P and ID Symbol Library

[MarkFitz]

Can anyone help, I'm looking for a recommendation for a symbol library for P&ID symbols, pipelines, electrical, etc. for ACAD 16.  Something for my company to purchase, not Johnny's weekend freeware version.  I realise this isn't your typical kind of fixit post, but it would certainly help me fix a whole bunch of vavariation.

Any suggestions...?

Thanks!

Mark

[cadwomen · Accepted solution]

Hy

2 way´s to go if i right

update  to ACAD PnID   or  make your owen Block and fill up the DC

cu cw

[Alfred.NESWADBA · Accepted solution]

Hi,

how about a complete product like AutoCAD P & ID >>>click<<<

- alfred -

[RobDraw]

I doubt that you could find anything that fits your CAD standards. You might find something that is close but it's still going to need some work. I would make my own or hire someone to make them for you so that they fit your stndards.

[MarkFitz]

Thankyou lady(ies) and gentlemen, for your wise thoughts and input.

I will look into the ACAD P&ID version, is this something I can tag onto the straight ACAD I already have, or does this mean buying a whole separate program?

In no particular order:

- Isn't getting someone else (I presume you're talking about having someone write software to suit our needs?) to do the library kind of the same as buying someone else's ready-to-use library?  We don't really have too many constraints for it to be a custom model.

- Doing it ourselves (and by ourselves, I mean every drafter before me) is what got us into this mess to begin with, the library of symbols we do currently have are different sizes, some different shapes, some blocks, some not...

One of my old, old companies bought a system that suited their needs, everything was blocked, you just insert it and  rotate/move to suit.

CadWomen, I'm not 100% sure I understand what you mean by fill up the DC.  Unless DC is a comicbook reference, you being CadWomen (Catwoman) and all...?

Please excuse my British humour.

Thanks again, always grateful for your input, it broadens the mind, showing me possibilities I have not thought about.

Mark

[gotphish001 · Accepted solution]

I never used P&ID for autocad, but I did learn Plant3D back in school. It might be overkill for what you need to do, but it was a pretty slick software for piping. I'm not sure how stuff imports exports into it, but most software seems at least remotely able to do this now a days. Before purchasing new software it might be wise to peek at a few different software to compare. I also sent you a PM of a guy that I think has a package or can make one that will be what you need.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Autodesk P&ID is a vertical for AutoCAD, yes you'll be buying software, but I'm sure there is a "cross-grade" package available.  If you're modeling 3D pipe, then Plant 3D is the way to go.  If you're not modeling pipe, I'd go with P&ID.  If you're drawing 2D pipe and NOT modeling it in 3D, you should be**. 

**3D cad models save between 1% and 4% of the TIC of a project in clash detection alone.  That's more than enough to cover the cost of upgrading to Plant 3D.

[dgorsman · Accepted solution]

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@RobDraw wrote:

I doubt that you could find anything that fits your CAD standards. You might find something that is close but it's still going to need some work. I would make my own or hire someone to make them for you so that they fit your stndards.

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Regardless if you clean up your own block library or purchase an automated system, there should only be one or two people doing admin tasks like building blocks, entering specs, setting up layers, and so on.  Then its up to management to enforce the consistent use of those by the users.  Yes, they will end up with a lot of hours not directly chargeable to projects but the organized results are worth it.

[RobDraw · Accepted solution]

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@MarkFitz wrote:

In no particular order:

- Isn't getting someone else (I presume you're talking about having someone write software to suit our needs?) to do the library kind of the same as buying someone else's ready-to-use library?  We don't really have too many constraints for it to be a custom model.

- Doing it ourselves (and by ourselves, I mean every drafter before me) is what got us into this mess to begin with, the library of symbols we do currently have are different sizes, some different shapes, some blocks, some not...

One of my old, old companies bought a system that suited their needs, everything was blocked, you just insert it and  rotate/move to suit.

Thanks again, always grateful for your input, it broadens the mind, showing me possibilities I have not thought about.

Mark

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Despite it being a mess, your library represents a good chunk of work and some sort of standard. If you are ready to throw that away and start anew, I would suggest investing in a software package designed for P&ID, as others have already stated, and build a new standard from the out of the box stuff. You will not only have a block library that is ready to go, you will get tools designed for that type of drafting. You will probably want to change some things and will still end up building some of your own content, but at least it is a solid base and you can be up and running fairly quickly with the proper preparation in the way of basic training of some sort, be it formal or self taught.

