mode, you can easily draw to point perpendicular to the end or midpoint of an object. • Object snap tracking works in conjunction with temporary tracking points. At a point prompt, enter it and specify a temporary tracking point. A small + is displayed at the point. When you mo
ve the cursor, the tracking alignment paths are displayed relative to the temporary point. To delete this point, move the cursor back over the +. • After acquiring a point, you can specify a point at precise distances along alignment paths from the acquired point. • You can use the Automatic and Shift to acquire options set on the Drafting tab of the Options dialog box to manage point acquisition. By default, point acquisition is set to Automatic. When working in close quarters, you can press SHIFT to temporarily avoid acquiring a point. 4.6. Use Orthogonal Locking (Ortho Mode) You can restrict cursor movement to the current horizontal and vertical axes so that you can draw at right angles, or orthogonally. For example, with the default 0-degree Orientation (angle 0 at the "three o'clock" or "east" position), when the Draw Orthogonal option is enabled, lines are restricted to 0 degrees, 90 degrees, 180 degrees, or 270 degrees. As you draw lines, the rubber banding line follows
either the horizontal or vertical axis, depending on which axis is farthest from the cursor. When you enable the isometric snap and grid, cursor movement is restricted to orthogonal equivalents within the current isometric plane. Ortho mode and polar tracking cannot be on at the same time. Turning on Ortho turns off polar tracking. To enable orthogonal drawing 66 ZWCAD User Guide 4.7. Work with Linetypes ZWCAD provides simple and complex linetypes: • A simple linetype consists of a repeating pattern of dots, dashes, or blank spaces. • A complex linetype contains the embedded shape and text objects along with dots, dashes, and spaces. You can use different linetypes to represent specific kinds of information. For example, if you are drawing a site plan, you can draw roads using a continuous linetype, a fence using a linetype of dashes with square posts, or a gas line using a complex linetype showing the text "GAS". By default, every drawing has at least three linetypes: CONT
INUOUS, BYLAYER, and BYBLOCK. You cannot rename or delete these linetypes. Your drawing may also contain an unlimited number of additional linetypes. You can load more linetypes into the program from a linetype library file. 4.7.1. Load and Use Linetypes A linetype is a repeating pattern of dashes, dots, and blank spaces displayed in a line or a curve. Loads linetype from a drawing to be reused when needed. Work with Linetypes You can assign linetypes to objects by layer, or by specifying the linetype explicitly. Besides choosing linetype, you can specify its scale to control the size of dashes and spaces, and create your own custom linetypes. NOTE You should not confuse these linetypes with the hardware linetypes provided by some plotters. Both linetypes of dashes produce the similar effects. However, if you use both linetypes at the same time, the results can be unpredictable. Load Linetypes ZWCAD includes the linetype definition files zwcad.lin and zwcadiso.lin. zwcad.lin is us
ed in the imperial system, and zwcadiso.lin is used in the metric system. If you select zwcadiso.lin, you can use ISO pen-width option when you plot. 67 ZWCAD User Guide If you want to know what linetypes are already available, you can display a list of linetypes that are loaded in the drawing or stored in a LIN (linetype definition) file. Both linetype definition files contain several complex linetypes. You can remove unreferenced linetype information with PURGE or by deleting the linetype from the Linetype Manager. BYBLOCK, BYLAYER, and CONTINUOUS linetypes cannot be removed. 4.7.2. Change the Linetype of an Object You can change the linetype of an object by changing the linetype of the layer the object is on, reassigning the object to another layer, or by specifying a linetype for the object directly. Set the Current Linetype By default, all objects are created using the current linetype, which is displayed in the Linetype Control on the Properties toolbar. To modify this cu
rrent linetype, you can select a linetype and make it current in the Linetype Manager dialog box. You can also do this setting using the Linetype option on the Properties palette. If the current linetype is BYLARER, objects are created using the linetype assigned to the current layer. If the current linetype is BYBLOCK, objects are created using CONTINOUS linetype until they are grouped into a block. When you insert the block, it acquires the current linetype setting. If you do not want to use the linetype assigned to the layer, you can specify a different linetype explicitly. ZWCAD does not display the linetype of certain objects: text, points, viewports, hatches, and blocks. To make the linetype current Select a linetype from the Linetype Control pull-down list on the Properties toolbar, which is set to the current linetype. Change the Linetype of an Object To change the linetype of an object, you can use following methods: • If the linetype of an object is set to BYLARE, and the
object is assigned to another layer, it acquired its linetype from the new layer. • If the linetype of an object is set to BYLAYER when you change the linetype assigned to a layer, the objects on that layer which are assigned the BYLAYER linetype are updated automatically. • Specify a linetype for an object to override the linetype of the layer. You can specify different linetypes for each object. If you want to specify a different linetype to override the playerdetermined linetype of an object, change an existing object's linetype from BYLAER to a 68 ZWCAD User Guide specific linetype, such as DASHED. • If you want to set a linetype for a subsequently created object, you can change the current linetype BYLAYER to a specific one in the Linetype Control on the Properties toolbar. 4.7.3. Control Linetype Scale You can set global or individual scales for objects to control the display of linetypes. By default, the global and individual linetype scales are set to 1.0. The
smaller the scale, the more repetitions of the pattern are produced per drawing unit. For example, if the scale is set to 0.2, five repetitions of the pattern in the linetype definition are displayed for each drawing unit. When short segments are too short to display one full linetype pattern, it is displayed as continuous. When the lines are too short to display even one dash sequence, you need to specify a smaller linetype scale. Otherwise, the linetype is displayed as continuous shown in the following illustration: For polylines, you can use system variable PLINEGEN to control whether a linetype pattern is centered on each segment or is continuous across vertices throughout the entire length of the polyline. The Global Scale Factor and Current Object Scale are displayed in the Linetype Manager. The Global Scale Factor and Current Object Scale are displayed in the Linetype Manager. The Global Scale Factor value is stored in the system variable LTSCALE, which changes the linetype s
cale globally for new and existing objects. The Current Object Scale is stored in the system variable CELTSCALE, which specifies the linetype scale for new objects. You can get the displayed linetype scale by multiplying the CELTSCALE value with the LTSCALE value. The linetype scales in the drawing can be changed easily either individually or globally. In a layout, you can use system variable PSLTSCALE to adjust the linetype scale in different viewports. 69 ZWCAD User Guide NOTE Setting the linetype scale too large or too small may result in a line pattern looking like a so lid line, depending on what the scale view is or at what scale the drawing is printed. You can control a new entity's individual linetype scale factor as well as the overall or global scale factor applied to all the entities in the drawing. To set the current individual linetype scale 1. Choose Format > Linetype from the main menu. 2. Click the Show Details button. 3. In the Current Object Scale field, type the
linetype scale that you want to make current. 4. Click OK. To change the global linetype scale 1. Choose Format > Linetype from the main menu. 2. Click the Show Details button. 3. In the Global Scale Factor field, type the global linetype scale that you want to change. 4. Click OK. 4.8. Work with Layers Layers are like transparent overlays on which you organize and group different kinds of drawing information. 4.8.1. Overview of Layers Layers in ZWCAD are like the transparent overlays you use in manual drafting. You use layers to organize different types of drawing information. In ZWCAD, each object in a drawing exists on a layer. When you draw an object, it is created on the current layer. 70 ZWCAD User Guide You can control the visibility of layers in individual viewports. When you turn a layer off, objects drawn on that layer are no longer visible, and they do not print. Although a layer may be invisible, you can still select it as the current layer, in which case new objec
