Import tab

The Import tab of the document editor contains the following tools.

2D Sticker

In CADMATIC, a 2D sticker is a group of one or more 2D drafting objects that are stored in the library or the project database, in Document Production > 2D Stickers.

You can import a 2D sticker and manage the members of the object set as individual drafting objects.

Import tab | Export objects in a set as 2D sticker

Import 2D sticker

You can import a 2D sticker from the application database.

Do the following:

  1. Select 2D Sticker > Import 2D sticker. The Select 2D Sticker dialog opens, listing the stickers in the application database.

  2. Select the sticker to import and click OK.

  3. Pick a target location for the sticker.

Export objects in a set as 2D sticker

You can export a set of drafting objects as a 2D sticker that is stored in the application database.

Do the following:

  1. Select 2D Sticker > Export objects in a set as 2D sticker.

  2. Pick the objects to include in the set and press Enter.

  3. Pick a base point for the sticker. The Database for the 2D Sticker dialog opens.

  4. Select whether to store the sticker in the project database or the library database and click OK. The Edit Object Attributes dialog opens.

  5. Enter a descriptive name for the sticker, select the application where to use the sticker, and click OK.

Drawing

You can import a 2D drawing from an external file, rescale the drawing, and move the drawing to its designated place.

Import | Rescale | Move | Delete

Import

You can import a 2D drawing from these file types: DWG, DWT, DWF, DWFx, DXF, and DGN.

The imported entities are assigned to an import group whose group type is "DXF", and the import group can be selected if you use the rescale, move, or delete command.

All blocks in DWG files are exploded, and all entities that are not directly compatible with CADMATIC entities are exploded into simpler entities.

Prerequisites

Do the following:

  1. On the Import tab, select Drawing > Import. The 2D Import Settings dialog opens.

  2. Define the import settings:

    • File – Click Select and select the file to import.

    • Layout – This field lists the layouts that contain some entities. Select the layout that contains the entities to be imported.

    • Name – Enter a unique name for the import group.

    • Scale – Define the scale of the drawing by entering a specific scaling factor. Scaling factor 1 imports the drawing using its original dimensions. The initial scale depends on the sheet size; the tool scales the imported sheet so that it fits into the drawing area.

      Use autoscale – If you select this option, the scaling value is ignored and the program applies a reasonable default size to the drawing.

      Note: If the sheet is very large but the imported entities are near the origin, the imported drawing might appear very small and near the lower-left corner.

      Tip: You can also rescale the drawing after the import.

    • Layer – Click Select to select the default target layer for the imported entities.

      Try to map layers from import by name – If you select this option, entities whose layer can be found from CADMATIC are automatically mapped, and those that cannot be mapped based on layer name are assigned to the default target layer.

    • Use annotation property defaults – Select this option if you want the imported entities to use annotation property defaults, and then click Select to select the annotation property defaults to be used.

  3. Click OK. The drawing is imported and a preview image is shown. You can change the scale of the drawing with the Set scale (I) command.

  4. Move the drawing to the intended location, and click or press Space to accept the location.

Rescale

Select Drawing > Rescale to change the scale of an imported drawing. You are prompted to select the import group, define the base point, and define the new scaling value.

Move

Select Drawing > Move to move an imported drawing. You are prompted to select the import group, define the base point, and define the target point for the move. You can move the drawing as many times as needed, and then press Enter to accept the final location.

Delete

Select Drawing > Delete to delete an imported drawing. You are prompted to select the import group to be deleted.

Reference Drawing

A reference drawing is a 2D drawing that is imported from an external file, attached to a work view, drawing view or diagram, and then used as a visual aid by placing 3D design objects, 2D diagram symbols, or 2D annotations on top of the drawing. The format of the imported file can be DWG, DWT, DWF, DWFx, DXF, or DGN, and the files should be stored in a shared folder that is accessible to everybody in the project. The reference drawing can be scaled to the correct size and moved to the appropriate location, and there are various options for changing, for example, the weight and the color of the lines, without affecting the original drawing. If the original drawing is edited, the reference drawing can be updated by reloading the drawing file. If the reference drawing is not needed anymore, it can be hidden from the view or completely removed.

You can use the Manage Reference Drawings dialog to manage the reference drawings of the active view. For each imported drawing, you can see their name, status, visibility, file name, file modification date, file path, file size, and scale. The Status column indicates if the imported drawing still matches the original file, or if the drawing is not linked to the original file.

