MicroStation Basic Tutorial Final

MicroStation Basic Tutorial - Contents
 Introduction to Microstation
 Working with Workspace and Design Files
 Using Mouse and Controlling View
 Precise Input: Using AccuDraw
 Precise Input: Using AccuSnap
 Using Tool Settings and Linear Elements
 Dialog with Focus: Using Shortcuts
 Drawing Elements: Circles and Polygon
 Using Text
 More Text Tools (1)
 More Text Tools (2)
 Selecting Multiple Elements (1)
 Selecting Multiple Elements (2)
 tutorial: Element Manipulation
 Exercise: Manipulate Tools
 Modifying Elements
 Working with Views
 Level and Level Attributes
 Using Cell
 Creating Cell
 Replacing and Modifying Cell
 Using Cell as Points, Terminators, and Patterns
 Using AutoCAD Command in
 More Annotation Tools: Dimension
 Isometric Drawing in -------------
 More Annotation Tools: Pattern
 Using Multiple Views
 Changing Elements Attributes
 How Can We Add Fill in?
 What is Similar Tool for Osnap Tracking in?
 3 Advantages of Using Temporary Snap
 Preparing sheets in
 Add drawings into Sheet
1 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

Introduction to MicroStation
 MicroStation Manager:
MicroStation is a Windows compliant software. You can start it from Windows start menu, or use the icon
from desktop.
When you start the application, you will see a dialog box: Manager.
Unlike CAD platform, this application allows you to select user, project, and interface at this dialog. You
can find these options on lower right of this dialog.
The Interface:
This is how MicroStation looks like.
Menu: You can access all the tools and settings through available items in this application menu.
Task Navigation: Task navigation is where your tools are.
You can change active task from tasks list.
If you want to focus to dimension tools only, you can switch the active task to drawing > dimension. You
will only see dimension tools in active task.
Main tasks are the tools you will see no matter what your active task is. Main task mostly consist tools related
to objects manipulations and modifications.
Click on Place Smart Line tool, and hold, all similar tools to create lines will show.
click the ‘open linear as toolbox’ from the selection to open a toolbar for linear tools.

Activating and using tools:
You just need to click on a tool from the list to activate it.
How to identify what tool is active: It can be seen from status bar
and from tool settings.
Tool settings will show you only settings related to active tool.
 How to Work with MicroStation Files:

MicroStation has two types of file: 2D DGN and 3D DGN. DGN is
stand for design file.
Not limited to DGN, you can also create a new DWG file.
 Creating Workspace:
Multiple workspaces can be created in MicroStation.
If you need to design different drawings for different industries, you
can set each of them in a separate workspace.
This will avoid arranging of tools and interface each time to create
drawings in different industry. Workspace can also be used when
multiple users are working on the same workstation.
To create a new workspace: MicroStation Manager > user option list > new
MicroStation will ask you to give description for this user
configuration.
We have defined a user configuration.

Now to create a new project.
From project option list, select new. Give name and description for
this project.
It will create a folder at location (Windows XP)

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Bentley\…folder.
 Create New File

Give the file name and Check the seed file. If it’s not showing
seed2D.dgn, browse and select it. Seed file is a drawing you
can start with. Other applications call it a template file.
Save. It will create a new
file with that name.
Open.

 Set your Working Unit:
MicroStation works differently in
handling working unit compared to
AutoCAD.
While in AutoCAD you can work with any
working unit, and change it later, you
can’t work that way here. You have to
define your working unit at the very
beginning. You can check your working
unit by accessing menu settings>design
file. Click on category working units on
the left.
By default, will define the master unit
(MU) as meters and sub unit as
millimeters. If it’s not your working units,
change it and click OK.
 Saving File and Settings:
Close. Even if you didn’t save the file, automatically saves it to your file, every time you create an object.
Save your file regularly by accessing file>save or press [ctrl] + S.
But for the dimensions you need to save settings separately with saving file. There are a lot of settings you
can save. You can save the settings by accessing menu file>save settings or press [ctrl] + F.
 Using Mouse and Controlling View:
 Mouse to navigate the view:

View control (or view navigation) also has important role. You will do a lot of zooming out,
zooming in, panning, and other control during the design.
Mouse Button Function:

Left click (1) is called data point (DP). When we
place an object, we will need to define a data
point. A start point, center point, next points any
kind of points! We can define it by clicking the left
mouse. We can also use data point to activate tools
from task navigation. Right click (2) is called
as Reset. Since V8 XM, we can choose not to use it
as reset button. Reset is used to cancel a running
process or finish using a tool.
Tentative button is when you press both left (1)
and right (2) button at the same time. We use this
for temporary snap.
X Button is the mouse mid button (for 3 button
mouse). This button will activate/deactivate pan
(no need to hold it). Double click will activate fit
view. MicroStation rescales the view to show all
objects in your drawing. Scrolling this button will
zoom in/zoom out the drawing area.
We can combine the mouse button with [ctrl], [shift], and/or [alt]. You can see all this mouse function from
menu Worskpace>Button Assignment.
 View Control:
You can find view control toolbar under
each view.

We can use window area to magnify selected area; define two data points when you use this
tool.
Fit view will adjust the drawing view scale automatically until you can see all of your object.
Alternatively, you can double click your X-button.
Pan view is used to pan or move your drawing area. Activate it, and click your data point to pan
view.
Alternatively, you can press your X-button.
These are like back and forth button. But only for view control tools.
Hint: If you use AutoCAD, undo and redo will also affect the view control. But not in .
 Precise Input: Using AccuDraw

AccuDraw is used to place drawing elements in your design files precisely, effectively, and is efficient.
In 2D drawing, we use only see X axis and Y axis. But if we create a 3D drawing, there will be Z axis.
You can turn it on/off by clicking Toggle AccuDraw on Primary Tools bar.
 Rectangular Coordinate:
Activate Place SmartLine by clicking the button on task navigation. You will see a compass on your
pointer.
When you move mouse pointer around, the X and Y values change. Move it to the right or left of your
compass. the field focus is on X field. moving your pointer up and down near the compass. You will see the
highlighted field now on Y.
* The AccuDraw focus will move to field with higher value.
When the pointer is near to X or Y axis. You will see the line is thicker and sticky to the
axis. It is called indexed. Indexing will help you to draw lines parallel to X or Y axis.
Move your pointer to the right; make sure X field is the focus. Type 2 [enter]. You will
see the X is pressed down, it means that the X value is locked. The focus automatically
switches to Y value, change the Y value. to create a horizontal line, give 0 [enter]. Both
X and Y values are now locked. left click to define the data point. (left button mouse
is data point). The SmartLine will be placed.
AccuDraw compass will be rotated and follow the previous data points orientation. Move the pointer to get
the correct focus.
When make sure it’s indexed. Press [enter]. This will activate SmartLock. SmartLock
will lock the horizontal value. Move your pointer to the first data point you defined. The
yellow X symbol, is the snap tool. Snap tool will ensure your data point ‘snapped’ to a
certain point.

