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Pen sets should be linked to Views

alexliz
Participant
I have drawings which are supposed to be viewed and plotted with different Pen Sets. For instance, the main architectural plans use the standard ArchiCAD Pen Set (where for instance pen 6 is a light blue and pen 7 is a dark blue). Mechanical plans, however, are superimposed on the main architectural layers, using different pens (i.e. all mechanical elements are done in pens 198 and 199), and we then use another Pen Set which turns every pen _except_ 198 and 199 to a very pale shade of grey.

The annoying thing is that every time we need to print an architectural or a mechanical Saved View, we have to remember to switch to the appropriate Pen Set.

Bottom line: we need to be able to save the relevant Pen Set together with the Saved View, just like every Saved View remembers its Layer Combination, Scale, Model View Options etc.
Alex Zachopoulos

MacBook Pro 17" 2.4GHz, MacOS X 10.5.6, ArchiCAD 11 & 12, WinXP, Vista (well, not really Vista...)
21 REPLIES 21
alexliz
Participant
Maybe I need to explain a little better what the problem at hand is. Let's go from the top, shall we?

I have my main Pen Set, using which I do most of the bulk of my design/editing or the project. Things look good on-screen, with elements shown in different colors and pen thicknesses, all to my liking. I have even bothered to structure my Saved Views, so if I want to work on a particular plan, instead of first going to such and such a floor, then making sure the right layers are switched on, then making sure the plan scale is right, then also checking that the view options are appropriate (so that I see doors and windows, for instance, with or without their dimension details), all I have to do is double click on a View in the Navigator.

Now, consider this, if you would: I have been working like I describe above on the architectural plans, and then I need to edit my mechanical/services drawings, which comprise a set of special layers carrying all services elements, together with just a few basic layers of architectural interest (i.e. walls and columns only). Only, for clarity's sake, I need all the non-mechanical elements (i.e. walls and columns) to appear in a very pale shade of gray, so that the mechanical/services elements stand out. After all, this is the services drawings I'm working on, isn't it?

So, while still looking at my architectural Saved View, I double click on a services drawing's Saved View in the Navigator. Layers are switched on and off, according to the Saved View's settings. The scale, if different to the architectural plans' scale, is duly adjusted. View options kick in and make all doors and windows look just like plain holes in the walls, because this is all I want to see in the mechanical and services drawings. All is ready for me to carry on with my work. Or, is it?

No, it's not; I still have to go to the Document menu, chose Pen Sets... and then select the particular Pen Set which will show everything but the mechanical/services elements in pale gray.

The same will have to take place when I switch back to the architectural set again.

Bottom line: if the Pen Sets were saved together with the Saved Views, I wouldn't have to keep going to menus and changing Pen Set settings all the time. The Saved Views would take care of that for the life of the project. Of course, there would be the added benefit of this not having to be setup for the Layouts, either, so that would be one more automation for me.

I can't help but notice that a few of the people who have posted above feel strongly about being able to manipulate the Pen Set settings when putting together a Layout; this, they seem to declare, offers them a great deal of flexibility. There is nothing against this, and I certainly do not posit that such flexibility be taken away from the user. If you don't want to plot the Layout using the Pen Set which had been saved with the Saved View when that was created, all you have to do is go into the specific drawing's Settings, into the Properties pane, and for 'Pen Set:' select a different one. I hate to state the obvious, but... this is what all these people who post here are already doing! Eduardo Rolón (ejrolon) says: "...If I am printing a Layout then I want to check my Documents and there the Pens Sets are important...." ; Aussie John declares: "When in CAD view i want to see the colours of the pens so I can relate to them. Then print out without the colours." So they could continue working like they are; to them nothing will change. But to the user who wants to have this peace of mind and consistency while editing and designing within the main ArchiCAD framework, the suggested implementation will mean a great deal.

PS I feel I cannot explain any further my view on this matter. If you still don't see my point, I rest my case. Peace, guys!
Alex Zachopoulos

MacBook Pro 17" 2.4GHz, MacOS X 10.5.6, ArchiCAD 11 & 12, WinXP, Vista (well, not really Vista...)
Laszlo Nagy
Community Admin
Community Admin
I think Pen sets might be part of a View Set, but with one condition, and this condition we should be able to apply to other settings saved with Views:
There should be an options for each setting called "keep current", or something. This would mean that that setting has no effect in case of that View.
The Zoom setting works that way: you can specify the Zoom factor not to be saved with the View.
Similarly, you could have "keep current" for Scale. In this case, when applying the View, the scale would remain the same.
Ans so on for Model View settings, etc. even Pen Sets. this way everyone would be happy, because the setting would be saved with the View only when he, the user wanted.

If I recall correctly, in older versions (maybe 6.5 or so), this was possible, there used to be checkboxes and you could specify which settings are saved with the Quick Views.
Loving Archicad since 1995 - Find Archicad Tips at x.com/laszlonagy
AMD Ryzen9 5900X CPU, 64 GB RAM 3600 MHz, Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB, 500 GB NVMe SSD
2x28" (2560x1440), Windows 10 PRO ENG, Ac20-Ac27
alexliz
Participant
Laszlo,

Couldn't have said it better myself! I actually had in mind to add this to my last post, but I forgot to include it.

