From ArchiCAD to

Working Drawings

Step-by-Step

4/27/04

From ArchiCAD to Construction Documents Step-by-step

Procedures at a Glance
1. Create Plotmaker Layout Book template file
a. Create master layout file
Import or create from scratch your title block
Set up AutoText for information across all sheets: Client, project name, address, company
logo, etc.
Set up AutoText for information that is sheet-specific: sheet name, sheet number, etc.
b. Develop a organizational sequence (sheet outline) for a typical drawing set
Establish Subsets Folders (sections) and numbering scheme
c. Create/modify Title types
d. Save asyour office Layout Book Template
2. Create View sets in the ArchiCAD Project Navigator
3. Import appropriate view set(s) from ArchiCAD into Plotmaker layout book
4. Drag and distribute views onto layout sheets
5. Publish or plot document set
Note: Alternative to Step 1: (why re-create the wheel) modify, for your own use, the Layout Book
template provided free from MaxATS (our dealer in Hawaii). You can find it in the ArchiCAD 8 folder >
ArchiCAD Templates > Additional Templates > MaxATS > XXX Drawing Set.lbk
Understanding PlotMaker Layout Book Components
The PlotMaker Layout Book file contains all the drawings that compose your construction
documentation: floor plans, details, cross-sections, views, and 3D views, etc. - in one file. Within the
Layout Book, you can place drawings or images onto Layouts (sheets), and edit and format them. Then
you will save, print, plot and publish part or all of your Layout Book.
The main components of the Layout Book are:

The Master Layout that defines the size and output options of the Layouts (sheets) or the Layout
Book. These templates can also include items that will appear on all of the single Layouts, for
example borderlines, a title block or a company logo. A Layout Book can include several; Master
Layouts for different purposes.
Title Types are automatic drawing titles you can add/link to each drawing.
Subsets are organizational folders available to use (but not necessary) in which you can organize
sub-categories of layouts/sheets like: Plans, Sections, Elevations, Details, etc.
Layouts are sheets on which you can arrange any number of imported drawings, images and
other graphic or text items.
Imported Drawings that can be placed and arranged at different scales, with different framing
and display options. Imported drawings can be automatically or manually updated, and you can
even initiate the updating process by launching ArchiCAD from within PlotMaker to perform any
chances in the source ArchiCAD PLN file (right-click on a drawing and choose Open with
ArchiCAD.
Note: Drawings can be ArchiCAD views, independent drawings (.DWG, .DWF,
DGN, .DXF), bitmapped images (.JPG, .BMP, or .TIF), PlotMaker drawings (.PMKs

