Avenler

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6. Layers, underlay, dimensions and wall elevation

Underlay

You can also draw over an existing architectural plan. The Background image panel (right side, with nothing selected) handles loading and aligning the underlay:

  • Can be loaded: an image (PNG, JPEG: scan, photo), a PDF (with page selection and scale) or a DXF (with unit selection; the layers can be switched). Wall drawing also snaps to the points of the DXF.
  • Scale: with the Scale from two points button, by clicking two points a known distance apart, or as a numeric value (1 pixel = ? mm).
  • Panel: Visible, Locked, Opacity (10–100%), Offset x/y, Rotation, Move (by dragging), Replace, Delete. Deleting does not affect the walls you have drawn.

A DXF can be loaded as an underlay, and the CAD import button in the top bar imports its walls, openings, devices and rooms as an editable plan (save a DWG as DXF first).

The CAD import also accepts a vector PDF floor plan: you choose the page and the scale (1:N), the program recognises wall pairs, doors and windows from the lines, the summary shows the number of recognised items and of left-over lines, the preview is shown over the image of the PDF page, and the result can be imported into a new storey or an existing one; with the Also load the PDF page as the floor plan background option the PDF also becomes the background, aligned to the walls. Walls cannot be recognised in a scanned (image) PDF: load it with the Load as background button. If you do not know the exact scale, use the Scale from two points button: click both ends of a segment of known length in the preview and enter the real distance, and the program calculates the scale. For an opening without a door swing, a room separator line is placed between the two wall ends, so the two rooms are recognised separately. The recognition is a suggestion: check the drawing after importing.

For an IFC architectural model, use the IFC import button in the top bar. You can choose whether walls, openings and rooms are added to the current drawing; the IFC file is not uploaded to the server.

Layers

The What to show menu in the top bar switches parts of the drawing:

  • Presets: All, Power, Low-current, Architecture only.
  • For each layer, an eye (visible/hidden) and a padlock (locked: visible but cannot be selected).
  • The layers: Architecture (Underlay; Walls, openings, stairs; Rooms and their labels; Furnishings), Devices (the 8 symbol groups individually), Cable routes (power, low-current, Symalen), Markings (Conductor marking, Bathroom zones, Dimensions, Device dimensions, Notes, Room boundaries) and the Adjacent floor.
  • The button's badge shows the number of hidden layers. The setting is remembered per browser and per project, but it is not part of the drawing.
  • If a new element would be placed on a hidden layer, the layer becomes visible again automatically, and the program tells you so.
  • When printing, the Content selector can do the same: Everything, Power plan, Low-current plan, Architectural base, or as the editor's layers.

Dimension lines

Dimensions are mostly automatic: the wall length, the opening widths, the distances between openings and the position of devices measured from the wall. You can draw your own dimension line with the Dimension tool (N).

  • With a double-click a dimension can be edited (cm; Enter = apply, Esc = discard), and changing the value moves things: for a wall length the end point moves, for an opening its center stays, for a device the device is moved.
  • A selected dimension can be hidden; the Show all button in the floor panel brings them back.
  • They can be switched separately with the Dimensions and Device dimensions layers.
  • A selected automatic dimension line can be dragged further from the wall or to the other side of it; the offset is saved with the drawing, and the Reset offset button in the panel restores the automatic position.
  • Own dimension line (N): pick two points, then click where the offset should be; an end snapped to a node or a wall corner moves with the wall. Dimension lines – the automatic ones too – also appear in print and in DXF; Device dimensions are hidden in print by default and can be switched on in the print layer menu.
  • Measure (U): the tool is magnetic: it snaps to wall corners, nodes, opening edges, device centres and wall faces, and a marker shows what it caught.
  • Opening distance: the Distance from the start of the wall and Distance from the end of the wall fields of a door or window give the same value as the dimension line on the drawing (measured from the plane of the adjacent wall); the letter A on the canvas marks the wall start. Changing the width keeps the distance from the wall start.
  • Quick data entry: with an item selected, Enter takes you to the first field of the right-hand panel (a click keeps the focus on the drawing, so Del, Q, X and Ctrl+Z act on the drawing); in a field Enter moves to the next field (on the last one back to the drawing), Esc returns to the drawing.

Wall elevation

Select a room, then choose the Wall elevations button: you see the wall planes of the room from the side.

  • Switching between walls: PageUp / PageDown, clicking the mini floor plan, or the buttons in the header.
  • A device can be dragged along the wall and up and down (Alt = freely); an opening can be dragged and resized with its handle; the arrow keys nudge.
  • A cable route can also be drawn on the wall (Shift = vertical/horizontal); the heights of the vertices can be set here too.
  • In a wall elevation only wall-mounted symbols can be placed; the others are grayed out (“floor plan only”).
  • Esc = back to the floor plan. The changes also appear on the floor plan, and the wall elevation can be printed in the drawing set and on the drawing sheets of the quotation.

3D view

See the drawing in space: the 3D button in the editor header opens it (on a tablet under "More"); Esc or the Back to floor plan button closes it.

  • Mouse: left button rotates, right or middle button pans, wheel zooms. Touch: one finger rotates, two fingers pan and zoom. On the canvas: arrow keys, + / −, Home.
  • Control bar: Axonometric, Top view, Focus selection, Reset view; This floor / All floors (with all floors, Explode floors pulls them apart); Wall transparency; Save as image (PNG).
  • Click a device or run to select it and edit it in the right panel (e.g. the mounting height shows immediately); the circuit's items highlight, the others fade. Double click zooms in; hovering shows a bubble with its name and circuit. Items on other floors cannot be selected.
  • The layers and the "Circuit colors" switch also apply to 3D. Equipment heights are fixed per type; there is no ceiling.
  • On a weak computer choose Quality: Fast (Automatic picks it by itself). Without WebGL a message appears.