Architectural style TechDraw Template

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Freakcad_User
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Joined: Sun Feb 12, 2023 7:04 pm

Architectural style TechDraw Template

Post by Freakcad_User »

Hi everyone. I created a new TechDraw template that is similar to what I have used in construction drawings over the years. All of the templates that "ship" with the FC install are the type that I see used in mechanical drawings.

My goal was to create something that could be used by others to encourage people to use FC more for architecture and construction. I also wanted something that would be relatively easy for people to use as a starting point to create their own custom templates without completely starting from scratch. So far I've created the attached Arch D template. I plan to also create an Arch E1 with a similar format, but I figured I would post it here and see if anyone has any feedback for what they would like to see on it. Each office has their own standards of course, so I'm trying to keep it somewhat generic, while also providing some flexibility. Arch D (36" x 24") and E1 (42" x 30") are by far the most common sizes used here in the U.S. so those are the ones I wanted to create and share.

A few things to note:
  • There are probably more fields available than would be needed in most cases. I did this to provide more flexibility. Just enter spaces if a field is not to be used and it will show up as blank. I don't know of a way to "wrap" text in the SVG file, so if that IS possible then the number of fields could be reduced
  • I initially wanted to use 90 degree rotated text for the project name and project address fields, but editable rotated text is pretty difficult to create correctly in Inkscape (at least for me), so in the interest of making it more easily usable and editable at the SVG level I opted to not use rotated text.
  • When you open the SVG file in Inkscape you will see some things that look off-center. I did this to compensate for a discrepancy with how it displays in FC to get it to display correctly in FC.
I think it would be great if some templates like this could be included with future FC versions.

Something else that would be great is if the editable fields could be controlled by a spreadsheet via "expressions". The idea being that, for a set of drawings one could change the information (like the project name, or address) from one place on all of the sheets. Another example would be controlling sheet numbers and sheet names via a spreadsheet that is used in the set. The spreadsheet could be placed on a sheet and used as a sheet index. This would provide BIM functionality similar to programs like Revit. Ideally this would be "bi-directional" so it could be edited on the sheet index OR on the sheet, and they would sync.
I started a discussion on the TechDraw sub-forum about it here:
viewtopic.php?t=76186
I'm being told that right now the editable text editor doesn't have the ability to handle expressions, but it could be added. In the meantime there may be a way to do it via a macro. This discussion is still in progress at the time of this post.

Let me know what you all think.
Attachments
Screenshot 2023-02-26 114333.png
Screenshot 2023-02-26 114333.png (33.44 KiB) Viewed 3635 times
Arch D_Arch-Style_001.svg
(52.9 KiB) Downloaded 69 times
Freakcad_User
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Re: Architectural style TechDraw Template

Post by Freakcad_User »

Here's an updated version with better text centering, and a couple of other tweaks. I added the FC logo to one of the attachments, and the other is left blank.
Attachments
Screenshot 2023-02-26 180218.png
Screenshot 2023-02-26 180218.png (33.74 KiB) Viewed 3559 times
Arch D_Landscape_Arch-Style_FC-Logo_001.svg
(55.6 KiB) Downloaded 83 times
Arch D_Landscape_Arch-Style_001.svg
(52.01 KiB) Downloaded 74 times
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yorik
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Re: Architectural style TechDraw Template

Post by yorik »

Excellent!!
Maybe these could be added to https://wiki.freecad.org/Misc_templates ?
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Roy_043
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Re: Architectural style TechDraw Template

Post by Roy_043 »

Small remark:
The FreeCAD logo in the file is the old logo.
https://wiki.freecad.org/File:Freecad.svg
Freakcad_User
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Re: Architectural style TechDraw Template

Post by Freakcad_User »

Hi Everyone,

I finally got around to working on this again. Here are the Arch D and Arch E1 page templates with and without the FC logo. I have updated the logo per Roy_043's comment.

Yorik, thanks for the suggestion of including the templates in that location. That would be great. I do think that those templates are hard to find though. I had no idea that page existed. I also think it would be great if FC "shipped" standard with some arch style page templates included. I would be willing to work further on that with everyone's input. One other idea is if templates were available through the parts library. That would potentially easier to find them. Maybe the parts library will never be able to handle SVG format items? Or maybe it already can? I am not that familiar with how it works.

Also, does anyone have any input about BIM coordination for the text field data to a spreadsheet, or other kind of schedule? Has anything like that been discussed?

Thanks,

Todd M.
Attachments
Arch E1_Landscape_Arch-Style_No-Logo_002.svg
(51.89 KiB) Downloaded 122 times
Arch E1_Landscape_Arch-Style_FC-Logo_002.svg
(57.53 KiB) Downloaded 98 times
Arch D_Landscape_Arch-Style_No-Logo_002.svg
(52.01 KiB) Downloaded 101 times
Arch D_Landscape_Arch-Style_FC-Logo_002.svg
(58.66 KiB) Downloaded 89 times
marcuspollio
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Re: Architectural style TechDraw Template

Post by marcuspollio »

Hi there !

It's really nice! Thanks for the initiative. ;)

So I was motivated to create other templates, according to the ones I'm used to in Central Europe.
I took the opportunity to learn a bit about xml/svg.

One is vertical in A2 format, one horizontal in A1 format and the third in A3 format for detail books (1/20, 1/10, 1/5, etc.)
They are set to be printed on plotters with 24 inch paper rolls.

The license is Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike (CC-BY-SA).
Feel free to edit, add, suggest modifications, so we can make a set a cool templates !

In the long term, as said by @Freakcad_User, having better support for custom expressions in editable fields would be fantastic.
One could set a few global informations per project (File>Project information), import a pre-defined hierarchy (folders, layers, features tree, etc.) from other projects/models and then a base of templates and drawings would be automagically created and edited on the go when things change :roll:
But let's first see what we can do now about templates :mrgreen:
Attachments
Arch-TechDraw-Template-A3_door.jpg
Arch-TechDraw-Template-A3_door.jpg (76.55 KiB) Viewed 2420 times
Arch-TechDraw-Template-A3.svg
(3.21 KiB) Downloaded 57 times
template_v1.jpg
template_v1.jpg (51.39 KiB) Viewed 2821 times
Arch-TechDraw-Template-A2.svg
(6.57 KiB) Downloaded 59 times
Arch-TechDraw-Template-A1.svg
(6.82 KiB) Downloaded 67 times
Last edited by marcuspollio on Wed May 24, 2023 4:47 pm, edited 2 times in total.
paullee
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Re: Architectural style TechDraw Template

Post by paullee »

Thanks all, looks good ! :)
Freakcad_User
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Re: Architectural style TechDraw Template

Post by Freakcad_User »

Thanks @paullee . Nice work @marcuspollio !
marcuspollio
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Re: Architectural style TechDraw Template

Post by marcuspollio »

marcuspollio wrote: Fri Apr 28, 2023 11:21 am the third in A3 format for detail books (1/20, 1/10, 1/5, etc.)
Hi !
I've added a third format on my message above for detail design/drawings, with a door example.
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yorik
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Re: Architectural style TechDraw Template

Post by yorik »

Amazing drawing!! :shock: well done!
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