Shorten Drawing ( Drawing Editor > s d )

Tool summary :

  • Shortens material lengths in an unshortened drawing without resizing drawing elements such as end connections, which need to be drawn to exact proportions.
  • The main material depicted in the main view on a member detail or submaterial detail is compacted horizontally so that the material's two ends are brought closer togener.
  • Shorten Drawing also vertically aligns views to the right of the shorten limit line . If there is only one view to the right of the shorten limit line, Shorten aligns it horizontally with the main view.
  • Warning: Auto detailing sometimes adds a construction line across views on a detail in order to ensure that, during Shorten Drawing , points under the construction line are constrained to the construction line. If you delete such a construction line, Unshorten Drawing , then Shorten Drawing , different views of the same material may be shortened in different ways, resulting in materials depicted in those views becoming misaligned.
  • See the example and the step-by-step instructions .

Also see :

page 1 | contents | tools > | unshorten | ask to unshorten

   Example :

An unshortened member detail :
Same detail after Shorten Drawing :

page 1 | contents | tools > | unshorten | ask to unshorten | top

   Step-by-step instructions :

Begin this operation in a submaterial or member detail or erection view or job standard detail or global standard detail.

1 . Invoke Shorten Drawing using any one (1) of the following methods:

Method 1 : Click the Shorten Drawing icon. The icon can be taken from the group named ' Tools ' 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 Tools > Shorten .

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

2 . The Drawing Compression window opens.

Drawing Compression
  Enter drawing compression size X axis :
20-7
   

Alternative 1 : Enter the scaled distance from the most left point of the drawing, across the shorten limit line, to the most right point of the drawing, then press the " OK " button. Go to step 3.

Alternative 2 : Press the " Cancel " button to keep the drawing unshortened along the X axis. Go to step 3.

3 . Another version of the Drawing Compression window opens, this time with the entry field, " Enter drawing compression size Y axis. "

Drawing Compression
  Enter drawing compression size Y axis :
11-2
   

Alternative 1 : Enter the scaled distance from the lowest point of the drawing to the highest point of the drawing, then press the " OK " button. Go to step 4.

Alternative 2 : Press the " Cancel " button to keep the drawing unshortened along the Y axis. Go to step 4.

4 . If you specified shortening in the previous two steps, a shortened view of the member main material or submaterial is now displayed on screen. Please note the following:

All dimension labels report the same distance that they reported before shortening.

The relative positions of one hole to another within a hole group remains the same.

On a member detail, all submaterials except the member main material remain the same size.

Cross sectional views remain the same size.

Cross sectional views placed higher or lower than one another and to the right of the shorten limit line are aligned with one another.

page 1 | contents | tools > | unshorten | ask to unshorten | top