Drawing 2D Library is located in the Tekla Structures side pane. It is available when a drawing is open.

1. Open a drawing.
2. Open the Drawing 2D Library by clicking the Drawing 2D Library button in the side pane.

   

3. Click the Folder button to check the contents of the various folders:
   • Current model shows the details in the \Drawing Details folder under the current model folder. Your details are saved here, and here you can also create new subfolders. This folder may be empty if you have not created any details or used details in other folders.
   • Project and Firm show the details in the subfolder \Drawing Details under the project and firm folders if you have defined paths to these folders as values for the advanced options XS_PROJECT and XS_FIRM, respectively.
   • System shows the details in the subfolder \Drawing Details in any of the folders defined as a value for the advanced option XS_SYSTEM.
   • Browse... allows you to browse to any folder for details.
   • When you use details in project, firm, system or any other folder than \Drawing Details in the current model folder, the details are copied to the current model folder.
   • When you update a detail with new or changed objects, all instances of the detail in any drawings in the current model will be updated as well. If you are fetching the detail that you update from the firm folder, the detail will not change in the firm folder. Global changes can only be done by the administrators of the firm, project and system folders.
   • If the administrator updates a detail in the firm, project or system folder, any already inserted detail instances will not get automatically updated in any project. To do this, you would need to manually copy the updated detail file and replace what's in the model folder.
   • New folder allows you to create a new folder in the current model folder in the subfolder \Drawing Details.
   • Any subfolders in any of the folders are shown next to the details in the selected folder in Drawing 2D Library view. Double-click the subfolder to see the included details.

     

4. Search for details by entering a search term in the search box at the top of Drawing 2D Library.
   Tekla Structures shows the matching details in the view. Details are only searched in the currently displayed folder and its subfolders.

In 2D Library, you can add details located in the system, project, firm or current model folder to any of your drawings.

1. Open a drawing.
2. Click the Drawing 2D Library button in the side pane to open Drawing 2D Library.
   To browse to another folder for details, click the Folder button , and select Current model, System, Project or Firm. You can also browse further to other folders by selecting Browse...
3. If you always want to insert a detail inside a view when necessary, click the Options button and select Create view if needed.

   Details created within their own views are automatically created as fixed views.

   You may want to create a view for the detail if you place it outside drawing views. The new view will use the currently applied view properties and get the same scale as the inserted detail. If the Create view if needed option is not selected, the inserted detail does not get a view of its own, and dimensioning will not work properly in the detail.

   By default the standard view properties are used. You can also create a new view properties file to be used for detail views. This will let you have a specific view label in detail views, for example. You can select the new properties file, or any of the existing view properties files, on the Options menu . The selected view properties file settings will be applied to every 2D detail container view.

   

4. Click a detail and then click the drawing view or drawing to place the detail.

   Tekla Structures inserts the detail. The detail is inserted as a plug-in, which means that the detail objects are grouped and stay together when you select or move the detail in a drawing.

   Press Esc to interrupt picking insertion points.

   You can also pick a secondary reference point for rotation. To do this, right-click the detail in the Drawing 2D Library and enable Add secondary reference point. When you insert the detail, Tekla Structures asks you to give 2 input points. The secondary reference point will determine the direction of the detail.

You can create new details in the current model folder or its subfolders.

1. In an open drawing, add the objects that will shape your detail.

   In the example below, the detail represents a beam-to-beam connection. The detail contains texts, circles, lines, polylines, and symbols that have been added on top of a drawing and surrounded by a frame.

   

2. Click the Drawing 2D Library button in the side pane to open Drawing 2D Library.
3. To include grids in the detail, in the Options menu, select Include grids.
4. Select the objects that you want to include in the detail.

   

5. Add the detail in Drawing 2D Library:
   1. If you have subfolders in the current model folder, double-click the subfolder in Drawing 2D Library view where you want to save the new detail.

      You can create a detail even when the current model folder is not selected. The detail will be stored in the current model folder, and a status bar message will indicate the name of the new detail.

   2. Click the New detail from selected objects button at the top of Drawing 2D Library.

      A message at the bottom of Drawing 2D Library asks you to pick a reference point.

   3. Pick a reference point in the drawing.

      

      Tip:

      You can also pick a secondary reference point for rotation. To do this, right-click the detail in the Drawing 2D Library and enable Add secondary reference point. When you insert the detail, Tekla Structures asks you to give 2 input points. The secondary reference point will determine the direction of the detail.

      A message at the bottom of Drawing 2D Library asks you to capture a sample image by picking two points.

   4. Pick two points to capture an image of the detail.

      

You can create details in a new folder or copy or move details to the new folder in the current model folder.

1. In Drawing 2D Library, click the Folder button , and select New folder.
   You can rename the new folder by clicking the folder and entering a name at the bottom of the Drawing 2D Library pane.
2. Right-click a detail you want to copy or move and click Cut or Copy.
3. Right-click the new folder and select Paste.
   Tekla Structures copies or moves the selected detail.
4. If you want to add some details in a system folder, create a subfolder in a system folder (defined by XS_SYSTEM) and rename it Drawing Details, then copy details from the model folder to the new \Drawing Details system folder using Windows Explorer. You can copy or move details in the same way to the project and firm folders.

