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Create and edit drawing layouts

Tekla Structures
Modified: 22 Jul 2025
2025
Tekla Structures

Create and edit drawing layouts

Use Drawing layout editor to create new drawing layouts and edit existing ones. Working on the layout, you can add, modify, move, and remove tables, add and modify drawing sizes, and select if you want to see table names or hidden tables in the drawing layout. In Drawing layout editor, you can also add frames and fold marks in drawings.

Open Drawing layout editor

To access Drawing layout editor, do any of the following:

To access Drawing layout editor

Do this

Through the File menu in modeling mode or drawing mode

  • On the File menu, select Editors > Drawing layout editor.

Through a drawing properties dialog

  1. Click Layout.

  2. On the right side of the Layout list, click Edit.

Through the ribbon in the modeling mode

  • On the Drawings & reports tab, click Drawing properties > Drawing layout editor.

In an open drawing

Do any of the following:

  • Right-click an existing table set and select Open Layout editor.

  • Double-click an existing table set and select Drawing layout editor.

Through Quick Launch

  1. Type Drawing layout editor in the Quick Launch box.

  2. Select Drawing layout editor from the list.

Create a new drawing layout

  1. In Drawing layout editor, on the Layout editor ribbon, click Create layout.
  2. Name the new drawing layout and select the initial drawing size.

    The drawing layout name may contain a maximum of 63 characters.

    Note that you can apply the layout to additional drawing sizes later.

  3. Click Create.
  4. In the Layout editor side pane, select which drawing types the new layout applies to.
  5. Customize the drawing layout according to your needs.

    For example, add new tables to the layout, or create and modify the available drawing sizes. See detailed instructions below.

  6. To save the drawing layout, click Save as on the Layout editor ribbon.
  7. In the Save layout dialog, enter a name for the drawing layout in the Save layout with a name box.
  8. Select the drawing sizes to which you want to apply the current tables, drawing view margins, and spaces between drawing views.
  9. To ensure that the drawing sizes that you have created for the current drawing layout are also available for printing, select the Synchronize listed sizes with paper sizes for printing checkbox.

    If Tekla Structures detects new drawing sizes, a copy of the Papersizesfordrawings.dat file is created in the \attributes folder under the model folder.

    Note that the drawing sizes and paper sizes are only synchronized in the current model.

  10. Click Save.

The drawing layout is saved in the \attributes folder under the model folder as a .lay file. Note that the .lay files are not compatible with the Drawing layout tool or the Layout editor that were available in older versions of Tekla Structures. This means that you cannot use the new layout with older versions of Tekla Structures.

You can now continue working with drawing layouts or close the layout editing mode by clicking Close Layout editor.

DWG/DXF files and keyplans in layouts

DWG/DXF files
  • If the DWG/DXF file can be found under the current model folder, a relative path (current model/project/firm/env) will be used, otherwise absolute path is used. If you want to use a relative path, first copy the DWG/DXF file in your model folder and insert it from there. The path to your DWG/DXF file will then be defined with path ".\", which will in run time evaluate using same search order as other layout content.
  • DWG/DXF files cannot be rotated in the layout.
Keyplans
  • Keyplans need to be scaled in the original drawing.
  • Keyplans are shown in drawings even if the layout was created in a different language than what is used when the drawing containing the keyplan is opened.
  • You cannot insert multiple keyplans in one layout.
  • Keyplans cannot be rotated in the layout.

Add tables to a drawing layout

  1. In Drawing layout editor, in the Drawing size list, select a drawing size to which you want to add tables.

    You can apply the changes to multiple drawing sizes when you save the drawing layout.

  2. On the Layout editor ribbon, click Add tables.
  3. In the Available tables dialog, do any of the following:
    To Do this
    Add a table (.tpl)

    1. Select a table from the list of Available tables.

    2. Close the Available tables dialog.
    3. Click the point in the drawing layout where you want to add the table using the appropriate snap switches.

      The table is automatically anchored to the drawing view frame.

    4. If you want to change the table scale or rotation, select the table and type new Scale or Rotation values.

      Rotation and scale changes are applied to the drawing layout immediately. When you scale or rotate a table, the table remain anchored to the same position.