Add | Remove | Reload | Change path | Edit | Move | Rescale | Rotate | Mirror | Properties | Visible

Add

You can import one reference drawing at a time and place the drawing in the active view.

Prerequisites

  • To import the entities to the same layer where they are in the import file, Layer configuration must contain the required layers.

Do the following:

  1. On the Import tab, click Reference Drawings. The Manage Reference Drawings dialog opens, listing the previously imported reference drawings.

  2. To import a new drawing, click Add. The Reference Drawing Import Settings dialog opens.

  3. Define the settings for file import:

    • File – Click Select and select the file to import.

    • Include copy and break connection to original – Select this option if you do not want the imported drawing to be linked to the file on the disk. If you do this, and then the original drawing is modified, you cannot update the imported drawing from the file.

    • Layout – This field lists the layouts that contain some entities. Select the layout that contains the entities to be imported.

    • Name – Enter a name for the reference drawing. The names do not need to be unique: you can import the same file with the same name multiple times, if needed.

    • Scale – Define the scale of the reference drawing by entering a specific scaling factor. Scaling factor 1 imports the reference drawing using its original dimensions.

      Use autoscale – If you select this option, the scaling value is ignored and the program applies a reasonable default size to the drawing.

      Tip: You can also rescale the reference drawing after the import.

    • Layer – Click Select to select the default target layer for the imported entities.

      Try to map layers from import by name – If you select this option, entities whose layer can be found from CADMATIC are automatically mapped, and those that cannot be mapped based on layer name are assigned to the default target layer.

  4. Define the settings for the reference drawing:

    • Fixed lineweight – You can select to use the same lineweight for all imported entities, instead of using the lineweights of the import file. This fixed lineweight can be the lineweight of the layer or a lineweight you select from the list.

    • Fixed color – You can select to use a fixed line color instead of the colors used in the import file. This can be the color of the layer or a color you select from the color picker.

    • Define Custom Area – Select this to import a smaller area instead of the whole drawing. You are prompted to define the area to be imported by picking two corner points.

    • Control Layer Visibility – Select this to define from which layers to import entities.

  5. Click OK. The drawing is imported and a preview image is shown. You can change the scale of the reference drawing with the Set scale (I) command.

  6. Move the reference drawing to the intended location, and click or press Space to accept the location.

    The imported drawing is listed in the Manage Reference Drawings dialog.

Remove

You can select a reference drawing and click Remove to remove a reference drawing that is no longer needed. This does not delete the original drawing file from the disk.

Reload

You can select a reference drawing and click Reload to re-import the drawing with the current import settings. You can do this, for example, if the Status column displays "Outdated", indicating that the file has been changed on the disk.

The button is disabled if the imported drawing is not linked to the original file.

See also Updating drawing views, reference drawings, and imported tables.

Change path

You can select a reference drawing and click Change Path to re-select the import file from the file system. You can do this, for example, if the file has been moved away from its original location.

The button is disabled if the imported drawing is not linked to the original file.

Edit

You can select a reference drawing and click Edit to edit the original drawing in the file on the disk, using the application associated with the given file type, such as CADMATIC Viewer/2D Symbol Editor.

The button is disabled if the imported drawing is not linked to the original file.

Move

You can select a visible reference drawing and click Move to move the drawing to a different location. You are prompted to define the base point and the target point for the move. You can move the drawing as many times as needed, and then press Enter to accept the final location.

Rescale

You can select a visible reference drawing and click Rescale to change the scale of the drawing. You are prompted to define the base point and the new scaling value.

Rotate

You can select a visible reference drawing and click Rotate to rotate the reference drawing around a point you pick from the drawing. The Rotate Objects dialog opens for defining the amount of rotation to be applied.

Mirror

You can select a visible reference drawing and click Mirror to mirror the reference drawing across a mirror line that you define by picking two points from the drawing.

Properties

You can select a reference drawing and click Properties to change the options that were used when importing the drawing. Changing these settings prompts you to reload the drawing.

The button is disabled if the imported drawing is not linked to the original file.

Visible

You can select an imported drawing and clear the Visible option to hide the drawing in the view it is assigned to, both in the application and in exported drawings.

Image

You can import an image from an external file, rescale the image, and move the image to its designated place.

