• Control of Drawing Attributes in PlotMaker

To have more control on the placed drawing we have extended the function of the Drawing/Image Settings Dialog, so that you can reach all the related settings of the selected drawing or image from one place.

The Drawing Settings dialog contains the following fields:

• Identification

• Frame & Output Color

• Title
• Attributes Update Rules
• Attributes

The fifth panel, Attributes, contains settings for the drawing's pens, layers and scales. Whether you can edit these settings for the selected drawing depends on the "Update Rules" as set in the previous panel: Attributes Update Rules.

Attributes Update Rules determine whether updating and modifying certain parameters of placed drawings are allowed. The settings in this panel (referring to the selected drawing only) can override the global settings applied to the entire Layout Book in the Drawing Attributes tab page of the Preferences menu.

When importing drawings into PlotMaker, a link is created between the imported drawing and its source file. You can update the imported drawing at any time to reflect changes in the source file.

Note: By default, drawing attributes are not editable in PlotMaker, only in the source file. Thus, PlotMaker dialog boxes affecting these attributes are marked View Only and the OK buttons are inactive.

Hint: However, you have the option to reset these update rules for Layers, Layer Combinations, Pens and Colors, and Scale attributes, and to edit them in Drawing Settings, independently of their status in the source file. To edit these attributes in PlotMaker, go to the Drawing Attributes panel in Preferences and uncheck the desired attributes. These unchecked attributes will now be editable in PlotMaker and stored with the placed drawings.

Another checkbox in Preferences > Drawing Attributes determines which color table the imported drawings will use when you edit them in Drawing Settings: if you check Uniform Pens & Colors for Drawings and Book, all drawings in the Layout Book will use a single pen color table. If you leave it unchecked, imported drawings will access their own pen color tables.

CategoryLayouting