ts are also invisible until you turn the layer back on. Objects on invisible layers can also affect the display and printing of objects on other layers. For example, entities on invisible layers can hide other objects when you use the Hide command to remove hidden lines. You can also freeze and thaw layers. Objects drawn on frozen layers do not display, do not print, and do not regenerate. When you freeze a layer, its objects do not affect the display or printing of other objects. For example, objects on frozen layers do not hide other objects when you use the Hide command to remove hidden lines. In addition, you cannot draw on a frozen layer until you thaw it, and you cannot make a frozen layer current. You cannot freeze the current layer. If you attempt to freeze the current layer, a dialog box prompting "Cannot freeze the current layer" appears. You also cannot freeze or thaw a viewport layer unless you are working on a Layout tab. You can lock or unlock layers. The objects on a loc
ked layer are still visible and will print, but you cannot edit them. Locking a layer prevents you from accidentally modifying objects. Each layer has its own color, linetype, and lineweight. For drawings that use named print styles, layers can also have their own print style. Objects you draw on a particular layer are displayed in the color, linetype, and lineweight associated with that layer unless you override these settings. 4.8.2. Create and Name Layers You can create an unlimited number of layers in every drawing and use those layers for organizing information. When you create a new layer, it is initially assigned the color white (or black, depending on your system settings) and the linetype CONTINUOUS. By default, a new layer is also visible. After you create and name a layer, you can change its color, linetype, visibility, and other properties. 71 ZWCAD User Guide Layers can have alphanumeric names up to 255 characters long. In many cases, the layer names you choose are d
ictated by corporate, industry, or client standards. The Layer Properties Manager sorts layers alphabetically by name. To create a new layer 1. Choose Format > Layer from the main menu. 2. 3. Click the New Layer button. Type a name for the new layer. 4. Click OK. To change a layer name in the current drawing 1. Choose Format > Layer from the main menu. 2. In the Layer Properties Manager dialog box, click the name of the layer you want to change. 3. Type a new name and click OK. NOTE You cannot rename the 0 layer. Setting the current layer When you start a drawing, objects are created in the current layer. By default, the layer 0 is set to the current layer, but you can also create a new one and make it current. Either frozen or xref-dependent layer cannot be set to the current layer. Any subsequent objects you create are associated with the current layer and use its color and linetype. To make a layer current 1. Choose Format > Layer from the main menu. 2. In the Layer Properti
es Manager dialog box, select a layer and then click the Set Current button to make the layer current. 3. Clicks OK. Remove Layers You can remove unused layers from your drawing with PURGE or by deleting the layer from the Layer 72 ZWCAD User Guide Properties Manager. 4.8.3. Change Layer Settings and Layer Properties Everything in a drawing is associated with a layer, in the course of creating a drawing, you can modify what you draw by renaming layer name, modifying the properties of a layer (color and linetype), or placing objects from one layer to another. If you create an object on a wrong layer, you can reassign it to another layer. Unless the linetype, color or other properties of the object has been specified explicitly, the object acquires the properties of the new layer. You can change layer properties in the layer control on the Layers toolb ar or in the Layer Properties Manager. Click the icons to change settings. However, layer names and colors can be changed only in
the Layer Properties Manager. Controlling layer visibility A layer can be visible or invisible. Objects on invisible layers are not displayed and do not print. By controlling layer visibility, you can turn off unnecessary information, such as construction lines or notes. By changing layer visibility, you can put the same drawing to multiple uses. For example, if you are drawing a floor plan, you can draw the layout of light fixtures on one layer and the location of plumbing lines on another. By selectively turning layers on and off, you can print the electrical engineering drawings and the plumbing drawings from the same drawing file. For even more convenience, you can control the visibility of layers within individual viewports, so that layers that display in one viewport are invisible in other viewports in the same drawing. When you turn a layer off, objects drawn on that layer are no longer visible. When you turn the layer back on, the objects on that layer are redisplayed. To turn
layers on or off 1. Choose Format > Layer from the main menu. 2. Click the icon under "On" tab in the layer list. 3. Click OK. Freeze or thaw layers You can also freeze layers to improve the performance of operations such as zooming and panning or producing hidden lines or shaded images. When a layer is frozen, objects drawn on that layer are no 73 ZWCAD User Guide longer visible. To freeze or thaw layers 1. Choose Format > Layer from the main menu. 2. Click the icon under "Freeze" tab in the layer list. 3. Click OK. Locking and unlocking layers Locking a layer makes it easy to refer to information contained on the layer, but prevents you from accidentally modifying its objects. When a layer is locked (but visible and thawed), its objects remain visible, but you cannot edit them. If you lock the current layer, you can still add new objects to it. You can also change the linetype and color associated with a locked layer. Unlocking a layer restores full editing capabilities. To lo
ck or unlock layers 1. Choose Format > Layer from the main menu. 2. Click the icon under "Lock" tab in the layer list. 3. Click OK. Controlling layer printing Controlling layer printing is another way you can specify which objects print in your drawing. By controlling layer printing, you can turn off unnecessary information during printing. For example, if you are drawing a floor plan, you can draw the layout of light fixtures on one layer and the location of plumbing lines on another. By selectively turning layers on and off when you print, you can print the electrical engineering drawings and the plumbing drawings from the same drawing file. By changing layer printing, you can put the same drawing to multiple uses. When you turn off printing for a layer, objects drawn on that layer are still visible, but they do not print. If you turn off a layer's visibility, objects drawn on that layer do not display or print. Controlling layer printing can be especially helpful if you want layer
visibility on, but do not want to print objects on that layer. To turn layer printing on or off 1. Choose Format > Layer from the main menu. 74 ZWCAD User Guide 2. Click the icon under "Plot" tab in the layer list. 3. Click OK. Setting the layer color Each layer in a drawing is assigned a color. ZWCAD uses the BYLAYER color as the default color setting for object creation so that new objects are drawn in the color of the layer on which they are inserted. To change the layer color 1. Choose Format > Layer from the main menu. 2. Click the icon under "Color" tab in the layer list to open Select Color dialog box, from which, you can specify the desired color. 3. In the Select Color dialog box, select a color from one of the following tabs: 4. Index Color — Click BYBLOCK, BYLAYER, or one of the 255 index colors. You can also type the color number in the Color box. 5. True Color — Click a basic color in the left color panel, and then move the slider to the right to specify a color. T
here are more than 16 million true colors from which you can choose. 6. Color Books — Select a color book from the Color Book pull-down list, and then click a desired color from the options displayed. 7. Click OK. NOTE You can also assign a specific color to an object, which overrides the layer's color setting. When you create a new object, use the Format > Color menu option to change the current color. For an existing object, double-click this object and then change the object's color on the Properties palette that pops up. Setting a layer's linetype Each layer uses a default linetype (a repeating pattern of dashes, dots, or blank spaces). Linetype determines the appearance of objects both on the screen and when printed. It's a good idea to assign the BYLAYER linetype to any objects that you draw on that layer. ZWCAD uses the BYLAYER linetype as the default linetype setting for Object Creation. NOTE Only those linetypes already set in the drawing can be assigned to layers. To chang
e the linetype assigned to one or more layers 1. Choose Format > Layer from the main menu. 2. Click the Linetype name in the layer list to open Select Linetype dialog box, from 75 ZWCAD User Guide which, you can specify the desired linetype. 3. Click OK. NOTE You can also assign a specific linetype to an object, which overrides the layer's linetype setting. When you create a new object, use the Format > Linetype menu option to change the current linetype. For an existing object, double-click this object and then modify the object's linetype on the Properties palette that pops up. Setting a layer's lineweight Each layer uses a default lineweight. Lineweights determine the thickness of objects both on the screen and when printed. All new layers are assigned the DEFAULT lineweight, which is .25 millimeters or .01 inches. If you want a different lineweight assigned to a layer, you can easily change it using Layer Properties Manager. For example, you may want different lineweights on ea