Polar Coordinate:
During the design process, you may need to use other method to
input your object. Not by X and Y value, but using distance and
angle. This is known as polar coordinate. when AccuDraw get the
focus, press [space] to change it to polar coordinate. The X and Y
changes to distance and angle.
to change it back to X and Y, “press [space]” again.
Tips: AccuDraw compass follows the previous data points
orientation. When you get to point (1), you need to reset the
compass orientation. Press V to reset the compass to view
orientation.
 Precise Input: Using AccuSnap

To place drawing elements, we need reference to an existing point. Like when we need to
place a point exactly at the end / midpoint of a line, center point of a circle, etc.
AccuSnap is only active when asks for a data point. When you need to place drawing
elements or define a data point during modify or manipulate your drawing elements.
AccuSnap mode is set to find key points ( these are different for each object type.)
 Overriding Snap Mode:
During the design, we need to use more snap tools than just the key
points. You can override the default mode by clicking the AccuSnap
button on status bar.
Or with toolbar, you can show the button bar. Click the AccuSnap
button and select button bar.
 Active and setting default Snap:
Active snap is shown as a pushed icon. When you see the center point
icon is pushed, then the active snap is center point. The grayed button
means it’s the default snap mode.
Activate Place SmartLine. override the mode to center point. Click on a circle to snap to
its center. After defining a data point, the key point will be back as the active snap mode.
This is useful if you only need to change the snap mode for a point, and want the key point as default snap
mode.
On the snap menu, the default mode will have a blank circle on the left of it. While the active snap mode
have a filled circle.
To change the default mode, Double click on a button in snap toolbar or Click the snap button on status bar,
hold [shift] and click on a snap mode you want.
 Tentative Snap:
Tentative snap is the left and right mouse click together. If you move your pointer close
enough to a key point, you will see this point. It’s almost like the snap point, but not yellow.
It’s a dashed cross. If you move your pointer closer to that point, then it
will change to snap point.
Move your pointer until you see the tentative point. Click the tentative icon. It will show
you which point you are attempting to snap. The tentative point becomes a large white
cross, and highlights the object. If you see it is snapping to correct point, click data point
to accept it.
This is important if you have a lot of objects in your drawing. You can review whether you are snapping to
correct object or not. If it’s not, click reset (right click) to cancel it, and try it again.
 Changing Tentative Snap Assignment:

If you feel uncomfortable with clicking two buttons at once, you can change the button assignment.
Access menu: Workspace>Button Assignments… will open a dialog box. Click Remap Buttons. In button
mappings dialog box, select the tentative. As you can see, currently it’s invoked by left button – right button
chord. Move your pointer to definition area. Click your mouse to assign a new button.
Many users use mid button as tentative point. You will lose the pan functionality if you use it. But can use
pan scroll by pressing [shift] + data point. It’s not exactly the same with pan view. If you don’t like the pan
scroll, you can change the assignment from pan scroll to pan view.
There are two AccuDraw features: AccuDraw calculator and AccuDraw shortcuts.
 AccuDraw Calculator:
AccuDraw has a built-in calculator function. This is very helpful if
you need to use mathematical calculation when placing a data
point.
You can simply click your first data point, move your pointer to a
reference point. As you know, the value in AccuDraw field will
show the exact distance between your two points. move your
pointer to the second point, and press the equation operator. Type the equation, then AccuDraw will
calculate it!
Tips: For + or – operator, lock the X or Y value first. Otherwise, AccuDraw will think you want to input
negative or positive value. You can lock it after your pointer at the reference point and press X for locking
X axis value (or Y for Y axis value).
 AccuDraw Shortcut: You can control many AccuDraw behavior with it.
Make sure AccuDraw get the focus by pressing [f11], then press [?]. You can see the list of the whole
AccuDraw shortcuts.
You have used several of them: [enter] for smart lock, [Space] for changing AccuDraw mode from
rectangular to polar coordinate and vise versa, [V] for view rotation, [X] for lock X, and [Y] for lock Y.
 Using Tool Settings and Linear Elements:

 Using tool Settings ;
We use tool settings to change the element parameters. The basic elements are
linear, circle, and polygon elements. Tool settings will show you all available
parameters for active tool. It is also used for modify and view navigation tools.
Tool settings and AccuDraw can work together: place circle from navigation bar.
Place a data point anywhere on your screen as the circle center point and move your
pointer, the value in AccuDraw will be updated instantly.
You can move your pointer, type the radius, and click
data point to place the circle. Reset to cancel this circle placement. Now, with the place circle still active,
lock the diameter value in your tool settings, and type the diameter value.
Now, when you move your pointer to drawing area, a circle is attached to your pointer! If you defined the
diameter (or radius) before defining data point, you can click to place the circle. (useful to place many
circles with the same radius.)
 Linear Elements:
Place SmartLine:
We can place several element types just using this tool.
Line, if it only has one line segment
Arc, if it only has one arc segment
Line string, if it has several line segments
Complex chain, if it has several line and arc segments
Complex shape, if it’s a closed element
A SmartLine can have arc and lines. You can change the segment
type from line to arc and vice versa during placing the element. You
can also change the vertex type to rounded or chamfered.
* You can quickly change the top most parameter in tool settings by
pressing [~] in your keyboard.
Place Line: Another linear element that we can consider as basic is
‘place element’. you can only place a simple line using this tool. Every
line you created only has one segment. You create four line segments,
then it will be four separate lines. Let’s take a look at the tool settings.
There are only two parameters: length and angle. Try to lock the value
for these two before you place your line.
 Dialog with Focus: Using Shortcuts

Dialog with focus; sometimes it works when you use AccuDraw shortcut, but sometimes it doesn’t. The
reason is, you may have the focus on other dialog. You need the focus on the AccuDraw dialog to use
AccuDraw shortcut.
 Understanding and Controlling the Focus:
In GUI, we can give input to a component that currently has the focus. An active dialog box is shown with
clearer color than the inactive dialog boxes. Press “[alt] + F” to open file menu, then the active application
will show the menu. has many dialog boxes inside the application itself. There are several dialog can get
the focus, and each of them has specific shortcut that we can use. You can see the status at the right bottom
of , at the status bar.
Home:
Moving focus to home: [F12] OR [esc].
When focus at home, you can use the
task navigation shortcut. There are
some letters and numbers on the task
navigation. That’s the shortcut key. You
can press [1] to activate element
selection. You can press [Q] to activate
place linear group, then press [1] to
activate the place SmartLine. It’s very
useful to speed up than using mouse to activate it.

AccuDraw:
Moving focus to AccuDraw: [F11]
When you see this icon, then you can use AccuDraw shortcut.
Tool Settings:
Moving focus to Tool Settings: [F10]
Like default Windows dialog boxes, you can see some text are
underlined.
“Segment Type” for example: press [alt] + S to change that parameter.
Tool settings can use task navigation shortcut too. [Esc] OR [f12]
Key-In:
Moving focus to key-in dialog: press
[F9].
Sometimes, using key-in can be faster,
and it can control everything. Things
that you can’t control in task navigation.
When you enter p, then key-in will show
you every tool starting with p. After you
type pl, then it will auto complete it with
‘place’, press [space], then it move to
2nd column. Press s then m to activate
smartline. You will see options available
for SmartLine in the 3rd column.
The way we change the mouse button
assignment, is a key-in. Pan view and
Pan scroll are also key-ins. One can also assign key-ins to function keys [f1] to [f12]. You can see the
assignment by accessing menu “Workspace>Function Keys”.
 Drawing Elements: Circles and Polygon

Circle and polygon are closed
shapes.
Tool settings for circle:
You will see area, fill type, and
fill color. You can change the
fill type to opaque or outlined.
Opaque will place the circle
and fill the object with fill color
you choose. Outlined will also
place the circle with fill color,
but still preserve the outline color.
Tip: If you don’t see the fill color, click view attributes on your view toolbar. Select fill. It’s the first icon on
your view toolbar.
 Placing a circle:

Center: define two points: the
Edge: define 3 points on the Diameter: define two points on
center point and a point on
circle the edge as the circle diameter.
the edge
 Placing an Arc:
Placing arc is pretty much the same with placing circle.
You can define the direction by rotating your pointer to other direction around
the center of arc. or can manually override the direction parameter to CW or
CCW.
 Placing Polygons:
Placing Blocks: Block is a rectangle. (Block in AutoCAD is cell in .)
You can place a block by using two methods: orthogonal or rotated.
Rotated requires you to define three points:

Orthogonal requires you to define two
start point, rotation angle, and the block
points at the block corners.
corner.
Placing Shapes and Orthogonal Shapes:

