Multiple A size drawings... best practice

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rluke
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Multiple A size drawings... best practice

Post by rluke » Thu Mar 24, 2022 2:21 am

QCad Pro
Windows 10 home

I am trying to figure out the best way to display different layers of my drawing onto multiple [A size] layout blocks. The way I'm doing it now requires me to keep toggling layers on and off and only print on Layout at a time. Could I be missing something obvious?.. Thanks
Example:
Layout Block 1 Display only what's on Layer 1
Layout Block 2 Display only what's on Layer 2
Layout Block 3 Display only what's on Layer 3

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ryancousins
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Re: Multiple A size drawings... best practice

Post by ryancousins » Thu Mar 24, 2022 2:27 am

Layer visibility is global. You have to toggle as you are doing. The only work around I can think of is to turn your drawing objects into a block and then place that block on all your layout sheets, explode each one, and delete whatever items from specific layers. Not ideal unless you’re dealing with a very simple drawing. And even then you’d have to redo the process if you made a change to your drawing objects.

rluke
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Re: Multiple A size drawings... best practice

Post by rluke » Thu Mar 24, 2022 2:46 am

Thanks Ryan

TSG
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Re: Multiple A size drawings... best practice

Post by TSG » Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:13 am

For the same reason I define groups of visible layers which belong together with "Layer / Layer States / Add... (YM)".
To switch between different groups of layers you only need a few clicks or a keyboard shortcut "y1", "y2" ...

Thomas
Ich will nicht streiten. Ich will nur deutlich machen, dass ich Recht habe und DU NICHT.

rluke
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Re: Multiple A size drawings... best practice

Post by rluke » Thu Mar 24, 2022 3:52 pm

Great tip about the Layer states. I'll experiment with that.

Rich

rluke
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Re: Multiple A size drawings... best practice

Post by rluke » Sat Mar 26, 2022 11:53 pm

I practiced using the Layer States and that seems like a very good workaround. Thanks for that tip. I have been activating my Layer states by using the menu and it works. But if I enter Y1 or Y2 on the command line I get an error as if it thinks I am trying to enter a coordinate. I know I'm doing something wrong but I'm not sure what.

Thanks

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Husky
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Re: Multiple A size drawings... best practice

Post by Husky » Sun Mar 27, 2022 1:00 am

rluke wrote:
Sat Mar 26, 2022 11:53 pm
I know I'm doing something wrong but I'm not sure what.
Nope, you are doing nothing wrong. Looks to me like a buck ...

Please file a bugreport below www.qcad.org/bugtracker, thanks.

Meanwhile - click on Model_Space to make it active and use the shortcuts Y1 etc. :wink:
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rluke
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Re: Multiple A size drawings... best practice

Post by rluke » Sat Apr 02, 2022 12:46 am

The Layer State suggestion by Thomas really turned out to be a great one. That' a nice tool that QCad has. I was thinking about posting a suggestion to allow the current layer state be displayed somewhere on the screen. I think that would be helpful. Or is that already possible and I am somehow not seeing it?
Any feedback before I post my suggestion?

Thanks
Rich

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ryancousins
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Re: Multiple A size drawings... best practice

Post by ryancousins » Sat Apr 02, 2022 6:47 pm

There isn’t a built-in way to display the current layer state. I think I put in a feature request at one point asking for a widget that would display the different states and be able to swap between them, similar to the saved views widget. I think short of being able to apply unique layer states to each viewport, this would be a helpful feature.

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Husky
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Re: Multiple A size drawings... best practice

Post by Husky » Sat Apr 02, 2022 8:29 pm

ryancousins wrote:
Sat Apr 02, 2022 6:47 pm
I think I put in a feature request at one point asking for a widget that would display the different states and be able to swap between them, similar to the saved views widget.
I like the idea ... :wink:

Until a better solution is available ... maybe a workaround.
Create dummy layer for each Layer state. Include them accordingly in the creation of a new layer state. Now an "Eye" symbol in the Layer List can tell you which layer state is currently used and which shortcut will lead to an other layer state.

This example shows that "Third Floor" is active ...
Husky-2022.04.02-02.png
Husky-2022.04.02-02.png (6.3 KiB) Viewed 4540 times


... If you need to switch to "First Floor" just hit Y1.
Husky-2022.04.02-03.png
Husky-2022.04.02-03.png (5.73 KiB) Viewed 4540 times
Work smart, not hard: QCad Pro
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If a thread is considered as "solved" please change the title of the first post to "[solved] Title..."

rluke
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Re: Multiple A size drawings... best practice

Post by rluke » Sun Apr 03, 2022 1:12 am

Ryan
I found your post from two years ago in the suggestion section so I added my post to your thread. Your idea of a widget for the layer states would be even better. thanks

Husky
Thanks for the workaround idea. I'll tinker with that. Although right now none of my Layer State activation shortcuts will work for me.

Rich

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