    Add a DWG or DXF file

    1. Select DWG/DXF from the list of Available tables.

    2. Browse to find and select the DWG/DXF file that you want to add to the drawing.

    3. Click Open.

    4. Close the Available tables dialog.
    5. Click the point in the drawing layout where you want to add the table using the appropriate snap switches.

      The DWG/DXF file is automatically anchored to the drawing view frame.

    Add a keyplan

    1. Select Keyplan from the list of Available tables.

    2. In the displayed Drawings dialog, select an existing keyplan drawing from the Available drawings list and click Select.

    3. Close the Available tables dialog.
    4. Click the point in the drawing layout where you want to add the table using the appropriate snap switches.

      The keyplan is automatically anchored to the drawing view frame.
  4. If you want to allow the table to overlap with a drawing view, select the Overlap with views checkbox.

    If you do not select the Overlap with views checkbox, Tekla Structures keeps the drawing views outside the tables area when it creates or recreates drawings. Note that overlap changes are applied to the drawing layout only during drawing recreation and creation.

Move tables in drawing layout

  1. On the Drawings & reports tab, click Drawing properties > Drawing layout editor.
  2. From the Drawing layout list, select the drawing layout.
  3. In the drawing layout, do either of the following:
    • To move one table, click the table that you want to move.
    • To move several tables, hold down the left mouse button and drag a box around the tables that you want to move.

    Two green handles appear.

    The handle that is further from the table determines where the table is anchored. The closer handle determines where one corner of the table is located.

  4. Do one of the following:
    • Click the table that you want to move, and hold down the left mouse button.
    • Pick one of the green handles, and hold down the left mouse button.
  5. Drag the tables to a new position.

    The tables snap to offsets of 1 millimeter in metric environments, or 1/16 inch in the US imperial environment.

    Tekla Structures shows the distance between the handles in both the vertical and the horizontal direction. The distance is shown in either millimeters or fractions of inches, depending on the environment that you are using.

  6. To place the tables, release the left mouse button.

The tables are moved to the new position.

Replace tables in drawing layout

  1. In an open drawing layout, right-click a table that you want to replace.
  2. In the context menu, select Replace table.
  3. Select a new table from the Replace table dialog and click Replace.
The table is replaced and the name of the new table is shown in the Tables in use list. All the settings that you had defined for the old table are preserved.

Remove tables from drawing layout

Do any of the following:
  • In the drawing layout, right-click a table and select Delete.
  • In the drawing layout, click a table and press Delete on the keyboard.
  • Select a table in the Tables in use list and press Delete on the keyboard.

Adjust drawing sizes, frames, and fold marks

Frames and fold marks can be customized individually for each drawing layout, or .lay file. However, the frame properties are initially read from the standard.fms file with global frame and fold mark properties. If you do not want to use the global frame and fold mark properties in a drawing layout, adjust the appropriate properties in the Drawing size settings dialog.

  1. In the Layout editor side pane, click the Edit button on the right side of the Drawing size list.
  2. In the Sizes in use section in the Drawing size settings dialog, edit the drawing sizes according to your needs:
    To Do this

    Add a new drawing size

    1. Click the plus button under the list of existing drawing sizes.

      A new line is added at the bottom of the list of drawing sizes.

    2. Either select a predefined drawing size from the list in the Name column, or type a name for the new drawing size.

      The predefined drawing sizes in the Name list are defined in the PaperSizesForDrawings.dat file. By default, the file is located in the ..\ProgramData\Trimble\Tekla Structures\<version>\environments\common\system folder folder.

    3. To adjust the width and height, double-click the Width and Height boxes and type new values.

      You can also right-click the size row, select Edit and type the width and height in the displayed dialog.

    4. If you want to allow Tekla Structures to use the drawing size when automatically selecting suitable drawing sizes for drawings, select the Autosize checkbox.

      For more information on autosizing, see Define drawing size and drawing view scale.

    Adjust the width and height of a drawing size

    1. Select the drawing size whose width and height you want to modify.

    2. Double-click the Width and Height boxes and type new values.

      You can also right-click the size row, select Edit, and define the width and height in the displayed dialog.

    Change page orientation

    1. Right-click the row of the drawing size whose orientation you want to change.

    2. Select Swap orientation.

      The width and height of the drawing size are swapped.

