CAD Import Wizard
The CAD Import Wizard imports 2D drawings created in
software such as AutoCAD, DraftSight, ProgeCAD, and other programs that write
files in DWG, DXF, or PDF format. This is useful for importing site plans,
terrain contours, planting details, and other 2D drawings.

To import a CAD drawing:
1.
Click Tools and CAD Drawing Import Wizard.
2.
Click the Next button.
3.
Browse to the file you want to import and click Open.
4.
DWG/DXF only: Specify which layers you want to import and click Next.
5.
DWG/DXF only: Select the desired drawing units. You can also enter a scale
factor if you want to resize the drawing during import. Then click
Next.
6.
Click the Set File Name button and enter a file name for
the imported drawing.
7.
Click the Next button, and then click the Finish button to
complete the wizard.
The CAD drawing will be saved as an Overlay and
automatically added to the center of your design.
In the drawing below, the sprinkler detail was imported
from a DWG file provided by Rain Bird®.

Linking to the North Direction
When importing site plans and other drawings where the
direction is important, you can align the plan with true north in your landscape
design.
1.
First, ensure the drawing is oriented so true north is straight up before
exporting it from your CAD software.
2.
Import the drawing using the CAD Drawing Import Wizard.
3.
Check the Use compass angle property.
When you change the compass angle, the overlay will then
rotate along with it.
Editing Layers
You can show and hide layers in the imported DWG/DXF
drawings to isolate the drawing detail you are interested in. Note that these
layers are completely independent of the layers used in Realtime Landscaping
Architect.
1.
Click the Edit Layers button in the Overlay property window.

2.
Click the layers to show or hide them as desired, and then click the OK
button.
Extracting Shapes
You can extract line and curve entities from your DWG and
DXF files and convert them to either Shapes or Contour Lines. This is useful when the CAD
drawing contains fill regions, property lines, or other 2D shapes that you want
to use to create new objects in your landscape design.
To extract shapes from the CAD drawing:
1.
Click the Extract Shapes button. The following dialog will appear:

Currently
visible layers Extract shapes from the DWG/DXF layers which are
currently visible.
Specific
layers Extract shapes from certain layers. Click the Edit Layers
button to select which layers you want to extract shapes from.
Existing
layer Extract the shapes to an existing Realtime Landscaping Architect
layer.
New
layer Extract shapes to a new Realtime Landscaping Architect layer. This
is useful when extracting large numbers of shapes because it will make them
easier to select as a group later on.
Convert to:
Shapes Convert the extracted entities to Realtime Landscaping
Architect's Shape objects.
Convert to:
Contour Lines Convert the extracted entities to Realtime Landscaping
Architect's Contour Line objects. The
DWG/DXF contour line elevation will be extracted from the entity's Elevation
property.
Join connected
lines and Tolerance Automatically joins connected line segments into
single shapes, which makes them much easier to edit. For example, a rectangle in
a DWG file could consist of four separate line segments. Using this option, a
single rectangle would be imported instead.
Depending on how
the CAD file was created, the end of one line may not exactly match the start of
the next. In this case, Tolerance specifies the maximum distance between
the two points in order for them to be joined, as shown below:

Use color
from drawing
Use the entity
colors defined in the DWG/DXF file. Due to differences in color palettes used by
CAD software, the colors of the extracted shapes may not exactly match the
original drawing.
Use specific
color
Use the specified
color for the extracted shapes.
2.
Click the OK button.
The shapes or contour lines will then be created and added
to the specified layer as a single group. To edit them individually, click the
Ungroup button.
The contour lines in the following design were extracted
from an imported DWG file using the above steps.

The same design
is shown below in the Perspective view:

Tips:
• When
using Spline entities for contour lines in AutoCAD™ or other CAD software, be
sure all fit/control points use the same elevation (Z coordinate).
• The
wizard will copy the imported drawing to the following directory:
\Users\user\Documents\Realtime
Landscaping Architect version\Custom Data\overlay\Custom\
Where user
is your Windows user name, and version is the software version
number.
• If
you change the original DWG/DXF/PDF file, then you will need to re-run this
wizard if you want to the changes to appear in Realtime Landscaping
Architect.
See also:
• Adding an Overlay
• Overlay Properties
• Changing the North Direction
• Picture Import Wizard
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