You can modify detail properties of the details in the current model folder. You cannot modify the detail objects, for example, the texts, marks, or lines inside a detail, because the details are grouped. You first need to explode the detail, and then update it.

1. In an open drawing, browse for a folder, and click a detail in Drawing 2D Library.
   A new detail looks like the one below in Drawing 2D Library when you have not touched its properties yet:

   

2. Modify the detail properties at the bottom of the Drawing 2D Library pane:

   

   1. Edit the detail name and the description of the detail.
   2. Select the original scale, enter a scale, or ignore the scale.

      The Scale value refers to the scale of the view where the detail was originally created. The Scale value should not normally need to be touched. This value is used when inserting the detail, for adapting the detail to the scale of the target view, so that dimensioning, for example, will work correctly.

      Example:

      You create a detail A from objects in a 1/10 scale view. So the scale of the new detail gets recorded as 1/10 in Drawing 2D Library. You then insert detail A (which has scale 1/10) into a scale 1/50 view W. The detail will look 5 times smaller than in the original view, but dimensioning will give the same results in both views.

      You create another detail B from objects in a 1/5 scale view. So the scale of the new detail gets recorded as 1/5 in Drawing 2D Library. You then insert this detail (which has scale 1/5) into the scale 1/50 view W. The detail will look 10 times smaller than in the original view, but again dimensioning will give the same results in both views.

      You then change the scale of the detail A in the view W from 1/10 to 1/5. This makes Tekla Structures calculate the size of the detail as if the original view had had the scale 1/5. So just as detail B, the detail A will now look 10 times smaller than in the original view. However in this case, dimensioning will now give only 1/2 of the expected results (which is the ratio between the scale you have entered and the actual original scale).

      When you click Ignore scale, the detail will have the same visual size regardless of the view scale, corresponding to the visual size it had when it was created. This is indicated by the scale value 1/0. Therefore dimensioning will not be correct if you use the Ignore scale option.

   3. To change the sample image, move the mouse pointer over the image on the left, click the Capture new button, and then pick two points in the drawing.
3. To view and modify the detail properties in the drawing, double-click the inserted detail.

You can explode an inserted detail into lines and texts, for example, to update the detail with new objects.

You can create native dimensions in details instead of lines and symbols.

1. In Drawing 2D Library, click the Options button and select Explode native dimension.
2. Insert a detail containing dimensions in a drawing.
3. Right-click the inserted detail, and select Explode.
   The detail is exploded and the included dimensions are exploded to native dimensions.

You can explode symbols included in details, and make them independent of the local symbol files.

1. In Drawing 2D Library, click the Options button and select Explode native symbols.
2. Insert a detail containing drawing symbols in a drawing.
3. Right-click the inserted detail, and select Explode.
   The detail and the included symbols are exploded to lines and texts.

You can modify all instances of a detail by updating the detail with new or modified objects.

1. Insert the detail in a drawing and explode it by right-clicking the detail and selecting Explode.
2. Modify the exploded detail objects or add new ones.
3. Select all detail objects, including any new ones.
4. Right-click the detail in Drawing 2D Library view and select Update detail with selected objects.
   You are asked to pick a new reference point. If you are updating the detail in the same view as originally, you do not need to pick a new reference point, otherwise you need to pick a new reference point.

   The detail gets updated. When you update a detail with new objects, the detail will get updated in all drawings where it is used.

You can insert .dwg files from the 2D Library to drawings as reference files.

1. Open a drawing.
2. Click the Drawing 2D Library button in the side pane to open the Drawing 2D Library.
3. Browse for the folder containing the .dwg files in the Drawing 2D Library.
   You can also move your reference files to a \Drawing Details folder under the current model folder.
4. If you always want to insert a detail inside a view when necessary, click the Options button and select Create view if needed.
5. Click a .dwg file and then click the drawing view or drawing to place the .dwg file.
   Tekla Structures inserts the .dwg file as a reference object in the drawing, not as a drawing detail. If the file is inserted from outside the model folder, the file will be copied to the model folder first and the insertion path will be relative to that.

   You cannot update the .dwg file with new objects, but you can select an inserted .dwg along with any other objects and create a new detail.

You can insert image files from the Drawing 2D Library to drawings.

1. Open a drawing.
2. Click the Drawing 2D Library button in the side pane to open the Drawing 2D Library.
3. Browse for the folder containing image files in the Drawing 2D Library.
   You can also move your image files to a \Drawing Details folder under the current model folder.
4. If you always want to insert a detail inside a view when necessary, click the Options button and select Create view if needed.
5. Click an image file and then click the drawing view or drawing to place the image.

   The image is inserted. If the file is inserted from outside the model folder, the file will be copied to the model folder first and the insertion path will be relative to that.

   Note that the image detail thumbnail is created automatically.