Placing shape is very similar with placing SmartLine. But you have to define
the last data point at your first data point, so the shape will close. You can
also find close element. Clicking the button will automatically close your
shape.
Orthogonal shape is similar to shape. The only difference is the edges is
perpendicular to each other.
Regular Polygon:
You can create a regular polygon with edges from 3 to 4999.
You can use these following methods to place a regular polygon. Below are
the illustrations of the methods. The circle is only for illustration. You will
not see it in your drawing.
Inscribed: First data point will Circumscribed: First point is the

Edge: You define two points
be the center, and the second polygon center, and the second point
on the polygon edge.
is the polygon corner is the distance from center to edge

 Using Text:
 Placing and Editing Text:

Placing Text:
You can place text by activating place text tool. Activate the
place text tool, Word Processor Window opens. Enter the
desired text, use the ruler to arrange the paragraph, tabs. One
can also create superscript, subscript, insert symbols, etc.
After you finish, simply click data point in the position you
wanted.
Editing Text:
Double click the text > Select the text, hold [reset] until you see
the context menu, and select edit text
Tips: Right click is the reset button. Windows offers right click as contextual menu, we can use it too. Just
hold it a little longer.
Edit text is not just for editing the text content. We can also use it for editing the text attribute. One can
change the value and accept it by clicking data
point on your screen.
Text Style and Text Attribute:
We can save the common text attribute we use in
a text style. If your texts are using a text style,
when you change the text style attributes, all
texts using the same style will be updated.
However, you can override the style attributes in
tool settings before placement. But if you do this,
then when the style attributes updated, the
overridden attributes will not be updated .
You can create and manage text style by
accessing menu “element>text styles”.
 More Text Tools (1)

 Place Note:
Place note will place a text and a leader arrow. Similar to place text,
activating this tool will open the word processor. Type the text in word
processor, then place data points to define the leader arrow in your
drawing.
Graphic Group:
Notes leaders and texts are two objects in a graphic group. Check the
‘graphic group lock’ before you modify (moving or copying) the notes.
Make sure it’s turned on or they will be treated as separate objects. You
can turn on/off the lock by clicking the lock symbol.
 Enter Data Fields and Text Node:
Both these two tools are used to reserve some space for text. When we want to define the text location and
style for later input, we can use them.
Enter Data Field:
We use enter data field for texts that we already know how many characters will be used. It can be the date
format dd/mm/yyyy or standard drawing numbering like A-xxx or similar use.
We can place ‘enter data field’ by using text tool. Just use underscore ‘_’ to reserve the space. (__/__/____)
We can change the value by using ‘fill in single data field’ and ‘auto fill in enter data field’.

Both will open a text editor. Type the desired value and [enter] to apply the value to the underscores.
Fill in single data field will ask you every data field you want to change.
Auto fill in enter data field will automatically search for empty data field. When it find data field that already
changed, it will skip the data field.
 Text Node:
We use text node if we want to reserve text space we are not sure of and can change the text node value
using the edit text tool.
Notes: We can hide and show enter data field and text node from view attributes.
 More Text Tools (2)

 Text Field:
Field is used to show element, model, or file properties. The common use of field is in title block. Field will
automatically show when the file is plotted, who saved it, file name, et cetera.
You don’t need to manually edit your field’s value, they are automatically updated, but, if they don’t, you
can update your fields by keying-in ‘field update select’ to update selected fields or ‘field update all’ to
update all fields.
Modifying the objects:
Activate modify element from navigation toolbar.
Try to modify the rectangle size.
Move your pointer, snap to a midpoint or endpoint of a rectangle, click data point.
Move your pointer and click another data point to accept the modification.
You should see the rectangle modified. And… the field value updated!
 Other Text Tools:
Match Text Attributes
When we place text, and want to match all the values to existing text in our drawing. This tool can be used
for it. Activate it, and select a text in your drawing to match it’s attributes.
Change Text Attributes
This one is for changing existing text attributes.
Copy Increment Text
You can copy text that contain numeric numbers and create
incremental copies.
Ex: If you copy text that contain numeric and letters, then the possibilities
would be:
1: the result will be: 1,2,3,4,…
1A: the result will be 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A,…
5D1: the result will be 5D1, 5D2, 5D3, 5D4,…
 Selecting Multiple Elements (1)

Earlier, activate the manipulation tool > choose the element and cannot select more elements,this is ‘verb-
noun selection’.
But, when we need to manipulate multiple elements at once. We have to select our elements first, then
activate the manipulation tool. We call this ‘noun-verb selection’.
However, some tools are not able to manipulate/modify multiple elements. If you activate this tool, all
elements in your selection set will be removed.
We have many ways to select objects in:
The basic way is by holding [ctrl] and picking every single element adding the elements to our selection
set.
Or, we can click and drag our pointer and select every element inside the boundary.
Element Selection Tool:

‘Element Selection’ tool is a default tool.
You can move your pointer to an element and see a tooltip before picking
it.
Element Selection Settings:
i) Selection Method:
The options for selection method are: individual, block, shape, circle,
and line. If you activate the block/shape/circle method, then we are defining the shape. Every element
inside the shape will be selected.
When we define block (or shape/circle) with 2nd data point on the right side of 1st data point, then we are
selecting elements that the whole parts of the element inside our boundary.
When we define it right to left, then we will select every element that the whole or part of it inside our
boundary AND every element touching our boundary line. You will see the boundary line as dashed lines.
Except for line method, it will select every element touching that line.
Left to Right selection Right to Left selection
Selection Mode:
The options are: new selection, add to selection set, subtract (remove) from selection set, invert your
selection set, and select all elements. You can also press [ctrl] + A to select all elements.
If you have selected element in your drawing, then the selection mode will change. You will see another
tool: clear selection set.
Attributes filter
If you click the small arrow on the right bottom of this tool setting, you will see extended settings for this
tool.
 Selecting Multiple Elements (Fence)

 Fence: We use fence to define a boundary around our elements. Unlike
selecting objects with modify tool, fence will always be there. You can
place more elements, and use the fence again. Also, we can save the fences
for later use. Helpful if we manipulate certain elements repeatedly.
Defining and Modifying Fence Content:

We can place fence by accessing place fence from task
navigation.
Activate the place fence tool.
We can choose existing elements in our drawing to be a fence.
You can define the fence just like you place your block (or shape,
or circle, depends your fence type).
How to modify the elements: After we defined the fence,
we can manipulate elements in two ways:
Using Manipulate Fence Content Tool Using MicroStation Manipulation Tools

You can use the ‘manipulate fence content’ tool in If you use any MicroStation tool, take a look into
the fence tools group. You can see the copy, the tool settings. You will see an option to use
move, scale, and more MicroStation manipulation fence! It is disabled if you haven’t defined any
tools here. fence yet
You will loose your existing fence when you select individual element using modify tool, or define a new
fence.
 Element Manipulation
 Copy And Move Element
Moving and copying element has the same workflow. We select the elements, define the first point and
then define the distance and direction for the duplicate location.
 Scale
We can resize elements by using scale tool. we can use active scale to scale it to a value, or , we can use 3
points. We define the scale base point, reference 2nd point to define existing size, and then 3rd point as
the expected size.
Be careful with X scale and Y scale in active scale method, or proportional in 3 points method. can resize
elements to only one axis.
 Rotate
We can rotate elements using 3 methods: by active angle, 2 points, and 3 points. Active angle and 3 points
are the same with the one we use in scale tool. 2 points is similar with 3 points, but it will use X positive
axis as the 0.
 Mirror
We can mirror element vertically, horizontally, or use a virtual line as a mirror line.
 Array
We use array tool to copy elements several times at once. We can copy it as a rectangular pattern, polar
pattern, or along path.
 Align Elements by Edge
Align by Edge is used to align elements to another element edge as reference.
 Stretch
This tool is used to stretch elements at it’s vertex inside a fence. We can create a fence directly using this
tool, but it’s limited to rectangular fence only. If you need complex shaped fence, define a fence first, then
use this tool.
 Copy Parallel
This tool is used to copy an element parallel to original element. There are 3 modes we can use: miter,
round, and original. Round will create rounded edges. Miter will keep the result distance the same, and
might try to add more vertex. You can only see the effect for some element types, such as ellipse.
Original, will keep the original shape. It might not be true parallel with original object.
 Move to Contact

