Vectorworks Tip #229 – Attribute Palette – Assigning a Tile
Like the other attributes, you can use the Attribute palette or the Resource Browser to assign tiles to your objects
Like the other attributes, you can use the Attribute palette or the Resource Browser to assign tiles to your objects
Tiles are a great way to create graphic fills for your drawings. Tiles allow you to draw lines, polygons, circles, rectangles, etc. to make repeatable patterns.
Although patterns are an old technique, they might still be useful. Vectorworks can only present about 64 patterns (due to the size of the palette) but you can edit the patterns that are there. The command is in the Edit menu.
Patterns have a foreground and a background colour and each can be edited separately. Click on the appropriate button to edit the foreground or background colour. This allows you to create other colours by combining the two colours.
If you want to change the scale of your hatches, use the technique to change the local mapping, then save the locally mapped hatch as a new hatch. If you want to change change the background fill, line colors or line weights, use the Resource Browser to edit the hatch.
Attribute palette – Patterns. Patterens are the old way to create hatches. They do not always print the way you think they will, but the top line of patterns are still useful for creating tones. I often use the ones shown in this image.
Once you change the mapping on a hatch, you might want to re-use the settings of the hatch again. An easy way to do this is to Create a New Hatch from a Locally Mapped hatch. This command is avaiable from the Contextual Menu (right-click on the hatch).
You can use the Attribute palette to change the angle, size, offset, and flipping of the hatch. Click on the Fill Hatch Settings button to open the dialog box, turn on Local Mapping, then edit the settings to suit.
Use the Attributes palette to assign hatches to your objects. Click on the Fill Style pop-up and choose hatch. After choosing Hatch, click on the pop-up menu to choose the hatch from the current file or from Default Content.
Classes are very useful for setting up drawings. This session looked at techniques for using classes. Should we start the drawing with everything on the None class and then gradually add classes?