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The publisher of MiniCAD, Diehl Graphsoft posts a new tip of the week each week on the following web page.. http://www.dielgraphsoft.com/support/helpdesk/TipOWeek.html. You can also go back and look at all the previous tips. Some of the tips that we have found useful are…
You can switch the active layer by pressing the Command key and using the Up and Down arrow keys. You are moving up and down in the layer list.
MiniCAD 6 - When working with rotated text, if you are using an inkjet printer that is not postscript, the fonts will become bitmapped when printed. Rotated text on QuickDraw prints correctly when using Adobe Type Manager, i.e; ATM rasterizes the text at the full resolution of the printer instead of QuickDraw standard 72dpi rasterizing for rotated fonts. When printing from MiniCAD it is necessary to make sure the resolution is also set to match the printer in the Page Setup dialog.
For a quick way to make a duplicate of an object…
- hold down the Option key (Ctrl key on Windows).
- As you click and drag the desired object away, a duplicate will be left behind.
The "u", "I", "o", "p", "[", and "]" keys can be used to switch between the different options in the mode bar. For example, if you have activated the polyline tool, you can use the "u" key to change the control point type while drawing. Some tools will have more or less mode groups than others.
u- first group
i- second group
o-third group
p- fourth group
[- fifth group
]- sixth group
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"Loci" are 2D and 3D place holders in MiniCad (Pages R-39 and R-126 in the Macintosh Reference manual, and R-39 and R-125 in the Windows Reference manual). You can see them on screen and snap to them but they don't print. There are many uses for loci. Since you can snap to them, they can be used as registration marks for moving things around from layer to layer or drawing to drawing. They can be used as the point of rotation when creating swept objects. I use them to hold arc centre points if I need to convert an arc to a polygon for some reason. They can be used to create snapable axis if you turn on "snap to loci" in the Preferences. The 3D locus tool can be used to generate terrain models with the DTM function.
If you want to rotate on object about a specific point place a locus at the point of rotation and choose the rotate command, the selection will rotate about that locus instead of the centre of the selection.
If you hold down the Command key while pressing the Up or Down arrow keys, MiniCad toggles the active layer sequentially through the layer list. This is quite useful if you are switching back and forth between adjacent layers. You can also quickly check what's in each layer by setting Layer Options to Active Only and flipping through the layers with the arrow keys. It's just the ticket for viewing that site plan you got from your Civil Engineer with the 250 layers, each containing 3-4 objects.
MiniCad 7 features expanded online help for both Macintosh and Windows users. You'll find information on basic procedures, plus step-by-step directions for each tool and command. Here's how to access the table of contents for this new feature.
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If you issue a print command from within a group, the program only prints what is visible within that group (assuming ‘Show Others’, while in Groups, is turned off). By temporarily grouping things and using Edit Group, you can implement a limited version of "Print Selection". One use is to add some notes to a drawing you have already printed, without reprinting the whole document. Just group the new text objects, Edit Group, Print and then Exit Group and Ungroup. Of course this won't work across layers.
Remember that your computer information is your originals. Failure to backup on a regular basis is like letting your original tracing paper drawings sit out on the desk. Sun and coffee eventually take their toll. The night you forget to back up will be the night that you really need to!
On the Tool Menu is the command Convert to Lines. This command will convert the currently selected objects and convert them into 2D lines. This command has many uses. For example to get elevations from a 3D model go to the front view. Select the layer links that make up the building. Use the option key (shift on Windows machines) and choose Convert Copy to lines from the Tool Menu. This creates a group of lines that can then be cut and pasted to any layer to become the elevation. If you do this technique in a perspective view you can cut and paste this view to any other layer (and faster than re-rendering the view when you want to print it). As it is a group you can resize it to any size you want. Use Edit Group to edit the lines in the perspective.
While MiniCad does not directly support curved walls, someone on the Internet has posted a macro that will draw a series of faceted walls that will match a curve that you specify. Phone us for more information.
How can I move objects in MiniCAD one screen pixel at a time?
MiniCAD's "Nudge Command" will allow you to use the arrow keys to move objects
one screen pixel at a time. Simply activate the command by first selecting an
object, then selecting "Nudge" from the Tool menu, under the "Move..." sub menu.
You can now move this object using the arrow keys. To exit out of nudge mode, simply
activate the command again, or click out using the mouse.
Dimension text has disappeared
"Disappearing" dimension text almost always signals a low memory condition.
If closing and re-starting MiniCAD does not solve the problem, it may be necessary
to increase the memory allocated to MiniCAD. Regardless of the size of the current
memory setting, an increase of 50%-100% may solve the problem.
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Minicad doesn’t draw curved walls and in the last newsletter we noted that
there is a macro that will make a type of curved wall. There is another way,
which is a tool that will do it for you if you draw the plan shape of the wall
first. To draw the plan shape of the wall use the Arc Tool to draw the outside
face of the curved wall.
If you make the arc solid then your results are easier to see. Use the Offset Tool to duplicate this to form the inside face of the wall. Now select both arcs. Select the Clip Surface command from the Tool Menu. This will create a closed polygon in the shape of the wall. Select the inner arc and delete it. You will be left with a polygon in the shape of the curved wall that you want. Give this polygon the graphic attributes that you want (to match the adjoining walls). Now go to the AEC Menu on the menu bar (or Model Menu depending on the overlay that you are using). Choose the Column Tool. This will ask you what height to make the column. Give it the height that you want and MiniCad will extrude the column for you. Note that in Top/Plan the column retains its graphic style. If you just used extrude and extrude the original shape then it will not retain it’s fill pattern. If you want walls to butt into this column, turn on the Auto Join on your wall preferences and draw your walls. You will notice that as you get close to the column it highlights as if it were a wall. Your walls will join into this column. |
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