Freeze drawings

You can select whether to allow Tekla Structures to update all associative objects (marks, notes, dimensions) on top of the drawing views. The geometry of the model is always updated, but you can use the Freeze command in Document manager to stop the drawing intelligence (associativity) of drawing objects, and prevent them from being updated. For example, parts are updated, but dimensions, marks, views, and drawing shapes are not.

Use freezing only to avoid changes in drawings while updates are made in the model, not just for noting that the drawing has been edited. You can freeze/unfreeze several drawings at a time. You should be careful when using freezing, and after changes in the model, go through the drawings to see if marks and dimensions are placed correctly.

How freezing affects drawings

Freezing affects drawings in the following way:

The associativity does not disappear from a frozen drawing. When you unfreeze the drawing, the associativity works again.
Freezing does not have any effect on the cloning result. If you edit the drawing, it does not matter whether you freeze the drawing before or after editing it.
If a drawing is frozen, the associative drawing objects are not updated when the drawing is updated. This means that the dimensions and views are not updated, and the marks do not follow the parts if the parts have been moved.
If a drawing is frozen, and the part changes in the model, the geometry of the part is updated in the frozen drawing when the drawing is updated.
Unfreezing the drawing before cloning does not have any effect on the cloning result. This means, for example, that it does not matter whether you keep the drawing frozen all the time or temporarily unfreeze it before cloning.
If you unfreeze a drawing before update, the drawing is updated normally.

Freeze general arrangement drawings

In Document manager, select the drawing you want to freeze.
Ensure that the edit switch is active.
Click the Freeze column next to the drawing you selected.

You can also select the Freeze command from the context menu, or click the Freeze button at the top. When you do this, you can freeze several drawings at a time.
When freezing is no longer necessary, select the frozen drawings and click the Freeze column again, or click the unfreeze button at the top.

Freeze single-part, cast unit and assembly drawings

Save the model.
Open a drawing.
If the drawing does not look the way you want, close it without saving it.
Reopen the model. Do not save it.
In the Document manager, select the drawing you want to freeze.
Ensure that the edit switch is active.
Click the Freeze column next to the drawing you selected.

You can also select the Freeze command from the context menu, or click the Freeze button at the top. You can also freeze several drawings at a time.
Open the drawing.
When freezing is no longer necessary, select the frozen drawing and click the Freeze column again, or click the unfreeze button at the top.

Difference between freezing and locking

Freeze prevents unwanted changes in associative objects on top of the drawing views. The changes in model affect drawings, and building objects such as parts and bolts are always updated in drawings. Freezing prevents changes in dimensions, marks, and view properties when building objects in model are changed.

When you Lock a drawing it does not prevent other than manual changes in the drawing. If there are changes in the model, they affect the drawings all the same even if you have locked it. Locking is used to notify other people and yourself that the drawing should not be opened, edited or deleted and it also stops people from doing this by accident. You can open locked drawings, but you need to manually unlocked first.