Thank you very much.
Alex Zachopoulos

MacBook Pro 17" 2.4GHz, MacOS X 10.5.6, ArchiCAD 11 & 12, WinXP, Vista (well, not really Vista...)
Geoff Briggs
Mentor
Alex, I don't disagree with you. I was only trying to explain why Graphisoft did not include this feature. I know for a fact they did indeed consider both sides of this argument. Most people do not consider views to be precisely faithful to the final published output. In this case you do and of course you're free to argue your position.

As for the option to exclude selected settings from a view definition, I too have thought about this. There are plenty of times I would have liked this for working views but it would almost necessitate an error that would disallow such a view from being placed as a drawing.
Regards,
Geoff Briggs
I & I Design, Seattle, USA
AC7-27, M1 Mac, OS 14.x
Laszlo Nagy
Community Admin
Community Admin
Geoff, I see your point.
When a View is only by itself, "keep current" is a good feature.
But when a View becomes the source of a Drawing, then the Drawing must have a series of settings to be based on, and in that case the "keep current" setting can mix things up big time. Or not? I am wondering if that would really be a problem, since it would be up to the user to decide whether he wants to take a setting into consideration or not when generating the content of a Drawing from a View.
Loving Archicad since 1995 - Find Archicad Tips at x.com/laszlonagy
AMD Ryzen9 5900X CPU, 64 GB RAM 3600 MHz, Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB, 500 GB NVMe SSD
2x28" (2560x1440), Windows 10 PRO ENG, Ac20-Ac27
alexliz
Participant
Geoff/Laszlo,

When you talk about 'almost necessitating an error' and 'messing things big time', are you talking from the standpoint of ArchiCAD code programmers? Or from that of the end user? If you mean the latter, then I would disagree.

I sense, though, that you mean the former, in which case I am left a little stumped: can we concede defeat to a programming hurdle and leave matters at that? If it's not working out in a particular way, then programmers can surely find another way to implement something which (even my opponents here have agreed to an extent) has merit in at least some circumstances.
Alex Zachopoulos

MacBook Pro 17" 2.4GHz, MacOS X 10.5.6, ArchiCAD 11 & 12, WinXP, Vista (well, not really Vista...)
Laszlo Nagy
Community Admin
Community Admin
I was referring to the user side.
I meant that in Drawing the user would need to really look at his Drawing to make sure it contains what he intends for it, especially when printing/plotting.
Loving Archicad since 1995 - Find Archicad Tips at x.com/laszlonagy
AMD Ryzen9 5900X CPU, 64 GB RAM 3600 MHz, Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB, 500 GB NVMe SSD
2x28" (2560x1440), Windows 10 PRO ENG, Ac20-Ac27
__archiben
Booster
i haven't been following this topic very closely . . . so forgive me if this has been mentioned:

i would like my pensets linked to views. no messing around on the layout. but i can see the disadvantages. maybe a view should have a model penset and layout environment penset attached to it?

thinking further...

what if the pensets themselves were able to change automatically when in particular environments? so: penset 'A' has a model and layout definition attached to it. depending on the environment you're working in, the pens change themselves?

of course, having solved that there is always the scale issue . . .

as i said, i haven't been following this one too closely so i may be right off target . . .

cheers!
~/archiben
b e n f r o s t
b f [a t ] p l a n b a r c h i t e c t u r e [d o t] n z
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Anonymous
Not applicable
I just did some redlining on structural PDF's and I would have liked the ability to link a pen set to a view. Most of the time I have one working pen set and like the fact that a different set can be given to a drawing in the layout book. If pen sets were tied to view it would be necessary to be able to control the pen set for the layout book and for all other drawing/modeling windows. In other words we would need to be able to assign at least two different pen sets to a view - output and working.
alexliz
Participant
I hadn't thought about Ben Frost's proposition. You seem to be turning the whole thing on its head. I think it would work, but you are making the working Environment a Pen Set attribute rather than Pen Sets an attribute of Saved Views. From a conventional end user's level of database schema, I think this tends to be a little removed.

I would prefer Mike Hann's approach. Perhaps it could be that in the New Saved View dialog you get two Pen Set fields: one for how things will look when modelling, and another one (perhaps grayed out when a checkbox for 'Use different Pen Set for Plotting/Printing' is left empty) for outputting purposes. This way, everyone is happy. Those users wanting different colors and pen thicknesses for modelling and outputting get what they need, and one can rest assured that if someone at some point drags a Saved View onto a Layout, it will automatically take care of its pens without human intervention, thus eliminating waste of time and paper.
Alex Zachopoulos

MacBook Pro 17" 2.4GHz, MacOS X 10.5.6, ArchiCAD 11 & 12, WinXP, Vista (well, not really Vista...)