Move to contact will move the objects to the defined direction, and stop when find first element as a
contact.
 Modifying Elements
 Modify Element
This is the basic modification tool. We only can modify one element using this tool. Used basically to
move a vertex point.
Modify tool when picking vertex on corner Modify tool when picking vertex on edge
 Partial Delete and Break Element:
Partial delete will delete some part of the element. You need to define 2 points
for the start and end points for cutting. You also need to define the cut direction
by moving your pointer.
Break element will break the element at a point. If you break a line, then it will
be two line segments.
 Extend Line:
Extend line will lock your pointer parallel to your line, and sure the change
is the line length.
We can change the distance by using AccuDraw or filling distance value in
tool settings.
 Extend Element to Intersection
There are two similar tools to extend element(s) to intersection. The first one will extend
2 elements until they intersect, and the other only extends one element to the
intersection point.
 Trim Elements:
We use this tool to trim element by using other
element as cutting element. To cut several
elements, select the cutting element first, then activate the trim tool.
 Intellitrim:
Trim allows you to pick one element to trim (or cutting element) at a time.
When we need to trim several elements at once, or we need to use more than
one cutting elements, then we can use Intellitrim.
Quick Mode:
Quick mode allows you to select one cutting element, and create a fence that touch multiple elements to
trim. You can also use 3 operations: trim, extend, and cut. Cut will cut elements to two segments, but do
not delete any of the segments.
Advanced Mode:
Advanced mode allows you to select multiple cutting elements and multiple elements to cut. Define
elements you select first as cutting elements or elements to trim. Select in tool settings option.
Select the cutting elements, after you finish, click reset. The option in tool settings window will change,
asking you to choose elements to cut. Pick the elements you want to cut, after you finish click reset. Pick
the elements side you want to keep. Click reset to end it.
 Insert and Delete Vertex:
If you delete a vertex from a rectangle, then it will become a triangle. If you add a vertex to
a rectangle, then it will become a five sides polygon.

 Construct Circular Fillet and Construct Chamfer:
These tool will change a corner to a fillet or chamfer. We can do this by using
modify tool. However, in construct chamfer we can define each distance.
 Working with Views

When we do a design in, our design can be very large or complex. It will be very useful to open different
views to show different areas. Imagine you have a very large area. Instead of zooming and panning every
time you want to see different area, you can show them in different views. We can open 8 views
simultaneously when working with a design file.
 Arrange and Manage Views:
After we open several views, we can tile or arrange them just like in other Windows applications: using
windows menu>tile.
When we work with common views arrangement, we can save the views arrangement using view group.
 View Control:
Each view has a view control bar. You can
zoom, rotate, and pan your views individually. And you can get previous/ next
view from each of them.
For rotate view, it will rotate the view where you activate the tool. But you can
click in other view to get the reference points. And for Windows area, you can
select where you want the area to be shown. You can define area in view 3, but show the selected area in
view 1.
 View Attributes:
Each view has view attributes. We can control them individually. For example, we can show annotations in
view 1, but turn them off in view 2. Or shading in view 1, but wireframe in view 3 (for 3d design).
 Saved Views
If you have many view configurations that you want to keep, you can use saved views. Saved views will
save your configuration for individual view. This is different with view group. View group saves the views
arrangement and location. Saved views save how your views are set.
 Creating and Activating View Group
The view group will save the arrangement we made when working with views, and leave the default
settings unchanged. Activate View Group.
Give the view group a name. Fill the description if necessary.

Close this view group dialog. Make sure the new view group name is shown in the view bar. If it’s not,
change the active view group by clicking the drop down menu.
 Opening and Arranging Views
Open different views by clicking their buttons on view groups.
The views will be opened. Resize and arrange the views. You can resize them by clicking and dragging
the view edges.
To fine tune the views arrangement, click from menu: Window>Arrange.
 Controlling Views
Zooming Area: When we Click fit view we see the whole area. Activate window area from view control
toolbar. You can do it from any view. Change the ‘apply to Window’ option in tool settings to 1.
Rotating View
Activate rotate view. In view, click points 1 and 2 consecutively. This will rotate view.
 Working With AccuDraw
Activate place text tool. Type TOILET and try to move your pointer to view 1. You can see that the text will
follow the view orientation. Without placing it, move your pointer to view 1. You can see that the text
orientation also follow the view.

This is very useful if you need to draw geometry in different orientations.
 View Attributes and Level Display
You can control each view attributes and level display. Click the view attributes button in view 3. Turn off
text and dimensions. You will see the attributes are now hidden in view 3 only.
From menu, click settings>levels>display. Or alternatively, you can press [ctrl]
+ E.
You can see the list of used levels in a drawing. Click the level name to
show/hide the levels.
You can apply the changes to all opened views or only the view you selected. Pay attention on the dialog
title. The level will be hidden/shown for the view that is mentioned in the title bar. To change the active
view, you can simply click the view title bar.
 Saved Views
You can access it from menu utilities>saved views.
Saved views is completely different with saving view groups. View groups save the view Window
arrangement and position. Saved views save the view attributes, levels, and more properties. You can
load the saved settings to other view if necessary.
 Level and Level Attributes

levels are used to separate and distinguish your drawing objects. When the drawing become complex,
you will need to control the object appearances. You will need to show them in different colors, different
line weight, and different line style… or you may need to show/hide objects in a certain category. You
can use levels and their attributes for this purpose.
You can group object in the same category in a level. This is probably has the same concept with
reference files (will be covered later). Imagine you draw in a paper. After you have done, you want to add
more objects in different category, but you don’t want to mess your previous drawing. So you take a
transparent paper and place it above your previous drawing. You draw on that transparent paper. When
you need to see the original drawing, you simply remove the transparent paper. But when you need to
see the complete drawing, you place the transparent paper. When your drawing become more complex,
you will need more transparent papers. Each paper is level. And unlike the transparent paper, levels are
much more convenient and virtually unlimited.
Managing Levels and Controlling Level Display
Level Manager
You can create, delete, and manage your levels in level manager. To open level manager, you can access
menu: Settings>Levels>Manager. You can create a level, rename it, and change its attributes. You can
also see whether the levels are used in your drawing or not.
You can only delete level that is not in used. When the level has bullet in used column, then you can’t
delete it.
You can rename and change the level attributes by clicking on desired column. In this example, you can
choose the line style from the pop up menu.
Level Display
If you are an AutoCAD user, you can control the level display on/off in the AutoCAD layer manager (level
in is layer in AutoCAD). But not in . You turn them on/off in level display window. You can open it by
accessing menu: Settings>Levels>Display.
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You can see which level is used (has objects on it) in the used column (1). The used levels have bullets in
the column. The active level is highlighted in green (2). Active level is where your objects will be placed
when you use drawing tools. The hidden levels are shown in white (3), while the shown levels are
highlighted in blue.
Changing Active Level

There are several ways you can set the active level:
From level manager or level display, right click above desired level and choose ‘set active’
From key in window, type ‘active level LEVELNAME’. Change the LEVELNAME with the level name you
want to use.
Choose the level from attributes toolbar.
 Level Attributes
has many level attributes. By default, it will only show you three attributes: color, line style, and line
weight. Open level manager, right click above an attributes title bar and you will see the complete list of
level attributes. You may not need all of them, but when you do, click the attributes to show it on level
manager.

