Exercise: Using reference drawings

In this exercise you learn to use reference drawings in drawings.

With the reference drawing feature you can combine two or more drawings while still keeping the different drawings in separate files. The program will create a link from the parent (or master) drawing to the reference drawing. A reference drawing cannot be edited in the parent drawing. A reference drawing is automatically opened when the parent drawing is opened. Notice that a reference drawing is a separate drawing file and it must be found on the computer when opening the parent drawing. It is recommended to save the reference drawing in the same folder as the parent drawing.

  1. Start a new drawing by selecting File > New.
  2. Save file by selecting File > Save as.

First create a new layer where the reference drawing will be inserted.

  1. Open the layer dialog by selecting Home tab > Layers group > Layer dialog.
  2. Click the (Create new layer) button to add a new layer. Type the name AREF for the new layer and press Enter.
  3. Set the new layer as current layer by clicking the (Set to current layer) button.
  4. Close the dialog by clicking  OK.

Next attach a new reference drawing.

  1. In the External references window, click the button and select Add new reference.
  2. Select the drawing file to add as reference.

    3. A window opens where you can set various setting/properties for the reference drawing. Usually the default values are ok.

  3. Accept the default settings by clicking  OK.
  4. Close the reference drawing dialog by clicking Close.
  5. Now zoom that so you can see the whole drawing.

    6. Select Tools tab > View group > Zoom menu > Zoom extents.

    This function zooms the drawing so that all objects in the drawing are displayed.

You can set layers off in the reference drawing so that you see only the layer you need to draw your own design. Easiest way to do that is to use function that sets off layers of picked objects.

  1. On the Home tab, in the Layers group, click the (Turn off layer) button.
  2. Pick objects one by one using mouse. Pick objects that you don't want to see in the drawing.
  3. After you have picked all "unwanted" objects (and their layers are now off), end the function by pressing Esc.

This function can also be ended by clicking on a location where no objects can be found.

All layers of  reference drawings are listed in Layer dialog. You can set them on or off just like the layers of the parent drawing. The layer name of an reference drawing has always the name of the reference drawing as a prefix. The name is separated from the layer name with a character '|'. A layer named ARCHITECTURAL|CENTERLINE would therefore be a layer CENTERLINE in the reference drawing ARCHITECTURAL.

A reference drawing is handled in the parent drawing similarily as a symbol. That means that it can easily for example be selected and erased. That may not be a desired feature, that is why  it is recommended to create a layer for the reference drawing and lock it after inserting ther reference drawing on it.

Let's lock finally the layer AREF that we created for the reference drawing.

  1. Open the layer dialog by selecting Home tab > Layers group > Layer dialog.
  2. Set layer 0 as current layer by selecting it in the layer list and clicking the (Set to current layer) button.
  3. Lock the layer AREF by selecting it in the layer list and clicking the image\TasoLuk.gif button.
  4. Close the dialog by clicking OK.

Tip: If you want to display a dwg or dxf reference drawing with only one color, you can set the conversion file for the reference drawing. Select File > Settings > DWG and select for example the conversion file Thin9 (all lines are displayed using color 9). The conversion file for reference drawings does not change the colors in the reference drawing file - it is only displayed using this conversion.

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