Knowledge detail

How do I make use of layer filters?

Q: How do I make use of layer filters?

A: Follow these steps to create a new layer filter:

1. Enter a name for the layer filter, such as TEST.
2. Set up the layer filtering condition you want. For example, choose “Yellow” in the color item.
3. Finally, click the Add button, and then click Close.

In the Layer Properties Manager dialog box, choose TEST, and ZWCAD filters all layers that are set to yellow.

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Knowledge detail

Can I turn dynamic prompt off?

Q: There is always text near the cursor showing the prompts of the current command. Can I turn it off?

A: This prompt is called the “dynamic prompt,” and it indicates the current function you are using. Because it is near the cursor, it can be quite useful. In some cases, you may not want it there. You can turn it off by entering the following command:

Command: dynmode   (Press Enter.)

New value for DYNMODE: 0   (Press Enter.)

Once it is off, you can turn it on again by setting dynmode = 1

Alternatively, you can turn it on and off by clicking the DYN button on the status bar (at the bottom of interface), as illustrated below:

Knowledge detail

Convert .plt files to DWG

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 Question: I have a lot of .plt (HPGL plotter) files. I would like to convert them to .dwg files in ZWCAD. Is there a function available to do that?
Answer: First of all, you need to make sure that the .plt files were created with a printer, plotter, or program that output the drawing in HPGL Standard format. For instance, they were plotted by the Generic SHPGL plotter or Generic LHPGL plotter driver in AutoCAD. To convert them, use PLT2DWG command.

Knowledge detail

Isolate a layer

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Q: There are many layers in my drawings. Is it possible for me to isolate just one of them?
A: Just input the LayIso command, and you are prompted for the name of the layer to isolate. (The other layers are not displayed.) If you want to return the layers to their normal state of visibility, enter the LayUniso command.

Knowledge detail

Remove duplicate entities

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Q: My drawings have a number of duplicated entities. I find them  annoying. How can I delete them?
A: There is a function that removes duplicate entities, and here are two ways access it. You can enter DelDupl at the command line and then delete the duplicate entities; or, you can access the command from the menu: Choose Express, Draw, and then Delete Duplicate Circles/Arcs/Lines.

Knowledge detail

Add revision clouds to a drawing

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Q: I cannot figure out how to add revision clouds to my drawings. How can I do that?
A: You can enter the RevCloud command, which runs the revision cloud function at the command prompt. (Alternatively, you can access it from the Express menu: choose Draw and then Revision Cloud.)

Knowledge detail

Align text along arc

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Question: I want to draw a small label in the drawing, but I want to align it along an arc. How can I do this?
Answer: In ZWCAD, you can use the Arctext function from Express tools. From the Express menu, choose Text and then choose Arc-Aligned Text. Place the label aligned with an arc.

Knowledge detail

Layer properties Manager

Q: Why do some options of Layer Properties Manager seem to not work?

A: As shown by the figure below, the “Freeze in current viewpoint” and “Freeze new viewpoints” are dimmed out and seem to not work. This occurs when the drawing is in Model space; the options are available only in Paper space.

Ÿ Freeze in current viewport

freezes the selected layer in current layout viewport. You can freeze or thaw the layer in the current viewport of a layout without affecting visibility of the layer in other viewports. (Note that you must activate a viewport before freezing the layer: double-click the viewport to get into model mode.) Frozen layers are invisible and unable to regenerate or plot; you restore visibility through thawing the layer. This option is only available on layouts.

Ÿ Freeze in new viewports

freezes selected layers in newly-created viewports of layouts. This option is only available on layouts.

Knowledge detail

Entities missing from plots

Q: Why are some entities are missing in my plotted output?

A: If you find some entities missing from the printout, first check the Layer Properties Manager to see whether some layers have plot turned off.

 Note that objects on the DEFPOINTS layer will never be allowed to print, because this layer is by default a non-printing layer,because it is used to store information used by ZWCAD for dimensions.

A known problem is that some portions may go missing when drawings are printed to large paper sizes, such as A0 (metric) and E (imperial).

If this does not solve the problem, then it may be due to a problem with the drawing. Feel free to send the drawing to tech@zwcad.com for further investigation.

Figure: If the layer is not allowed to plot, then the objects on this layer are not be printed.

Knowledge detail

Insufficient memory when printing

Q: Why does the “Memory is not enough” error message appear when I print drawings? How can I fix it?

A: The problem may be due to the configuration of your hardware and software. Usually, printing requires large amounts of memory, especially when printing large, high-quality images. The error message typically appears on PCs with small amounts of memory (RAM). To avoid the problem, close programs that are not necessary. In addition, consider adding more RAM to the computer, or even to the printer, if it takes additional RAM.