By Level Properties: By default, object attributes will use ‘by level’. It means your object will use the
attributes you set for the level. However, you may need to override the attributes when you place your
objects. You can do it from attributes toolbar.
Color: The color usage should be clear. When you need to distinguish your objects, color is the easiest
attributes to be noticed. And of course, if you want to print in color, you will want your objects to look nice
by using colors.
Line Style: has two types of line style: standard or custom. The standard line styles are mark by number: 0
to 7. While the custom line style are using names.
The difference between those two is the standard line styles are just symbolic, and the custom line styles
act like actual objects.
Take a look at this example, all of them are SmartLine with different line style. The first one is using
custom line style: rail road. The second is using standard line style no.4. And the last one is using custom
line style: dash dot.
After I zoom in those objects, you can see that the rail are also looks bigger. The 3rd line is now showing
dash dot. But take a look the 2nd line. It still maintain the dash dot size. Doesn’t matter if you zoom it very
close, you will still see it at that size. Standard line style is very useful for annotation and symbolic lines.
For example: object center lines.
Line Weight: Color is probably the best way to distinguish your objects category. But most technical
documents are printed in black and white. To distinguish your objects in black and white documents (and
we also use it in manual drafting) is using the line weight. There are 32 line weight you can use, from 0-31.
The number is just index, not actual weight.
 Using Cell:
When we draw, we need to draw same objects repeatedly. It can be a standard objects/parts, annotation,
symbol, etc. We can define and save the objects on a cell library. And whenever we need it, we just look
for it in our library and use it.
 Loading Cell Library
Before we can use the cell, we need to load a cell library. You can define which cell library you want to
use from cell library dialog box. Access it from menu element>cell. will open a dialog box. From this cell
library dialog, access file>attach file… Find the file you have downloaded and attach it. You will see the
cell list. All the cells are in the cell library file.
Pay attention that you can attach a folder. It means that if you have multiple cell library inside a folder, you
can attach them at once by selecting the folder. Cell library usually contain cell for similar
purposes/discipline. However, if you have large cell library, some people prefer to use folders to
manage the files too.
Now see the buttons in red rectangle. You can define how do you want to use this cell. The most basic use
of cell is for placement. You simply select a cell and place it to your drawing. We will see how we can use
it for other purpose later.
Click on seater 2 seats. Click Placement button. Now you should see NONE has changed to the cell name.
Now you have define the active cell for placement. You may close this dialog.
 Placing Cell
Access place active cell from task navigation. Now you can see the active cell on your pointer, and
dynamically determine the cell location. Click your mouse at the desired position.
You can change several settings before you place it. These are the basic settings for placing cell.
Tips: You can double click the cell name in cell library list. This will also activate place active cell.
Understanding Shared Cell
You can stretch cell and change the text data field value within cell. So if you have similar objects, but
have different sizes, you can create a cell and stretch it later. However, there are some cells that you don’t
need to modify. To prevent this type of cell being modified, you can use shared cell. Activate use shared
cell in cell library dialog box.
The other advantage of using shared cell is, you can reduce your design files. Shared cells using the same
information for every instance in your drawing. Without shared cell, if you have 100 cells, then you have
100 cell information! I’m not sure if this is still an issue now, as any new computer now can handle quite a
large file easily.

 Creating Cell:
You need to draw your objects before you convert it to a cell. You can use SmartLine, block, circle, etc.
After you finish, you can convert all the objects to a single cell.
Understanding Cell Library: Before we can actually create our cell,we need to create a cell library first.
A cell library usually holds several similar cells. For example, you want a library of cars. You can create a
cell library file named cars. Then you might want to create a cell library to keep your annotation symbols,
or probably AEC symbols. That’s what a cell library is for. It keeps a similar cells within one file.
Let us try to create a cell library and cells. Download this file and open it. We have 3 simple objects that
we want to save as cells.
They are created from simple elements such as text, line, circle, arc and line string. These are the objects
that form the elevation view symbol.
From menu, select element>cells. The cell library dialog box will be opened. Take a look to the dialog
title. It says cell library: [NONE].
It means that we haven’t attached any cell library yet. From this dialog menu, click file>new. Type a name
for the new cell library. Something like Training Cell will do. Click save.
Now the dialog title will show you the cell name, but this cell library is still empty. Look at the right bottom
of this dialog. you will see several buttons to create and modify cells. But all of them are grayed and
disabled. Why the create cell button is disabled? We need to define the cell origin before we start
creating it.
Creating Cell
Now that we have created a cell library, we can start saving our cells here. This is a little bit tricky,
especially for AutoCAD users. Move away the dialog box a bit, but don’t close it. Just enough for you to
see the objects you are going to convert as a cell. Let’s start with the elevation symbol. Select all objects
that make that symbol. You should see the whole symbol highlighted and turns to purple.
Now from navigation task, click and hold on place active cell, choose define cell origin from the drop
down menu.

Place the origin at the center of the symbol. Origin is the base point or reference point that you will use
when placing the cell. You may use different location for the origin. But I guess for this kind of symbol, we
use its center point.
Now back to cell library dialog. You will see that now the create button is enabled!
Click the create button. Give the cell proper name and description.
Now you should see the cell name on the cell list.
 Replacing and Modifying Cell:

After you’ve been working with cell for a while, I’m sure you will be wondering how to modify the cell on
your drawing… and how you can modify the cell in your cell library. Well, I guess the best practice in is,
you don’t change the cells on your drawings, but you replace them.
If you are AutoCAD users, I know you will be trying to find something like edit in-place or block editor.
And you will expect modifying the cell definition will update all cells in your drawing automatically. cell
might be similar to AutoCAD block. But they are totally different animals.
cells are library, objects that you use repeatedly. Imagine you are placing chairs when you design an
office space. When you realize that you want other type of chair, you do not create chair on your own, but
you pick another type from catalog and use it. I guess this makes sense. You keep the first chair model in
your library, but you don’t change it because you might need it later. You simply remove it from the
drawing (but not changing the definition) and replace it with another type.

AutoCAD and have different concept on this ‘reusable contents’, so don’t try to make cell behave like
block!
 Modifying Cell:
There are two ways: you can delete the cell definition and recreate it, or you can modify the cell within
cell library file directly.
Recreate the cell definition: You can place your cell to your
drawing, then drop the cell.
Drop is a tool that will break your element to simpler elements. You created cell from several elements,
and drop element will break the cell back to the original elements.
Make necessary changes, and recreate the cell. Delete the original cell from cell library, before creating
cell with the same name.
Opening and Modifying Cell Library
Another method to do this is by opening the cell library. Cell library basically is a DGN file. You can open
it using file>open, then change the file type to Cell Libraries (*.cel).
Each cell is placed in separate model. Each model will use the cell name. To switch to the cell you want to
modify, access file>models. will open model dialog. This model dialog will show you all cells the cell
library has. You can double click to open the model, or right click>open. This will open your cell.
Do the modification as necessary on the drawing. After you finish, save this cell library. Now your cells
are updated!
 Replacing Cell:
Now if you back to your design file, you will see that your cells are still using the old definition. They are
not changed to the new cell definition. Yes, you need to update them manually. Or change the cell to
another cell definition.
You can do that by using replace cell tool.
This tool is called replace cells. However, you can also use it for updating your cell definitions.
Activate the replace cell tool, and take a look to the tool options.

