Drawing Import Overview

Drawing Import is designed to quickly name and organize construction drawing files for use with electronic takeoff software. It has the following general capabilities:

• Import files from Disks, CD-ROMs or scanners.
• Separate multi-page files into individual files.
• Organize drawings in multiple sub-folders underneath a main folder.
• Quickly view the title block of each drawing and name it.
• Automatically add the drawings to a Dimension project

Note: You don't need this wizard just to separate a multi-page PDF. When drawings are added to a project, the Split Multi-Page PDF Drawings Window offers to split each multi-page PDF into one drawing per page, and names the pages from their title blocks. Use the wizard when you also want to rename drawings, place them in sub-folders or convert them as they are imported.

The Import Process starts by selecting "File/Import and Rename Drawings..." from the Main Menu. The Import Process consists of the following steps:

• Specify the Destination -  A main folder and/or a Dimension project is selected in the Output Folder/Project Selection Window.
• Specify the File Name, Description and Sub-folder Mapping -  In addition to renaming drawings, Dimension Import can place them in sub-folders within the destination folder, and give them names within the Dimension project. The Filename Mapping Window is used to specify a mapping. For example, an addenda file might be named "CoverSheet.html", be placed in a sub-folder "Addendum1" and given a description "CoverSheet - Addendum1". Mappings are used to generate this information from a minimal amount of user input. In the case above, just the Addenda name (Addendum1) and the drawing name (Cover Sheet) are entered and the file name, sub-folder and description are generated via the mapping. See Name Mapping for more information. Mappings are usually defined in advance and a pre-defined mapping is selected during the import process.
• Select and Organize Drawings -  After specifying the mapping, the Drawing List Window is displayed. (The empty main import window which we'll disucss below is displayed behind the drawing list.) This window lists the drawings to be imported. Initially the list will be empty. You can add drawings to the list in four ways:
  1. File Selection - This uses the standard Windows File Open Window to select one or more files.
  2. Folder Search - First, the standard Windows Folder Selection Window will be displayed. Once a folder is selected, That folder and it's sub-folders will be scanned for drawing files. The files found will be displayed in a selection tree and you can check off those you wish to import.
  3. Scanner Input - First a drawing scanner is selected. Then as drawings are scanned, they are added to the list.
  4. Rename Project Drawings - A list of the drawing files in the current project is displayed. You can check those you wish to rename. During the import process, the drawing files will be unchanged (PDF files are NOT converted to TIFF). But the drawing and page descriptions will be changed.
  You can set a user preference to have one of the selection methods invoked automatically when the drawing list initially appears. You can use as many methods as many times as needed to develop the list
• Name and Convert the Drawings - When you press the "GO" button on the Drawing List Window, the actual naming and conversion begins. Each drawing is displayed in the main import window. You can zoom, scroll and rotate the drawing so that the title block is displayed. The Drawing Renaming Window floats above the main window. You can move it as needed to view the drawing title block. In the conversion window, you enter the information needed to specify the file name, description and sub-folder for the drawing. Then press the "Next" button to convert the current drawing and proceed to the next drawing. The next drawing will be displayed with the same zooming, scrolling and rotation as its predecessor, so in most cases the title block will already be visible. Naming and converting continues until all drawings are processed.