Plotting in MineSight® 3-D: Five Easy Steps to Plotting

Plotting in MineSight® 3-D: Five Easy Steps to Plotting

MineSight 3-D (MS3D) can create WYSISYG (what you see is what you get) unscaled plots
with a few mouse clicks. Very nice draft quality plots are created with a small amount of
preparation and effort. There are only five steps in the plotting process and four of them
are optional.
Introducing the five step program for plotting in MS3D:
1. Create or use a plot layout.
2. Define the paper size of the plot.
3. Decide on the plotting scale, if any.
4. Decide on plotting data limits, if any.
5. Decide on title blocks, legends, and additional plotting windows, if any.

Mintec, Inc.
Global
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Software
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Figure 1. Plot produced in MS3D.
Since
1970 Step 1: Create or use an existing plot layout
MS3D uses the Plot Layout object to send plotting information to the screen (preview),
printers, HGPL, HPGL, PNG, or PS files. You can use the same Plot Layout object for
all your plotting needs, but usually you will have different ones set up for each of your
standard plotting tasks.

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Plotting in MineSight® 3-D: Five Easy Steps to Plotting

As a practical matter, each site usually creates only two or three different types of plots.
Plot Layout objects are created from the MS3D Data Manager right-click menu. Activating
the Object Properties brings up the Plot Layout Editor (Figure 2). Notice the editor has
two tabs (Layout and Info) and that the Layout page has another notebook also with two
tabs (Page and Area).

Mintec, Inc.
Global
Mining
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Since
1970

Figure 2. Plot Layout Editor.

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 Plotting in MineSight® 3-D: Five Easy Steps to Plotting

Step 2: Define the paper size of the

plot
Go to the Editor | Layout | Page tab (Figure
3). The default paper size is Letter and the
default orientation is Portrait.
At this point, you have defined everything
that is required to plot using MS3D!
Whatever is displayed in your viewer will be
plotted on the paper, with the scale adjusted
so that all the data is displayed.
However, this is just a screen capture on
paper and is not very informative. In order
to convey information, additional steps must
be taken, perhaps to set a scale, to define a
plot area, or display identifying information
concerning the plotted data.

Figure 3. Notebook on Plot Layout Properties dialog.

Step 3: Decide on a plot scale

Click on the Plot Page Settings button in the Page tab (Figure 3) to open the Plot Settings
dialog. MS3D has already figured out the scale needed to display all the data that is visible
in your viewer on the paper size you have selected. If you wish to use a different scale, just
enter it in the Horizontal and Vertical boxes. Click the Apply button on the bottom of the
Plot Settings dialog to set the new scale.

Figure 4. Scale section of the Plot Settings dialog.

Step 4: Decide on limits of the plotting

Mintec, Inc. data
Global While still in the Plot Settings dialog, you
Mining can define the limits of the plot window either
Software by typing in the limits in the boxes, using the
Solutions mouse to set a plot box, or using a grid set that
is connected to the viewer (Figure 5).
Since
1970 Regardless of how you set the limits, you
should enter that information in the Info page
of the Plot Layout Editor so that others can
reproduce your plot (Figure 6).

Figure 5. User Define Limits in the Plot Settings dialog.

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Plotting in MineSight® 3-D: Five Easy Steps to Plotting

Figure 6. Use the User Notes section of the Plot Layout Editor | Info page to describe the extent of the plot.

If you use a grid set to define the limits, you should name the grid set to reflect its usage,
e.g., EWS Plotting 25m, and write some documentation in the Info tab of the Grid Set
Properties dialog.
An additional advantage of using a grid set to define the plot window is that all the planes
in the grid set are automatically included as plot objects.
If you choose to define a plot window, it is a good idea to have MS3D recalculate the best
scale for the plot window data based on the paper size selected. The Compute Scale option
(Figure 4) will choose standard scales that are multiples of 50, e.g., 50, 100, 500, 1000, 1500,
2000, 2500, 10000, 15,000, 20000, etc. The Fit to Page Scale (Figure 4), will maximize the plot
window on the paper, but the scale will not be a standard scale.
Note that you can enter the scale in step 3 and the plotting limits in step 4 and they will be
respected. However, when you check the Use Grid Set or Defined Limits under Plot Layout
Editor | Layout | Area in step 5, you may find that your paper size needs to be redefined.