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used by previous versions of ArchiCAD), files imported from other CAD programs or
OLE-capable applications (Windows only).
Create Master Layouts
The Master Layout's size and output options (inherited by all the Layout sheets that use it as a template)
can be set in the Master Layout Settings dialog box.
1. To open this dialog box, you can choose the Master Layout Settings command in the Book
menu, the Navigator palette's menu (opened by the arrow top right) or the context menu opened
by right-clicking a Master Layout in the Navigator
2. In the top section of the dialog box, you can define the Paper Size, Margins and orientations of
the Layouts by choosing either preset or custom values.
3. To use the options of your current Printer or Plotter, activate the appropriate option from the popup menu and click the Print Setup (or Plot Setup) button to access the corresponding dialog box.
Make your choices and then close the Print Setup or Plot Setup dialog box and click the Apply
button.
4. The Set as Default for New Layouts checkbox ensures that newly created Layouts will
automatically contain the settings and content of this Master Layout.
5. Import your title block onto each Master Layour from ArchiCAD or a DWG file. Select the
titleblock drawing and Explode it (from the Edit menu) so that the elements are simply lines, arcs,
or circles.
Note: When printing or plotting, you can override these settings in the Print Setup or Plot Setup dialog
boxes without affecting the choices made in Master Layout Settings.
Set Up Each Master Layout
The graphic and text items that you place on the Master Layout will appear on every
Layout sheet that uses it.
1. Import your standard Title Block on the Master Layout(s) or create one from
scratch by using the PlotMaker drafting tools. You can also add special
predefined automatic text items (AutoText) that are generated by PlotMaker.
Sheet specific AutoText can be created that will automatically fill in the
Sheet/Layout Name or the Sheet number. AutoText that fills in automatically
across all sheets can also be defined, such as client and project names,
project number, etc. extracted from the Book Info found under the Book
menu, or items derived from the current system settings, like the current
Date, Time or the file's Path or
Note: When importing your title block from an AutoCAD .DWG or from an
ArchiCAD .PLN file, the scale should be 1:1. Import all previously generated
title blocks for each sheet size you will be using (11 x 17, 24 x 36, 36 x 42, etc.),
creating a Master Layout for each.
2. To add AutoText, activate the Text tool in the Toolbox. Click at the location
where you wish to insert the text, then select the AutoText command from
the Edit menu or the Insert AutoText command from the context menu
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obtained by right-clicking near the location of the flashing cursor (Control + click on
Macintosh).
3. Choose an auto-text type from the menu list. A label corresponding to the chosen type will appear
after the cursor (for example <DRAWINGNAME>). You can add any number of these AutoText
labels and type additional text into the same text block. Before you add AutoText, verify your
Text Settings (font, font size, etc.).
4. When you have finished inserting text, the AutoText field represented by its label will be updated
to show the actual value, if applicable. For example, the current date will appear on the Master
Layout, but the Layout Number can only be shown if you activate (double-click on) a Layout. In
this case "Undefined Value" will appear on the Master Layout. Note that if you refer to items of
the Book Info dialog box that are not filled in, the #Field Empty# caption will appear here.
Note: You can edit the AutoText labels on any Layout, but then PlotMaker will no longer
recognize it as AutoText. On the other hand, if you manually type a correctly spelled
AutoText label (<xxxxxxxx>) into a text block, PlotMaker will recognize it.
Organize your Sheet Structure with Subsets
1. Before you begin organizing your sheet structure, make sure the
pop-out menu near the bottom of the Navigator palette says Show
Names & Numbers.
2. Right-click on the Layout Book.lbk icon at the top of the
Plotmaker Navigator and choose Create new subset. Subsets
(shown as folders in the Navigator) are major organizational
sections of your layout book that provide structure for our
drawings; typical subset names are: Plans, Sections, Elevations,
etc.). A new subset folder will appear in the Navigator window.
3. Create as many subset folders as you need with names like: Title
Sheet, Plans, Elevations, Sections, Details, etc.
4. Name the sub-set folder by selecting it and typing in a name in the
Name field near the bottom of the Navigator palette,
5. Right-click on the new subset folder and choose
Subset Settings to
establish your sheet
numbering system and
numbering rules. Example:
Click on Custom button,
type in A1, click on
Customize button and check
Use prefix and numbering of upper levels, Add
prefix for this subset and put a period in the field,
and use numbering style 01, 02, 03
6. Continue this process with every section of your
Layout Book.
7. Once your Layout Book is set up, save it as an
office Layout Book template that you can use for
all of your future drawing sets.
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Once you have established your Layout Book template, you can now go back to a project
in ArchiCAD to establish view sets that can be systematically imported into a Layout
Book for the specific projects drawing or CD set.
Project Navigator in ArchiCAD
The Navigator helps you navigate through the ArchiCAD Project and all its views. It also integrates the
Publisher function that allows you to create batch files or output from the project. The Navigator palette
displays in three possible modes. You can change views with the button at top left of the palette.

In Navigator mode (first pop-up button in the upper left of the Navigator
palette), you can view the structure of the project according to a Project
Map automatically created by ArchiCAD and organized into the Stories,
Sections/Elevations, Details, 3D views and Lists generated from the
Virtual Building file or in a number of customizable View Sets defined for
various purposes.

In View Editor mode (second pop-up button

in the upper life of the Navigator palette), you
can build and customize View Sets based on
the Project Map or another View Set. A view
set is simply a collection of views or drawings
organized for a specific purpose. Examples of
view sets include: Preliminary, Working
Drawings, backgrounds for the structural
engineer or mechanical engineer. View Sets
are the source used when importing
ArchiCAD views to a PlotMaker Layouts.

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In Publisher mode (third pop-up button in the upper life

of the Navigator palette), you define sets of views to print,
save. or upload to the Internet. For example, if you want to
send a set of DWG backgrounds to the engineer, use the
Publisher function and ArchiCAD will populate an entire
folder full of DWG backgrounds to send to a consultant.

