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RiscCAD

RISCWorld

Tutorial 9 - House elevation

•    load symbols from disk
•    use the 'step and repeat' tool
•    select objects
•    copy and paste objects
•    scale, mirror and rotate
•    fill areas with patterns
•    printer tiling

Load the A1 template from the Borders template directory as described in Tutorial 7. Reduce the display scale to 50%. and Set the drawing scale to 1:10.

  Loading the corner symbol

Open the Symbol browser by clicking SELECT on the Library icon in the Help window. Open the Architect directory by double-clicking on the name in the directory list and then the Stone directory. The symbols inside the Architect.Stone symbol directory will be displayed on the window. Click on the Corner symbol name to display the symbol in the viewer section of the window.

The edges of the walls are made by repeating the Corner symbol. To insert the symbol, click on the Insert button.

Note that the the symbol is rather large. It has been saved at a scale of 1:1, or actual size. As the drawing is at 1:10 scale the symbol must be altered to the same scale as the drawing. To do this click MENU. Instead of the RiscCAD Main Menu the Paste toolbox will open. This lets you manipulate the symbol before it is placed on the drawing. Tools on the Paste toolbox can rotate, mirror, scale and change the layer of the symbol before it is placed.

To change the scale to the drawing scale click on the Drawing scale icon.

Ensure Grid snap is on. Move the symbol to the bottom left of the drawing window and click SELECT to place it. Click ADJUST to cancel the next symbol.

  Repeating the symbol

The left edge of the wall consists of six corner symbols placed one above the other with small gaps between. These could be pasted into position using End snap with an offset applied. However, it is easier to use the Step and repeat tool.

The objects to be repeated must be selected. Move the cursor over the symbol on the drawing and click SELECT. The symbol will be selected, indicated by a rectangle around it with black markers at each corner. Open the Step and repeat window from Step and repeat on the Transform submenu.

Objects can be repeated in several ways. For this example, enter the Y offset as 210mm and the Number of copies as 6. Click OK to repeat the selected symbol.

  Copying the wall edge

The opposite wall edge is a copy of this wall edge. To copy the existing objects, they must first be selected. The first symbol placed should already be selected. To select the remaining five symbols, click on each symbol with ADJUST. When all they are all selected, indicated by a rectangle around each symbol, place the Select reference point at the bottom corner of the first symbol. Select End snap and move the cursor to the bottom corner of the symbol. Hold down the CTRL key and click SELECT. A small red target will appear on the corner of the symbol.

To copy the selected objects to the clipboard click on the Copy icon in the Help window.

To paste the objects on the clipboard at the required position click on the Paste icon in the Help window.

The pasted wall edge which appears at the cursor is facing the wrong way and must be mirrored. To do this, click MENU to open the Paste toolbox and click on the Mirror Y icon and it will be mirrored around the Y axis.

The second edge must be positioned 2935mm to the right of the first. End snap is already selected but an offset snap must be entered to move the objects by the required distance. Open the Relative XY dialogue box by clicking MENU on the icon in the Snap toolbox. Enter the RX distance as 2935mm and click OK.

Move the cursor to the bottom corner of the existing wall edge, at the same position as the reference point, and click SELECT. A copy of the objects will be placed 2935mm to the right of the existing wall edge. Click ADJUST to cancel objects being pasted.

  Constructing the top of the wall

The top of the wall follows the same process, except that the symbol is rotated before being placed. Open the Library browser and select the Corner symbol. Click on Insert to load the symbol.

Open the Paste toolbox and click on the rotate icon to rotate the symbol by 270°

Scale the symbol by clicking on the Drawing scale icon described earlier and mirror the symbol around the Y axis by clicking on the Mirror Y icon. You should now have a symbol as shown, with the cursor at the top left corner.

Increase the display scale to 200% using the Scale view dialogue box described in Tutorial 10. Centre the view around the top of the left wall.

The symbol must be placed level with the top of the wall and 5mm to the right of it. In the Relative XY dialogue box enter RX offset as 5mm. Move the cursor to the right edge of the top of the wall and click SELECT to place the symbol then ADJUST to cancel the existing symbol.

To copy the new symbol, select Grid snap and turn the offset snap off by clicking on the Offset XY icon with ADJUST. Select the symbol by clicking SELECT on it. The other symbols which were selected have been de-selected and the new symbol has been selected. Clicking on objects with SELECT cancels any previous selection.

Open the Step and repeat dialogue box and enter 210mm as the X offset, and 0 as the Y offset. Set the Number of copies to 13. Click OK to copy the objects.

The top of the wall will be constructed from 13 copies of the selected symbol.

  Constructing the roof

The roof is simply a rectangle of the correct size. Open the Rectangle dialogue box and select the Fixed size rectangle tool and enter the Width as 2935mm and the Height as 800mm. Click on the Group icon to automatically group the rectangle after construction. Click OK to set the values.

Select End snap and position the corner of the rectangle on the top left edge of the left wall.

  Adding the roof pattern

The roof is filled with a hatch pattern. To fill an area the area must first be grouped, which is why the rectangle was grouped after construction.

Select Grid snap. Select the roof by clicking on the Select icon on the Main toolbox and click on the roof rectangle with SELECT. Open the Area fill dialogue box from the Select submenu. Initially the dialogue box displays line hatches. To display pattern fills click on Show patterns.

