Cloud Add ( Drawing Editor > F7 )

Tool summary :

  • Draws a cloud based on points that you locate. Or you can click and drag to draw the cloud.
  • If you draw a cloud by locating points, best results are achived by locating in a counter-clockwise rotation. Also, snapping points On Line squares up the cloud. A cloud can be defined with as few as three points or by more than a hundred points.
  • Right-click ( Return ) when you are done defining points. The Cloud Edit window will open. The same edit window opens when you click and drag to draw a rectangular cloud .
  • After a cloud has been added, the choices made on its edit window set the default pen (color) and line type (dash pattern) for subsequently added clouds unless you change the Edit Palette or edit that cloud or edit another cloud in the meantime.
  • See (on this page):

Also see :

page 1 | contents | objects > clouds > | objects -- clouds | xxx add | clouds

   Example 1 : Click and drag to draw a rectangular cloud

Tip: Clouds added at an angle may be difficult to Shorten . Using this method to add a cloud ensures that it will be rectangular and will properly Shorten .

VIDEO Click and drag is used to add a rectangular cloud.

1 . Click and drag, moving your mouse pointer ( ) diagonally from left to right.
2 . When you release the left mouse button, the rectangular cloud is drawn.

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   Example 2 : Drawing clouds by locating points

VIDEO Since a cloud drawn with angled borders can interfere with Tools > Shorten , it is important to draw clouds with straight horizontal and vertical borders. This video shows you how to do so using On Line .

Each of these clouds was defined with four points exactly the same distance apart. In the leftmost example, the points were laid out in a clockwise rotation.

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   Step-by-step instructions (for adding a cloud by locating points) :

The following instructions assume that you are using a 3-button mouse.

1 . Before using this tool:

1a (optional) : By default, the cloud will be added to the ' User Annotations ' drawing layer. On the layer selection tool , optionally set a different layer that you want to add the cloud to be added to.

1b (if applicable) : Unshorten a member detail before adding a cloud if you want Detail Members to later be able to correctly preserve ' User-created ' annotations. For best accuracy in any type of Drawing Editor drawing, you can count on measurement tools such as Dimension Add or Ruler or Construction Line Add using BSCL to reliably produce precise and consistent results in an unshortened drawing.

1c (optional) : Set the printing pen number (on-screen display color) and/or line type (dash pattern) for the to-be-added cloud using the Edit Palette . Otherwise, the cloud inherits the thickness and dash pattern of the last-added or last-edited cloud.

1b (optional) : To set the defaults for the to-be-added cloud to be those of an existing cloud, double-click the existing cloud then press " OK " on its edit window.

2 . Invoke Cloud Add using one (1) of the following methods:

Method 1 : Click the Cloud Add icon. The icon can be taken from the group named ' Objects -- Clouds ' and placed on a toolbar (classic) or the ribbon (lightning).

Method 2 : If " Drawing Editor layout style " is ' Classic ', you can use the menu system to choose Objects > Clouds > Add .

Method 3, 4 or 5 : Cloud Add can also be invoked using a keyboard shortcut , the context menu , or a mode . For the ' Lightning ' layout style, configuration of the interface is done using Customize Interface .

3 . Locate - Remove - Return mouse bindings become active along with various Locate options.

bindings

Alternative 1 : With FRPT the selected Locate option, click and drag, moving from left to right, to draw a rectangular cloud as shown in example 1 . Go to step 4.

Alternative 2 : places an X where you locate the point. Locate Cloud Add ). Locate ) snaps to where you want one of the perimeter points of the cloud, then left-click ( ( point location target ) so that the that you want (if it's not pressed already), then place the mouse pointer ( Locate icon Select the at least two additional points (moving counterclockwise as shown in the example 2 to define the perimeter of the cloud). If you lay out too many points, you can middle-click ( Remove ) to delete the last one. Right-click ( Return ) when you are done defining points. Go to step 4.

4 . The cloud is drawn on screen, and Locate - Remove - Return mouse bindings become active. Do one (1) of the following:

bindings

Alternative 1 : Optionally change the line type and pen (step 1), and repeat step 3 to draw additional clouds.

Alternative 2 : If you are done adding clouds, right-click ( Return ). Go to step 5.

5 . The mouse bindings that were active when you invoked Cloud Add become active again.

Note: Any clouds added using this procedure can be instantly removed (one at a time, in reverse-order of their addition) by using Undo .

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