Knowledge detail

Printing/plotting occurs slowly

Q: Why is the printing very slow?

A: Generally speaking, the printing/plotting function works well in ZWCAD. But the speed may be affected by factors like using the printer over the network, printing large images, or the configurations of the computer.
An alternative is to plot drawings as PLT files, and then plot them on another computer to a HPGL-compatible devices using Batch Plot function.

Knowledge detail

Rendered images

Q: How do I plot rendered entities as images?

A: Follow these steps to render drawings in plots:
    1. Use the Render command to shade-render the entities in your 3D drawings.
    2. From the View menu, choose Render, and then Preferences.
    3. In the Render Settings dialog box, choose the Rendering tab.
    4. You can save the rendered image as a JPG file by clicking the Save Last Image button.
    5. Finally, you can plot the image.

Knowledge detail

Plots with hidden lines removed

 Q: Does ZWCAD support hidden-line removal plots?

A: ZWCAD supports hidden-line removal in plots. To plot 3D drawings with hidden entities removed, you should turn on the Hidden Plot option in the Plot dialog box. 

Knowledge detail

About raster output

Q: How do I add more types of raster output?

A: ZWCAD supports many kinds of raster output, and you can add them through the Add-A-Plotter wizard. Additional raster formats may be available from the Internet; we have found that most of them work well with ZWCAD.

Knowledge detail

Use STB files for printing with ZWCAD

Q: How do I use STB files when printing with ZWCAD?

A: Plot tables come in two flavors. One is the traditional color-based plot table (CTB), the other is the newer style-based plot table (STB). A drawing file can use only one type of plot table, color-based or style-based.  At present, ZWCAD supports CTB files but not STB files.

Plot styles are property that can be assigned to objects and layers in STB-flavored drawing files. When set to ByLayer, objects inherit the plot style property from layers, just as they do with colors, linetypes, and lineweight.

(In AutoCAD, the PStylePolicy system variable specifies the plot style (STB or CTB) to be assigned to new drawings. The PStyleMode system variable reports the current drawing’s plot style: 1 indicates CTB, while 0 indicates STB. The ConvertPStyle command changes the type of plot style.) Since ZWCAD does not support STB, the commands mentioned in the above paragraph are not available for now. If you come across drawings that require STB files, you might be able to use the ConvertCTB command to change STB files to CTB files, and then open them in ZWCAD.

Knowledge detail

Customizing print styles

Q: How do I customize print styles?

A: You can modify Plot Style tables in ZWCAD. In the latest update to the program, you can modify many item of Style Properties as shown below, such as grayscale, linetype, and fill style.

 You can also save the changes by another CTB (color-based plot table) file name stored in your computer.

Knowledge detail

Modifying the CTB file path

Q: How can I modify the path to the CTB files?

A: Follow these steps:

      1. From ZWCAD’s Tools menu, choose Options.
      2. In the Config dialog box, select the Files tab.
      3. Open the Printer Support File Path node, and then you can modify Plot Style Table Search Path. See the figure below.

Knowledge detail

Customizing paper sizes

 Q；How do I set customized paper sizes?

A: When you need to print drawings to different sizes of paper, you can find many different paper sizes in the Paper dropdown list of the Plot command’s dialog box, as illustrated below.

You can also customize some additional paper sizes using the following methods.

• If the plotter was added through a driver in Windows, you can customize the paper sizes as follows:

                      1.   Click the Properties button.

                       2.   Click Customize Properties. Here you can find options, including those for paper sizing. 

If you used the Add-A-Plotter wizard to add a plotter, you can customize the paper size by choosing the Customize Paper Sizes option, and then click the Add button.

 

Knowledge detail

Adding plotters to ZWCAD

Q: How do I add a plotter\printer or raster output?

A: There are two ways to install a plotter’s driver. The first method is to install the regular printer driver directly, which you can find from the Internet or accompanying the printer. This is just like adding a new printer in Windows.
The other method is to use ZWCAD’s utility tool named “Add-A-Plotter Wizard”, with which you can add drivers for printer or raster output.

Knowledge detail

Text show up as “???”

Q: After I worked through the solutions provided above, I find that text in my drawings still show up as “???”. Why is this?

A: Pay close attention to the font path: C:\Program Files\ZWCAD 2009 Eng\Fonts. In some cases, another folder named Font is created in this folder. If so, copy all of the font files from the Font folder to the C:\Program Files\ZWCAD 2009 Eng\Fonts folder.