Step 5: Decide on title blocks, legends, additional viewers Mintec, Inc.

This is done in the Area tab of the Plot Layout Editor notebook. Here you successively add Global
windows to the plot layout, then define what type of window it is: another viewer, a title Mining
block, a legend showing cut off values, displayed items, north arrows, snapshots of reports, Software
spreadsheets, or other graphics.
Solutions
This is where most of your effort and time will be spent. At a minimum, you will need Since
to describe the particular plan or section being plotted and what type of data is being 1970
displayed and the date of the plot.

Details, details…
Step 1. Plot Layouts—Create a different Plot Layout for each size of plot you will
create. Give the Plot Layout a meaningful name and enter some information

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 Plotting in MineSight® 3-D: Five Easy Steps to Plotting

into the Info tab. If you are using defined limits without a grid set, then enter
the limits here, so anyone can reproduce the plots at a later time.

Figure 7. Plot Layout Editor Info tab.

Step 2. Paper Size and Orientation—From the Plot Layout Editor, set the paper size
and orientation by clicking Print | Printer (Figure 8).

Mintec, Inc.
Global
Mining
Software
Solutions
Since
1970

Figure 8. Get to the printer setup

using the Print | Printer option.

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Plotting in MineSight® 3-D: Five Easy Steps to Plotting

Figure 9 Printer setup.

Note that although MS3D will use the defined paper size and orientation, you will need to set
the printer preferences in order to pass the page size and orientation to the printer/plotter.
Here we have selected a particular printer, the HP800 Ink Jet Plotter and now we need to
click on the Preferences button (Figure 9) in order to tell Microsoft® Windows what page
size and orientation we want.
In Figure 10, we have defined the orientation as Landscape. In order to define the page
size, we click on the Advanced button.

Mintec, Inc.
Global
Mining
Software
Solutions
Since
1970
Figure 10. Printer preferences.

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 Plotting in MineSight® 3-D: Five Easy Steps to Plotting

In Figure 11, we have selected the ISO A1 paper size.

Figure 11. Selecting the paper size

from the Advanced options.

Finally, back on the Preferences | Page Layout tab (Figure 12), we need to make sure that
the plotter will not clip the output. This shows the paper size, the printable area, and the
margins that will be imposed. In this particular set, there are no imposed margins on the
size and printable area.

Mintec, Inc.
Global
Mining
Software
Solutions
Since
1970

Figure 12. Making sure the plot

prints in the printable area.

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Plotting in MineSight® 3-D: Five Easy Steps to Plotting

If we wish to reduce paper usage, we check the Rotate box in Figure 12 in the HP Scaling/
Rotation area of the Page Layout. This will rotate the plot and update the margin
calculations as shown in Figure 13.

Figure 13. Rotate the plot to save paper.

Step 3. Decide on a plot scale—Whatever scale we enter into the scale boxes (Figure 4)
will be used by MS3D. Note that since we have both a Horizontal and a Vertical
scale, we can define exaggeration, e.g., a 10:1 vertical exaggeration would have
a horizontal scale of 100 and a vertical scale of 1000.
Step 4. Decide on limits of the plotting data—Generally the area of interest is less than
the limits of the data or even the limits of the model. For one-off or operational
type plots, there is no need for reproducibility, so we can define the area using
the mouse and the viewer, exact coordinates are not needed. Click the Use
Defined Limits radio button on the Plot Settings dialog (Figure 14) and choose
the orientation of your plot, then click on the Digitize icon to define the limits in
the viewer.

Mintec, Inc.
Global
Mining
Software
Solutions
Since
1970

Figure 14. Defining limits in the Plot Settings

dialog.

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 Plotting in MineSight® 3-D: Five Easy Steps to Plotting

By default, if there is no grid set attached to the viewer, the MineSight project limits will be
the starting limits and vary by the orientation type: Plan, EW Section, NS Section.
The yellow box in the viewer shows the Plot Layout extent in the Plot Settings dialog
(Figure 15).
The limits can be updated by moving the
yellow box (using the digitize button) or
by typing different coordinates in the Start
Point or End Point fields. To move the
box, click in the center of the box and drag
it to the desired plotting area. To increase
or decrease the area, click on a corner and
drag in the desired direction. Use the Start
Point and End Point coordinate boxes to
round off the start and end points.
For multiple plan or section plots, or if
you will need to reproduce the plots at a
future time, using a grid set attached to
the viewer is the way to proceed. When
using a grid set, each plane in the grid set
becomes a potential plot, which means
that you can define all the bench or section Figure 15. Yellow box showing extent of Plot Layout.
plots for a particular orientation with a
single plot layout.
Step 5. Decide on Title Blocks, Legends, additional Viewers—Only with the addition
of title blocks and legends does the picture turn into information. The standard
title block supplied with MS3D in the SamplePlotLayout folder (under
winexe) has the minimal amount of information necessary.

