#document setup

Steps to take when creating a completely new file in VectorWorks (before you've made any templates).

Creating a new VectorWorks file

To create a completely new file, go to File > New… In the dialog that follows, choose the Create blank document option. Once you (or your workplace) have developed a set of customized templates suited for your work, you may well choose one of the templates from the Use document template pop-down, but for now, this is the way to go.

Setting your Document Settings

Assuming you have started a completely blank file, your first step is to set the Document Settings. Choose the third option in its submenu – Document Setup… – because it is a good "one stop shop" for carrying out all we need to do at this stage.

Set Drawing Units, Layer Scale and Drawing Area

In the dialog that appears, you'll focus on three elements: Drawing Units, Layer Scale, and Drawing Area. The current settings are stated next to each one. To change each setting, click on the Change… button aligned with it. Click, to begin with, on the one for Drawing Units…

Set your preferred Units

Here's where you set the units you'd like displayed in the file. In North America – since most building materials are geared towards imperial sizes – it's best to set the Length units most of the time to Feet & Inches, changing it to Meters just before presentation, later, if necessary) – but leave the Area units set at Square Meters. Note that you can change this at any time – VectorWorks will convert all dimensions from the old units to the new automatically. I also recommend changing the Rounding Precision, from the default Fraction precision of 1/8" to 1/4" (builders hate it when designers state dimensions at a precision of 1/8" – unless you're designing the next Space Shuttle.)

Setting the Dimension Objects (Secondary) [Optional]

The units we set above were under the default, General Display tab. In effect, you were setting the file's "Primary" Dimension units. If you anticipate wanting to display some or all dimensions in dual (Imperial + Metric) format, however, click on the tab Dual Dimensions. Note: in versions prior to v.2010, the tabs are slightly different: General Display, Dimension Objects (Primary) and Dimension Objects (Secondary). Your setting here determines the secondary units in cases where you explicitly ask to dimension something with both (see next step for an example). For the sake of illustration, choose Millimeters for this purpose.

How to reveal the Secondary Dimensions units

Secondary Dimensions appear in brackets when a dimension is set to display in a Dual mode of some sort (e.g., ASME Dual Stacked, ASME Dual Side-by-Side – or a dual method of your own choosing), as shown here. ASME – in case you're wondering – is short for American Society of Mechanical Engineers, who have their own defined standards for dimensioning.

Setting the Layer Scale

In VectorWorks, each Design Layer has its own individual scale at which it presents (and prints) objects. Layer Scale (Change button #2 in Document Setup mentioned above) is where you set this. The default layer scale in a new file is 1:1, but you can change it to one of the preset scales, either Metric or Imperial – or, if what you want is not in the list (e.g. 1:250), simply type in the required number (e.g., 250) in the text box (2). By default, the Scale Text option is turned on (which is usually a good thing, because otherwise any text on the layer will not be resized as a result of changing the layer scale). However, the All Layers option is off by default – VectorWorks leaves it to you to decide if you want all Design Layers to be set to the same Layer Scale. If at any time you need to change the Layer Scale of all or even most Design Layers to a specific scale, it's a good idea to tick this option. Note: Layer Scale refers only to Design Layers – the layers where we do the actual design work. Sheet Layers – which are strictly for presentation purposes and which we'll come across later – are always set at 1:1, and remain so, because the scale of objects shown on them is handled by Viewports. More of which later.

Setting the Drawing Area

Click Change button #3 in the Document Setup dialog is to change the Drawing Area. This takes you to the Page Setup dialog. In a blank file, the default Drawing Area – i.e., printing area – is Letter size (8.5" x 11") – which is why, under Pages on the lefthand side of the dialog it will say "1" in the Horizontal and Vertical textboxes. However, you can change the drawing area to something larger by ticking the option Choose size unavailable in printer setup, on the righthand side of the dialog [1] This gives you access to the Size pop-down just below it. For an 36" x 24" drawing area, choose the option ArchD – simply choose it from the same pop-down menu. The final thing to do is to make sure that Show page boundary is turned on, but Show page breaks is OFF. Show page boundary will show you the boundaries of the printed area, which clearly good to know. But Show page breaks will divide your drawing area into Letter-size "tiles", showing you how the drawing would be printed out in sections on a Letter-size printer if you printed it as is. That's very distracting, so make sure this option is off. Click OK when you're done.

Save as template…

Having to set up Units, Drawing Area, Layer Scale, etc. every time one starts a new file gets tiresome after a while. So VectorWorks – like many other programs – offers the means to create templates, which preserve certain settings whenever you create a new file, so you don't have to do them. Templates can be very intricate, including favourite symbols, hatches, gradients and other resources – for now, we'll make do with this very basic setup, and improve on it in future.

Give it a meaningful name.

By default, VectorWorks calls any new template "Default" – but over time you'll develop various templates, for different scales, drawing sizes, etc., so it's best to save it under a meaningful name that gives hint of its settings. So if it's using Ft & Inches as the primary dimension unit and mm for dual dimensioning, ArchD drawing area, at a starting layer scale of 1:50, you might call it ArchD-FtInches[mm]-50. NOTE: By default, templates also get saved to a Templates folder, within a folder called Defaults, in the Libraries folder of VectorWorks 2010, etc. in the general Application Support folder. We can define a different folder for this purpose, but we'll cover this at another time.

Use it next time you need a new file.

New versions of VectorWorks are created each year, but the fundamental workflow process of using the application remains the same since the introduction of viewports in v. 10 (2002). Understanding this workflow is key to understanding where each tool and menu item fits within the bigger picture, and to efficient production.

The C.A.D. "Whale"

Dealing with an app of the depth and complexity of VectorWorks Architect can be daunting to new users, and even veteran users who may not have a chance to get acquainted with its many features might not appreciate the process by which the software should be used for maximum effect. To this end, I have created a flowchart of the typical workflow in terms of the processes involved. Although this wasn't intentional, the end result looks somewhat like a whale, hence its name. The point is, the workflow is cyclical and iterative: at certain critical points, the workflow one typically loops back to an earlier stage, and the final drawing file, when stripped of all its content in the drawing area but retaining all its resources (e.g. symbols, hatches, textures, Record Formats, etc.) can be reused as a template for future use, reducing the amount of setup needed in future projects. To better understand the workflow, it is best broken down into discrete stages:

Stage 1: Setting up

Stage 2: Creating Design Layers

Stage 3: Drawing

Stage 4: Space Layout

Stage 5: Building Shell Content

Stage 6: Presentation