Question About Notes and Layers

[CJSpud]

I am wondering how other Chief users are dealing with notes and the layer they are assigned to.  By default, the actual layer a note is assigned to is the "Schedules" layer.  If you have multiple note schedules for a plan, do we need to have different layers for each note schedule? 

 

If a project has a basement floor and I have three different (or maybe more) views sent to layout and each of those views has its own dedicated note schedule, don't we need a different "note layer" to keep the different note schedules from displaying on each view.

 

For example, for the basement level I have three views sent to layout:  1.  Basement plan;  2.  Foundation plan;  3.  Floor framing plan.  And, as stated above, I will have a note schedule for each of those views.  It seems to me the only way to only have the desired note schedule displayed for any of the three views is for each view to have a layer dedicated for each note type, i.e., I would have a basement plan note layer, a foundation plan note layer and a floor framing plan note layer.  Is this the way it needs to be done or am I missing something?

 

What I want to avoid, if there's a way around this, is not creating a bunch of extra (note) layers if they aren't needed.  Your comments on how you are dealing with this are appreciated.

 

 

[Kbird1]

 

You have 3 different Note Schedules in a Plan without duplicate Numbering (callout) ?  there was a post yesterday about that Issue....

 

M.

[Alaskan_Son]

2 minutes ago, CJSpud said:

I am wondering how other Chief users are dealing with notes and the layer they are assigned to.  By default, the actual layer a note is assigned to is the "Schedules" layer.  If you have multiple note schedules for a plan, do we need to have different layers for each note schedule? 

 

If a project has a basement floor and I have three different (or maybe more) views sent to layout and each of those views has its own dedicated note schedule, don't we need a different "note layer" to keep the different note schedules from displaying on each view.

 

For example, for the basement level I have three views sent to layout:  1.  Basement plan;  2.  Foundation plan;  3.  Floor framing plan.  And, as stated above, I will have a note schedule for each of those views.  It seems to me the only way to only have the desired note schedule displayed for any of the three views is to for each view to have a layer dedicated for each note type, i.e., I would have a basement plan note layer, a foundation play note layer and a floor framing plan note layer.  Is this the way it needs to be done or am I missing something?

 

What I want to avoid, if there's a way around this, is not creating a bunch of extra (note) layers if they aren't needed.  Your comments on how you are dealing with this are appreciated. 

 

 

 

Just like every other annotation object...if you need more than one for any given view and you don't want them displayed in other views, then you need to use additional layers, no way around it.  Having said that, you could place the schedule into a CAD Detail, but it still wouldn't alleviate the need for the extra layer for the notes themselves. 

 

I still wish Chief would add the capabilities to...

1. Place notes in layout
2. Create what amounts to a "Plan View Camera" where all annotations only exist in that one view just like an elevation camera
3. Just switch the Active Layer for any/all annotation objects much like Current CAD layer instead of requiring a new default every time.

[CJSpud]

Thanks for your replies.  Sometimes I miss the simple things and didn't want to add a bunch of additional layers if there was a way to accomplish the mission without them.

 

If notes (schedules) could be placed in layout, how would that work .... other than they would just exist on layout sheets?  Could they exist in a layout CAD detail or did you have something else in mind?

[Joe_Carrick]

Here's the way to deal with this:

• In the Annoset edit the NOTES Tab.
• Set the Layer for that particular Note Default.
• Maybe make some additional modifications to the Layer Set

 

Then it should be automatic after that.  Just change the Annoset and it all falls into place.

[Alaskan_Son]

3 minutes ago, CJSpud said:

Thanks for your replies.  Sometimes I miss the simple things and didn't want to add a bunch of additional layers if there was a way to accomplish the mission without them.

 

If notes (schedules) could be placed in layout, how would that work .... other than they would just exist on layout sheets?  Could they exist in a layout CAD detail or did you have something else in mind? 

They should be able to go straight onto the layout page or straight into a CAD Detail in layout IMO.  Both.

[Joe_Carrick]

My preference is to have them in the Saved Plan Views, Sections, Elevations, etc.  Specifically the same view that the callouts are located in.  It just seems a lot easier to control that way.

[Alaskan_Son]

6 minutes ago, Joe_Carrick said:

My preference is to have them in the Saved Plan Views, Sections, Elevations, etc.  Specifically the same view that the callouts are located in.  It just seems a lot easier to control that way.

 

I definitely agree for the bulk of situations.  There are those that would make more sense in layout or CAD Details though...particularly when it comes to plan notes.

[Joe_Carrick]

9 minutes ago, Alaskan_Son said:

 

I definitely agree for the bulk of situations.  There are those that would make more sense in layout or CAD Details though...particularly when it comes to plan notes.

Michael,

 

When would you want the Plan Notes Schedule in a CAD Detail?  If just for that particular detail then it's the same thing (view specific) isn't it?  

 

My concern after working with them quite a bit is that separating the Plan Note Schedule from the View where the Callouts are located gets very messy.  It's difficult to force them to be relative to one another.  If you put the schedule in a separate CAD Detail then it's difficult to identify which schedule should be sent to what page/view in the Layout.

 

Most Schedules (Cabinet, Door, window, Appliances, Fixtures, etc.) don't have that problem because they are project wide (or at least floor wide).  Note Schedules are a different animal.

[Alaskan_Son]

4 minutes ago, Joe_Carrick said:

When would you want the Plan Notes Schedule in a CAD Detail?  If just for that particular detail then it's the same thing (view specific) isn't it?

 

Yes.  If its going into a CAD Detail then the notes are typically for that particular view (CAD Detail).  That's easy enough to do in plan now but isn't possible in layout.  And I totally agree that it doesn't make a lot of sense to separate those schedules from the view.  I just mentioned that even if a person DID do that, they would still need to create the extra layers anyway. 

[LevisL]

33 minutes ago, CJSpud said:

Thanks for your replies.  Sometimes I miss the simple things and didn't want to add a bunch of additional layers if there was a way to accomplish the mission without them.

 

30 minutes ago, Joe_Carrick said:

Here's the way to deal with this:

• In the Annoset edit the NOTES Tab.
• Set the Layer for that particular Note Default.
• Maybe make some additional modifications to the Layer Set

 

Then it should be automatic after that.  Just change the Annoset and it all falls into place.

 

I felt the same way. Didn't want to add a bunch more layers. So I just assigned my note defaults to the various text layers I already had, as Joe explained. Framing notes are on 'Text, Framing', foundation notes on 'Text, Foundation', electrical notes on 'Text, Electrical', etc. It works well so far. You might have different needs and want the notes separate from text though.

 

 

[HetrickDesign]

I'm currently creating multiple Text, Note layers for each type of note. For example, I have 1/2" scale notes using 1/2" scale text style so the size of the text and bubble show correctly based on the drawing scale. 

 

The nice thing about putting notes on a separate layer than the text layer is that you can isolate just those notes if you want to change it's settings. Speaking of isolating, does anyone know a way to isolate a layer in Chief like you can in AutoCAD? Turning to "All Layers Off" and turning on a layer seems a little annoying.

[glennw]

I am not sure you can do exactly what you are asking for.

If you are using the ALDO and you can select an object on the layer you want to isolate, you can uncheck Show All Layers and only the layers relevant to that object will be listed.

Be aware though that you may get more than one layer depending on how many layers that object is using.

 

The Object Layer Properties tool (from the Edit toolbar) works in a similar way but will initially only show the used layers for a selected object - although you can then select to Show All Layers.