Creating new Drawing Layouts
Environment
United States (Imperial)
United States (Metric)
Drawing Layouts
To produce finalized drawings, you usually need to include a lot of other information, such as lists and tables, for example. You also need to specify the paper size, scale, and perhaps the types of frames you want to use. This is what the layout is all about.
Layout
A layout connects a set of table layouts and a set of drawing sizes. Before you create a drawing, you must select a layout. Tekla Structures then selects the smallest defined drawing size, which will fit the drawing views and the connected table layout. This tells Tekla Structures which elements to include in your drawings automatically.
Tables and drawing sizes
A layout defines which drawing tables to include and sets the rules for increasing the drawing size. Each layout has its own:
• Table layouts
• Fixed drawing sizes
• Calculated drawing sizes
To define layouts, go to Drawings & Reports > Drawing Properties > Drawing Layout... in the Model Editor. Tekla Structures displays the Layout dialog box. For more information, see Working with tables.
Tekla Structures includes several predefined layouts, which are connected to drawing types. Each drawing type, assembly, single-part, cast-unit, general arrangement, and multi-drawing, has its layout. You can also define your own layouts.
Example
Using different layouts you can set assembly drawings to use A1 and A3 size drawing sheets, and single-part drawings to use A3 and A4 sheets. You can also use layouts to include a material list in assembly drawings, and not in general arrangement drawings.
Using layouts
To use layouts in drawings, open the drawing properties dialog box. Click Layout... and select an option in the Layout list box.
Saved layouts
Tekla Structures saves the new layouts in separate files with the file name extension .lay. These files are located in the model’s attributes folder, and they can be copied to other projects.
Table layouts
Tables and templates
In Tekla Structures, we use the term tables to refer to various elements of the drawing layout, such as:
• Tables (e.g., revision table)
• Title blocks
• Lists (e.g., part and bolt lists)
• General notes
• Key plans
• DWG/DXF files
Tables include information on drawing objects. If you change the model, Tekla Structures updates the contents of the affected drawings and tables.
Table layout
A table layout is a group of tables which appear together in a drawing of specified type and size. Table layouts define:
• Which tables will appear.
• Where the tables are located.
• How much space Tekla Structures leaves between the drawing frame and views
The example below illustrates the relationship between the table layout and drawing views. The drawing views are blue, and the elements of the table layout are red.
Image
Drawing views and sizes
Table layouts only define the background, not the number or location of the drawing views to include. You can use the same table layout with different drawing sizes, or give each drawing size its table layout.
For example, if the number of views changes in a drawing and Tekla Structures chooses a new drawing size, Tekla Structures may also select another table layout.
Defining margins and spaces in drawings
Table layouts define the margins between the drawing views and the frame, and the space between two drawing views.
The width or height define this margin from the outermost drawing views to the drawing frame. A space, on the other hand, is comprised of the horizontal or vertical distance between two drawing views.
Use the Table Layouts dialog box to define margins and spaces for table layouts:
1. In the Model Editor, click Drawings & Reports > Drawing Properties > Drawing Layout...
2. Select a layout and click Table layout...
3. Select the table layout on the list. To create a new table layout, enter its name and click Add.
4. Enter margins and spaces.
5. Click Update.
6. Repeat step 3–5 for each table layout.
7. Click Apply or OK on the Table Layouts and the Layout windows.
Image
Working with tables
Use the Tables dialog box to work with tables and define table layouts:
To open the Tables dialog box:
1. In the Model Editor, click Drawings & Reports > Drawing Properties > Drawing Layout...
2. Select a layout and click Table layout...
3. Select the table layout and click Tables...
To define a table layout for drawings:
• Select the tables you want to include.
• Define the location of each table in the table layout.
• Set the scale and transparency of each table.
• Define the distances between the tables.
Image
Selecting tables to be included in the table layout
To select the tables to include in a table layout:
1. Open the Tables dialog box (Drawings & Reports > Drawing Settings > Drawing Layout > Table Layout > Tables...).
2. On the Available tables list, double-click each table you want to include in the table layout. You can also use the arrow buttons to add and remove tables.
3. Set the table properties as required. See Defining the location of tables in the table layout and Setting table scales and transparency.
4. Click Update.
5. Click Apply or OK.
Defining the location of tables in the table layout
You set the location of each table in a table layout by either binding it to the drawing frame, or to another table.
Example
In the illustration below, the lower right corner of the title block (the table) is bound to the lower right corner of the drawing frame (the reference object).
Image
To define the location of tables in a table layout:
1. Open the Tables dialog box (Drawings & Reports > Drawing Settings > Drawing Layout > Table Layout > Tables...).
2. Open the Tables dialog box.
3. Select a table from the Chosen tables list.
4. Choose one of the table corners as its reference point, and select the checkbox in that corner.
5. In the Reference list box, select the reference object (i.e., another table or the drawing frame).
6. Choose the reference point of the reference object, and select the checkbox in the appropriate corner.
7. In the Vector between corners fields, define the horizontal and vertical distances of the table from the reference object.
8. Click Update.
9. Repeat steps 2–7 for all the tables on the Chosen tables list.
10. Click Apply or OK to save the table layout.
Two reference points
You can also position a table to the midpoint of a frame or table boundary by selecting two reference points, for example, the lower left and right corners.
Defining distances between tables
By default, Tekla Structures places tables side by side. If you need a space between tables, you can specify a vector between the table reference point and the binding object reference point. Use the X and Y fields to enter the distances.
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Setting table scales and transparency
Scale
You can scale tables created with the Template Editor and DWG/DXF files to different sizes. Each table and DWG/DXF file in a table layout can have its own scale. The values you enter determine the size of the scaled object relative to the original.
Transparency
You can also define whether tables in drawings are transparent or not. A transparent table can overlap with another table, view, or a drawing object. For example, if you use DWG/DXF drawing frames, you should make them transparent. Otherwise, you will not be able to locate any other objects inside the frames.
To make a table transparent, select the Transparent checkbox in the Tables dialog box.
Replacing a table with another one
Changing tables
When you delete a table from a table layout and replace it with a new one, you will need to define the location of the new table relative to the remaining tables. The new table does not automatically inherit the location of the deleted table. See Defining the location of tables in the table layout.
Checking references