Tips on using Viewports

Viewports have vastly improved the layout and presentation capabilities of VectorWorks. If you’ve ever had a situation where you needed to show your design in different views on the same sheet, viewports are the answer.

Here are a couple of tips on using viewports that you might not have picked up on your own. For a more thorough look at how viewports work, check out the VectorWorks training CDs and workbooks available from Resolve Software Solutions.

The fastest way to crop a viewport

Did you know that you could crop an existing viewport without entering its crop mode?

1. Select the viewport, and then choose the Clip Tool. In the Mode Bar, click on its second mode (Removes Outside mode).

2. Make a rectangular marquee across the viewport. That’s all there is to it — nothing more. The area outside your marquee is trimmed away and you now have a cropped viewport.

An extra hint: If you want to end up with a viewport that has an invisible crop line, then before you begin the process, deselect any drawing objects. Then set the default Pen style to None in the Attributes palette so the newly cropped viewport is shown without a rectangular outline. Once you’re done, be sure to set the default Pen style again so that you don’t draw any more invisible lines.

Using class overrides in viewports

A more advanced feature of viewports that’s new in VectorWorks 12 is the ability to override class settings. This allows you to have viewports in which the drawing objects appear with different colors, line weights, or 3D textures than those that were used originally. Using this feature, a single floor plan drawing can be simultaneously displayed as both a color presentation drawing and a black & white working drawing. For a 3D model, it means that different textures could be used in side-by-side viewports, allowing for options to be quickly compared or presented to your client. To make use of this feature, it’s necessary to have drawn your original drawing using class styles.

Viewport without class overrides.

Viewport with class overrides.

To override class styles in viewports

1. Select the viewport, and then click on the Classes button in the Object Info palette.

2. Select the class that you want to override. You can select multiple classes if you wish. After highlighting the first class, press Command (Mac) or Control (Windows), and click on additional class names.

3. Click the Edit button and make the desired attribute changes. This can include the Fill and Pen settings, and if you’re using RenderWorks it can also include textures assigned to the class.

Note that a checkmark appears beside classes that are overridden in the viewport. Click OK to return to the drawing. If you’ve modified a viewport that’s in a 2D view, you’ll see the changes immediately. To see a modified 3D viewport you’ll have to press Update on the Object Info Palette.