Creating View Sets in ArchiCAD

In ArchiCAD, you create view sets for each phase of the architectural process or for sharing information
with other members of the project team.
The View Set definition and management controls are in the top
right corner of the View Editor. The View Set field shows the
name of the active View Set. Clicking it opens a pop-up menu
allowing you to manage and choose from user-defined defined
View Sets.
Note: ArchiCAD includes by default three custom view sets (Preliminary, Approval and Construction).
You can use these as the starting point for your own view sets, modify, rename or even delete them and
create your own.
The Duplicate, Rename and Delete commands/buttons act on the selected View Set, that is, the one
whose name is shown in the View Set field. These operations are not undoable, caution is recommended.
To create a new View Set from scratch,
1. Activate View Editor using the pop-up menu (second button on top of the left section of the
Navigator).
2. Choose the New View Set command in the pop-up menu. You will then be prompted to

name it. The new, empty Set immediately appears in the list and becomes active. You can
then start building up the drawings you want in the Set.
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3. Verify or reconfigure the 1). Layer Combinations, 2). Scale, 3). Display Options and 4). Current
Zoom for the drawing you are about to add to the new view set, via the pop-out menus at the bottom
left side of the View Editor.

4. Drag and drop items from the Project Map directly into the window on the right. Entire folders from
the Project Map or single items can both be added.
Note: it is recommended that you organize the
drawings sequence, in the View Set window on the
right, in the order they will appear on their
respective sheets in Plotmaker (floor plans together,
sections/elevations together, etc.)

Drag and drop

1.) Set Layer Combination

2.) Set Scale
3.) Set Display Options

4.) Set Current Zoom

Cloning Folders
You can create an exact duplicate of a folder of the Project Map. This Clone Folder will be automatically
updated when the original changes, which means that you will not have to edit its contents manually. A
clone of the Stories folder, for example, will always show all Stories of the Project.
1. Click the Clone a Folder button. A dialog box appears, listing the possible folders.
2. Select a folder (the entire Project, Stories, Section/Elevations, Details, 3D, Lists, Info) and type in
the Clone Name in the corresponding field, and then click the Create button at bottom left. The
new items will immediately appear in the View Set. The icon displayed on the new folder shows
that it is a clone, as distinguished from other, manually created folders.
3. You can move the entire cloned folder inside the hierarchy of the View Set, but you cannot drag
new items into it. If you wish to delete an item from a cloned folder, you will be warned that the
entire link structure will be removed from the View Set.
You can delete any other view or manually created folder by clicking the last button (X) below the View
Set pop-up.

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Redefining a View
You can re-define any views properties (layer combination,
zoom, scale, or drawing name) by selecting the view in the View
Set window, changing the properties on the bottom left side of
the View Editor under View Settings and Storing Options.
Change the options and with the view selected, right-click and
choose Re-define or press the second button in the upper right
of the View Editor window to Re-define.
Tip: It is recommended that you re-name each view using Redefine exactly the way you want it to be automatically titled in
PlotMaker (for example: First Floor Plan, First Floor Framing
Plan, First Floor Wall Framing Plan, Section A-A etc.). With
Title Types being introduced in version 8.1, it is no longer
necessary to name drawings within each ArchiCAD window. Naming them properly in the Re-define
dialog box is all you need to do now; Title Types properly set up in PlotMaker will now name and give a
scale to any drawing imported into PlotMaker.
Importing to the Layout Book from ArchiCAD
Now you can import all of your views directly from
your ArchiCAD project file (.PLN) into your projects
Layout Book (.LBK).
1. Open your Layout Book Template you have
already created.
2. Use Save-as to give it the appropriate name and
save this drawing set into its proper location in
your projects or clients folder.
3. Importing is done by selecting the Layout Book in
the Navigator window, clicking the arrow button
to the right side of the Navigator window and
selecting Import (or choose Import from the File menu). The ArchiCAD file is opened and you
have access to all the view sets you saved for the project.
4. Select the view set you wish to import and choose Append new Layouts to Layout Book. For this
tutorial, there is no need to check the Use Source Hierarchy box.

Note: You can choose where to place the imported Layout(s), provided a Subset was selected in
the Navigator before choosing the Import command: inside the current Subset or as individual
Layouts appended to the Layout Book.
If you check the Use Source Hierarchy box, then the organizational sequence (hierarchy) of the View
Set created in ArchiCAD remains in effect, since PlotMaker will recreate the same folder structure inside
the Navigator palette.

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Distributing Views onto the Proper Sheets
1. Each view comes into the layout book on its own unique sheet appended to the bottom of your
hierarchy in Plotmakers Navigator. Reveal the contents of these added sheets to view the individual
drawing (click on the + sign next to the layout).
2. Then drag and drop the drawing on to the appropriate sheet within
your sheet structure/hierarchy you have established in the Navigator.
Think of the layouts that the drawings came in on as magic carpets
and once you have drug the drawings to their proper place, these magic carpets can be deleted by
right-clicking on them to clear.
3. If you want to bring in one drawing (or a few drawings) at a time into an established Layout Book,
simply click on/select the layout sheet you want to import the drawing onto. Then Choose Import
from the File menu and choose Place drawings on Current Layout.
Note: When you drag a drawing from one sheet to another, the drawings are placed in the center of the
sheet by default.