You can use update or replace cell as the method. Remember, you need to attach the cell library. Some
cell tools won’t work if it can’t find the cell definition in cell library.
You can also change single cell instance, or update every cell that use the same definition.
 Using Cell as Points, Terminators, and Patterns
However, there are more that we can do with cells. Look at the cell library dialog box. At the bottom of the
dialog, we can see several options, how we want to use the cell. We already use the active cell for
placement. And there are more options.
We can also use cells to place point, terminator, or as pattern. Try to open a cell library. You may want
to try to create several cells for this tutorial. I created several cells: benchmark point (I will use it with
place point tool), arrow (for terminator), and diamond pattern (for pattern). Look the active cells below. I
can activate different cells for different purposes. To activate your cell, just select the cell, and click
button. If you want to use it for placement, then click placement button. Click terminator if you want use
use selected cell as line terminator. And so on.
Placing Cell as Point:

Now how can we place point? The place active point tool is under place SmartLine>Points.
After you activate the tool, look at the tool settings. You will see the point type now is cell. You are still
able to use element as point type, but now cell become the default point type.
Try to place your cell. You can place it by clicking data point, and the cell will be placed at your pointer
position. You may want to try the other point tools and see if you can use active cell too.
Using Cell as Terminator:
I created this cell for my terminators. Terminators will automatically find line/arch segments and place
the terminator there. The terminator will also be rotated, parallel to the line direction. Remember, you
need to create the terminator to point to positive X axis. That is the 0 deg angle, or the terminator
direction.
Try to create several lines, SmartLines, arc, etc. Now try to activate the place active line terminator. This
tool is under place active cell tool group.
Click data point close to the line end. Click data point again to accept. This tool is very useful for placing
arrows or other terminators. Especially if you need to place them with angles like this. You don’t need to
rotate them later. Simply click data points!
Using Cell as Patterns:

Pattern area tool is under hatch area tool group.
While hatch area only can create parallel lines pattern, pattern area can be used for any kind of pattern.
As long as you define the pattern in cell library. We will discuss about hatch area in details later.
Just like the other tools, you can see the active cell as pattern definition.

Using AutoCAD Command in
I started using CAD from AutoCAD. I believe most CAD users (at least that I know) also start learning from
it. One thing that we depend on is using the command line. There is always strong reaction when we say
Autodesk should get rid of command line. I always have the deadly question when I teach any other CAD
application, if they already know AutoCAD: “does has shortcuts like AutoCAD command line?”
Command line is very good feature for drafting. Many of us know how to activate the common tools using
command line, but we forget how to activate it from ribbon (or toolbar) or from menus. So if you one of us,
and having some problems when learning , this might be helpful.
Key–In:
also has something similar to AutoCAD command line. It is called key-in window. You can open it by
accessing menu: Utilities>Key-In.
By default, this key in has three rows: the key-in field, list boxes, and key-ins history. You can resize this
key-in window and display only the key-in field. You can also dock this window to the bottom or top of
your window. But we, AutoCAD users will choose at the bottom, aren’t we?
Using this key-in window is similar (but not the same) with AutoCAD command line. You can see that the
list boxes contain the available key-ins in . You can choose from the list if you don’t remember what you
should keyed-in.
Unlike command line, this key-ins have a hierarchy. The main key-in is in the first column of the list boxes.
If the key-in has child tool, then they will appear on the next column.
DWG Commands:
If you do rely heavily to command line, you can try to access AutoCAD command from key-in window.
Type DWG then the AutoCAD command. Or you can pick from the list. You can also use “\” (without
quote) as prefix. Use DWG (or “\”) then type the command.

Remember, you can’t have AutoCAD flavor in . They work differently, and using key-in window as
AutoCAD command line certainly won’t work. You can use key-in to find equal (or similar) AutoCAD
tool in during learning .
For example, you know how to draw a rectangle in AutoCAD, but you are confused which tool is equal in .
You can open the key-in Window, type DWG rectangle (or
ectangle) and see which tool is active. Later, after you know that place block is the one you are looking
for, you can directly access it. You will find out you can use W then 1 to activate the tool. It will be faster
than forcing to use key-in as AutoCAD command line.
Using Your AutoCAD PGP:
You may use AutoCAD shortcuts in your acad.pgp. By default, will use acad.pgp in your AutoCAD
installation folder. If you have them both on the same machine. You can use your shortcuts with the same
prefix.
However, I find that is not always able to find it. If your shortcuts don’t work, you may need to define the
configuration variables (equal to AutoCAD system variables).
Configuration Variables:
You can open the configuration dialog from menu: workspace>configuration.
Find these configuration variables below:

MS_DWG_COMMANDPREFIX
By default, the DWG command prefix is “\”. You can change the prefix to something else you prefer.
MS_DWG_PGPFILE

This is the configuration to define your acad.pgp location. If your can’t find your pgp file, change this
variable.
If you are actually new to , you might be interested to see our tutorial series here.
 More Annotation Tools: Dimension:

We have discussed about using text and cell to annotate our drawings. Let us explore further
about annotation tools. This time, we are going to discuss how to use dimension.
Even if we create our drawings in exact sizes, plot it in certain scales, we still need to add dimensions. It
doesn’t make sense if people need a ruler and measure every element in our drawing.
The dimensioning tools are in dimensions tools group.
There are many dimensioning tools we can use. Basically how to use them is just the same. Remember to
follow the guides in status bar!
Dimension Styles and Dimension Attributes:

Dimension appearance is controlled by dimension attributes. While each dimension can have different
attributes, we can manage them efficiently using dimension styles. You can save different attributes
settings in each style.
You can access dimension style dialog from menu: element>dimension styles. You can have many
dimension styles to use in your drawings.

The dimension attributes are grouped into four category: geometry, units, text, and symbology. Each
category is represented in a tab. The last tab, advanced, has all of the attributes in it.
Explore the settings available in this dimension style dialog, try to change the values and options. You will
see live preview at the bottom of the dialog box.
 Basic Dimension Settings: Alignment, Dimension Mode, and Association:
Try to activate dimension element

will open dimension tool settings. Below is the basic tool settings. You can choose dimension styles and
other basic arrangement. If you want to have more settings, click small triangle at the right bottom of the
dialog box.
There are many settings that you can change here. Let us discuss several of them.

Alignment
This is how you define your dimension alignment.
View will give you dimension aligned with your view. This is useful if you rotated your views and want to
have dimension parallel to your view.
Drawing will give you dimension parallel to your coordinate (ACS). View rotation will not affect the
dimension orientation
True will create dimension parallel to your element.
Arbitrary will place your dimension arbitrarily. This is very useful if you want to create an isometric
dimension.
Association
If you activate association, this will associate your dimension with the element. If you move the element,
resize, or do other modification… then the dimension will automatically updated.
 Dimension Types
Under location option, you can see what kind of dimension you can create. In this example, you can see
dimension types for dimension element.
You can dimension the whole element, create label line, or dimension size perp – line. Try to select a
line, change the dimension type and see what will happen!
You will see the dimension types changing, depends on object you select. If you select a circle or arc,
then you will see these dimension types.
And this what you will see if you activate dimension linear:
 Isometric Drawing in
July 11, 2010 by Edwin Prakoso 3 Comments
If you need to create isometric drawing in , you are probably wondering how to do it easily. We are not
talking about drawing the isometric in 3D model, but isometric diagram in 2D DGN.
Open your . Try to find the lock symbol in status bar, and click it. It is the active lock symbol. You will see
a list of what you can lock, and which are active. One of the locks is isometric. Try to activate the isometric
lock and draw a line (or SmartLine) in your drawing.

By default, the isometric lock will lock the pointer at top plane. Not real top plane, but this will allow you
to draw isometric diagram at the top plane by imitating the 3D top plane.
If you need to draw in other plane, then click the lock symbol again, click full. This will open a dialog box
that is showing you all the locks options. Isometric lock options are at the bottom of this dialog box.
What about isometric dimensions? You can add isometric dimensions by using arbitrary alignment.
If the isometric lock is still active, then you should have no problem placing it. It will be locked at the
same isometric plane.
See animation below for your review.
What about the dimension text and arrow? They are not isometric. You need to create several text styles
with slant angle. Slant angle will only be available if you activate the italics option. Experiment with 30
deg or –30 deg for your dimension placement. Read here for more about using text and text style.

