AD P

Plant 33D Iso

ometriics
Customizzing AutoCA
In this paaper, you will learn how to
o customize the isometricss produced byy AutoCAD Plant 3D so thaat
they will meet your CAD and engin
neering standards as well aas the standaards of your client. This pap
per
will walkk you through the steps ne
ecessary to pe
erform this taask and give gguidance baseed on practicaal
experien
nce for best practices for piping isometrrics.

Learning Objecctives
At the en
nd of this pap
per, you will be
b able to:

Understand th
he Different Customization
C
n Options in A
AutoCAD Plannt 3D
Create and Cusstomize a New Isometric Style
S
Add a Custom Title Block
Modify
M
Isomettric Symbols

Customizzing AutoCAD
D Plant 3D Issometrics

Isom
metric DW
WG Setttings
(Ribbon Tab:
T Home Project Project
P
Managger Flyout Project Setup
p)
Comman
nd: PROJECTSETUP

The command above opens the diaalog where cu

urrent projecct settings can
n be viewed aand modified..
Almost all
a of this classs will be spen
nt in the Isometric DWG Seettings section
n of this dialo
og, which con
ntains
5 sub-secctions of custtomization.
As with all
a of the five isometric cusstomization screens, it is im
mportant to ffirst make surre that you arre set
to the iso
o style that yo
ou want to modify.
m
This flyout is locateed in the top right corner o
of the dialogss.

An iso style
s
is a nam
med container for all of the
e various setttings which deetermine thee content of th
he
isometricc drawing. Evverything from
m the title blo
ock to the dim
mensioning a nd annotatio
on styles are
containe
ed within the iso style.
For each isometric styyle that you create
c
in a pro
oject there arre separate fo
olders which ccontain the P
PCF
files, the Quick Isos an
nd the Production Isos. Th
he latter of thhese documents being thee ones publish
hed to
the proje
ect.

Customizzing AutoCAD
D Plant 3D Issometrics

Lets look at the 7 diffferent custom

mization scree
ens:

Iso Style
e Setup

S
Setup cu
ustomization screen
s
contaiins commandds for:
The Iso Style

Isso Style Setup

p Create or Set
S Iso Styles
o

Isso Style Inform

mation General Settings for the Curreent Style
o
o
o
o
o

Isometric or
o Spool draw
wing
File Namin
ng Alphabettic or Numericc
Maximum Welded Pipe
e Lengths
W Settings
Field Fit Weld
Table Overrflow Settingss

pools Deterrmines Spool Sizing

Sp
o

New styless are based upon existing ones

o

By Size, Byy Weight or frrom Model Se

ettings

Isso Style Pathss Configuress Drawing Outtput Paths

Customizzing AutoCAD
D Plant 3D Issometrics

Advance
ed Defaults

The Adva
anced Defaults customizattion screen co
ontains contr ols for:

Creating DWFs
D

Overwritin
ng Existing Styyles

Setting the
e Revision

Congestion
n Settings

Creating a PCF

Exporting Data Tables

Controllingg Iso splitting

Ignoring Break Points or Annotations

Overridingg the Model lo

ocation and Orientation
O

Customizzing AutoCAD
D Plant 3D Issometrics

Annotattions

The Anno
otations custo
omization scrreen containss controls for::

BOM Annotations
Weld
W Numberiing
Cut Piece Labe
eling
Sp
pool Labelingg

(All of
o the above
e have contro
ols for numb
bering, enclo
osures and le
eaders)

Valve Tag Num

mbers (Both Control
C
and Manual)
M
Continuation and
a End Conn
nection text
o

Can use model properties (ex: <Equiipment.Tag>))

Coordinate and Elevation Prefixes

Customizzing AutoCAD
D Plant 3D Issometrics

Dimensions

The Dime
ensions scree
en controls:

Which
W
of the three dimensiion types are active in the drawing;
o
o
o

In
ndividual Com
mponent Dime
ensioning Beh
havior
Valve Dimensioning Behavior
General Dimen
nsion Optionss
o
o
o

nd-to-end Dim
mensions
Overall/En
String Dim
mensions
Locating Dimensions
D

Over consttraining dime

ension chains
Gasket Dim
mension tickks
Dimension
n offset and sttacking distan
nces

Customizzing AutoCAD
D Plant 3D Issometrics

Sloped and
a Offset Piping
P

The Sloped and Offset Piping custo

omization screen is dedicaated to definin
ng:

Th
he Breakpoin
nt for Sloped vs.
v Angled Pip
ping
Slloped Pipe An
nnotation
Offset
O
Piping Hatching
H
and Angle Annotaation
Dimensioning and Annotatiion for the Th
hree Types of Offsets
o
o
o

ontal)
Simple 2D Offsets (Verttical or Horizo
Sloped 2D Offsets
Rolling 3D Offsets

Tip: Use the dynaamic image paanes along th

he right margiin to get a preeview of
o
style se
elected.
the offset

Customizzing AutoCAD
D Plant 3D Issometrics

Title Blo
ock and Disp
play

The title block and dissplay customiization screen

n is for:

Ed
diting the Titlle Block via a context-senssitive ribbon m
menu
Se
etting the Draawing Templaate Location
Ed
diting Isomettric Symbols
Managing
M
disp
play of
o
o
o
o

Elbows
Bends
Supports
Existing Piping

he Breakpointt for Small Bore Piping as itt applies to th

he Iso Themees
Esstablishing th

On this screen
s
there are
a two areass worthy of sp
pecial focus: SSetup Title Block and Edit Isometric
Symbols. Each of these will launch
h a special gu
uided AutoCCAD editing seession to perfform specific
he proper com
mmands wheen editing theese two areas.
customizzation tasks. As always, usse care and th

Customizzing AutoCAD
D Plant 3D Issometrics

Setup Title Block

When se
electing this command, the
e ISO.DWT drawing templaate is opened
d and a ribbon
n named Titlee
Block Settup is activate
ed.

This ribbon contains the

t following panels and commands:

Issometric Draw
wing Area
o
o
o

Taable Placeme
ent & Setup
o
o
o
o
o

Draw Areaa (where the iso

i will be draawn)
No-Draw Area
A
(reserved areas)
Area Visibiility (Toggle)
Bill of Materials
Cut Piece
Weld List
Spool List
up
Table Setu

North Arrow Place North Arrow (blockk name must be North Arrrow)
Attributes Title Block Attrributes (opens the block edditor modifying Title Blockk)
hemes Iso Themes
T
Th
o
o

Layers
n and Annotattion Styles
Dimension

etric Symbolss
Edit Isome
This com
mmand modifiies the block symbol librarry in IsoSymboolStyles.dwg.

Customizzing AutoCAD
D Plant 3D Issometrics

Live Prevview

The Live Preview scre

een is for:

10

Viewing
V
isometric style output

Defining
D
a tesst pcf that demonstrates company custtomizations

You
Y should usse this to alte
er your compaany styles andd view the ch
hanges withou
ut having to
recreate
r
isom
metrics based on a pipe line
e.

Customizzing AutoCAD
D Plant 3D Issometrics

Isome
etric Customization Sequen
nce
As with any
a customizaation, it is a good
g
idea to have
h
a clear oobjective as faar as what thee end result is
supposed
d to look like. It is also wisse to have a clear
c
punch list of steps to complete a customization.
Considerr the steps be
elow when en
ndeavoring to
o setup a cust om isometricc style in Auto
oCAD Plant 3D
D.
AutoCAD
D Plant 3D Iso
ometric Custo
omization Seq
quence

Customization Screens
o
o
o
o
o

etup
Iso Style Se
Annotation
ns
Dimension
ns
Sloped and
d Offset Pipin
ng
Title Blockk and Display

D
ISO.D
DWT
Template Drawing:
Title Block: Title Block (rrequired nam e)
Customize Symbol Library: IsoSymbo lStyles.dwg

Modify
M
Supporrt Tags
o

<project>\\Isometric\<style name>\IssoConfig.xmll

Notte: always use the Project Setup menu Title Block annd Display
cusstomization sccreen to mod
dify the ISO.DWT templatee drawing and
d the
IsoSSymbolStyles.dwg

Modify
M
SKEY Settings
o

oSkeyAcadBlo
ockMap.xml
<project>\\Isometric\Iso

Modify
M
Bolt Sizze and Valve Operator Dire
ection Mappiings
o

<project>\\Isometric\Bo
oltSizeMappin
ngs.xml

es are style-in
ndependent and
a apply to aall iso styles in the project.
Note: The last two file

11

Customizzing AutoCAD
D Plant 3D Issometrics

Editing xml file

es
Warningg before you
u make any ch
hanges to xm
ml files, make a backup! It is the xml filees that contro
ol the
look of th
he isos, the UIs
U we have shown you ab
bove simply pperform graphical edits to the XMLs
In this exxample we wiill place a sup
pport tag on the isometric.. There is currrently no UI tto support th
his
and so yo
ou will need to
t edit the Iso
oConfig.xml in the approppriate style. YYou can use N
Notepad to
perform these edits (o
or Notepad++
+ if you want a specific xm
ml editor).
Add a ne
ew Componen
nt scheme entry for Suppo
ortTag:

Take the
e <ComponentScheme Nam
me=Tag ass a template aand copy it rename the Tag to
SupporttTag, set Enaabled=true,, set Filter=SSupport and make other cchanges to su
upport your sttyle,
then save.
Heres th
he actual entrry:
<ComponentScheme Name="Supp
portTag" Anno
otationStyle=="WipeCircle"" Enabled="trrue"
Groupingg="true" Tag=
="XX" Alignment="FlatHorrizontal" LeadderStyle="Alw
ways" Filter="Support"
Fields="TTAG" />
12

Customizzing AutoCAD
D Plant 3D Issometrics

Result - Before:
B

After:

13