ch layer of your drawing to show separate elements, such as walls, dimensions, structural steel, and electrical plans. Changing the lineweight assigned to a layer changes the lineweight of all objects drawn on that layer with the BYLAYER lineweight. When you create new objects, it's a good idea to assign the BYLAYER lineweight to any objects that you draw on that layer, unless you want to override the layer lineweight. ZWCAD uses the BYLAYER lineweight as the default lineweight setting when you create objects. To change the lineweight assigned to one or more layers 1. Choose Format > Layer from the main menu. 2. Click the Lineweight name in the layer list to open Lineweight dialog box, from which, you can specify the desired lineweight. 3. Click OK. NOTE You can also assign a specific lineweight to an object, which overrides the layer's lineweight setting. When you create a new object, use the Format > Lineweight menu option to change the current lineweight. For an existing object, dou
ble-click this object and then modify the object's lineweight on the Properties palette that pops up. Setting a layer's print style If your drawing uses named print style tables, you can specify a print style for each layer. Named print style tables contain print styles that you set up to control what objects loo k like when they 76 ZWCAD User Guide print, without actually changing the objects in the drawing. If your drawing uses color-dependent print style tables, you cannot specify a print style for a layer. These types of print style tables automatically determine printing requirements by the color assigned to a layer or an object. In drawings that use named print style tables, the default print style is Normal for all new layers. If desired, you can assign a print style using Layer Properties Manager. Changing the print style assigned to a layer changes the print style of all objects drawn on that layer with the BYLAYER print style. When you create new objects, it's a good idea
to assign the BYLAYER print style to any objects that you draw on that layer, unless you want to override the layer print style. ZWCAD uses the BYLAYER print style as the default print style setting when you create objects. To change the print style assigned to one or more layers (only in a drawing that uses named print style tables) 1. Choose Format > Layer from the main menu. 2. Click the name of Plot Style in the layer list to open Select Plot Style dialog box, from which, you can specify the desired plot style. 3. Click OK. 4.8.4. Filter and Sort the List of Layers Limits the display of layer name listed in the Layer Properties Manager and sorts them by name or by properties, such as color and visibility. You can use a layer filter limits the display of layer names in the Layer Properties Manager. The following properties can be included in the filter definition: • • Whether layers are set to be plotted Layer names, colors, linetypes, lineweights, and plot styles • •
Whether layers are locked or unlocked Whether layers are turned on or off • Whether layers are frozen or thawed in the current viewport or all viewports When setting filter conditions, you can also use wild-card characters to filter names by name. For example, typing nare* displays layer name preceded with nare, just click Add button if the filter name has been specified. You can also use invert filter to display layer names that do not be included filter definition. For example, 77 ZWCAD User Guide if all the site plan information of a drawing is contained in multiple layers, which include the word lite as part of the layer name, you should first define the filter by way of specifying filter name and inputting *lite* in layer name option, and then click Invert Filter option to display all the information excluded from the site plan information. Name Layer Filters lists default filters and other saved filters created in the current drawing. The three default filters are shown
as follows: • • Show all layers. Show all used layers. • Show all Xref_dependent layers. The newly created filters are displayed in the Name Layer Filters at the Layer Properties Manager. These filters are saved with the drawing. Sort Layers From the Layer Properties Manager, you can click the column heading to sort layers by their properties in that column. The properties include layer name, visibility, color, lineweight, plotted style and linetype. And layer names can be sorted in descending or ascending alphabetical/numerical order. 4.8.5. Save and Restore Layer Settings You can save the current layer settings in a drawing and restore them later. Save Layer Settings Layer settings include: • • Layer states, such as on, frozen, locked, plot and freeze automatically in a new viewport. Layer properties, such as color, linetype, lineweight and plot style. You can save layer settings alternatively. For example, you can choose to save only Fro zen/Thawed settings of th
e layers in a drawing, ignoring all other settings. When you restore the layer states, all settings remain as they are currently set except whether each layer is frozen or thawed. You can export named layer states to a LAS file for use in other drawings using the Layer States Manager. The layer states of xref cannot be exported. Restore Layer Settings You can not only restore the saved settings but also edit, rename or delete named settings. Using Layer States Manager, you can import named layer states that were previously export to LAS files. 78 ZWCAD User Guide Whatever layer states come from the drawing or LAS files, only saved settings can be restored and the unspecific layer settings remain the original settings. 4.9. Work with Colors An entity's color determines how it is displayed and, if you are using a color printer, how it prints. Entities are created in the current color specified for the drawing. Layers can also control the color of entities. When you open a new drawin
g, entities are created in the color BYLAYER, which adopts the color of the current layer. Initially, layer 0 is both the only layer and the current layer. Its default color is white, so your entities appear as white. For entities and layers in ZWCAD, there are three different types of colors: • Index colors • • True colors Color books colors You can choose colors by selecting them from the Select Color dialog box. In the command bar or in some dialog boxes, you specify a color either by name or by number. All objects are created with the current color, which is displayed in the Color Control on the Properties toolbar. With the Color Control or the Select Color dialog box, yo u can also set the current color. Objects are created with the color assigned to the current layer. If the current color is set to BYLAYER. If the current color is not expected to be the color assigned to the current layer, you can specify another color instead. If the current color is set to BYBLOCK, ob
jects are created using color 7 (white or black) until these objects are grouped into a block. Once the block is inserted into a drawing, it uses current color settings instead. 4.9.1. Use Index Colors There are 255 standard index colors and two additional color properties that are often referred to as colors (BYLAYER and BYBLOCK). You can use seven of the 255 standard index colors by name: red, yellow, green, cyan, blue, magenta, and white. (Numbers eight and nine are not named.) Each index color has a unique number from 1 to 255. The two additional color properties are BYLAYER and BYBLOCK. These color properties cause an entity to adopt the color either of the layer or of the block in which it is a member. BYLAYER is color number 256, and BYBLOCK is color number 0. In all commands for which you would use a color, you can indicate BYLAYER and BYBLOCK as well as by numbers 256 and 0, respectively. 79 ZWCAD User Guide To select an index color 1. Click Select Color in the desired d
ialog box, such as Layers, Properties, or Multiline Text. The Select Color dialog box opens. 2. Click the Index Color tab. 3. Click the color of your choice, or type the color number in the Color box. 4. Click OK. 4.9.2. Use True Colors There are more than 16 million true colors from which you can choose. True colors are defined using 24bit color. Even with so many colors available, you can quickly choose a color from the display of basic colors or by clicking the color palette. Alternatively, if you know the values used to define the desired color, you can enter the Hue, Saturation, and Luminance (HSL) values, or you can enter the Red, Green, Blue (RGB) values. To select a true color 1. Click Select Color in the desired dialog box, such as Layers, Properties, or Multiline Text. The Select Color dialog box opens. 2. Click the True Color tab. 3. Select one of the following two color models: 4. HSL color model 5. RGB color model 6. Specify the desired color. 7. Click OK. 4.9.3. Use
Color Books ZWCAD uses color books to store collections of colors. For example, you can store a unique color scheme for a client in a color book and then use colors only from that color book for the client's drawings. You may have a color book given to you by a client, developed by a third party, or you can create your own. Each color book has a .acb extension and is saved in Extensible Markup Language (XML) format. By default, color books are stored in the ...Support\color folder under ZWCAD installation directory. To create a color book 80 ZWCAD User Guide 1. Start an XML editor program. 2. Create a new XML file using the format below as a guide. Color book sample 000 Orange 2551280 Light Green 128192<
