Detailing | Better methods of 2d drafting, creation of Blocks , Detail Elements , 2d Objects

[markmcmillan]

Hi All,

I suspect there is already a inbuilt tool to do what I'm asking for here and I'm making an $%# of myself.

What the best workflow for repeating 2d elements? 

I used AutoCAD for around seven years at the start of my career before moving to Revit and then Archicad, which I have now used for some time.

We have been creating our own objects for common repeating elements; generally static 2D Objects (window profiles etc. and making use of the GDL fragment2 command), and using CI Detail Elements. 

I see a lot of users just grouping lines and fill together instead of creating objects for repetitive 2d elements which is a shame. 

To me, this has always seemed like a poor substitute for AutoCAD Blocks. One of the major benefits of AutoCAD blocks is the ability to double-click any detail element, edit it in place, and have it updated throughout the project similar to sketch-up components.

I can see a very simple built-in solution that could be implemented in Archicad without imposing on anyone's intellectual property/protracted development. This would be adding a native Archicad 2D Detail Object that just displays a Profile in 2d(needs a drop down to select the right profile in the main palette, could have scale base view setting).

The Profile Manager could be used to create and display a drafted 2D object(you could even select if the object is beam, column,railing, object, 2d element etc). Hotspots could be added using the existing modifier framework, allowing detail elements to be stretched or adjusted where required.

For users, this would be a significant win and would allow standard detailing components to be maintained and updated quickly and consistently across projects.

The ability to centralize attributes is, I believe, already on the ArchiCAD development roadmap? Central Innovation had told us that was planned for V30 which I cant see in the Beta.

Would it be possible to test something like this? Is there already a object /tool in place that can display a profile on a worksheet / detail view in 2d?

[Jaime-airc_digital]

Following up on my previous comment, I wanted to share a deeper look into a specific feature of the ADI - Symbol Tool I have been working on and that I haven’t seen natively available anywhere else in Archicad.

To @Karoly Horvath's point, developing a purely 2D tool in 2026 would be a missed opportunity. This tool bridges the gap by pulling live BIM data from the Profile Manager to automate the repetitive parts of detailing and documentation in both 2D and 3D simultaneously.

Because the object reads live Complex Profiles, it can automatically extract the data from every single skin in your profile and generate fully formatted, interactive legends.

As you can see in the attached screenshot, the tool handles:

• Automated Component tags: It generates different types of leader types and indexed heads mapped directly to the individual skins of the profile.
  
  
• Live Data Tables: It automatically pulls skin Building material ID, Name, Description, manufacturer and thicknesses into a customisable table/legend.
  
  
• 2D & 3D representations: The same styling, numbering, and table formatting is generated in both the 2D plan and the 3D window.
  

It takes the concept of an AutoCAD block but injects it with Archicad's parametric intelligence, saving massive amounts of time on repetitive detail annotation.

If anyone is interested in testing the tool, you can check the demo version at: https://airc.digital/projects/001-symbol-tool/

I'd love to hear how the community thinks this compares to traditional CAD detailing workflows!