Pattern names are shown in the same way as symbol names and directories. Double-click on Architect to open the directory and then the Tiles directory. The tile patterns will be displayed. Click once on the Thatch pattern name to display an example of the pattern in the viewer section of the window. The pattern is displayed using the default scale and angle. Change the Scale to 2 and click on the Try button to view the pattern at the new scale. To fill the rectangle, click on the OK button.

Fills are always grouped to make selection easier. The Area fill dialogue box will be closed when the fill is complete.

  Inserting the door symbols

The door is made up from three symbols. The door itself, the arch above the door, and the corner symbol used to create the edges of the walls.

Select the Corner symbol from the Library browser. Click on the Insert button to insert the corner symbol. Scale the symbol by the drawing scale.

The symbol must be 800mm to the right and 205mm up from the bottom left corner of the building. Use End snap and Relative XY snap to place it at the required position.

Two more corner symbols must be placed directly above this, each one offset by 210mm. Use Relative XY snap to position these. They form the right edge of the door.

To create the left edge of the door copy the three symbols and paste them 400mm to the left of the existing symbols. Select Grid snap and turn the Relative XY snap off. Click on the lower symbol with SELECT and the remaining two symbols with ADJUST. Select End snap. Place the Select reference point at the bottom of the original set of three symbols. Do this by moving the cursor to the required position and, whilst holding down the CTRL key, click the SELECT button. A red target will appear to confirm the position. Copy the objects to the clipboard by clicking on the Copy icon in the Help window. Click on the Paste icon to start pasting the clipboard.

They must be mirrored around the Y axis. Open the Paste toolbox by clicking MENU and click on the Mirror Y tool icon. Select Relative XY snap and enter 400mm for the X offset and 0 for the Y offset. Move the cursor to the lower left point on the original door symbols, over the point where the reference point is positioned, and click SELECT. The copied objects will be pasted 400mm to the left of the originals.

The door must now be drawn Open the Library browser and select the Door symbol. Click on the Insert button to insert the door. Scale the door by the drawing scale.

The door is placed 10mm in from the brick frame. Open the Relative XY dialogue box and enter 10mm for the X offset and 0 for the Y offset. Move the cursor to the inside edge of the left hand door frame and click SELECT to place the door symbol.

The top arch of the door is placed above the door. Open the Library browser and select the Arch symbol. Click on the Insert button to insert the arch. Scale the arch by the drawing scale.

The arc is placed at the centre of the circle forming the top of the door. Select Centre snap by clicking SELECT on the Centre icon in the Snap toolbox. Turn Relative XY snap off. Click SELECT on the edge of the arc forming the top of the door. The arch will jump into position above the door.

  Positioning the windows

The house windows are based on a single symbol.

Open the Library browser and select the Window symbol. Click on the Insert button to insert the window. Scale the window by the drawing scale.

The window is placed 800mm to the right of the centre of the door arch. Centre snap is already selected. Open the Relative XY window and enter 800mm for the X offset and 0 for the Y offset. Move the cursor to the outer edge of the door arch and click SELECT. The window will jump to the right and be placed 800mm from the door.

The second window is also 800mm to the right of the first window. Move the cursor to the edge of the arc forming the top of the window arch and click SELECT again. The second window will be placed 800mm to the right of the first window.

  Finishing the drawing

All that remains is to place a line under the house to represent the ground.

As the previous tool used was the rectangle, you must open the Line toolbox and choose the basic line tool by clicking SELECT on the first icon in the Line toolbox.

Select End snap and turn Relative XY snap off. Move the cursor to the bottom of the left wall and click SELECT. Move the cursor to the bottom of the right wall and click SELECT again to finish the line. The house is now complete.

  Printing the drawing

Open the Scale view dialogue box and click on the Scale to window button to display all the drawing in the window. As the drawing is A1 in size it must be reduced to print onto A4. The print scale must be set to 35% and the print turned sideways to fit the drawing on the paper.

Though printing at this scale is acceptable, fine detail becomes too small to be clearly visible, so an alternative method is to tile the print. This involves printing the drawing at full scale, with sections of the drawing printed on separate A4 sheets, which can then be reassembled after printing.

Open the Print dialogue box by clicking on the Print icon in the Help window. Set the Print scale to 100% and click on the Tile image switch. The number of tiles which will be printed will be shown next to the Tile image switch. In this case 8 tiles, 4 tiles across and 2 tiles up. Click on the Set values button.

Turn the Print border display on by pressing CTRL-SHIFT-O. Instead of the usual grey rectangle showing the areas of the drawing that will not be printed the display now shows the tiles the drawing will be split into. The bottom corner of each tile shows the tile number.

Open the Print dialogue box again by clicking on the Print icon on the Help window. To print a range of pages, enter the range in the From tile and To fields. Crop marks can be printed at the edges of each A4 sheet to show where the sheets need to be aligned to when re-forming the drawing. To print crop marks, turn the Print crop marks switch on.

An extra overlap can be entered in the Overlap field. This will force a wider overlap, so more than 8 sheets may be required. This is not necessary if your printer's paper size and print borders are configured correctly. If you find the edges of the drawing are not being printed you may wish to enter an overlap.

To print the drawing click on the Print button.

If values are changed in the tile section, or the drawing scale is changed, turn the Tile image switch off and then back on to display the correct number of tiles to be printed.

The drawing does not have to be tiled at 100%, any print scale can be entered when tiling the drawing.

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