Creating a Sheet Set Manager in AutoCAD
AutoCAD is a powerful software used for creating and editing 2D and 3D designs. One of the key features that AutoCAD offers is the Sheet Set Manager.
The Sheet Set Manager allows you to organize and manage your drawing sheets efficiently. In this tutorial, we will explore how to create a Sheet Set Manager in AutoCAD.
What is a Sheet Set Manager?
The Sheet Set Manager is a tool in AutoCAD that enables you to manage sets of drawings as a single unit. It allows you to organize your drawing sheets, view subsets of your drawings, publish them, and even plot them as a set. The Sheet Set Manager provides an efficient way of handling large projects with multiple drawings.
Creating a New Sheet Set
To create a new sheet set in AutoCAD, follow these simple steps:
Step 1:
Open AutoCAD and go to the ‘Sheet Set’ tab on the ribbon.
Step 2:
Click on the ‘Create Sheet Set’ button. This will open the ‘Create Sheet Set Wizard’ dialog box.
Step 3:
In the ‘Create Sheet Set Wizard’, choose whether you want to create an ‘Existing Drawings’ or ‘New Drawings’ sheet set. Select the appropriate option based on your requirements.
Step 4:
Select the location where you want to save your sheet set file by clicking on the ‘Browse’ button. Choose a name for your sheet set file and click ‘Next’.
Step 5:
In this step, you can add existing drawings or create new drawings for your sheet set. If you chose ‘Existing Drawings’ in Step 4, click on the ‘Add’ button to add existing drawings to your sheet set. If you chose ‘New Drawings’, AutoCAD will create a new drawing for each sheet in your sheet set.
Step 6:
After adding drawings, you can organize them into subsets. Subsets are like folders that help you group related drawings together. To create a new subset, click on the ‘New Subset’ button and give it a name.
Step 7:
Once you have added and organized your drawings, click on the ‘Finish’ button. This will create your sheet set and open it in the Sheet Set Manager.
Navigating the Sheet Set Manager
The Sheet Set Manager provides an intuitive interface for managing your sheet set. Here are some key features:
Sheet List
The Sheet List displays all the sheets in your sheet set. You can expand or collapse subsets to view or hide sheets. To open a drawing, double-click on its entry in the Sheet List.
Publishing Sheets
The Sheet Set Manager allows you to publish multiple sheets at once. To do this, select the sheets you want to publish, right-click, and choose ‘Publish’. You can specify plot settings such as paper size, plot style, etc.
Plotting Sheets
To plot multiple sheets as a set, select the sheets you want to plot, right-click, and choose ‘Plot’. AutoCAD will use the specified plot settings from the Publish dialog box.
Conclusion
The Sheet Set Manager is an invaluable tool for organizing and managing drawing sets in AutoCAD. With its intuitive interface and powerful features, it allows you to streamline your workflow and improve productivity. By following this tutorial, you should now have a good understanding of how to create and use the Sheet Set Manager in AutoCAD.