For dimension arrow, you need to create your own dimension arrow using cell. Then you can use it in
your dimension styles. Read here for more about creating cell.
More Annotation Tools: Pattern

August 20, 2010 by Edwin Prakoso 1 Comment
We already discussed several annotation tools. This is the last one.
Another ‘must have’ annotation element in a drawing is pattern. Pattern is used to show object materials,
show section area, and some other purposes.
In , we have the types of patterns: hatch area, crosshatch area, and pattern area. Hatch and crosshatch
are used for simple pattern, while pattern area is used for complex pattern. If you need to define your own
pattern, then definitely you have to use pattern area.
Contents of this Article [Click to hide]
1 Hatch Area
2 Crosshatch Area
3 Pattern Area
4 Exercise
Hatch Area
Hatch area is used to create hatch pattern with parallel lines. You can control the spacing and angle of this
pattern.
There are several ways to create hatch area. You can choose the element as closed boundary. You can
also pick points to let find the boundary using flood, union, intersection, difference, or picking points.
Associative parameter will associate your pattern to your elements. If you move or modify the elements,
then the pattern will adjust to the new boundary.
Snappable pattern by default is off. Most users don’t want to snap to patterns since it will make your
drawing messy. To many reference point will be found. Only activate it when necessary.
Crosshatch Area
Crosshatch is very similar with hatch, only here you have two parallel lines definitions crossing each
other.
Pattern Area
Hatch and crosshatch are used for simple patterns. Pattern area is used for creating complex pattern. You
can use complex pattern from cells or .pat file. You already learn about cells, so you will not have a
problem using it as pattern. Pat file is extension for pattern/hatch file from AutoCAD. If you are not
familiar with AutoCAD and you don’t have custom pattern files from AutoCAD, then you probably will
never use file to define your pattern.Cell is easier to define.

Exercise
You can start the exercise by downloading this file: pattern.dgn. Here is how the file looks like.
See how you can do it in our YouTube channel here.

Using Multiple Views
September 6, 2010 by Edwin Prakoso Leave a Comment
I have this question last week. So what is the advantage of using multiple views? When I draw on view 1,
then I will see the exact same object on view 2, 3, and so on. So why using it?
The idea of using multiple views is not to draw different objects. When we work on a design file, then it is
our design. We use multiple views to represent the design differently. It is easier to understand in 3D
modeling: we need to see the object from top, side, and front.
We can have the advantages in 2D, but not all users can have the advantages using multiple views.
Basically the advantages are:
You can present you drawing in several ways, without having to change it repeatedly. Eight ways
actually, because has 8 views. You can set the view 1 to show wireframe, while the view 2 shows
illustration display styles. You can turn the levels specific only to your active view. You can set the view
attributes specific to that view. In short, you can set different representation for each view, and you can
open it when you need it. No need to set the properties, simply open the view.
You can have rotated views without disturbing the master view. Sure you can open one view, rotate it,
rotate it back. And when you need to work on many rotated area, you will need to rotate it again. When
you are working on a site, then you want to rotate your view when working on a building, parking lot, etc.
You can do it once, then open the view again later when you need it. No need to rotate the view every
time you work on different rotation.
You can open several area at once. So you can manipulate view, refer to other view, watching the changes
on several area quickly. You can place points on separate location easily.
1 Changing the Drawing Representation
2 Rotating View
3 Using Multiple Views
4 Saving the Settings
Changing the Drawing Representation
If you open more than one view, look at the view control. You have them on each view! Yes, you can
manipulate the view without affecting the other views. Try to change the display style. Change the view
attributes.
And if you open the level display, you can see that you can set the level display for active view only, or
you can change it for global display.

Rotating View
Let us see view on the left. When we need to work on the building, even for creating simplest floor plan,
that would be difficult. It would be easier if we rotate one view for that particular building. Anytime you
need to work for the site drawing, open view 1. When you need to work on building A, open view 2.
When you need to work on parking lot, open view 3. Easy. You will see the area right away, and already
rotated.
You can use rotate view and pick the points to rotate it.
Using Multiple Views

This should be clear enough. I know that not all of us can get the advantage using many views at once.

Saving the Settings
Remember, in , when you want to save this configuration, you will need to do it manually. You can do it by
accessing file>save settings or press [ctrl] + F.
You can watch the video, using views on our YouTube Channel. You may want to subscribe to our
channel:)
Changing Elements Attributes
September 14, 2010 by Edwin Prakoso 13 Comments
One thing that frustrate AutoCAD users who are migrating to is finding similar tool in . I believe the users
who are migrating to AutoCAD will have the same problem as well.
I have posted how you can find the similar tool in . However, finding the tool doesn’t mean you can use it
like in AutoCAD. Many tools work differently. One question I have in common is ‘what is similar to
AutoCAD MATCHPROP’? If you have tried the DWG key-in, then you will find SmartMatch is the equal
tool. Then why the attributes are not changing?
We don’t use SmartMatch to change object attributes, but using change element attributes.
Before we discuss about match attributes and change attributes in details, let us see how to change the
attributes, matching to existing object quickly.
Hip Tip: Match and Change Attributes Quickly

Activate the change element attributes, and see the tool settings. You can click the match element
attributes and pick an object to obtain the attributes value.
You can activate use active attributes to also change the active attributes to match the selected object
attributes. If you don’t want to affect the active attributes, the leave it unchecked.
Now you can activate any properties you want to change. You can also use fence for changing multiple
objects attributes, and you can also create a duplicate without changing the original object attributes.
But this tool is only for changing the attributes. You don’t change the text style, dimension style,
hatch/pattern, etc. You need to use different tool for that.
Matching Element Attributes to Active Attributes
Match properties in AutoCAD works differently with match attributes in AutoCAD. There are several
tools to match (and change) elements attributes:
Match Element Attributes
SmartMatch
Match Curve Settings
Match Surface Settings
Match Dimension Attributes
Match Multi-line Elements
Match Projections
Match Pattern Elements
Match Text Attributes
So many of them? Yes, they are. But don’t be intimidated. I believe you will only use several of them
frequently, but at least now you know there are tools for those purposes.
Those tools are only to change the active attributes or styles, to match the attributes of the object
you selected.
The idea is to allow you to create new objects with the same attributes with existing element.
To change other objects attributes, you need to use change element attributes. Well, and the other tools
like change dimension and change text attributes.
Let us try it. Activate match element attributes. You will see the tool settings like this. Activate the
attributes you want to match.

Now pick any object from your drawing. You should see the attributes updated. See that the active
attributes are also updated.
Try to use other match tools.

Changing Other Element Attributes
We already discuss how you can change element’s attributes. But as I mentioned before, you may need to
use other change tools to change text attributes, dimension attributes, etc.
It is basically the same with change text attributes.
See that you can change dimension style with change dimension tool.

Try different tools for changing the styles to see how they work. You know where to find those tools, don’t
you? You can find change text attributes under text tools group, and change dimension under dimension
tools group.
How Can We Add Fill in ?
This is another common question from an AutoCAD user. How can we create solid/fill pattern in ? In
AutoCAD, there is a pattern type for solid fill. If you have tried to use hatch and pattern in , you will not
find it.
When creating a closed element
When we create a closed element in , you will see options to define color fill. Try to use place block, place
circle, and other closed elements. You can have this option too when you are creating closed element
using SmartLine.
What types of color we can use? You can use indexed colors, true colors, Pantone colors, or gradient
colors. Try these options.
You should see the color on your screen when you create the element. If you don’t, check the view
attributes. Make sure the option to show it is active.