Mintec, Inc.
Global
Mining
Software
Solutions
Since
1970

Figure 16. Title Block Editor.

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Plotting in MineSight® 3-D: Five Easy Steps to Plotting

A Revised By or Notes title block may be required for exploration plots. A descriptive title
block that lists the plotting elements is also useful. Note that each row can have a different
height and font size. You can add or remove columns and rows as needed to create the
needed format.
Legends come in many forms:
logos or other graphic objects,
cutoff tables, descriptions of
what is being displayed in
a drillhole or model view,
geometry, or materials. This lets
you describe each element being
plotted. The Company Logo
Legend type can display any
JPG, PNG, or TIF file. In addition
to the company logo, you can
also display photos, spreadsheet
pages, or other plots.
MS3D also includes standard
scale bar and a simple north
arrow.
Additional viewers can make the
plot more informative. Sectional
plots are more informative if a
plan view strip of the section
is displayed above the section
window. MS3D can create Figure 17. Legend Properties dialog.
standard isometric type plots
showing the view from three
different aspects.

Tips and Tricks…

Step 1. Plot Layouts—It is not possible to emphasize too much the usefulness of
documenting your work. Each object in MS3D has an Info tab under its
Properties where you can describe the object and your perceived uses for it.
This is especially important when a project is worked on by more than one
person.
Every object used in the plot should have information entered in the Info tab. Figure 18 is a Mintec, Inc.
title block. Global
Mining
Software
Solutions
Since
1970

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 Plotting in MineSight® 3-D: Five Easy Steps to Plotting

Figure 18. Put valuable User Notes in the Info tab.

Step 2. Paper Size and Orientation—Starting with MS3D version 4.60, once the page
layout is defined, it is never altered. Using Defined Limits and altering the scale
used to plot will adjust the size of the plot window, not the paper size. This
means if you check the Use Grid Set or Defined Limits box under Plot Layout
Editor | Layout | Area (Figure 8), the plot window is fixed. You can move it
around, but not adjust the size.
This works well with custom page sizes as well as standard. Remember that the page size is
defined in portrait mode, so the width is always less than the height. MS3D will tell you the
closest standard page size that will accommodate your custom size (Figure 19).

Mintec, Inc.
Global
Mining
Software
Solutions
Since
1970

Figure 19. Setting a custom page.

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Plotting in MineSight® 3-D: Five Easy Steps to Plotting

To set the custom page size in your printer, you need to edit the properties of the printer.
With HP plots, this can be done by editing the PS page size (Figure 20).

Figure 20. HP printer custom page size.

Step 3. Decide on a plot scale—The scale is used for all plot windows, except for those
that have a viewer in perspective mode.
Step 4. Decide on limits of the plotting data—When the Use Grid Set or Defined
Limits box is checked (Plot Layout Editor | Layout | Area), the limits are
obtained from the Plot Settings panel. If the box is not checked, then the limits
of the plot window are determined by the location of the camera target, the size
of the plot window, and the plot scale.
Step 5. Decide on title blocks, legends, additional viewers—If you are creating
plots that will be reproduced at a later date, it is helpful if you name your
viewer(s) such that you will be able to select them again. Create a folder
named PlottingElements and copy or move the viewers and other plotting
elements to that folder. In the Plot Layout Editor | Layout | Area tab, always
check the radio buttons for cm/”.
In general, a Sans Serif font looks the best in plots and this font is a standard. Try to set
all your plotting elements that have labels to use San Serif. These plotting elements are of
course the Legends, but also the grids.
Mintec, Inc.
1. Optional—Create a folder to store your plotting elements. Global
2. Optional—Create a viewer named Plotting Background and use it to create a Mining
box around the plot page. On the Viewer Properties | View Options tab, toggle Software
Volume Clipping, and in the Clipping tab set the volume to 0.0. Set the position Solutions
and target in the Camera tab to a location away from any data in your project. This
Since
will insure that there is no data being plotted in the background viewer.
1970

