Creating a viewport in Vectorworks allows you to display live views of your design layer content on a sheet layer, effectively referencing parts of your model or drawings for presentation and documentation. You can initiate this process from the menu or the palettes.
Steps to Create a Viewport:
Follow these simple steps to generate a viewport in your Vectorworks project:
- Initiate the Command: There are two primary ways to begin creating a viewport:
- Select the command View > Create Viewport from the main menu.
- Alternatively, access the Organization dialog box or the Navigation palette. Within either of these, navigate to the Viewports tab.
- Start the Dialog: If using the palettes/dialog, click the New button located in the Viewports tab.
- Configure the Viewport: Whichever method you choose, the Create Viewport dialog box will open. In this dialog, you need to provide essential information for your new viewport:
- Viewport Name: Assign a unique name to easily identify the viewport.
- Drawing Title: Provide a title that will appear with the viewport on the sheet layer.
- Design Layer Selection: Select the specific design layer (or layers, depending on setup) from which you want the viewport to pull content.
Once you have entered the necessary details and confirmed your selections in the dialog, Vectorworks will create the new viewport, typically placing it on the active sheet layer. This viewport will display the content from the selected design layer(s) according to the settings you define (like scale, view, render mode, etc.).
Understanding Viewports for Referencing
The viewport you create serves as a dynamic window onto your design layer data. By placing this viewport on a sheet layer, you are "referencing" the design layer content. Any changes made to the geometry or objects on the source design layer will automatically update within the viewport, ensuring your documentation sheets always reflect the latest design.
This referencing capability is fundamental for producing construction drawings, presentations, and other documents where you need to display parts of your 3D model or 2D drawing layouts from design layers without duplicating the geometry itself.
- Key Benefit: Viewports streamline your workflow by keeping design data separate from documentation layout, making updates efficient.
- Versatility: Viewports can show different views (Top/Plan, Front, Isometric, etc.) and scales of the same design layer content on different sheets.
By following the steps outlined above, you can effectively create viewports in Vectorworks to reference and document your design work.