    Enable using the drawing size for automatic drawing sizes

    1. Select the drawing size that you want to use in autosizing.

    2. Select the Autosize checkbox.

    Delete a drawing size from the drawing layout

    • Click the remove button next to the drawing size that you want to delete.
  3. In the Frames section, adjust the frames:
    1. Select which frames you want to have in the drawing layout.

      We recommend that you use at least one frame in your drawings. If you want to use only one frame, select the Primary frame.

      If you want to use fold marks in your drawings, select both the Primary and the Secondary frames, and use the secondary frame as the outer frame.

    2. Type the distances in millimeters or inches between each frame and the left, right, bottom, and top edges of the paper, and select a color for each frame.

      You can also right-click the frame row, select Edit, and define the distances and the frame color in the displayed dialog.

  4. In the Foldmarks section, define the fold mark properties if you want to use fold marks in your drawing layouts. To be able to do this, both Primary and Secondary frames need to be enabled.
    1. Type the horizontal and vertical distances between fold marks in millimeters or inches starting from the lower right corner of the outer frame.
    2. Select a color for the fold marks.
  5. To save the settings and close the Drawing size settings dialog, click OK.

Adjust the position of drawing views

To adjust the position of drawing views, you need to have a drawing open.

  1. Scroll to see the Drawing views section of the Layout editor side pane.
  2. In the boxes under the Margins heading, type the horizontal and vertical distances between the outermost drawing view and the drawing edges or the table edges.

    Note that Tekla Structures automatically adds 5 millimeters to the distances that you type.

  3. In the boxes under the Spaces heading, type the horizontal and vertical spaces between drawing view frames.

Note that the Drawing views settings work together with the XS_DISABLE_VIEW_CENTERING_[drawing type] advanced options. By setting the values of these advanced options to VER, HOR, or both, you can disable automatically centering drawing views in horizontal, vertical, or both directions.

You can enable or disable centering of drawing views manually for all drawing types except for cast unit drawings. In cast unit drawings, centering of drawing views is always enabled.

Adjust the visibility of tables in the drawing layout

The drawing layout contains some information that you may not always need to see, because some tables are not relevant in all drawings that use the same drawing layout. These tables are called hidden tables. If the content of a drawing changes, these tables may appear again. For example, a table may become visible if you add a revision.

By default, hidden tables are shown as simple boxes that have a known width and a default height. In the image below, the upper table is a regular table, while the lower table is a hidden table.

If necessary, you can choose to hide hidden tables from the drawing layout completely.

Do any of the following:
To Do this
Hide or show hidden tables

  • In the Layout editor side pane, click next to Show hidden tables.

  • To show hidden tables again, click next to Show hidden tables.
Hide or show table names

  • In the Layout editor side pane, click next to Show table names.

    The table names are hidden.

  • To show hidden tables again, click next to Show table names.

    The table names are shown again.

Edit a drawing layout

Tip:

You can remove or rename drawing layouts in the file folder. Go to the \attributes sub-folder under the model folder, find the right .lay file, and remove or rename the file.

  1. On the Drawings & reports tab, click Drawing properties > Drawing layout editor.
  2. From the Drawing layout list, select the drawing layout that you want to edit.
  3. Edit the drawing layout according to your needs.

    For example, you can add, move or remove tables, or change the drawing sizes.

  4. To save the drawing layout, click Save as on the Layout editor ribbon.
  5. If you want to save the edited layout with another name, in the Save layout dialog, type a name in the Save layout with a name box.

    If you do not type a new name for the layout, the changes you made overwrite the existing layout (.lay) file.

  6. Select the drawing sizes to which you want to apply the current tables, drawing view margins, and spaces between drawing views.
  7. To ensure that the drawing sizes that you have created for the current drawing layout are also available for printing, select the Synchronize listed sizes with paper sizes for printing checkbox.

    If Tekla Structures detects new drawing sizes, a copy of the Papersizesfordrawings.dat file is created in the \attributes folder under the model folder.

    Note that the drawing sizes and paper sizes are only synchronized in the current model.

  8. Click Save.

The changes that you made are saved to the drawing layout (.lay) file. All drawings that use the edited layout are automatically updated to match the changes.

You can now continue working with drawing layouts or close the layout editing mode by clicking Close Layout editor.

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