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 Plotting in MineSight® 3-D: Five Easy Steps to Plotting

In the Plot Layout Editor |

Layout | Area tab, set the Area
Configuration struts to the
top left and bottom right. Set
the radio buttons for the Left,
Width, Botton, and Height to
cm/” and enter zero for the
left offset, the page width, zero
for the offset from the bottom
of the page, and the page
height. This box will be helpful
in positioning the remaining
plotting elements as being a
cutting guide when all the plots
are done. Move the Plotting
Background viewer to the
bottom of the object list (Figure
21). Check the Lock Area box
to fix the location of the viewer.
Note that the Area
Configuration struts can use
actual measurements (cm/”) or
percentages (%) of the viewer.
Using percentages will let you
create a more general layout that Figure 21. Adding a Plotting Bckground viewer to the plot layout.
will work for different page sizes.
3. Add another viewer that will be your main viewer, this will display the chief
plotting elements and will use defined limits. In the Plot Layout Editor | Layout |
Area tab, check the Main Viewer and the Use Grid Set or Defined Limits toggles.
Then position the box within the Plotting Background box. Note that the actual
size of the plot window will now be shown. This will be smaller than the paper size
and you will be able to position your title blocks, legends, scale bars, etc., outside
of the plot window. If you are using a custom page size, you may need to place the
other plotting elements within the plot window, trying to minimize the amount of
plotting data that will be covered up.
4. Add additional viewers if required, positioning them within the Plotting
Background box. For example, with section plots, a plan view strip above the
Mintec, Inc. section plot is helpful.
Global 5. Make your Plot Layout full screen when aligning your additional plotting
Mining elements. MS3D will attempt to snap the elements to each other, but you can
Software override this by moving them with the mouse. Having the Plot Layout full screen
Solutions will reduce the accidental overlaps.
Since 6. Since you know the size of your main window, it is easy to create a special one-row,
1970 one-column title block that matches the main window perfectly (Figures 22 and
23). This is useful to present a finished view to the plot when the other title blocks,
legends, etc. do not use all the space below or to the side of the main window.
Name these so that you can reuse them later, e.g., H-70x5, V-50x5, etc.

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Plotting in MineSight® 3-D: Five Easy Steps to Plotting

Figures 22 and 23. One-line title blocks matching window sizes.

7. Legends—Note that the name for a Drillhole View or Model View legend is the
same as the name of the particular object being used. If your view object name
appears in the Name field in lower case, re-enter the name the way you want it to
appear (upper and lower case or a completely different name) using the Title Lines.
The new entry replaces what was previously generated by the Legend Tool.The size
of the title and the body determine the overall size of the legend (Figure 24).

Mintec, Inc.
Global
Mining
Software
Solutions
Since
1970

Figure 24. Adding title lines to a

Model View legend.

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 Plotting in MineSight® 3-D: Five Easy Steps to Plotting

8. If you are using a Grid Set to define the plotting limits, you can create a polygon
of the plotting limits using the Surface | Create | from Grid Set or Edit Grid
function (Figure 25). Choose Polygons and the plotting grid set. Name the
elements by Plane. This will let you have the section lines displayed in section and
in the plan strip.

Figure 25. Creating polyline from a grid set.

9. You can set the polygons to display Line Labels (Figure 26) from the Geometry
Object properties. You may need to densify the polygons, then adjust the starting
distance and label distance.

Figure 26. Adding the Element Name as a

Mintec, Inc. Line Label.
Global
Mining
Software
Solutions
Since
1970

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Plotting in MineSight® 3-D: Five Easy Steps to Plotting

10. Use the Preview plot in full screen mode when setting up the plots. When you
think you have the plot set up correctly, create a PNG view at 150 dpi and use
Explorer to display the plot. This is the easiest way to visualize slight overlaps in
the title blocks and legends.
11. It is preferable to create either HPGL2 or PS plots instead of sending the plots
directly to the plotter. This has two advantages: one is that you will have copies of
the plots that you can email to others, and two is that you can get another copy of
the plot without opening MS3D.

Mintec, Inc.
Global
Mining
Software
Solutions
Since
1970

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