Load a Reference Drawing

Read or add a reference drawing into a drawing either from the archive or by file name from a folder. Define the drafting properties of the reference drawing and the visibility of the layers in the dialog box.

We do not recommend using drawing of a model as a reference drawing.

The reference drawing can be a Vertex 2D Drawing, a DWG or a DXF file.

  1. Do either of the following:
    • Select Drawing | Tools | Reference Drawings > Reference Drawing.
    • Drawing tree - Select Reference Drawings, and select the context-sensitive Add Reference Drawing.
  2. Define data in the Read Reference Drawing dialog box.
    • Select the reference drawing from the archives by selecting Read from the archive.
    • Select the description of the reference drawing.
    • Freeze the reference drawing if you do want to update it when opening the drawing.
    • Select the drafting properties of the reference drawing.
    • Select the visibility of the reference drawing layers.
  3. Select OK.
  4. Click the position of the reference drawing.

Dialog Box Options

File
You can open the reference drawing from a folder by file name. When you click the button, the Windows Open File dialog box will be displayed.
You can select the reference drawing from the drawing archives, if you select Search from the archives. You can select the drawing from the archive by clicking the button.
Reference drawing description
You can enter the name of a reference drawing. The name makes it easier to identify the reference drawing when you view the properties of reference drawings added to a drawing.
Select location
Click a position for the reference drawing in the drawing window. Before clicking the position, you can mirror or rotate the reference drawing, or change the scale of the reference drawing by using the functions in the auxiliary menu.
When the check box is empty, the reference drawing will be located so that the absolute origins of the drawings meet.
Use reference color
Add the reference drawing drawn with reference colors.
When the check box is empty, the reference drawing is drawn with true colors.
Layer of reference drawing
You can select the layer, in which the elements of the reference drawing will be drafted. By selecting Default layer option, the elements of the reference drawing will remain on the original layers in the drawing.
The default option selected in the field is defined in the setup file user/SETUP with the keyword set.refpicleveldefault.on.
Freeze reference drawing
When you open the drawing including the frozen reference drawing, the reference drawing will not be updated, even if the original drawing would have changed. If you move a frozen reference drawing, it will not be updated.
Visible layers
Select either of the following:
  • All Layers - All the layers of the reference drawing are visible.
  • Selected Layers - Select the visible layers by clicking Layer Selection. Select the visible layers in the dialog box.
Layers Dialog Box
Discard images
Dismiss rasters from the reference drawing.

Faster opening of a reference drawing.

The geometry of a reference drawing can be maintained in a drawing, which enables reference drawings to be opened faster. When saving, the geometry of the reference drawing is left in the drawing. The geometry of the reference drawing will not be read again, unless the date of the file changes.

Define the keyword check_refdwg_date= 1 in the user/SETUP file.