Robert.Williams82344
2005-06-07, 05:48 PM
One area that I've noticed that many companies have a problem with is the CTB Table, (and if I remember correctly, it goes back to the PC2 file in R-14).
The reason I'm bringing up this topic is because I wasn't sure if people weren't quite understanding how the colors work together, or if they just didn't care. If the latter was the case, I guess you would have moved onto another topic by now. Thanks for listening.
We've been using a setup that my dad created years ago, and I've gotta say, this has got to be the most straight forward, yet least complicated piece of artwork I have ever seen. It may not look like much when you view the CTB, but when you create a DWG using the proper colors, your drawings will come out SO much cleaner.
The reason it was created was to emphasize certain lines in certain drawings. For instance, when you're creating a grading plan you want of your proposed curbs, buildings, slopes, property lines (ALL), elevations, and notes to stick out above any of the existing linework. But, say you're drawing up a sewer plan. Now, you'll need your sewer lines to stand out above any of the grading linework. So, what you do is screen back your grading linework and change the color of your sewer lines to a solid pen.
You may have noticed a couple words that you might not understand in the context I'm using. Let me show you the pen layout then we'll go from there. I've attached a small drawing file called COLORS.dwg and a PDF of the printout (so you can compare your printout to it). Please take a minute to look at the colors are laid out. Now, let me explain the layout. First, pens 1-7 are solid colors, pens 8-14 are the screened version of pens 1-7, and pen 15 is a NO PLOT pen (it will, however, plot on some HP Plotters, but very lightly). Second, the reason Pen 7 is white is because Layer 0, by default, is white. Now, if you inadvertently place an object in layer 0, it really won't matter much if you catch it at the last minute, it might prevent a replot.
I’m going off on a tanget here for a minute, but this will really help. As for the screening, this is where “CLX” comes in. Add this macro to one of your LSP files:
(defun c:clx ( / c u o p dens ydrop yinit i)
(setvar "cmdecho" 0)
(setq c (getvar "viewctr")
u (/ (getvar "viewsize") 10)
o (list (+ (car c) (* u 5)) (+ (cadr c) (* u 4)))
p o i 1 yinit (cadr o) ydrop (/ u 2)
)
(graphscr)
(repeat 15
(repeat 3
(grdraw p (list (+ (car p) u) (cadr p)) i 0)
(setq p (list (car p) (- (cadr p) (/ u 23))))
)
(setq o (list (car o) (- (cadr o) ydrop)) p o i (1+ i))
)
(setq e t)
(command "layer")
(while e
(setq e (car (nentsel "\nSource Ent: ")))
(if e (progn
(setq lay (cdr (assoc 8 (entget e))))
(setq clr (fix (/ (- yinit (cadr (getpoint "Select Color Bar: ")))
ydrop)))
(command "color" (1+ clr) lay)
))
)
(command "")
(princ)
)
When you type CLX in the command line, you will see a group of color bars show up on the right side of your screen. All the colors are in order (top to bottom, 1-15). Pick an object on the layer that you want to change then pick the color you want to change it to. What this does, is changes the Layer to that color. It will not set the color HARD, everything is still ByLayer.
Back to the Pen styles. When you want colors to be out front and seen by Plan Checkers, Contractors, etc., you set them to solid colors (1-7). If an object, or group of objects, (like curbs on a sewer plan), need to be seen, but aren’t pertinent to the direct application, then you screen them back (Pen 4 now becomes Pen 11). Just remember, when screening, add 7. So, 1 = 8, 2 = 9, 3 = 11, etc., this will also work in reverse when you need to bring a color back to solid.
One last note, I could not upload the CTB file as a CTB file, so I added ".TXT" to the end of the name. Just remove .TXT and import the CTB file as you normally would.
The reason I'm bringing up this topic is because I wasn't sure if people weren't quite understanding how the colors work together, or if they just didn't care. If the latter was the case, I guess you would have moved onto another topic by now. Thanks for listening.
We've been using a setup that my dad created years ago, and I've gotta say, this has got to be the most straight forward, yet least complicated piece of artwork I have ever seen. It may not look like much when you view the CTB, but when you create a DWG using the proper colors, your drawings will come out SO much cleaner.
The reason it was created was to emphasize certain lines in certain drawings. For instance, when you're creating a grading plan you want of your proposed curbs, buildings, slopes, property lines (ALL), elevations, and notes to stick out above any of the existing linework. But, say you're drawing up a sewer plan. Now, you'll need your sewer lines to stand out above any of the grading linework. So, what you do is screen back your grading linework and change the color of your sewer lines to a solid pen.
You may have noticed a couple words that you might not understand in the context I'm using. Let me show you the pen layout then we'll go from there. I've attached a small drawing file called COLORS.dwg and a PDF of the printout (so you can compare your printout to it). Please take a minute to look at the colors are laid out. Now, let me explain the layout. First, pens 1-7 are solid colors, pens 8-14 are the screened version of pens 1-7, and pen 15 is a NO PLOT pen (it will, however, plot on some HP Plotters, but very lightly). Second, the reason Pen 7 is white is because Layer 0, by default, is white. Now, if you inadvertently place an object in layer 0, it really won't matter much if you catch it at the last minute, it might prevent a replot.
I’m going off on a tanget here for a minute, but this will really help. As for the screening, this is where “CLX” comes in. Add this macro to one of your LSP files:
(defun c:clx ( / c u o p dens ydrop yinit i)
(setvar "cmdecho" 0)
(setq c (getvar "viewctr")
u (/ (getvar "viewsize") 10)
o (list (+ (car c) (* u 5)) (+ (cadr c) (* u 4)))
p o i 1 yinit (cadr o) ydrop (/ u 2)
)
(graphscr)
(repeat 15
(repeat 3
(grdraw p (list (+ (car p) u) (cadr p)) i 0)
(setq p (list (car p) (- (cadr p) (/ u 23))))
)
(setq o (list (car o) (- (cadr o) ydrop)) p o i (1+ i))
)
(setq e t)
(command "layer")
(while e
(setq e (car (nentsel "\nSource Ent: ")))
(if e (progn
(setq lay (cdr (assoc 8 (entget e))))
(setq clr (fix (/ (- yinit (cadr (getpoint "Select Color Bar: ")))
ydrop)))
(command "color" (1+ clr) lay)
))
)
(command "")
(princ)
)
When you type CLX in the command line, you will see a group of color bars show up on the right side of your screen. All the colors are in order (top to bottom, 1-15). Pick an object on the layer that you want to change then pick the color you want to change it to. What this does, is changes the Layer to that color. It will not set the color HARD, everything is still ByLayer.
Back to the Pen styles. When you want colors to be out front and seen by Plan Checkers, Contractors, etc., you set them to solid colors (1-7). If an object, or group of objects, (like curbs on a sewer plan), need to be seen, but aren’t pertinent to the direct application, then you screen them back (Pen 4 now becomes Pen 11). Just remember, when screening, add 7. So, 1 = 8, 2 = 9, 3 = 11, etc., this will also work in reverse when you need to bring a color back to solid.
One last note, I could not upload the CTB file as a CTB file, so I added ".TXT" to the end of the name. Just remove .TXT and import the CTB file as you normally would.