AutoCAD Civil 3D

[#1]

I am working in Civil 3d 2012.  Right now, we have about 5-6 different people using this software in the office.  Each person has their own likes/dislikes for layer colors (also for their display color).  BUT we all want to plot with the same lineweights. 

What happens is the surveyor creates the drawing and existing layers (with a template).  The engineer then uses the same drawing to design and create contours.  The drafter then uses the same drawing to clean things up for final printing.  So we have roughly 3 people using the same drawing.  But the surveyor uses a black display and anything that is blue doesn't show up well, so they have it on one the lightest lineweights.  I (the drafter) use a gray display have have no problem with blue so it's one of my darker lineweights.

What I'm hoping to do is create some kind of a scheme that would allow the user to simply change the color scheme (on screen) to match their likings.  Similar to the User Interface.  For instance in User 1 scheme, Color 8 = Blue.  Then we can have multiple plot tables that would correspond to the colors. 

Is there a way to accomplish this?  Thanks

Caryn

[#2]

Style based plotting, instead of Color based, would solve this.

[#3]

Not trying to be a smart alec, does your company have no cadd standards? If not, you're wasting a lot of time (ie money) to satisfy personal preferences. Makes bringing in new users and training them a nightmare.

[#4]

No, I understand.  I have been at this company for about 1 1/2 months and no, they don't have standards.  One of my unofficial jobs is to pull them all onto standards.  But I'm working with people who have very different opinions about certain things and I can probably get most of the information on a standard level, but not all. 

I will look up the previousl comment to see if that is what I want to do.  Thanks.

Caryn

[#5]

Sorry to hear your plight, "Unofficial" sure makes things a lot harder especially being the new person.

Sounds like you may be in an semi cadd manager position. Not sure if you are familiar but here's a pretty handy link to cadd management topics that might help you get buyin from management/owner.

http://www.caddigest.com/subjects/management/index.htm

Good luck!

[#6]

Thanks!  I will take a look at it. 

I am very use to standards so falling into place here is been a little difficult.  But they are all for standardizing (mostly), they just need a "leader"

Caryn

[#7]

Style table plotting is probably your best bet. But I developed a method that we've stuck with for years. We use a Color table (CTB) that has all the lineweights set for By Object. If you keep your lineweights in the drawing to By Layer then the entities on that layer will plot with that layers lineweight regardless of color. We have a few specific colors that will plot in color for times we need some color in the plot. i.e. Color 150 plots as blue. There are also a few others where the color will be set to a specific lineweight and shading. In our plan drawing we set all the layers from the Xref basemap to 17 so they plot at al light penweight and at 80% shading.

Maybe someday after I get everyone used to Civil 3D, I'll tackle switching to STB plotting. Probably will retire before then.

Allen

[#8]

Just beware that the more versions of style tables you create, the more work you will have to keep them all synchronized when changes occur. Think about having to make the same edits 4,5,6 times or more!

As an alternative work flow, have you considered using XREF's? That would allow each user to configure their layers as they wish without affecting each other's work.

For example,the engineer could create a fresh new drawing for his work. He then XREF's the surveyors drawing and changes it's colors and plot style settings in the layer manager to whatever he likes. As long as the VISRETAIN variable is set to 1 his layer settings will remain intact in his drawing regardless of changes that may occur in the survey drawing..

Then when you do your final drafting you can start your own drawing and XREF the surveyor's and engineer's drawings and reconfigure all the layers as needed for your purposes.

You would need to use a named style plot style table to have the flexibilty of independent layer colors vs. lineweights.

[#9]

I'm one of those that likes a black background. Yes. I did start in Surveying. I don't think anything shows up well on a gray background, but I don't have any trouble seeing blue on a black background. Then again I started using CAD when it was still run with a hammer and chisel interface.

Neil is right. Xrefs are the way to go. Also. Remember that you can override the modelspace colors in the Viewports. That gives you even more options!

Allen

[#10]

We do use XREFs for the proposed drawings but not in that way.  I actually suggested using them that way yesterday and I was shot down... but I will keep trying to figure out the best way to do all of this.  One of the headaches I want to avoid is having to change colors everytime I open/xref a drawing.  I would like to have something saved that could do it automatically.

Caryn