Introduction to ArtiosCAD 7

Lesson 4: Views and Layers

ArtiosCAD allows you to change how you view items within the
workspace. Changing the view can help make it easier to design and
dimension within the workspace. ArtiosCAD uses the concept of layers to
build a complete design. Separating items onto different layers allows you
to display only what you need to see at the time. ArtiosCAD has various
selection tools to make it easier to select particular items.

This lesson covers:

• View Menu and Toolbar

• Working with Layers
• Select tools

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Lesson 4: Views and Layers

Exercise 1: Using the View Toolbar

The buttons on the View Toolbar are used to change how you see the
current workspace. For example, you can get closer to an intricate area of
a design to check for intersections by using the Zoom Rectangle tool.

You can access these functions by using Shortcut keys, the View Menu,
or the View toolbar:

The Shortcut keys can be found to

the right of the items in the View
Menu. They are shown circled
here.

1. Open the file View.ARD. It has one grouped and one ungrouped set
of paths.
2. The Scale to fit tool shares the tool flyout with the Scale to Fit with
Border tool.
.Scale to Fit was used on the workspace shown below.

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NOTE: 3. The Scale to Fit with Border is applied below.

The Scale to Fit with Border’s
default value is 25%. This value
can be changed in Options >
Defaults > Startup defaults >
View tool options.

4. The Zoom rectangle tool (Ctrl+R) magnifies and centers the area
you click and release on or click and drag to specify a zoom area.
5. The Zoom Out tool (Ctrl+A) zooms away from the object with each
click.
6. Select the Pan tool, click in the workspace and holding the left mouse
button reposition the contents of the workspace.

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Lesson 4: Views and Layers

7. If you prefer to use the Pan tool only to scroll the workspace, you can
Note: hide the scrollbars in Options > Defaults > Design Defaults >
After using Pan tool, you will Default View Mode to turn off the scroll bars.
loose the high graphics mode.
Refresh the workspace (F2) to
see the high graphics mode
again.

Note:
Hold down the Ctrl-key as the
Pan tool is selected to keep it
selected.

8. Create a closeup window by selecting CloseUp from the View menu.

You can also create a CloseUp window by pressing Ctrl+Space or
clicking on a location using the middle button on your mouse.

• You can create a CloseUp window inside of a closeup window.

• You can change CloseUp window properties by choosing Options

from the drop down menu in the closeup window.f

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• You can draw and dimension inside of CloseUp windows.

• Create a closeup window, uncheck Dynamic in the drop down

menu. The closeup window can now be moved out of the way. Draw
or measure from any area within the regular view to a line or point
within the closeup window or vice-a-versa.

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Lesson 4: Views and Layers

Exercise 2: Snap to Center Points and endpoints

ArtiosCAD will now display endpoints and center points as you draw.

1. Open the file View.ARD, if it isn’t already opened.

2. Moving your cursor over a line will display the endpoints and center
point of the line when you have certain tools selected, such as the line
tool.

3. Moving the cursor over a point within the tolerance distance will
highlight the snap point. This now gives you a visual clue that you are
near the snap point before you click.

4. The View menu has a choice called Snap Options. It contains two
choices. You can toggle the Snap to middle points option on or off.

5. Select Options > Snap to display the snap options dialog box.

6. Uncheck Middle Points of Lines or Arcs and the center points will not
display in the workspace, only the endpoints. This choice is on by
default but you can set it to Off in Options > defaults > Startup
defaults.

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Exercise 3: The Extend tool

The Extend tool allows you to display points on lines and arcs.

1. Select the extend tool and click on a line, the endpoints and midpoint
are displayed along with a conline.

2. Click on a circle and the center and 4 points along the circumference
are displayed.

3. Click on an arc and a variety of points are displayed, including the

tangent point.

4. If the cursor is over an item when the Extend tool is selected using
the shortcut Alt-X, that item will be extended without needing to do
an additional mouse click.

5. You can also point at the item and press Ctrl-Alt-X (the shortcut for
the Clear Extend tool) to clear the extend lines and points.