/green>128 Gray 128128128 3. Save the color book in XML format and with a .acb extension. NOTE Your color book can contain an unlimited number of colors using the and tags. To load a color book 1. Save the color book in the folder where ZWCAD searches for color books. By default, this is the same folder where you installed ZWCAD. 2. To select a color book color 3. Click Select Color in the desired dialog box, such as Layers, Properties, or Multiline Text. The Select Color dialog box opens. 4. Click the Color Books tab. 5. Select a color book from the list. 6. Click the desired color. 7. Click OK. 81 ZWCAD User Guide 4.10. Control Lineweights You can further differentiate objects in your drawing by controlling their lineweights both in the drawing display and in plotting. 4.10.1. Overview of Li
neweights Lineweights help differentiates the purpose of one line from another. Lineweights determine how thick or thin entities appear both on the screen and when printed. By default, each drawing has three main lineweights: DEFAULT, BYLAYER, BYBLOCK, and many additional lineweights in millimeters (or you can use inches). When you create an entity, it is created using the current lineweight. By default, the current lineweight for a new entity is BYLAYER. This means that the entity lineweight is determined by the current layer. When you assign BYLAYER, changing a layer's lineweight changes the lineweight of all the entities assigned that layer (if they were created using the lineweight BYLAYER). You can also select a specific lineweight (or DEFAULT) as the current lineweight, which overrides the layer's lineweight setting. Entities are then created using that lineweight (or the DEFAULT lineweight), and changing the layer lineweight has no effect on them. As a third option, you can use
the lineweight BYBLOCK property, in which case new entities are drawn using the DEFAULT lineweight until you group them into a block. The entities then inherit the block's lineweight setting when you insert the block into a drawing. If you choose a lineweight that is less than .025 millimeter, it displays as one pixel when you create your drawing. When you print your drawing, it prints at the thinnest lineweight that is available for your printer. You cannot assign lineweights to planes, points, TrueType fonts, or raster images. 4.10.2. Display Lineweights Display lineweights in both of model space and layer space. Lineweights are displayed differently in paper space layout than model space. Lineweights are useful for graphical representations of different objects and information. Display Lineweights in Model Space In model space, a 0-value lineweight is displayed as a pixel, and other lineweights are displayed with a 82 ZWCAD User Guide pixel width proportional to their real-unit
value. In model space, the lineweight display does not change with the zoom factor. A lineweight value that is represented by a width of several pixels is always displayed using the same number of pixels. Unless you use LWEIGHT command to open Lineweight Settings dialog box and change the display scale, the lineweight display scale keeps unchanged. In addition, the lineweight display scale does not affect the lineweight plotting value. Lineweight that are represented more than one pixels increase regeneration time. Turning off the display of lineweight optimizes the performance of the program. In model space, press LWT button on the status toolbar to turn the lineweight display on and off. Display Lineweights in Layouts In paper space (layout tab), lineweights are displayed in exact plotting width. In plot preview and paper space, lineweights are displayed in real-world units and lineweight changes with the scale factor. From the Plotting Scale tab of Plot dialog box, you can control
the lineweight plotting and scale in a drawing. In paper space, press LWT button on the status toolbar to turn the lineweight display on and off. This change does not affect the lineweight plotting. 4.10.3. Change the Lineweight of an Object You can change the current lineweight of an object by reassigning the object to another layer, by changing the lineweight of the layer the object is on, or by specifying a lineweight for the object explicitly. Set the Current Lineweight All objects are created in a drawing using the current lineweight. You can change the lineweight in the Lineweight control on the Properties toolbar, or in the Lineweight Settings dialog box. If the current lineweight is set to BYLAYER, objects are created in a drawing using the lineweight assigned to the current layer. If the current lineweight is set to BYBLOCK, objects are created using the default lineweight, until the objects are grouped into a block. When the block is inserted into a drawing, it acquires th
e current lineweight setting. 83 ZWCAD User Guide To specify a lineweight for the current layer that is different from the current lineweight, open the Layer Properties Manager and give a specific value. By default, the lineweight of an object is set to BYLAER, and the lineweight of a layer is set to DEFAULT. Lineweight that is assigned to objects is displayed as a solid fill drawn in the object's assigned color. To set the current lineweight 1. Choose Format > Lineweight from the main menu. 2. From the Lineweight list, choose the lineweight that you want to make current. 3. Click OK. TIP On the status bar, click the LWT button to toggle the display of lineweights on and off. NOTE To see lineweights in your drawing, you may need to turn on lineweights. Change the Lineweight of an Object There are three choices for changing the lineweight of an object: • If the lineweight of an object is set to BYLAYER, and you reassign the object to a different layer, the object acquires its lin
eweight from the new layer. • If the lineweight of an object is set to BYLAYER, you can change the lineweig ht of the layer the object is on, and all objects assigned to BYLAYER on that layer are updated automatically. • Specify a lineweight for an object to override the layer's lineweight. If you want to specify a lineweight to override the player-determined lineweight of an object, change an existing object's lineweight from BYLAYER to a specific lineweight. In order to create subsequent objects using a new lineweight, you have to change the lineweight setting on the Properties toolbar from BYLAER to the specific one. 4.11. Control the Display of Overlapped Objects Control how overlapping objects and some other objects are displayed and plotted. 4.11.1. Polylines, Hatches, Gradient Fills, Lineweights, and Text You can simplify the display of certain kinds of objects, such as wide polylines, donuts, solid-filled polygons (2D solids), hatches, gradient fills and text, to imp
rove the display performance and speed up 84 ZWCAD User Guide of creating test plots. Turning Fill on and off You can reduce the time it takes to display or print a drawing by turning off the display of solid fill. When Fill is turned off, all filled entities, such as wide polylines and planes, display and print as outlines. When you turn Fill on or off, you must redraw the drawing before the change is displayed. To turn Fill on or off 1. Choose Tools > Options from the main menu. 2. Click the Display tab. 3. Under Display Performance, select or clear the Apply Solid Fill checkbox. 4. Choose View > Redraw from the main menu. Use Quick Text If a drawing contains a lot of text using complex fonts, only a rectangular frame defining the text is displayed or plotted when you turn on Quick Text mode. Text entities require a considerable amount of time to display and print. You can reduce the time it takes to display or print a drawing by enabling Quick Text. For example, if you're doin
g a preliminary check print of a drawing, you may want to turn Quick Text on to speed up printing. When Quick Text is enabled, text entities are replaced by rectangular boxes that indicate the outline of th e area occupied by the text. 85 ZWCAD User Guide When you turn Quick Text on or off, you must regenerate the drawing before the change is displayed. To turn Quick Text on and off 1. Choose Tools > Options from the main menu. 2. Click the Display tab. 3. Under Display Performance, select or clear the Show Text Boundary Frame Only check box. 4. Click OK. To regenerate your drawing, do one of the following: 1. Choose View > Regen from the main menu. 2. Type REGEN on the command line and then press Enter. Controlling the display of lineweights You can reduce the time it takes to display a drawing by turning off the display of lineweights. When you turn off lineweights, all entities display as outlines. You can also specify a lineweight scale. Specify a smaller scale to display thinn