For existing elements
Now what if we already have the elements in our drawing? Should we create new element? Of course not.
You can use create region tool. This is pretty similar with pattern in AutoCAD.
There are some method you can use to define the region. Flood probably is the most comfortable method.
Create region will remove existing objects that are used for defining the region. If you want to keep the
original elements, make sure you activate the keep original option.
If you want to see creating the color fill in action, see the video here on our YouTube channel.
What is Similar Tool for Osnap Tracking in ?
What is similar tool for AutoCAD Osnap Tracking in ? Here is another problem for AutoCAD users. You
may want create a drawing, start your drawing referenced to an existing point in your drawing.
You can use Set Origin in AccuDraw shortcut. After you activate the tool, move the pointer over your
reference point.
Press F11 to move the focus to AccuDraw. Then press O.
Now you can type the displacement or using mathematic expression like + – / *.
See the video below to see how it works.
If you like this tip, see more tips in this table of contents.
3 Advantages of Using Temporary Snap
October 22, 2010 by Edwin Prakoso Leave a Comment
Do you use temporary snaps? It probably feels awkward to press two mouse buttons at once to use it. In
older version of (pre-XM) many users change the mouse function to mid button. But as today we use it to
pan the drawing (which is common in many CADD applications) you may want to leave it that way. So why
would we even want to use temporary snaps?
1. We can get key points quickly
Temporary snaps will find key point, even your pointer is not near the point. When you see the key point
recognized, you can click temporary snap and snapped to the point.
If you override the snaps setting to mid point –for example-, you still have to move your pointer close
enough to see the yellow mark.
2. We can reduce the error snapping to wrong point

Sometimes mouse movement are hard to handle with. When we want to draw quickly in , we may miss the
point we want. With temporary snaps, we can review it before accepting that point.
When it misses the keypoint, it will be shown as dashed If it actually find the keypoint, you can tell the difference,
lines. right?
3. Using temporary snap will move the dialog focus to key-in window
One thing you probably don’t like in is you need to move the focus to AccuDraw to use AccuDraw
shortcut. Temporary snaps can help. Let us see how we have to move focus to use origin in this tip.
Actually you don’t need to press [F11]. Using temporary snap will use the point and move the focus to
AccuDraw. Nice, isn’t it?

Do you have more advantages that you like when using temporary snap? Or do you have reasons why you
don’t like it? Share with us here!
3 Advantages of Using Temporary Snap

October 22, 2010 by Edwin Prakoso Leave a Comment
Do you use temporary snaps? It probably feels awkward to press two mouse buttons at once to use it. In
older version of (pre-XM) many users change the mouse function to mid button. But as today we use it to
pan the drawing (which is common in many CADD applications) you may want to leave it that way. So why
would we even want to use temporary snaps?
1. We can get key points quickly
Temporary snaps will find key point, even your pointer is not near the point. When you see the key point
recognized, you can click temporary snap and snapped to the point.
If you override the snaps setting to mid point –for example-, you still have to move your pointer close
enough to see the yellow mark.
2. We can reduce the error snapping to wrong point

Sometimes mouse movement are hard to handle with. When we want to draw quickly in , we may miss the
point we want. With temporary snaps, we can review it before accepting that point.
When it misses the keypoint, it will be shown as dashed If it actually find the keypoint, you can tell the difference,
lines. right?
3. Using temporary snap will move the dialog focus to key-in window
One thing you probably don’t like in is you need to move the focus to AccuDraw to use AccuDraw
shortcut. Temporary snaps can help. Let us see how we have to move focus to use origin in this tip.
Actually you don’t need to press [F11]. Using temporary snap will use the point and move the focus to
AccuDraw. Nice, isn’t it?

Do you have more advantages that you like when using temporary snap? Or do you have reasons why you
don’t like it? Share with us here!
Add drawings into Sheet
March 16, 2011 by Edwin Prakoso 4 Comments
Let’s continue working on tutorial. This time we will create a new sheet using seed file we created
before, then we will put our drawings inside it.

1 Creating a new sheet
2 Placing drawings
2.1 Modify drawing boundary
3 Placing 3D model
3.1 Create projection view
3.2 Setting reference presentation
Creating a new sheet
Let’s start. In , you may add sheet model in the same or different DGN file. I don’t really know how you
users usually do this. But AutoCAD users usually put the layout (or sheet) within the same file where they
create the drawing. However, I see that in Autodesk vertical products, the 2D generated drawings can be
in different files. This also common when we use Sheet Set in AutoCAD.
Now I will let you decide where you want to put it. Or if your company already use , you may want to
share how you do it.
Now create a DGN file. Use the seed file we created before.
We already have one sheet. Let’s add one more. Go to menu file>models.
Click create a new model.
In create model dialog, choose type: sheet from seed. Then click the magnifier to choose our seed file.
Find the seed file, open it. You will see a dialog asking you to choose which model you want to use.
Choose A1 sheet we created before.
Hint:
A seed file allows you to have several sheets settings. You may want to have settings for several paper
sizes in a seed file.

Click OK.
Give name ‘table design’.
Now we have two sheets in this design file.
Placing drawings
OK, now that we already have the sheets, how can we put our drawing in it?
If you have a drawing, you may use it. But if you don’t, you can download this file and use it.
Let’s open A1 sheet views if you haven’t open it. You can switch to that view using view groups (see image
above).
Go to menu file>references.
In the dialog, click attach reference.
Choose the file you want to put here.

will open another dialog box. In this dialog, change the detail scale to 1:100. Or if you use your own
drawing, adjust the scale as necessary.
Click OK.
Now you can see the file listed in references dialog box. You also should see the drawing in your view.
You can move the drawing when the file is selected in this dialog. You can move, copy, scale, and use
other manipulate tools at the top of this dialog.
Modify drawing boundary
Let’s try to clip the reference. You can close or simply move the reference dialog box. Activate place
block and draw a rectangle like below.
Back to reference dialog box. Make sure the drawing is selected. Now activate clip reference.
Pick the rectangle we created before. The drawing is now clipped.
The other tools are at the bottom of this dialog. You can change the drawing scale, rotate it using the fields
there.
I will not discuss about this dialog further here, because the details about it are supposed when we talk
about references. (I hope I can cover it soon)
Placing 3D model
Can we place 3d model? Yes. let’s try to place our 3D table in the 2nd sheet.
The steps are the same. The difference is, after you select the file, you need to tell which view you want to
use. Change the view to top and use 1:5 scale.
Click OK, and the drawing now appear.

Create projection view
A good tool that is really useful when you work with 3D models is copy/fold reference.
This will add a new projected drawing based on selected reference. You can quickly add front and side
view using this tool. Select which drawing you want to create projected view (we only have one now) then
activate the tool. Click in your drawing where you want to put it.
Don’t forget to check the tool settings!
Setting reference presentation

When you work with 3D models, you may want to use different presentation. Below, I add one isometric
view and set the drawing presentation to illustration.
You can do it by selecting the drawing, then activate set reference presentation.
By default, it will use the parent presentation. But we can override it for a specific drawing. You can
change the display style in the opened dialog box.
This tutorial ends here. Now you should be able to create your own seed file and add drawings with
different scales and boundary inside your title block.

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MicroStation Basic Tutorial - Contents

1 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

2 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

 How to Work with MicroStation Files:

We have defined a user configuration.

It will create a folder at location (Windows XP)

 Create New File

3 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

 Using Mouse and Controlling View:

 Mouse to navigate the view:

Mouse Button Function:

4 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

 Precise Input: Using AccuDraw

5 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

 Precise Input: Using AccuSnap

 Changing Tentative Snap Assignment:

 Using Tool Settings and Linear Elements:

 Dialog with Focus: Using Shortcuts

8 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

 Drawing Elements: Circles and Polygon

9 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

Rotated requires you to define three points:

Placing Shapes and Orthogonal Shapes:

Inscribed: First data point will Circumscribed: First point is the

10 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

 Placing and Editing Text:

 More Text Tools (1)

11 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

 More Text Tools (2)

 Selecting Multiple Elements (1)

Element Selection Tool:

Left to Right selection Right to Left selection

 Selecting Multiple Elements (Fence)

Defining and Modifying Fence Content:

Using Manipulate Fence Content Tool Using MicroStation Manipulation Tools

14 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

15 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

 Working with Views

Give the view group a name. Fill the description if necessary.

16 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

 Level and Level Attributes

Changing Active Level

18 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

20 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

21 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

 Replacing and Modifying Cell:

22 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

23 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

Placing Cell as Point:

Using Cell as Patterns:

25 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

26 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

Find these configuration variables below:

27 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

 More Annotation Tools: Dimension:

Dimension Styles and Dimension Attributes:

28 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

Try to activate dimension element

29 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

30 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

31 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA

More Annotation Tools: Pattern

33 ENGINEERING LABS, KAKINADA