Maybe this post should be simply to encourage Graphisoft to consider deeply the most productive work flow method of creating a typical Electrical, Mechanical or Structural drawing, but I’m proposing a solution below that might make itself useful for a variety of circumstances. And while my proposal is not altogether new, maybe it’s a new twist.
I know we’ve all developed workflow methods with the current software, but sometimes we forget that what we’re doing could be handled in a much richer and fluid way if the program simply worked differently. Please vote to address the issue and add your commentary about your needs. My thoughts are generally not fully cooked but here they are:
1) Provide unlimited “definable” and “nameable” pen sets. In effect, when choosing Options/Pens & Colors in AC one would be presented with a method of redefining and naming alternate pen setups for the 255 pens table.
2) Perhaps the setup names could appear in the Tools dialog boxes for selection by the user. Though I’m not sure what the benefit would be.
3) Mostly I see the setup names appearing in the Layers dialog box as a popup (value list if you will) where one could select it for use in connection with the Layer. This selection would be part of the whole Layer Combination option. For example to create an Electrical plan, one could select BasePenSet (named as such for explanatory reasons) as part of the Layer Combination and instantly your walls would appear completely differently. I’d prefer this over the ghost stories method as you would not be limited to single pen and you don’t need to create additional stories to get you there. In addition, I like to have the outer wall pen print a slightly darker gray than the fill it contains on my base drawings (which is why I want Pen Sets and not a simple Layer Pen).
4) Provide a Non-Print Toggle as part of the Layer options. This setting doing just what it says namely, it makes items of that layer visible on screen, but like a Hotspot, won’t print. I’d see the Non-Print option having a single user definable pen color similar to ghost stories (or maybe just use the ghost story pen). This Toggle also working in connection with the Layer Combination choices. This way one could have a preferred way of making a template/guide system and optional ways of viewing things.
5) In the Navigator and Quick Layers provide a toggle to hide/show items of the currently selected Layer Combination which are set to Non-Print.
6) PlotMaker would need to be revisited to handle Pen Sets. I prefer the Uniform Pens & Colors default to allow good AC screen visibility and have the PM settings fine tuned for plotting. So there is the need for All Pens & Colors to also have multiple Pen Sets (which override what AC gives it). At the same time, when a drawing is placed, it should map to the proper Pen Set name. Once one got it all organized, you’d never have to do all the Option or Alt Clicking stuff again and avoid accidentally forgetting or incorrectly setting a drawings pens.