er lines; specify a larger scale to display thicker lines. For example, a scale factor of 0.5 would display a .80 millimeter lineweight as .40 millimeter; a scale factor of 2 would increase the same lineweight to display at 1.6 millimeters. This can help you differentiate various lineweights that display in a drawing. Adjusting the lineweight display scale affects how the lineweights appear on your screen, not how they appear when printed. NOTE Setting the lineweight scale too high may result in slower system performance. You can also adjust the units for measuring lineweights and the default lineweight. To control the display of lineweights 1. Choose Format > Lineweight from the main menu. 2. In Units for Listing, choose Millimeters or Inches. 3. In Default, select the lineweight assigned to layers and entities that use the Default lineweight. 4. In Adjust Display Scale, move the slider to the scale you want. By default, the slider begins at 1.00. 5. Click OK. TIP On the status bar, c
lick the Show/Hide Lineweight button to turn the display of lineweights on or off. 86 ZWCAD User Guide Update the Display New objects automatically apply the current settings to displays of solid fill and text. Except for lineweights, you must use the REGEN command to update the display of existing objects. 4.11.2. Control How Overlapping Objects Are Displayed By default, newly created objects are in front of existing objects; all objects are displayed in the order they are created. To change the draw order, use DRAWORDER command. Note changing draw order is available only within the same space. 4.12. Extract and Calculate Geometric Information from Objects Information about objects in your drawing is allowed to inquire by means of performing inquiry and calculation commands, you can also make useful calculations, such as area and circumference calculation. 4.12.1. Calculate Areas You can calculate the area and perimeter of a polygon based on a series of points you specify or en
close with a circle or closed polyline. You can also determine the area of several combined objects and add or subtract the area of one or more objects from a total combined area. Calculating areas defined by points You can find the area and perimeter of any closed region by specifying a series of points. The program calculates the area and perimeter of the space that is enclosed by an imaginary polygon consisting of straight line segments connecting each point. To calculate the area defined by points you specify 1. Choose Tools > Inquiry > Area from the main menu. 2. Specify the first point. 3. Specify the second point. 4. Continue specifying points in sequence to define the perimeter of the area you want to measure. 5. To complete the selection, press Enter. 6. The area and perimeter of the region you defined are displayed. 87 ZWCAD User Guide Select the points (A, B, C) that form a polygon. The area and perimeter of the region are then calculated. Calculating areas of closed ob
jects You can find the area of any closed object. In addition, the program calculates either the circumference or the perimeter of the object, depending on the type of object you select. To calculate the area of a closed object 1. Choose Tools > Inquiry > Area from the main menu. 2. On the command line, type o (object). 3. Select the closed object. Calculating combined areas You can find the total area of several combined regions by specifying points or by selecting objects. You can also subtract the areas of objects or polygons from a running total. To add areas to calculate a combined area 1. Choose Tools > Inquiry > Area from the main menu. 2. On the command line, type a (add). 3. Using one of the following methods, identify the first area: 4. Specify points defining a polygon, and then press Enter. 5. Type o (object), select the objects you want to add and then press Enter to complete the selection. 6. To complete the command, press Enter. To subtract areas when calculating a comb
ined area 1. Choose Tools > Inquiry > Area from the main menu. 2. On the command line, type a (add). 3. Using one of the following methods, identify the first area: 88 ZWCAD User Guide 4. Specify points defining a polygon, and then press Enter. 5. Type o (object), select the objects you want to add and then press Enter to complete the selection. 6. On the command line, type s (subtract). 7. Using one of the following methods, identify the area to be subtracted: 8. Specify points defining a polygon, and then press Enter. 9. Type o (object), select the objects you want to subtract and then press Enter to complete the selection. 10. To complete the command, press Enter. To calculate the area of the gasket using the Area command, first, add the area of the entire gasket (A), and then subtract the areas of the two circles (B and C) 4.12.2. Calculate Distances and Angles You can calculate the distance between any two points you select. The following information is displayed: • • Th
e distance between the points, measured in drawing units. Their angle in the xy plane. • • Their angle measured from the xy plane. The change (delta) in the x, y, and z distances between the two points. To calculate the distance between two points and their angle 1. Choose Tools > Inquiry > Distance from the main menu. 2. Specify the first point. 3. Specify the second point. Use the Distance command to calculate the distance (A) between two points (B and C), the angle in the xy plane (D), the angle from the xy plane, and the delta x (E), delta y (F), and delta z distance between the two points. 89 ZWCAD User Guide TIP To use specific points on selected objects, use object snaps to select the precise points on the objects. 4.12.3. Display Information about Your Drawing You can display a variety of information about a drawing and the objects it contains, including: • Information in the drawing database about selected objects. • • The current drawing status. The time
spent working on the drawing. • This information is displayed in the Prompt History window and in the command bar. Displaying information about objects You can display information about the selected objects. The information varies, depending on the type of objects you select. All of the listings display the following information: • Object type. • • Layer. Color. • • Linetype. The location of the object (its XYZ coordinates relative to the current user coordinate system [UCS]). • The current space (model space on the Model tab or paper space on a Layout tab). • The size of the object (the information varies, depending on the object type). To display information about an object 1. Choose Tools > Inquiry > List from the main menu. 2. Select one or more objects. 3. Press Enter. TIP To return to the drawing window, press F2. Displaying the drawing status You can display information about the current status of a drawing, including: • • Drawing name. Limits.
• • Insertion base point. Snap and grid settings. • • Current layer, color, and linetype. Current settings for various modes (fill, grid, orthogonal, snap, blips, and so on). 90 ZWCAD User Guide To display the drawing status 1. Choose Tools > Inquiry > Status from the main menu. Tracking time spent working on a drawing You can display information about the amount of time you have spent working on a drawing, including: • • The date and time the drawing was created. The date and time the drawing was most recently saved. • • The total amount of time spent working on the drawing. The time spent working on the drawing during the current editing session. You can turn the elapsed time timer on and off or reset it to zero. To display the timer information 1. Choose Tools > Inquiry > Time from the main menu. 2. You can do one of the following: 3. Type on to turn the elapsed the timer on. 4. Type off to turn the elapsed the timer off. 5. Type “d” (display) to red
isplay the timer information. 6. Type “r” (reset) to reset the elapsed timer to zero. 7. Press Enter to exit the command. 4.13. Specify Intervals on Objects You can divide a line, arc, circle, polyline, ellipse, or spline into a number of equal segments or mark off intervals of a specific length along an object. (Note that divide is not the same as break.) For example, you may want to place station-point markers every 50 feet along the centerline of a roadway or divide the plan view of a window into three equal width sections of glass, placing a mullion at each division point. To specify measurements and divisions, use these commands: • • For the length of the segments, use the Measure command. For the number of equal length segments, use the Divide command. You can measure or divide arcs, circles, lines, polylines, ellipses, and splines. With either command, you can identify the segments by placing either a block or point object at the end of each interval. If you use point
s, you can snap to the ends of intervals using the point object snap. The appearance of the point object is determined by the current point display type, which you control in the Point Style dialog box of Format menu. To use a block as the marker, the block must already be defined in the current drawing. You can further 91 ZWCAD User Guide indicate whether to rotate the block to align perpendicularly to the object you are measuring or divid ing. Block not aligned with object Block aligned with the object ZWCAD begins measuring or dividing based on the point at which you select the object and the type of object with which you are working. For most objects, measuring starts from the endpoint closest to the point you used to select the object. The starting point for measurements or divisions depends on the selected object type. Generally, it includes the following cases: • For lines or open polylines, the starting point is the endpoint that is closest to the selection point. •
