How are companies using the Sheet Set Manager ?

[Rerehou]

My company seem to struggle with the SSM concepts. People are happy to work with what they know and usually wont use a new concept within Autocad. (makes me wonder why we bother upgrading all the time).
Personally, I find the SSM features are great for managing the drawing files and as SSM develops hand in hand with fields I will endeavor to exploit SSM.
To answer the title of this thread, We dont use SSM globally within the company, but I do locally (as do the other 2 Draughtsmen)
My Company seem more interested in spending mega-bucks on front-end applications for AutoCad that dont get used by anyone. These are developed by very bright engineers that require even brighter people to use it.

[robert.1.hall72202]

I have given up on sheet sets. The publish dialogue and a sheet list
seem to get me the same results.

[Chris.N]

I have given up on sheet sets. The publish dialogue and a sheet list
seem to get me the same results.

quite honestly, Printing and publishing are only about 25% of why we use the SSM. it's the most obvious benefit when set up properly, but still is only about 1/4 of the 'why' part. (IMO)

[elmoleaf]

ssm benefits:
1. speeds batch plotting. That alone makes it worthwhile.

2. when producing plot files, the plots file names will actually use the names you gave the sheets in SSM. Same with EPS files. No more plt files with mystery names.(Only drawback is I cannot get it to use sheet names when plotting directly to PDFs. I end up using Acrobat distiller to convert EPS files to PDFs).

3. use the Resource Drawings tab! It's like a mini windows explorer. No more drilling through endless directories every time you want to open a drawing. The drawing directories relevant to your project are always right there in front of you.

4. makes working with & creating a set of CDS easier. You can see at a glance through the sheet list what drawings are in your set or missing. The mini-preview window gives you a snapshot of what the sheet looks like. The file lock feature tells you who in the office may have a drawing from your set open. The details tab tells you who last saved the drawing.

5. list of sheet names can be inserted as a table on your title sheet. If you update a sheet name, your drawing index gets updated.

[jgroeninger]

Its interesting to review these posts as they relate to previous versions of AutoCAD. We are using AutoCAD 2008--SSM since 2004 release.

SSM is an invaluable tool for our company. All of our title block data is set up as attributes, We use SSM to set-up, organize and maintain our projects. The index preparation is a bonus. I set up my table in model space in one file. All index sheets reference this "master" file. data is presented through viewports in paper space.

The only weak point in SSM is in our "Design Services During Construction" phase of the project when all contract drawings are controlled and only availabe for edits when involved in a change order. The SSM is always looking for the remainder of the drawings.

A wish list item would be the ability to toggle the SSM entry off. This feature would allow SSM to function as if all drawings were on-line even if they were not.

[TerribleTim]

Ok, I'm gonna weigh in.

We started using the SSM manager a few months ago. When I made the move, it was to automate some call-outs and aid in batch plotting. Since then, I have incorporated some more automated items for title block info and cover sheet info that was getting messed up by people not paying attention. The SSM gave me a way to get them in line with our standards. Batch plotting, as stated, is about 1/4th of the benefit. The automated detail bugs, the automated reference call-outs, the automated title block & cover sheet info, the automated drawing index, all those things add up to make it worth using IF SET UP RIGHT. The goal is to get my users to set it up right. I'm not there yet. Add in the factors of having all your project files right in that little SSM window instead of digging through Windows Exploder, or the ease of clicking on a reference to go to that drawing, or the many other little things the SSM does for you, and it is invaluable!

Dare I say, I'm not sure how I ever got by without it! All I need to do now is figure out the BEST way to incorporate my sub-consultant drawings in the list for the drawing index.

[wroebuck]

We use it too but I don't like some things about it:

#1 I name my drawings like this "01-GENERAL LAYOUT"," 02-LAYOUT", "03-PROFILE", "04-"XSECTION" etc. Each of these drawings has layouts that are actual sheets to be plotted, I use SSM like a binder, to keep all sheets tied together to be able to better control the plotting process. Well when I'm starting a new ss and import the folder into it it messes all my order, I just wanted it to do it in "alfabetical order"!

#2 I want to be able to hit publish to plotter button and to specify the how many sets I need and go to have lunch while it's plotting.

#3 When it builds the import layouts list I wanna be able to modify the importing order.

Vali

#1 - You can drag them to the right order once it is done building.

#2 - Right click on the top of the ssm tree & select publish dialog box rather than publish to plotter. By doing so it also solves issue #3.

[TerribleTim]

I agree with the answer on this one. Use the publish dialog box. It works great, and has tons of flexibility for how many sets, and order arrangement. As for them plotting while you're at lunch, I got a faster plotter, so I wouldn't be able to finish my lunch.

[Mgalicki]

I've used this "publish dialoge box" method. But when I want PDF's it builds a PDF with all the drawings in (1) file. Weather I select the "Multi-sheet file" or "Single-sheet file".
I still get (1) file with all the drawings in it. Can you get single pdf's for each drawing from the "publish dialoge box" method?
Thanks, Mark

[BlackBox]

I use SSM extensively, but only for project organization & navigation, and do not recall ever using the SSM publish options... I used PUBLISH Command instead, and since AUTOPUBLISH was released (in 2009?) I have only use PUBLISH on rare occasion.



For SSM, I do not just add 'sheets' to SSM, I also add my 'dref' models or 'xref' drawings to the Sheet List tab... I add a simple snippet of code in AcadDoc.lsp that automagically switches the latter drawing type to ModelSpace at drawing open, which makes this really simple for end-user.

For AUTOPUBLISH, I developed a persistent, WCMATCH-based .NET plug-in (so anyone can use it), which allows one to only produce PDFs for 'sheet' and 'exhibit' drawings, instead of wasting production time, computer resources, and server space for PDFs that would otherwise also be produced for DREF, XREF-only drawings.

Cheers