Introduction
This article covers how to set up the layout of your Live Plans documents. Layout refers to the templates that control how your drawing set is structured: which sheets exist, how they're organized, and what views appear on each one.
There are three template types involved. Plan Set Templates define the overall structure of your drawing set. Sheet Templates control the organization of individual sheets. View Templates determine how model content is displayed within each viewport on a sheet.
Building Your Drawing Set Structure with Plan Set Templates
Plan Set Templates are the foundation for organizing your entire drawing set. They allow you to define the overall structure, the order of sheets, and manage the complete documentation package as a single entity. This is crucial for keeping your drawings organized and easily manageable, especially for complex projects or master-planned communities.
Creating and Using Plan Set Templates
Navigate to Live Plans: Open the Live Plans tab in your Project Browser.
Create a New Plan Set Template: In the Plan Sets section, click the "+" button (Add Plan Set Template). Give it a descriptive name (e.g., "Standard CD Set," "Master Plan Set").
Add Sheet Instances: Within the Plan Set Template, click the "+" button to "Add Sheet Instance."
Choose a Sheet Template: Select an existing Sheet Template from the dropdown list (or create a new one – see Section 2). This adds an instance of that Sheet Template to your Plan Set.
Reorder Sheets: Drag and drop Sheet Instances within the Plan Set Template to arrange them in the desired order (e.g., Cover Sheet first, followed by Site Plan, Floor Plans, etc.).
Manage the Set: Your Plan Set Template now acts as a container for your drawing set. You can add more Sheet Instances, remove sheets, reorder them, and ultimately export the entire Plan Set to PDF.
Designing Individual Sheets with Sheet Templates
Sheet Templates ensure consistency and efficiency in your drawing set. They allow you to pre-define the layout of individual sheets, including title blocks, viewport locations, and standard notes. This eliminates repetitive setup for each sheet and ensures a uniform look across your documentation.
Creating and Customizing Sheet Templates:
Navigate to Sheet Templates: In the Live Plans tab, go to the "Sheets" section and click the "+" button (Add Sheet Template).
Define Sheet Size: In the Inspector panel for the new Sheet Template, set the "Width" and "Height" to your desired paper size (e.g., 24 inches, 36 inches).
Add a Title Block: Use the "Add Drawing Template Instance" command and choose your Title Block Drawing Template. Position it on the sheet, typically in the corner.
Create Viewports: Use the "Add Viewport" command and draw rectangles on the sheet to define the areas for your model views. Initially, just place the viewports; we'll link them to View Templates in Section 3.
Add Standard Notes/Graphics: Use the "Add Drawing Template Instance" command to place standard notes, legends, logos, or other repeatable graphics. Alternatively, use Higharc's drafting tools for sheet-based annotations.
Name Your Sheet Template: Give your Sheet Template a clear, descriptive name (e.g., "24x36 Floor Plan Sheet," "11x17 Elevation Sheet").
Controlling Model Views with View Templates
View Templates are essential for managing what and how your building model is displayed in your drawings. They provide centralized control over visibility, graphic styles, and annotation settings for different view types. This ensures consistency across similar views and simplifies adjustments when drawing standards change.
Creating and Customizing View Templates:
Navigate to View Templates: In the Live Plans tab, go to the "Views" section and click the "+" button (Add View Template).
Choose a View Type: Select the appropriate view type (Plan, Elevation, Section, Perspective, Drawing). For example, choose "Plan" for a Floor Plan View Template.
Set Visibility Categories: In the View Template Inspector, use the "Categories" section to control element visibility. Toggle categories (like Walls, Doors, Windows, Furniture, Annotation) on or off to define what you want to see in this view type. Use the gear icon next to categories to fine-tune graphic styles (line weights, colors, patterns).
In Elevation & Perspective View Templates, use the View Style property to select a “linework” or “realistic” model view.
Annotation Settings: Configure annotation display settings within the View Template, controlling which types of annotations are visible and their styles.
Name Your View Template: Give it a descriptive name (e.g., "Floor Plan View," "Exterior Elevation View," "Foundation Plan View").
Customizing Plan Cut Height
In Plan View Templates, use the Cut Height property to set the height at which the plan is cut through the model. Templates default to 48".
Use Stair Cut Height to set an independent cut plane for stairs, and enable Show Stair Break Line to display a break line where a stair run continues beyond the cut plane.
Use Wall Finish Height to control whether facade and exterior finish elements below the cut plane display as projected (dashed) or cut (hatched) geometry.
Linking View Templates to Viewports
Connecting View Templates to Sheets
Select a Viewport: On your Sheet Template, select a viewport you created in Step 2.
Choose a View Template: In the Viewport Inspector, use the "View Template" dropdown to select the appropriate View Template you created in Step 3 (e.g., "Floor Plan View" for a viewport intended to show a floor plan).
Repeat: Link each viewport on your Sheet Template to the corresponding View Template that defines the desired model view.
Managing Scale and Viewport Positioning
Setting Viewport Scale
Select a Viewport: Select a viewport on your Sheet Template.
Scaling Method: In the Viewport Inspector, choose a "Scaling Method":
Fit: Automatically scales the model to fit within the viewport extents. Useful for diagrams or views where precise scale isn't critical.
Explicit: Allows you to set a specific drawing scale from a predefined list (e.g., 1/4" = 1'-0"). Use this for scaled construction drawings.
Scale Parameter: If you chose "Explicit," select the desired scale from the "Scale" dropdown.
Positioning the Model within the Viewport
Alignment: In the Viewport Inspector, use "Horizontal Alignment" and "Vertical Alignment" to control how the model is positioned within the viewport (e.g., "Center-Center," "Left-Bottom"). "Center-Center" is often a good default. Experiment with other alignments if you need to focus on a specific area of the model.
"Absolute" Positioning (Advanced): For fine-tuning, you can switch the "Positioning Method" to "Absolute." This allows you to pan the view manually within the viewport using X and Y offsets. This is useful for vignettes or focusing on specific interior details.
Using Viewport Titles with Viewports
Adding a title to a viewport
Select a Title type from the drop down to add a title to the current viewport. Select multiple viewports & use the multi-entity Inspector to deploy titles in bulk.
Note: the placement of the title relative to the viewport is determined by the origin of the viewport title. The origin will be placed at the bottom left corner of the viewport.
Use the Name, Number & Description properties to author information that will report in the viewport’s title. The Scale, authored in the Content section, may also be included in viewport titles.
Optionally use parameters to dynamically define the value of the Viewport Name, Description & Number.
Creating Custom Viewport Title Types
Custom viewport title types can be created inside the Drawing Templates catalog & deployed across Studio files via Doc Ref.
Pair annotation linework with the new viewport System parameters in text annotations to create titles that will dynamically update to report viewport information.
Customize the fill/line color, line type & lineweight of linework.
Customize the size & alignment of text.
When a viewport title is used by a viewport on a sheet, its origin will be placed at the bottom left corner of the viewport. Move the annotations relative to the origin of the viewport title template to change how the title will be located relative to the viewport on a sheet.