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.