Lynn Wilhelm

That’s an interesting idea, Meg.
I also like to count/edit manually for totals. A red marker really helps. The weird thing for me is that I can no longer print larger than 11 x 17 at my office. I’ve outsourced to FedEx. It just takes getting used to printing smaller–or maybe in sections. (I do save paper and ink!) I always have a “draft” layout…[Read more]

Hi Rick,
While I agree with you about well labelled plans for field use (and for presentations–well pretty much all the time) I can really appreciate individual plant symbols. Even when reading a plan in the field, identifiable plant symbols are really helpful. It’s really easy to determine what goes where, with only one glance at the label for a…[Read more]

Andrew, I colored some of my symbols using a gradient fill. I put it on a separate layer to turn on when I want the color. I was pleased to see I can put them on my palette and still get the off layer into the dwg. With the layer on, the color doesn’t go to the back on the palettes–it shows up in dwg as saved, but not on the…[Read more]

There really are many ways to do things in AutoCad. I’ve gotten so many ideas from all of you, thanks to everyone who responded. I’ve created my schedule using a table in AC. I won’t be using a separate spreadsheet for now. I also won’t be using symbols with attributes because I still use so many that aren’t assigned to certain plants species or…[Read more]

By the way, it won’t make your cell smaller if you make the symbol smaller. Just seems to enlarge the cell.

Yep, or just use the ribbon–did I ever mention I like the ribbon. Choose the cell, in the ribbon you’ll see an insert menu and click “block”. The insert block dialogue box opens. The fit options in 2010 are auto-fit or you can specify a scale value. So, if you want to keep the symbols the same size–to fit into the cell, use auto-fit. Or if you…[Read more]

Great, Thomas. I’m working on my table right now and this is perfect. I was wondering how to do that without moving the symbols up and down.
I assume the cell is formatted for a block?

Thomas, what’s the point of using “insert block”. Why not just use set them up in a tool palette or just copy and paste from the model (maybe you put your table in paper space, then copy isn’t any easier).

The only advantage to using insert block I can see is that you’ll get a list of only the blocks used in the dwg (if you keep it purged) –is…[Read more]

I don’t think they are using Excel to create a separate list. They simply paste the spreadsheet page onto the dwg. Someone said they do it in paper space, I don’t know if all do, though.
I still think they have to copy and paste or somehow change a main template of the schedule to make it conform to each plan. Same as the way you do it in AC.

On…[Read more]

Wow, this is cool, Andrew. Let me see if I get this: Your main symbols are created on the 0 layer, but you also add detail and color to them on other layers. Maybe like “shrub color”, “shrub detail” or “shrub shadow”. So is the block saved on the 0 layer?

I’ve never really done color in AC, but now I’ve discovered gradients and other things and…[Read more]

As far as using the plans in the field, labelled plans are the way to go. I think it’s really a pain to have to continuously refer to a schedule on site to figure out what plant goes where. I don’t like plans that have cryptic labels pointing to plants.
The only reason I’ve found plant schedules helpful is in bidding a plan or shopping for…[Read more]

This is exactly what I’d like to aim for, James. Can you provide more info on creating smart blocks?
I know you do this in block editor.
Does it give you enough flexibility? What if you use a plant you never used before? Do you create a new symbol or just adjust an existing one? Or can you just add the new info into the table (effectively NOT…[Read more]

I do love the tool palettes. Took some time to set them up with my reference files, but it’s great.
I like your system. Never thought of routinely scaling up the symbols. I just have various sizes smshrub1, shrub1, lgshrub3, vlgshrub, etc. Just tweak a little when I need to.

I have a few symbols I always like to use for the same plant, the blocks…[Read more]

I knew you’d say that, Andrew.
I do the same thing you do with color to determine lineweights. But I don’t work with my symbols/blocks as carefully as you do.
I’ve created (revised) them with colors already set to determine lineweight. I will sometimes explode them if I change the size enough–and reset the color if I want.

I have plant (for…[Read more]

Did you know you can import data directly into an AC table from excel? I haven’t done it much, but it does the same thing that you mention.
That way one could get the symbols in.

Here’s mine: http://www.lindenlandscapedesign.com/its-so-much-more-than-grass/
It’s focused mostly on horticultural topics, some design concepts and plants. It’s a reference that I hope my clients use.

I’ll check out all the new ones on here.
Lynn

Tables are super easy to set up in AutoCad now. It’s simple to add and delete columns and rows. You might want to transfer to that so you can more easily edit your table. I like how you put the common and bot names in the same box. I think I’ll do that, it also gives more space for the symbols. I use a font that won’t print in italics, so I have…[Read more]

So you can choose an area of the model and count only the blocks there? Didn’t know that, just thought it did the entire model. I’ll try it.
One day maybe I’ll be able to try LandFX, but not right now.

Thanks Henry. I’m trying to do something no cost right now. I like what I’ve seen with LandFX–there was a great webinar series a while back about it. Thanks for responding so quickly.

Maybe others have lisps they like, or macros or something else to add on. Or maybe just a new way I haven’t thought of yet.

Thanks Andrew. I’ve never tried blowing up paper space. It did take a little time to get used to the difference in scale in and out of a viewport. I created a text and leader style just for layout when I need to put something in paper space. Don’t use it much, but it’s good to have.

Annotative texts have been my difficulty. Every time I think…[Read more]