Importing Existing Layouts from Older ArchiCAD Versions

You can also import old Layouts (.LAYs), old PlotMaker Drawings, PMKs), Master Layouts or entire
Layout Books into your Layout Book using the Import command from the File menu.
When the directory dialog box appears, select the Layout Book types option in the Files of Type field to
show only Layout Books. Layouts and Batches created with earlier versions of PlotMaker will also be
available and can be converted to the new format.

When you import a Layout, you can also import its Master Layout and the links associated with
the Drawings in the Layout. Master Layouts will always be placed in the Masters folder.
Plotting or Printing Document sets
You can now Plot or Print form the File menu,
or use the Publisher function.
Under Layouts to Plot you can plot any
drawing(s) selected in the Navigator, the current
layout sheet, or the entire layout book.
Under Destination, you can send the plot
directly to your in-house plotter or, by choosing
File you can create a generic HPGL2 plot file
(.plt) that can be e-mailed or delivered to a
reprographics service for plotting. Choose File
and click Save, name the file and save it to the
appropriate project folder.

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When you deliver this type of file, ArchiCAD or PlotMaker is not required, since HPGL2 is the common
language of plotters and any plotter at any reprographics service can recognize and plot this file format.

Using Publisher in ArchiCAD as an Alternative Output Process

The Publisher function allows you to publish (print, save, upload, plot) 2D, 3D and lists or schedules from
your Virtual Building.
You can access the Publisher function either from the Navigator palette by activating its third display
option (top left), or from the File menu by choosing the Publisher/Publish command. The Publisher
dialog box appears.
1. The first steps in configuring the View Set you want to publish are identical to the setup of the
navigation View Sets in the View Editor. You can either use one of the View Sets defined for
navigation, or create a new one.
2. The controls in the right-hand panel provide additional options for the publishing process itself.

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3. When you have chosen a View Set to publish and defined the views that make it up, you need to
choose a Publishing method. Click the View Set Publishing Properties button under the name of
the View set.
4. At the top of the dialog box that appears, a pop-up menu allows you to choose from the four
publishing methods: Print, Save Files, Upload to Internet and Plot.
Note: You cannot mix methods within the same set.
The bottom part of the dialog box changes according to the option you have chosen in the menu.
If you choose Print as the Publishing method, you can only print with the currently defined printer setup.
A checkbox allows you to print a structure sheet of the defined set. If you choose Plot, the currently
defined plot setup will be used.
If you choose Save files, you can manually enter a path name, or click on the Browse button and
select a location.
The two radio buttons in the middle of the dialog box allow you to save your Virtual Building
files in a hierarchical ("real folder") or flat file structure.
You can include the Project Reviewer applet that allows users to view DWF files in a Web
environment. This also activates the Options button below.
Clicking the Options... button displays a dialog box in which you can define the index (or
home) file that will be first seen by the viewer. In addition, you can select a Style sheet for
the index file.
If you choose Upload to Internet as the publishing method, you must define the location in which you
want to place your files.

In the top area, you need to enter the host or FTP server name, your user name and password.
You can also type the explicit server address in the Path field.
Click the Test login button to check whether the address is correct. If you are not sure about
the correct path, click the Browse... button. The FTP browser box appears, allowing you to
choose a location. In that case, logging in will be performed automatically.
You can include the Project Reviewer applet that allows users to view DWF files in a Web
environment. This also activates the Options button with the index page and style sheet
options (as when performing a Save, above).

You can also send an e-mail to the people who are going to review your publication by checking the
appropriate box near the bottom of the dialog box. The E-mail button next to this checkbox opens a
dialog box.
By clicking the Add a New Recipient button, you can add the e-mail address of a person not listed
among your Contacts, while the Add from Contacts allows you to find the address of a partner already
listed in your Contact list (also accessible directly from the Project Publisher menu). Choose contact
people one by one.
Enter a subject for your e-mail followed by the text in the larger field. You have three check box options:

Attaching publication information to the e-mail;

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Attaching the published files to the e-mail; and

Attaching the user name and password needed for accessing the FTP site.

Note: The e-mail will not be sent if the publishing process fails.

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