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Lesson 4: Views and Layers

6. When a tool such as the line tool or move tool uses an extend point,
the extend points of the item are cleared automatically once the action
is completed.

7. Click on the shape to the right with the Extend tool. It is a grouped
path and the nine bounding box points will be displayed.

8. Using the Extend tool with Ctrl/Click ignores groups. Select the
Extend tool then press the Ctrl key and click the left mouse button on
the circle item and it will display its points.

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 Introduction to ArtiosCAD 7

Exercise 4: Practice with View Tools

1. Open the file 4A.ARD. Use the different View options to find the 5
mistakes.

2. List the mistakes on the lines below:

a. _______________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________
c. _______________________________________________
d. _______________________________________________
e. _______________________________________________

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Lesson 4: Views and Layers

Exercise 5: View Mode Dialog Box

The View Mode dialog box allows you to change the way the design
looks on the screen. In the following exercise, we will demonstrate the
different options you have for viewing designs.

1. Open the file 4B.ARD.

2. Choose View mode from the View Menu or click on the View
Mode Icon in the View Toolbar.

3. Check Endpoints in the Styles section, click Apply. Observe the

results in the drawing then uncheck it and click Apply again
Note:
4. Check Center point of arcs. Click Apply and observe the results in
Center points can be turned on
by default by going to Options the workspace.
> Defaults > Design
Defaults > Default View
Mode.

Note:
Bridges are only viewed on the
screen when they are checked
“on” in this dialog box or in
the View > View Options 5. Repeat these steps for both Direction and Bridges. (Click
menu. In order to output the
bridges to the plotter, select Minimize<<, if the dialog box hides the design. Click Maximize>> to
Properties in the output dialog. expand it.)
Click on the Processing tab
and select 'leave gaps for
bridges” under the Line
processing options section.

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6. Check Line Type in the Attributes section. Click on the down arrow
and select Cut.

Click on Apply to see the results then click on Reset. Display other
Line Types that are in the list. Remember to RESET when done.

7. Click the down arrow to display the list of Plotting Styles and select a
Note: different plotting style, such as Artios 1. Some of the listed plotting
To make any changes styles are specific to output devices and are not usually used in the
permanent in the Styles section workspace.
of the View Mode dialog box,
go to Options > Defaults >
Design defaults > Default
view mode.

Click on Apply to see the changes. Click on Reset. Display other Plot-
ting Styles in the list. Remember to RESET when done.

8. Click OK to close the View Mode dialog box.

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Lesson 4: Views and Layers

Exercise 6: Layers

Layers work like transparencies. Layers can be turned on or off as needed.

Only visible layers are printed or exported. Some examples of what Layers
can contain are dimensions, text, notes, and details.

1. Open 4B.ARD, if it is not already open.

2. Click on the Layers Button. The Layers dialog box

Note: will open.
The Layers Button defaults to
the name of the layer that was
active when the design was
saved.

All layers that were ON when

the file was saved will be ON
when the file is opened.

You can set the Default View

Mode to only display the Main
Design layer on opening
regardless of what was ON
when the file was saved by going 3. Click in the box to the far left of Overall dimensions to turn on the
to Options > Defaults > Overall dimensions.
Design defaults > Default view
mode.

A design can have up to 100

layers. All designs have one
layer called Main Design.

The “eye” indicates that the layer is turned on and the “pencil’s” loca-
tion indicates the “active layer”. All changes made to a workspace will
be added to the “active layer”.

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4. Click on the words Overall dimensions to move the pencil to make it

the active layer.

5. If you click on the lock checkbox, no modifications can be made to

the layer.

• The cursor in a locked layer changes to a crossed pencil.

• Click in the box again with the lock icon to unlock the layer.

6. To view layer properties, select the layer and click on the Properties
Note: button. Layers can be moved up or down in the list. The layer name
The layer class assignment is and class can be changed, if needed.
very important. ArtiosCAD
uses the class assignment to
know how to deal with the
items on that layer.