Import | Rescale | Move | Delete

Import

You can import an image from these file types: BMP (.bpm), JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg), PNG (.png) and TIFF (.tif, .tiff).

Do the following:

  1. Select Image > Import. The Select an image to import dialog opens.

  2. Select the file to import and click Open.

  3. You can move the image by clicking (or pressing Space) near the highlighted lower-left corner and then clicking again to accept the new location.

  4. You can rescale the image with the Rescale (I) context-menu command.

  5. Press Enter to accept the imported image.

  6. Press Enter again if you want to import another image.

Rescale

Select Image > Rescale to rescale imported images. You are prompted to select the images, define the base point, and define the new scaling value.

Move

Select Image > Move to move imported imaged. You are prompted to select the images, define the base point, and define the target point for the move. You can move the images as many times as needed, and then press Enter to accept the final location.

Delete

Select Image > Delete to delete imported images. You are prompted to select the images to be deleted, and then you can press Enter to delete the images.

Table

Tables are special drafting objects that can be imported from a Microsoft Excel file. They can also be copy–pasted from a third-party application. The look of a table is defined in the Table Style that the table is using; Table Styles are defined in the Drawing Styles configuration object. If the table is very large, you can split the table during import into several smaller tables that are still managed as a single table entity, or you can choose to import just a particular range of cells. Imported tables remain linked to the original source file, which allows the contents of a table to be updated if the source file is modified after the import.

Opening a document that contains outdated tables displays the View and Table Status dialog where you can update the contents from the source files. You can also open the dialog from Home > Drawing > Settings > Check View and Table Status.

Import table

You can import a table from a Microsoft Excel file.

Prerequisites

  • Table style for formatting the table.

Do the following:

  1. On the Import tab, in the Settings group, select whether to import to the active page or to a specific view on the page.

  2. On the Import tab, in the Import & Export group, click Table. The Import Table dialog opens.

  3. Define the import settings:

    • Table style – Select the table style to use. (You can change the style from the table properties after the import.)

    • Layer – Select the layer to which to import the table. (You can change the layer from the table properties after the import.)

      The layer assignment can influence the colors of the table if the table style configuration adopts any of its colors from the layer. If the document is exported with layers included, the layer assignment dictates which layer the table will use in the exported document.

    • Excel file – Select the file to import.

    • Sheet – If the file contains more than one sheet, select the sheet that contains the data to be imported.

    • Area – Select whether to import the whole sheet or a range of cells. You can specify the range manually or pick the cells from the Excel file.

    • Date format – If the table contains date values, select how you want the dates to be displayed after the import.

    • Row height, Column width – Select whether to import row height and column width from the Excel file or use fixed values. (You can change these values from the table properties after the import.)

    • Special rows

      • Select Title row if you want the first imported row to be formatted as a title row.

      • Select Header row if you want the first row (if not using a title row) or the second row (if using a title row) to be formatted as a header row.

      If you allow a large table to be split into smaller tables, the title and header rows are repeated in each additional table.

    • Max rows – Specify how many rows to import (including title and header rows) before splitting the remaining data into a separate table.

      Split direction – Select whether the splitting should place the additional tables on the left side or the right side of the first table.

  4. Click OK. The table is imported and it is attached to the cursor.

  5. Move the table to its intended position—you can change the base point from the context menu—and pick the insertion point.

Modify tables

You can use most of the modification tools in the Modify group on tables. For example, you can use Drafting > Modify > Edit to select a table object and display its control points, as shown below.

  • You can start moving the table by clicking the control point in the corner or by selecting Move Table (M) from the context menu.

  • You can start resizing the table by clicking a control point on the side of the table.

  • You can access the table properties by selecting Properties (I) from the context menu. In the properties, you can change the layer, the table style, row height, and column width.

  • You can resize a cell by clicking the cell and dragging its control points.

Import Blocks

You can import blocks from a DWG or DXF file. After selecting the file, the Import Block(s) To 2D Symbol dialog opens for selecting what to import from the file.

Drafting Script

The Drafting Script button opens a dialog for running a custom script (.mac) that performs actions in the current drafting context. For an example, see Drafting Script Example.

You can run normal Plant Modeller scripts from the Tools tab, as described in Script.

Import to

In the Import to drop-down list, select whether to import to the active page or to a specific view on the page.

You can change the active page from the Home tab (see Change Page) or from the context menu.