Selection Master

alignViews

Video Example Click the icon for a Video Example (requires internet connection)

alignViews is a tool that accurately aligns viewports and places legends on multiple sheets to give your documents a professional look.

Selecting Viewports on a Sheet

To begin using the alignViews add-in, your first step is to open a sheet with viewports containing Plans or Legends (Sections, Elevations, and 3D views can also be selected).  If you would like to select multiple Legend views on a sheet, your best option is to pre-select all of the legends before clicking on the alignViews icon.  If you have no applicable pre-selected viewports, you will be asked to select a viewport on the active sheet.

Choosing Sheets for Alignment

Now that you have selected a viewport (or multiple legends), you will see a list of sheets that have similar views on them.  The add-in assumes you only wish to align with views that are of the same scale.  In the case of Legends, you will only be able to align Legends with the exact same view name

Keep in mind that, as long as the drawing scale is the same, you can also align Floor Plans, RCPs and Area Plans to the exact same location on multiple sheets.  The only requirement is that you initially place these plans on a sheet so that you can then see them on the list of sheets.

When aligning viewports on a sheet you may discover that a title block has been moved after the initial placement (obviously when you create sheets they default to the 0, 0 location).  The beauty of alignViews is it anticipates this title block placement issue and adjusts accordingly to ensure the viewports are aligned perfectly on the sheet.

Working with Legend Views

You may notice when selecting Legends that you have the option to [Place legend on sheet].  This is a bonus feature because legends can be placed on multiple sheets.  You have the option to place (and automatically align) legends on sheets that do not currently contain them.  Knowing this ahead of time allows you to save the task of legend placement until the end when you have created multiple sheets that require the exact same legends placed on them.

A less obvious feature of the sheet view list dialog is the ability to sort by clicking the column heading.  With legend views, you will notice every sheet in your project allows you to place the legend.  Knowing this list can get excessively long, if you just click on the Action column header it will allow you to see all of the “Align legend on sheet” actions on top.  You can always click on the Sheet column header to sort by Sheet number again.

Experimental View Types

Currently there are view types such as Elevations, Sections, and 3D views that have been labeled as experimental and should be used with some caution. Because of differences in the origin system of these views, they only seem to work when the crop box alignment is exactly the same.  

The key to making sure these views align properly is to duplicate the views and not adjust the crop region significantly.  These view types are probably less likely need alignment but we thought there was still enough value that it was worth allowing this option.  Please feel free to use alignViews on these view types, but you may want to verify the alignment afterward.

 

Previous Page Next Topic