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#68248 by wonderer
Tue Feb 16, 2016 7:52 pm
Sorry if this is a total beginner ? but never got answered in class' I took, etc.

what do YOU do in preparing to draw in DataCad for demensions, room sizes, etc. Do you just do rough drawings on a pad? Noting dimensions, hights, etc
#68249 by MtnArch
Tue Feb 16, 2016 11:54 pm
One of the first things to do is invest time in setting up your default drawings, dimension settings, text settings, etc. This will also include setting up your default grid settings and plot settings, along with making sure you have all of the best productivity macros (free AND bought ... check out the Cheap Tricks Ware listings - worth every penny for the ones you'll use!). Peruse this forum for tips and tricks (save the original files just in case BEFORE you start toying with them!) - especially our Uber-Guru's website (Josh Huggins) and ANY post from James Horecka.

And one of the most useful tips is ... ask plenty of questions here! You will NOT find a nicer, more helpful bunch of users in ANY forum for ANY software than right here! And along the way you'll see that the chief programmer (and Easter Egg layer) Dave Giesselman and President of DC LLC, Mark Madura, pipe in quite regularly ... find THAT in most other mainstream software forums!
#68252 by Roger D
Wed Feb 17, 2016 9:14 am
I agree with Alan, get a good basic default drawing set up.
Go through each menu option thoroughly, setting anything you can.
I would use TextScale in both text and dimension menus, this way you set it once to the size you want it to plot no matter what scale you are at.
Also, you might put a few default items on a layer. Like text on a text or notes layer, then you can do an Identify Set All to quickly go to that layer and start entering text. Room Name layer would be another good one, since Room Names are generally a little larger than notes.
Get your typical symbols set up for Plan Titlles, Room Names, Door Symbols, etc. These can be made once at real size, and then placed with Symbol Scale on so they get automatically scaled to you current plotting scale.
#68277 by Ted B
Fri Feb 19, 2016 11:24 pm
When I used to be the Drafting Studio manager for a mid-sized architectural firm, if we had an unusual project-type that we hadn't tackled recently I'd take some 11x17" graph-paper and cartoon-out at half-scale (assuming your full-size plotted-sheet is 36x24" Arch=D) of the typical sheets the project might require; block out each major drawing elements' basic block-size (just a simple representative shape or rectangle), and what scale we'd need to draw it at. A good cartoon of a complicated (or simple) drawings set lets you have a feel for how many pages, what drawings or sections might be needed, etc.. We also used it sometimes to estimate the time/calendar man-days the project might require. It also can clarify in your mind what really needs to be documented, and what can be addressed with a simple note.

We had a short drafting cheat-sheet that outlined our text-sizes, which colors/thickness we used, and basic office standards. What fonts for each major type of label or notation, it's size and aspect, etc... Once you have the basics you can re-use it over and over.

Some important suggestions;
Remember that what on paper in the field is typically the only important thing.
- Be graphically-consistent.
- Continually update and improve your office drafting and style-standards, write them down.
- Lineweights (on the printed page) are your friend, be generous with them.
- Text needs to be large enough to be clearly legible, and use a clearly-read font.
- "Overshoot" helps a-lot reading the drawing once it's on paper.
- Paper is cheap, use more pages rather than over-crowding the drawing-sheet.

Frank Ching's Architectural Graphics is always a good place to start.
http://www.amazon.com/Architectural-Gra ... ncis+ching


All of the drawings that leave my office are inkjet-printed on 11x17" ...typically at 1/4"-scale, 1/8"-scale or 1/16"-scale ...and lettering at an appropriate size of 8" to 10" at 1/8"-scale in a hand-lettered Font. Basically an equivalent to 24x36" Arch-D hand-drawn reduced 50% to 11x17 Tabloid. In 15-years, I haven't had an AHJ complain in any of three states I practice-in. Usually they like the smaller size and easier-handling of 11x17" tabloid since it can be three-hole-punched and kept once-folded in a std. ring-binder notebook. . .rather than a huge 24"-long roll with rubber bands. And the savings in repro cost is amazing since 11x17" can be copied in-office or at Staples/Office Depot, etc... for 9 -- 18-cents a page, versus many dollars per page at the repro-house for engineering copies at 36x24".

I find that a "sufficiently-furry" Architect's font, generous overshoots and a steep-gradient of line-weights and linetype-spacings helps with in-the-field and homeowner/contractor legibility. A typical floor-plan drawing or building-section might have 5-different lineweights from 0.5mm or 0.7mm down to 0.08mm at 50%-density, and a number of linetypes and generous fine, hairline hatch-patterns. Recently, I've thinking of going to an even-steeper gradient of line-weights in the pen-table and bolder page graphics. . .maybe a taller/larger letter-height and font too.

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