• For closed polylines, the starting point is the polyline start point. For circles, it is at the angle from the center point which is equivalent to the current snap angle. For example, if the snap angle is set to 0, the circle starts at the three o'clock position and continues counterclockwise. By default, the point marker is displayed as a single dot, and you may not be able to the measured intervals. You can change the appearance of point markers using system variable PDMODE. In addition, you can change the style of point markers in the Point Style dialog box with the DDPTYPE command. And the system variable PDSIZE controls the size of point markers. 4.13.1. Divide an Object into Equal Segments Places point markers on selected objects. The markers divide the selected objects into a specified number of equal lengths. The objects that can be separated include lines, arcs, circles, ellipses, splines, and polylines. Actually, this operation does not separate the object; it only id
entifies the location of divisions so that you can use them as geometric reference points. To divide an object into segments and mark them using point objects 1. Choose Draw > Point > Divide from the main menu. 2. Select the object. 3. Specify the number of segments, and then press Enter. 92 ZWCAD User Guide Left: When you select the object by pointing, divisions are marked beginning from the end closest to the point at which you select the object (A) Right: Blocks or point objects (B) are placed along the object to mark it in equal intervals To divide an object into segments and mark them using blocks 1. Choose Draw > Point > Divide from the main menu. 2. Select the object. 3. On the command line, type b (block). 4. Type the name of the block you want to insert as the marker. 5. Enter y to align the blocks with the measured object. Enter n to use a rotation angle of 0 degrees. 6. Specify the number of segments, and then press Enter. 4.13.2. Specify Measured Intervals on Objects
Use MEASURE to mark an object at specified intervals with either points or blocks. The last segment of a measured object may be shorter than the interval you specify. To measure intervals along an object and mark them using point objects 1. Choose Draw > Point > Measure from the main menu. 2. Select the object. 3. Specify the segment length, and then press Enter. Left: When you select the object by pointing, intervals are measured from the end closest to the point at which you 93 ZWCAD User Guide select the object (A) Right: Blocks or point objects (B) are placed along the object at the specified interval To measure intervals along an object and mark them using blocks 1. Choose Draw > Point > Measure from the main menu. 2. Select the object. 3. On the command line, type b (block). 4. Type the name of the block you want to insert as the marker. 5. Enter y to align the blocks with the measured object. Enter n to use a rotation angle of 0 degrees. 6. Specify the segment length, and
then press Enter. 94 ZWCAD User Guide 5. Coordinates and Coordinate System 5.1. Coordinates When a command prompts you for a point, you can specify a point in a drawing using a mouse or other pointing devices, or you can enter a coordinate value at the command prompt. Coordinate values include 2D coordinate and 3D coordinate values. You can type 2D coordinate as either Cartesian (X, Y) or polar coordinates. You can also locate points with Cartesian, cylindrical or spherical coordinates. A Cartesian coordinate system has three axes of X, Y, and Z. Different coordinate systems (2D or 3D) determine different coordinate representation ((x, y) or (x, y, z)). A coordinate value indicates the point's distance (in units) and its direction along the X, Y and Z axes relative to the coordinate system origin (0, 0) or (0, 0, 0). In addition, you can type a relative coordinate by moving the cursor to specify a direction and then entering a distance directly. With both polar and Cartesian coo
rdinates, you can type absolute coordinates based on the origin, or relative coordinates based on the last point specified. The coordinate can be measured in scientific, decimal, engineering, architectural, or fractional notation. And the angle can be measured in grads, radians, surveyor's units, or degrees, minutes, and seconds. You can control these unit formats in "Drawing Units" dialog box. 5.1.1. Display Coordinates on the Status Bar ZWCAD displays the current cursor location as a coordinate on the status bar at the bottom of the ZWCAD window. System variable COORDS controls the types of coordinate display. • When COORDS is set to 0, updates only when you specify a point. • • When COORDS is set to 1, updates as you move the cursor. When COORDS is set to 2, updates absolute coordinate as you move the cursor, and displays the angle from the last point when prompt for distance and angle; this option is available only when you create lines or other objects that prompt for
more than one point. 95 ZWCAD User Guide 5.1.2. Dynamic Input Dynamic input provides a command interface near the cursor in the drawing area, it consist of pointer input, dimension input, and dynamic prompts When the dynamic input is turned on, a tooltip displays dynamically updated information near the cursor. You can specify options and values in the tooltip box when a command is in progress. Dynamic Input 5.1.3. Enter 2D Coordinates When working in two dimensions, you specify points on the xy plane. You can specify any point as an absolute coordinate (or Cartesian coordinate), using the exact x coordinate and y coordinate locations relative to the origin (the (0,0) coordinate point at which the two axes intersect), or as a relative coordinate in relation to the previous point. You can also specify points using relative or absolute polar coordinates, which locate a point using a distance and an angle. Entering absolute Cartesian coordinates The 2D plane is an XY plane, al
so called construction plane. The 2D plane is similar to a flat sheet of grid paper. If you want to use Cartesian coordinate values to specify a point, enter an X value and Y value separated by a comma (X, Y). The X value of a Cartesian coordinate is the positive or negative distance, in units, along with the X-axis. The Y value of a Cartesian coordinate is the positive or negative distance, in units, along with the Y-axis. The origin (0, 0) indicates where the X, Y axes intersect. To enter absolute Cartesian coordinates, type the coordinate location of the point in the command bar. For example, to use absolute Cartesian coordinates to draw a line from the origin (0,0) to a point 3 units to the right and 1 unit above the origin, start the Line command and respond to the prompts as follows: Specify the first point: 0,0 Specify the next point or [Angle/Length/Undo]: @3,1 96 ZWCAD User Guide Drawing a line using the absolute Cartesian coordinate method. Entering relative Cartesian co
ordinates Another simpler method is to use relative Cartesian coordinates: you specify a location in the drawing by determining its position relative to the last coordinate you specified. To use relative Cartesian coordinates, type the coordinate values in the command bar, preceded by the at symbol (@). The coordinate pair following the @ symbol represents the distance along the x-axis and the y-axis to the next point. For example, to draw an 8.5 unit square with its lower left corner at (4,5) using relative Cartesian coordinates, start the Line command, and then respond to the prompts as follows: Specify the next point or [Angle/Length/Undo]: @8.5,0 Specify the next point or [Angle/Length/Undo]: @0,8.5 Specify the next point or [Angle/Length/Close/Undo]: @ -8.5,0 Specify the next point or [Angle/Length/Close/Undo]: C Drawing a square using the relative Cartesian coordinates method; enter C to close. The first relative coordinate (@8.5,0) locates the new point 8.5 units to the right
(along with the x-axis) from the previous point of (4,5); the second relative coordinate (@0,8.5) locates to the next point 8.5 units above (along with the y-axis) the previous point, and so on. Entering C (for Close) draws the final line segment back to the first point specified when you started the Line command. 97 ZWCAD User Guide Entering polar coordinates Using relative polar coordinates makes drawing a square tilted at a 45-degree angle a simple task. Polar coordinates base the location of a point on a distance and angle from either the origin (absolute coordinate) or from the previous point (relative coordinate). To specify polar coordinates, type a distance and an angle, separated by the open angle bracket (<). For example, to use relative polar coordinates to specify a point 1 unit away from the previous point and at an angle of 45 degrees, type @1<45. To draw the square from the example in the previous section, "Entering relative Cartesian coordinates", this time tilted at
a 45-degree angle, start the Line command, and then respond to the prompts as follows: Specify the next point or [Angle/Length/Undo]: @4,5 Specify the next point or [Angle/Length/Undo]: @8.5<45 Specify the next point or [Angle/Length/Close/Undo]: @8.5<315 Specify the next point or [Angle/Length/Close/Undo]: @8.5<225 Specify the next point or [Angle/Length/Close/Undo]: C Drawing a tilted square using the relative polar coordinates method; enter C to close. NOTE Angles increase counterclockwise or decrease clockwise. Thus, an angle of 315 degrees is the same as 45 degrees. 5.1.4. Use Three-dimensional Coordinates Specifying coordinates in three-dimensional space is similar to working in two dimensions, except that you also use the z-axis to locate coordinates. Three-dimensional coordinates are represented in the format x,y,z (2,3,6). 98 ZWCAD User Guide Using the right-hand rule To visualize how ZWCAD works with three-dimensional space, use a technique known as the right-hand r