[JOHNLLOYD7213 · Accepted solution]

Do it in house.

My primary client evaluated AutoCAD P&ID & decided it was a waste of money.

Their site had various international engineering consultants design numerous large projects over the years, & as a result they had 16 different P&ID legend sheets in their system.

We ended up developing a new legend sheet based on Process Industry Practices (PIP - google it)

We made extensive use of dynamic blocks e.g. we have a single block for flow meters, but have various visibility states depending on whether it is a mag-flow or a vortex shedder, or a pitot tube etc etc.

For me, it is convenient to have the latest copy of the legend on my desktop so I can copy & paste blocks into new drawings without the hassle of setting up libraries.

Block attributes are the key & I'd suggest allocating more rather than less when assigning attributes to blocks. Using attributes rather than "dumb" text will enable you to extract equipment lists, line lists, manual valve lists, motor lists & instrument lists from a single drawing or sets of drawings with raw autocad data extraction. This will help in catching duplicate numbers. Attributes don't necessarily have to be displayed on the drawing. Sometimes it is handy having hidden attributes that can still be extracted into a spreadsheet or database.

You'll find developing your legend will be an iterative process - ours was created in 2005 & is now up to revision 9.

[RobDraw · Accepted solution]

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@JOHNLLOYD7213 wrote:

Do it in house.

My primary client evaluated AutoCAD P&ID & decided it was a waste of money.

Their site had various international engineering consultants design numerous large projects over the years, & as a result they had 16 different P&ID legend sheets in their system.

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No software platform will work with a failed standard. That waste of money statement is meaningless.

[RobDraw · Accepted solution]

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@MarkFitz wrote:

Any suggestions...?

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Ask the same question over at the P&ID forum.

[Anonymous]

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@JOHNLLOYD7213 wrote:

Do it in house.

My primary client evaluated AutoCAD P&ID & decided it was a waste of money.

Their site had various international engineering consultants design numerous large projects over the years, & as a result they had 16 different P&ID legend sheets in their system.

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Your primary client assumed it was a waste of money, and yet had such loose standards they allowed consultants to create 16 different legends.  It seems the problem isn't the application but the client.  It is an excellent tool that is readily adaptable to any client standard (if the have one) that can be two-way linked to line lists and equipment lists with controls to highlight, report and resolve discrepancies. That feature alone makes it worth the buy-in costs.

[cadwomen]

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MarkFitz schrieb: 

Please excuse my British humour.

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sure  😉

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MarkFitz schrieb:

CadWomen, I'm not 100% sure I understand what you mean by fill up the DC.  Unless DC is a comicbook reference, you being CadWomen (Catwoman) and all...?

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 "DC " are also  District of Columbia oder Washington, D.C but in AutoCAD

DC  = DesignCenter  and this will by the way to go if you make your owen Bolcks / symbols

Add Items from DesignCenter to a Tool Palette

You can add drawings, blocks, and hatches from DesignCenter to the current tool palette.

• From the DesignCenter content area, you can drag one or more items to the current tool palette.
• From the DesignCenter tree view, you can right-click and, from the shortcut menu, create a new tool palette from the current folder, drawing file, or block icon.

When you add drawings to a tool palette, they are inserted as blocks when you drag them into the current drawing.

Note: You can select multiple blocks or hatches from the content area to add them to a tool Palette.

cw cw

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

You could look at CadToolsOnline.

They have a number of block libraries.

[cadwomen · Accepted solution]

You could look at CadToolsOnline.

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uhhh that´s real oldschool

cw

[MarkFitz]

Valid point.  Why didn't I do that to begin with!   Cheers Rob

[MarkFitz]

Thanks to everyone for your experience and your opinions.  Some expected answers, some new doors to open, but all point me in a positive direction.  And now that I have some names of who or what I'm looking for, I can do my own research and find what works best for my company.

Thankyou all for your knowledge, but mostly for sharing it.

Mark

[rawacefexes]

There are no built-in features of AutoCAD that address voice commands.  I suggest that if you need that type of functionality that a third-party application might need to be incorporated.

I am curious, and please excuse my ignorance, but AutoCAD is based on so visual elements I am not sure how one would work with it if they were totally visually impaired.  Can you explain how you intend on utilizing it?

[RobDraw]

Did you respond to the wrong thread? There's no mention of voice commands here but I have seen other threads on that topic for the visually impaired.