PlansXpress Top Tips

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• Importing an OS map into a Plan

   

  How to import an OS map in the for of a DWG or DXF file into a PlansXpress drawing.  This topic describes how to create the plan as a symbol so that it can be correctly scaled and added into your drawing as required.

   

  Download the Top Tip.pdf

• Adding your company logo to a plan in PlansXpress® v.2

   

  Adding your company logo to your plans is quick and easy. Here’s how you can add a logo to your plan to customise it for your business!

   

  Download the Top Tip.pdf

• Adding your own Non-Estimated Symbols to PlansXpress

   

  How to add your own symbols into the symbol libraries within PlansXpress.  This topic covers creating a new symbol, setting up the insertion point, adding a new page to a symbol library and adding you new symbol onto that page.

   

  Download the Top Tip.pdf

• Creating a Catslide Roof

   

  How to create a catslide roof in PlansXpress v.2.  This topic describes the use of the 'Extend Roof' option and discusses the different options available when using the tool.

   

  Download the Top Tip.pdf

• Creating a Lean To Roof

   

  Drawing a lean to roof can trip people up when trying to get the slope going in the correct direction.  This topic steps you through how to make sure that you get it right first time, every time!

   

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• Adding Dimensions to your Plan

   

  How to add various dimensions to your plan.  This topic discusses the automatic wall dimensioning tool, the linear dimension tool and the angular dimension tool.

   

  Download the Top Tip.pdf

• Adding your Company Logo to a Plan

   

  How to add your company logo into a plan.  This topic describes how to add your company logo into a plan and discusses the different options for how to reference an image when importing it into PlansXpress.

   

  Download the Top Tip.pdf

• Printing a Plan on a smaller paper size

   

  How to use the scale-to-fit option to print a plan on a smaller size of paper than that selected within PlansXpress.

   

  Download the Top Tip.pdf

• Changing your Screen Layout

   

   

  How to change the way the Layout Explorer, Notes Picker and Instruction Window are displayed within PlansXpress®.

   

  Download the Top Tip.pdf

   

• Methods of Copying

   

  This topic describes the differences between using the customary copy and paste that is popular im most Windows programs and the 'Copy Selection' option on the Modify toolbar.

   

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• Setting your Drawing Area Background to Black

   

  How to change the background colour of your drawing to black and the impacts that that will have on your pen colours and drawing templates.

   

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• Changing the Orientation of a Door

   

  How to change the orientation of a door and a discussion of the different entity handles that you get when a door is selected.

   

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• Using X and Y Snap

   

  How to use the 'X' and 'Y' keys on your keyboard to lock the position that you are placing an item in the x-axis or y-axis.

   

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• Estimating Part of a Drawing

   

  How to make sure that only part of your drawing will be estimated when you import it into EstimatorXpress.  This feature will be particularly useful for anybody estimating for extension work where you are drawing the existing property and the proposed work.

   

  Download the Top Tip.pdf

• Adding Hatch Patterning to a Drawing

   

  If you ammend an elevation before hatching it (i.e. by manually adding detail to the drawing) you may not be able to use the Auto-hatching feature.  This tutorial gives you an alternative to hatching areas of your drawing.

   

  Download the Top Tip.pdf

• Creating a 3D visualisation of your Plans in VRML

   

  How to create a VRML file from PlansXpress that can be viewed by yourself or your clients using a VRML client.  This topic talks you though setting up the different textures or colours you can set to style the building.

   

  Download the Top Tip.pdf

• Creating a Detailed Section

   

  How to create a detailed section showing the ocnstruction of the foundations, ground floor, walls, first floor and roof.  This topic shows you how to take the supplied sections provided in the 'Non'Estimated Symbols' libraries and adapt then to suit your build.

   

  Download the Top Tip.pdf

• Creating Views to show selected Layers and zoomed areas of a Drawing

   

  How to set up different views within PlansXpress to save different settings within the 'Layers' dialog and different zoom settings on the current drawing.

   

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• Adding a new window into PlansXpress from EstimatorXpress

   

  How to create a new size of window that will be estimated on importing the drawing into EstimatorXpress and will be displayed in the Windows menu of PlansXpress.  This topic will also discuss how to create and link a symbol that will be used to display the window in elevation.  The same process can be used for adding doors to your library of objects in PlansXpress.

   

  Download the Top Tip.pdf

• Importing a PDF drawing

   

  How to get a PDF converted to a JPG and inset it into PlansXpress® for use with the Scan Pack.

   

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• Printing

   

  How to set up PlansXpress to print your plan correctly.  This topic discusses all the different settings required to print your plans including scaling, page margins and printing in colour or in monochrome.

   

  Download the Top Tip.pdf

• Adding Notes to your plan for Building Control Submission

   

  How to use the Notes Wizard in EstimatorXpress to produce detailed specification notes that can be imported into PlansXpress to help you prepare your plans for building regulation submissions.

   

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• Architectural Settings

   

  In this months Top Tip we will be looking at the Architectural Settings within PlansXpress®. The Architectural Settings allow you to change the appearance of walls in plan within your drawing.

   

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• Modify Non-Estimated Symbols and save the modified symbols to the Library

   

  This months PlansXpress® Top Tip shows you how you can take an existing Non-Estimated Symbol, modify it, and save it for future use. We are also going to add the symbol to the library of Non-Estimated Symbols so you can easily add it to your plans.

   

  Download the Top Tip.pdf 

• Printing Drawings from PlansXpress

   

  When printing plans from PlansXpress you can set up the layout and appearance of printouts using the Print Options and Print Setup tools which are located in the File menu...

   

  Download the Top Tip.pdf