ule. Hold up your right hand in a loose fist with your palm facing you. Extend your thumb in the direction of the positive x-axis and your index finger upward in the direction of the positive y-axis. Then extend your middle finger straight toward you in the direction of the z-axis. These three fingers are now pointing in the positive x, y, and z directions, respectively. You can also use the right-hand rule to determine the positive rotation direction. Point your thumb in the positive direction of the axis about which you want to rotate, and then curl the rest of your fingers toward your palm. These fingers are curling in the positive rotation direction. The right-hand rule helps you determine the positive direction of the x, y, and z-axes and the positive rotation direction. Entering x,y,z coordinates When working in three dimensions, you can specify x,y,z coordinates as absolute distances in relation to the origin (the (0,0,0) coordinate point at which the three axes intersect) or
as relative coordinates based on the last point selected. For example, to specify the coordinate (3,4,2), just specify a point 3 units along the positive x-axis, 4 units along the positive y-axis, and 2 units along the positive z-axis. Entering spherical coordinates When working in three-dimensional space, you can use spherical coordinates to specify a threedimensional point by entering its distance from either the origin (absolute distance) or the last point (relative distance), along with its angle in the xy plane and its angle up from the xy plan e. In spherical format, you separate each angle with the open angle bracket (<). You can enter the coordinate values using the following format: X < [angle from X axis] < [angle from XY plane] Thus, to draw a line from the origin to a point 10.2500 drawing units away, at an angle of 45 degrees from the x-axis and 35 degrees from the xy plane, start the Line command, and then respond to the prompts as follows: 99 ZWCAD User Guide Command
: LINE Specify the first point: 0,0,0 Specify the next point or [Angle/Length/Undo]: 10.2500<45<35 When you draw a line from a start point (A) to an endpoint (B) using spherical coordinates, you specify its length (C, in this case, 10.2500 units), the angle in the xy plane (D, in this case, 45 degrees), and the angle from the xy plane (E, in this case 35 degrees). Entering cylindrical coordinates When working in three-dimensional space, you can also use cylindrical coordinates to specify a threedimensional point. You specify a point by entering its distance from either the origin (absolute distance) or the last point (relative distance), its angle in the xy plane, and its z coordinate value. In cylindrical format, you separate the distance and angle with the open angle bracket (<) and separate the angle and z value with a comma. For example, to draw a line from the last point to a point 7.4750 units away, at an angle of 27 degrees from the x-axis in the xy plane and 3 units up in the
z-direction, start the Line command, and then respond to the prompts as follows: Specify the first point: Press ENTER Specify the next point or [Angle/Length/Undo]: @7.4750<27,3 When you draw a line from a start point (A) to an endpoint (B) using cylindrical coordinates, you specify its length (C, in this case 7.4750), the angle in the xy plane (D, in this case 27 degrees), and the distance in the z-direction (E, in this case 3 units). 100 ZWCAD User Guide 5.1.5. Use Coordinate Filters Point filters provide a method of locating a point in a drawing relative to another point without specifying the entire coordinate. Using a point filter, you can enter partial coordinates, and then the program prompts you for the remaining coordinate information. To use XYZ point filters, respond to the prompt for a coordinate with a filter in the following form: .coordinate Where coordinate is one or more of the letters x, y, and z. The program then prompts you for the filtered coordinate(s). Fo
r example, if you type .xy, the program prompts you to select a point whose xy coordinate you want and then prompts you for the z coordinate. The filters .x, .y, .z, .xy, .xz, and .yz are all valid filters. Using point filters in two dimensions You can use point filters when you work in two dimensions to locate points in relation to existing entities. For example, to draw a circle centered in a rectangle, start the Circle command, and then respond to the prompts as follows: CIRCLE Specify the center point of circle or [3P/2P/Ttr (tangency tangency radius)]: .y Select Y of: mid MidPoint Still need XZ of: mid MidPoint Specify circle radius or [Diameter]: You can use point filters to center the circle by separately selecting the midpoints of two sides of the rectangle (A and B) and then specifying its radius. 101 ZWCAD User Guide Using point filters in three dimensions You can use point filters when you work in three-dimensional space to locate points in two dimensions and then spec
ify the z coordinate as the elevation above the xy plane. For example, to begin drawing a line from a point with a z coordinate 3 units above the center of a circle, insert the circle, and then start the Line command and respond to the prompts as follows: Command: C CIRCLE Specify the center point of circle or [3P/2P/Ttr (tangency tangency radius)]: .xy Select XY of: cen CenterPoint Still need Z of: 3,17.6273 You can use point filters to draw a line by first selecting a point in the xy plane (A), specifying the z coordinate (B), and then specifying the length of line (C). 5.2. Control the User Coordinate System Coordinate System Many commands in ZWCAD require that you specify points as you draw or modify entities. You can do so by selecting points with the mouse or by typing coordinate values in the command bar. The program locates points in a drawing using a Cartesian coordinate system. Understanding how coordinate systems work The Cartesian coordinate system uses three perpendicul
ar axes —x, y, and z—to specify points in threedimensional space. Every location in a drawing can be represented as a point relative to a (0,0,0) coordinate point, referred to as the origin. To draw a two-dimensional entity, you specify horizontal 102 ZWCAD User Guide coordinate positions along the x-axis and vertical coordinate positions along the y-axis. Thus, every point on a plane can be represented as a coordinate pair composed of an x coordinate and a y coordinate. Positive coordinates are located above and to the right of the origin; negative coordinates are located to the left and below the origin. The three perpendicular axes of the Cartesian coordinate system When you work in two dimensions, you need enter only the x and y coordinates; the program assumes that the z-axis value is always the current elevation. When you work in three dimensions, however, you must also specify the z-axis value. When you look at a plan view of your drawing (a view from above, looking dow
n), the z-axis extends straight up out of the screen at a 90-degree angle to the xy plane. Positive coordinates are located above the xy plane, and negative coordinates are below the plane. All ZWCAD drawings use a fixed coordinate system, called the World Coordinate System (WCS), and every point in a drawing has a specific x,y,z coordinate in the WCS. You can also define arbitrary coordinate systems located anywhere in three-dimensional space. These are called user coordinate systems and can be located anywhere in the WCS and oriented in any direction. You can create as many user coordinate systems as you want, saving or redefining them to help you construct three-dimensional entities. By defining a UCS within the WCS, you can simplify the creation of most three-dimensional entities into combinations of two-dimensional entities. To help you keep your bearings in the current coordinate system, the program displays a coordinate system icon. When you begin a new drawing, you are automati
cally in the WCS, indicated by the letter W in the icon. When you display a drawing in plan view, you see the coordinate system icon from the top, with the z-axis directed straight toward you. When you display a three-dimensional drawing in a view other than plan view, the coordinate system icon changes to reflect your new viewpoint. TIP The visible portions of the axes are the positive directions. 103 ZWCAD User Guide WCS icon Plan UCS icon 3D View WCS icon Understanding how coordinates are displayed The current position of the cursor is displayed as x,y,z coordinates in the status bar and, by default, updates dynamically as you move the cursor. You can toggle the coordinate display to the static mode by pressing F6 so that it updates only when you select a point in the drawing. 5.2.1. Control the User Coordinate System in 3D When working in three-dimensional space, you can define a UCS with its own (0,0,0) origin and orientation separate from the WCS. You can create as many
