Topic Title

For some reason my Clip It macro is not working as it always has in the past. Typically in my Key Plan I will hatch the tenant space with ansi31 or the like. I make sure that Search Hatch is toggled on in the Object Snap menu and ther use Clip It to remove the hatching that is underneath my label.....for example Proposed Space..... Clip It is not doing this anymore. Have I missed a toogle or something?

The hatching isn't associative is it? Clip it won't cut out associative hatching. If it is you will need to explode the hatching or rehatch as non-associative.

The only other thing I can think of is are you set to the hatching layer? Doesn't Clip It need to be on the layer of the entities it is clipping?

Since voids have been possible on associative hatching I have not used Clip It much. I would hatch the area using associative hatching then draw a polyline rectangle around the text and then make it a void of the hatching.

Tony

That's it! I had the hatching set to associative. Re-did as you suggested and bingo!

Thanks for you help

Hello Guy,

Rather than use non-associative hatching and clipping it, it would be better to edit the polyline of the associative hatch -- which would look the same, but uses only one entity instead of umpteen lines. I can't remember tha last time I used non-associative hatching -- maybe in version 6?

I want to place text within a hatch pattern and then remove the hatching from just around the text in a rectangular or round shape.

What I am doing now is rubber banding a box around a text label and Clip It removes just the hatching defined by the rubber banded box. The text remains.

Is there a better way of doing this? Neil I guess I am not quite sure of how to do it using your method.

Neil is referring to the second method I mentioned. You use associative hatching which is essentially a polyline. You then draw a rectangular polyline around your text. The go to polyline voids, select add void and click on the hatching to select your master polyline. Then select your retangular polyline around your text. It will cut the hatching just like your clipit on non-associative hatching.

Hello,

The Voids method is one way to go, using associative hatch, but there is another way. This way will export to DWG; while the voids will not. Here's the method of placing the hatch polyline (with the outline turned off):

I call it the "amoeba" method.

Funny how one does something for such a long time without realizing there is a much better way. Associative Hatching.

Neil- Now that's what I call "thinking outside the box". Great way of doing it!

Thanks so much for your help and great ideas guys!

If your text is labelling that is used regularly in drawing you could , like I do, make a symbol of the text with a rectangular SBP fill as a background over the hatch pattern. This has the same effect.

Regards
Bruce.

If one has an area already hatched and wants to have the "clipped" area as was described by Neil, that clipped area is really easy to get. Simply add vertices to the existing hatch area until it is cleaned out. After Neil pointed me toward the use of associative hatching, I don't know that I've ever used non-associative again.
I have lots of changes made to my typical plans as they progress through governmental user/agencies and the associative hatching is just so nice to have since it easily updates right along with the plan.
Thanks Neil.

Hello,

Here's a Cheap Trick for using Contour search to do the same thing -- Bill Huther won the "best of the year" for this method a couple of years back:

The "trick" is to draw a temporary, non-printing line (the magenta lines in this case) to "connect" all the areas that you want to hatch around to the outside of the area -- and then Contour Search will do the whole area in one click!

Please note, I am showing the hatch outline so that it can be seen -- normally, you want to turn it off, so you can't see it.

Of course, I had to explode the window and door symbols for this to work, but there are workarounds for this, like nesting the window/door in a non-printing outline so when you explode it, only the outline becomes lines. The window/door stays as a symbol.

Shouldn't contour search fill as Neil has shown, without the additional lines?

Hello,

The Voids method is one way to go, using associative hatch, but there is another way. This way will export to DWG; while the voids will not.

Voids in Associative hatch do export to DWG and import back as voids in DataCAD.

Greetings Bruce,

Shouldn't contour search fill as Neil has shown, without the additional lines?

No, the Contour Search has to "follow" the edge of the area, so if you do not have the connecting lines, then it would hatch in the whole area, over the windows and door in this case.

The choice is yours: do it manually, or add the lines and then use Contour Search, or hatch the whole area and add Voids. Three perfectly good ways of using associative hatch in irregular areas.

I'm glad to hear that voids do export to DWG! That certainly improves the advantages of the voids method.

Thank Neil,
When I hatch I find myself putting these line in to make contour search find the edges. I just though it would be nice if I didn't have to do it and that contour search would search for the inner edges as well as the outer edges. ( maybe this could be implemented by way of a switch on the side menu) I guess it depends on the project and style of finished drawing. Just my thoughts.

Many thanks.