We will create a drawing title
block as an example of a graphical template. The title block contains drawing
details such as the title, author name, scale, and date the drawing was
created.
-
On the Tekla Structures File menu, click .
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In
Template Editor, click
.
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Select
Graphical template.

To create a new template based on a pre-defined template, select a file
from the pre-defined templates section in the Template
types dialog.
-
Click
OK.
An empty template opens in
the template work area, and you can start adding content. If you
selected a pre-defined template, the work area contains pre-defined
content.

-
Set or modify the template page settings and margin settings:
- Double-click the template to open the Template Page
Properties dialog.
- In the Output,
Workarea, and Margins
areas, modify the following:
- Width and Height:
Set in graphical units. The option to use page breaks if the
page height is exceeded is selected by default. If this is not
selected, no page breaks appear in the output.
If you wish to
use multiple columns in the template, define the width
accordingly. For details on how to create a two-column template,
see How to create a double column
template.
-
View height: Set the page height for
template design, but does not affect template output.
-
Margins: Set the margins for the
left, right and bottom of the template in graphical
units.
-
Use
font CAP height: Set how the font size is
calculated and output in graphical templates. It means that
the text size will output exactly as defined. See Control font height in graphical
templates for more information.
- Click OK to save the changes.
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Add a row in the template for the drawing title block.
-
Click
.
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Select the content type
for the row, and click OK.
The content type
that you select affects the template attributes that you can add
in the value fields. In this example, DRAWING is selected.
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Add the needed text labels
to the row.
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Select the row and
click
.
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Type the needed text
and click OK.
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Pick a location for
the text in the row.
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To modify the text
properties, double-click the text, adjust the properties, and click
OK.
For example, enter a
name for the text object and change the font size. The name will be
shown in the content browser.

Pay attention to the
content browser on the left while you are adding content to the
template. It shows you the added content objects and allows you to
quickly select and work with the content objects. When you select an
object from the content browser, the object is also selected in the
template.

You can change the
color of a text object. To do this, double-click a text object in
the template, and in the object properties, click the
button next to
the font setting. Then click the color box and select a custom
color.

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Add the rest of the
text labels to the row in the same way.
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Add the necessary value
fields to the row.
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Select the row,
click and pick a location
for the value field in the row.
-
Select an attribute
to add in the value field from the list of available attributes and
click OK.

In this example, we
select NAME under PROJECT.
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Add other value fields in the same way.
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To modify the value
field properties, double-click the value field.
For example, change
the value field name, font size, and allowed text length. The value
field name will be shown in the content browser and in the
template.

-
Click
OK.
Here we have added the
needed value fields to the row and modified the value field properties:

The content browser shows
the added content:

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Finalize the template.
When you have the desired
content in the template, you can make the template look nicer by
repositioning labels and value fields, cropping the rows, or adding
lines to separate the columns and rows. Cropping removes any unnecessary
space from around the rows.
- To crop the row, select the row, right-click, select
Crop, and then select the desired crop
option.
- Drag the text labels and value fields to reposition them if
necessary.
- Draw lines in the template between columns and rows by using the
graphical tools. You can double-click the created objects to change
the color and other properties.

You can change the
color of a shape object. To do this, double-click a shape object,
such as a line, and in the object properties, click the color box
and select a standard color or a custom color.

Here is the final
template content:

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Save the template.
-
Click .
- By default, the new and edited templates are saved in the \templates folder under the current model folder. If you want to use the template in other projects as well, save the template in the template folder defined for the advanced option
XS_FIRM or XS_PROJECT.
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In the File name field, enter a name for the
template.
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Click OK.
Here is an example of the created
title block in a drawing:
Other ways to create new
graphical templates