user coordinate systems as you want and then save and recall them as you need them to simplify the construction of three-dimensional entities. For example, you can create a separate UCS for each side of a building. Then, by switching to the UCS for the east side of the building, you can draw the windows on that side by specifying only their x and y coordinates. When you create one or more user coordinate systems, the coordinate entry is based on the current UCS. UCS aligned with the front wall of the house To define a UCS, you can use any of the following methods: • Specify a new origin and points on the positive x and y-axes. • • Specify a new origin and point on the positive z-axis. Align the UCS with an existing entity. • • Rotate the current UCS around any of its axes. Align the UCS with its z-axis parallel to the current viewing direction. • • Align the UCS xy plane perpendicular to the current view. When you define a new UCS, the UCS icon changes to indicat
e the origin and orientation of 104 ZWCAD User Guide the new UCS. To define a UCS by specifying a new origin and points on the positive x and y-axes 1. Choose Tools > New UCS > 3 Point from the main menu. 2. Specify a new original point. 3. Specify a point on the positive x-axis. 4. Specify a point on the positive y-axis. Define the new UCS by selecting the origin (A), a point on the positive x-axis (B), and a point in the positive y direction (C) 5.2.2. Define and Name User Coordinate Systems A drawing can contain as many coordinate systems as you want and can be named appropriate names so you can remember how they are used in your drawing for recalling them later. NOTE Coordinate system names created or renamed in ZWCAD can have up to 31 characters and cannot include spaces. ZWCAD will, however, display longer coordinate system names and names containing spaces. Define new user coordinate systems 1. Choose Tools > New UCS from the main menu. 2. Choose which type for creating
UCS. 3. Create UCS depending on the prompts. To change a user coordinate system name in the current drawing 1. Choose Tools > Named UCS from the main menu. 2. Right-click the desired UCS name, and then select Rename from the shortcut menu that pops up. 3. Type a new name. 4. Click OK. 105 ZWCAD User Guide 5.2.3. Set the Current User Coordinate System When you draw new objects, they are created in relation to the current coordinate system. Set the current UCS 1. Choose Tools > Named UCS from the main menu. 2. Select the desired UCS, and then click the Set Current button. 3. Click OK. 5.2.4. Use UCS Presets ZWCAD lets you select a preset UCS. The six planes defined by looking along the x,y, z-axes align the UCS with the top, left, front, bottom, right, or back, based on either the WCS or the current UCS in effect when you select the tool. You can also select the previous UCS, align the UCS to the current view, or select the WCS. When you select a UCS, the cursor orientation and
UCS icon change to reflect the new UCS. The display does not change, however, unless you select the Change View To Plan View Of The Selected UCS check box. After you align the UCS to a preset UCS, you can use "Named UCS" from the Tools menu to save the current UCS. To select a preset UCS 1. Choose Tools > Named UCS from the main menu. 2. Switch to Orthographic UCS tab, select the desired UCS, and then click the Set Current button. 3. Click OK. 5.2.5. Control the User Coordinate System You can use the user coordinate system for convenient coordinate entry and establish drawing planes. Control the User Coordinate System (UCS) in 2D In ZWCAD, there are two coordinate systems: world coordinate system (WCS) and user coordinate system (UCS). WCS is a fixed coordinate system, where the X axis is horizontal and the Y axis is vertical. The origin (0, 0) is the intersection of the X and Y axes in the lower-left corner of the drawing. You can 106 ZWCAD User Guide define a UCS based on a W
CS. UCS can be moved, which helps you modify particular sections of your drawing easily. At the same time, you can rotate UCS to specify points in 3D or rotated views. When you rotate UCS, Snap, Grid, and Ortho modes all rotate in line with the new UCS. Actually, you enter a coordinate value in the current UCS. There are several methods for relocating UCS, shown as follows: • Move the UCS by defining a new origin. • • Align the UCS with an existing object or with the current viewing direction. Rotate the current UCS around any of its axes. • Restore a saved UCS. You can name a defined UCS and then restore it when needed. The UCS Previous option can reverse up to last 10 coordinate systems in the current session. You can delete a named UCS whenever you do not need it. A UCS can also be restored to coincide with the WCS. Use World and User Coordinate Systems in 3D It is helpful for creating a 3D model by controlling the UCS. Use World and User Coordinate Systems In 3D spa
ce, there is both a fixed WCS and a movable UCS. When you work in 3D, the movable UCS can help you enter coordinate, establish drawing planes, and set views easily. Neither moving nor rotating UCS changes your viewport. The only changes are the orientation and tilt of the coordinate system. When you work in 3D, you can simplify the creation of 3D objects by relocating the UCS. To relocate the UCS, change the location of the origin point and the orientation of the XY plane and the Z axis. In 3D space, you can locate and orient a UCS anywhere. Only one UCS can be made the current coordinate system at any given time, and all coordinate input and display are relative to the current UCS. If you open multiple viewports, the current UCS applies to all of them. If the system variable UCSVP is on, you can save a UCS along with a viewport, and automatically restore the UCS each time when you make the viewport current. To draw in 3D space, you need to specify X, Y, and Z coordinate value in eithe
r the WCS or UCS. The following figure displays the X, Y, and Z axes of the WCS. 107 ZWCAD User Guide Generally, the WCS and the UCS are coincident with each other, which means that their axes and origin points are overlapped exactly. No matter how many times you relocate the UCS, you can always use the World option of the UCS command to make it coincident with the WCS. Control the User Coordinate System in 3D You can relocate the UCS by changing the location of the origin point and the orientation of the XY plane and the Z axis. In 3D space, you can locate and orient a UCS anywhere. In addition, you can define, save, and recall as many UCSs as you like. Both entering coordinate and drawing are processed in the current UCS. With the UCS's relocation, you can acquire the exact placement of a 3D point by aligning the coordinate system with existing geometry. In the current session, if multiple viewports are active, you can assign a different UCS to each viewport. If the system varia
ble UCSVP is on, you can save a UCS along with a viewport, and automatically restore the UCS each time when you make the viewport current. When the system variable UCSVP is on, each UCS may have a different origin and orientation dependent on the construction. Define the UCS Location You can define a UCS in several ways: • • Specify a new origin, new XY plane, or new Z axis. Align the new UCS with an existing object. • • Align the new UCS with the current viewing direction. Rotate the current UCS around any of its axes. • • Apply a new Z-depth to an existing UCS. Apply a UCS by selecting a face. 108 ZWCAD User Guide Use UCS Presets On the Orthographic UCS tab of the UCS dialog box, the system lists several preset coordinate systems, from which you can choose the desired one. After specifying a UCS, you can control whether choosing a preset option shifts the UCS relative to the current UCS orientation or relative to the default WCS. If you use the Restore, World, o
r Previous option of the UCS command, the settings you made are not available. Change the Default Elevation The CHANGE command is used to specify an elevation and thickness of extrusion for a new object. You can define a drawing plane of the current UCS by establishing the current elevation, which can be applied to individual viewports in conjunction with the system variable UCSVP. Whether a UCS is saved or restored in each viewport are determined by this variable. When UCSVP is set to 1, the different UCS settings are saved in individual viewports, and the elevation settings are saved along with each viewport both in model space and in paper space layouts. Generally, the elevation is set to 0, and you can control the XY plane of the current UCS using UCS command. Change the UCS in Paper Space Just as you define a new UCS in model space, you can also define a new UCS in paper space; however, the UCSs in paper space is only available for 2D manipulation. Although you can enter 3D coor
dinates in paper space, 3D viewing commands are not available, such as PLAN and VPOINT. The system can store the last 10 coordinate systems that were created in model space and the last 10 in paper space, and you can restore to the desired one using the Previous option of the UCS command. Save and Restore UCS Locations by Name You can save named UCS locations, each having a different origin and orientation, for various construction requirements. You can relocate, save, and recall as many UCS orientations as you require. Assign User Coordinate System Orientations to Viewports You can create multiple viewports to display different views of your model. For example, you can specify top, front, right side, and isometric views for viewports. You can also define a different UCS for each view to fac