7. Click OK to close the Layers dialog box. The dimensions will be

displayed in the workspace and the layer button name will be changed
to active layer name, for example Overall dimensions. The Line type
set menu will change to Annotation Line type.

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Lesson 4: Views and Layers

8. If you change the suggested line type in the drop down line type set
list on a layer that is not appropriate for that line type, a warning will
appear.

9. If you draw cut lines on an annotation class layer, they will not be
counted towards rule length.

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Exercise 7: Select Tools

The Select tool now has four (4) options for making selections. When the
Select tool is activated in the Edit toolbar or by pressing Ctrl+E a set of
Select By: buttons is displayed in the bottom left corner of the status bar.

• The first is Normal selection (entire groups)

• The second is Selection ignoring groups
• The third is Selection of connected lines across intersections
•T he fourth is Selection of connected lines stopping at intersections

1. Open the file SELECT.ARD. Click on the Select tool found in the
Edit toolbar.
2. Select various lines in the design using the Normal selection method.
Notice that it deselects previously selected items as you would expect.
To add to the selection, as before, hold down the Shift or Ctrl key.
3. Now, choose the third Select By: tool. click on the top of the 4th
panel. All lines along the perimeter from one side of the tuck to the
other should be selected. These lines are all connected.

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4. Notice that the dust flaps at the top of the design are made up of six
individual segments which includes two small arcs.

5. Choose the fourth Select By: method. Click on any part of the dust flap.
The entire dust flap and only the dust flap will be selected. You can
also shift select and add the other dust flap to this selection.
6. Choose the Select tool and the second Select By: method. This method
allows you to select individual lines in the group without having to
break the grouped relationship.

7. Choose the Select tool and the second Select By: method. This method
allows you to select individual lines in the group without having to
break the grouped relationship.
8. Turn on all of the layers and try the other selection tools in the Status
bar:
•Select only design lines (text and dimensions)
•Select design and construction lines
•Select only construction lines
•Select only text items
•Select only dimensions
•Select only graphic items

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•Select all items (selects all items as defined by the select mode set by
buttons 5 to 10).

9. The other select tools work in combination with the selection filters:
•Select items crossing: ArtiosCAD Default
•Select items inside: only those items completely enclosed by the
rectangle or polygon
•Use Polygon: selection based on an irregular polygon

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Lesson 4: Views and Layers
Exercise 8: Select by Example tool
Note:
Click Minimize to ‘collapse’
the window so that you can
view more of the workspace.
Click Maximize to expand the
window.
You can select items that share similar Properties by using the Select By
Example tool. This tool is more appropriate for selecting specific items
from a particular category. For example., the Select Only Dimensions tool/
marquee selects all dimensions regardless of attributes. With the Select By
Example tool you can select dimensions that share specific attributes.
Continue working with the file from the previous exercise.
1. Turn off all layers except the Main Design and Dimensions layers.
2. Choose the Select By Example tool from the Edit Tools toolbar or
from the More Select sub menu in the Edit menu.
3. Click on the 6 inch dimension in the workspace. The Select By
Example dialog box will open.
This Select By Example dialog box displays the attributes of the
selected dimension.
4. Click Apply to select all dimensions that have the attributes shown.
This button leaves the window open. The three dimensions that share
the same Font, size and Rotation will be selected and highlighted in
magenta.
5. Uncheck Text Size and click Apply again. More items will be selected
because the selection is less specific.
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6. Uncheck Font and click Apply again. All of the dimension items will
be selected because now the only attribute they need to be is
Annotation > Dimension.
7. Check Font again then click on the font list drop down. It will display
a list of fonts that exist in this workspace. Pick Garamond and click
Apply.

8. The dimensions that have this attribute will be selected.

9. Clicking OK will select all dimensions that have the specified
attributes.This action will close the window.
10. Clicking Cancel will also close the window and nothing will be
selected.
11. Save and Close the workspace.

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Lesson 4: Views and Layers

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