OldCKD Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Last week I opened a layout that I'd previously made and into which I had painstakingly imbedded several PDF images of appliance specs for the electrician. When I re-opened the layout and went to that page, all the PDFs were gone. Just opened another layout for a different client; same thing had happened - poof, PDF image is gone. Both layouts were saved before closing. What gives? Is there a step I am missing? I'd post the layout but there's nothing left to see but an empty layout sheet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheryl_C_Crane Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Is it possible that the .PDF files have changed locations? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldCKD Posted October 22, 2014 Author Share Posted October 22, 2014 Oooh. Cheryl - very possible. I did a desktop tidying last week and re-organized, moved stuff around. If that's the cause, can I re-link? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRAWZILLA Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Did you open the pdf and check save in plan? I save all my pdf's in the plan file but if you don't make sure you check this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldCKD Posted October 22, 2014 Author Share Posted October 22, 2014 Perry, I did not. And therein lies the problem, I guess. I guess a good general rule of thumb is to always open the dbx and see if there's something in there that is either helpful or critical to have checked off. It didn't even occur to me to open the dbx for a PDF file. I learned the hard way to save textures/materials, guess this will be another of those learning curve experiences Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joey_martin Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 You can relink. Click on one of the blank areas where the PDF is suppose to be. There should be a remnant of it there for you to open and re-link, or click the re-link tool in the toolbar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco2017 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 CKD, This has happened to me many many times... If you click in the area of the sheet where the pdf was, it's outline is there, just not the pdf, then you can re-link it. I save everything to my desktop and then reorganize it into folders later and I always end up with the same results! Good Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco2017 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Lol I see that Joey got to it first. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldCKD Posted October 22, 2014 Author Share Posted October 22, 2014 Thank you Joey - I did manage to salvage my work by re-selecting the file location.You bet I just checked off the 'save to plan' box this time. Thanks everybody! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheryl_C_Crane Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Glad that you're up and going again. We all learned this one the hard way. Experience is a great teacher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommy1 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 If you keep a job folder and place all associated plan files, layout files and images in that folder or anything that is sent to the layout in that folder and send the images to the layout from that folder, you would never have this problem. I don't ever have file association problems with a layout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldCKD Posted October 22, 2014 Author Share Posted October 22, 2014 Tommy, I usually do it that way, but I have amassed such a large collection of appliance specs that I decided to organize them into one central appliance folder so I can easily go to that one place instead of searching through individual client folders for a specific appliance. That's what messed me up this time - my organizational skills got the better of me! Similarly, I have a specific folder for textures and materials - they're all in one place and never get moved, and go on my auto-backup so I never need to worry about losing them. I guess it's just deciding on a particular method and sticking to it. So what does the 're-link tool' look like? I fixed it through the dbx. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dshall Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Tommy, I usually do it that way, but I have amassed such a large collection of appliance specs that I decided to organize them into one central appliance folder so I can easily go to that one place instead of searching through individual client folders for a specific appliance. ........ Amy, this sounds like a sound approach, but then you must SAVE IN PLAN. I have even larger issues since I seem to have to go back and forth between a MAC and a PC. I think I have sort of given up, I started drinking the Kool-Aid, and started saving things in plan. Downside? I think large files. But since I am on a MAC and my files are greater than my golf handicap, I have resorted to using drop box. Does anybody now of a big downside the SAVE IN PLAN approach. Is it really bad practice to go with the SAVE IN PLAN? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommy1 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Scott, I don't ever use "save in plan" but I think that once you do that, you can't get rid of it in that plan or layout. With that said, I think that if you send something to layout and then later whatever you send becomes void and you delete it, Chief will still try to find it. I believe this happened to me years ago and I kept getting errors because Chief couldn't find it. I don't know if that currently holds true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbuttery Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 You bet I just checked off the 'save to plan' box this time I have been asking for almost a decade now a preferences setting where we can select "save in plan" to always happen in fact, I think this should be the OOB default setting I have had missing files happen a "zillion" times especially when sending the layout to my partner CA's attitude so far has been "oh well, deal with it" I think that once you do that, you can't get rid of it in that plan or layout Tommy: yes, they can be deleted Lew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dshall Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Scott, I don't ever use "save in plan" but I think that once you do that, you can't get rid of it in that plan or layout. With that said, I think that if you send something to layout and then later whatever you send becomes void and you delete it, Chief will still try to find it. I believe this happened to me years ago and I kept getting errors because Chief couldn't find it. I don't know if that currently holds true. Thanks TB for the input. That is the approach I always took until I started losing pdf's when I went from MAC to PC. Now I save all in plan. I think the downside is larger files.... but my files are so large already..... I have give up and resorted to using DROPBOX,,,,, I should say I am going to try it for awhile until I get negative feedback. Anybody else know of any drawback to the SAVE IN PLAN option for pdf's and jpeg's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebdesign Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I "save in plan" always, unless I forget, which bites me eventually. Other than overall file size, I don't think there are any drawbacks, unless you have a LOT of them in a plan; then performance will definitely be affected. pdfs seem to be bigger than image files generally. Often I will screen capture just what I want from a pdf & save it as an image & then bring into Chief. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodCole Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 If you check the save in plan option then the layout view will not update if you make changes to the original pdf file. I rarely check save in plan, and I also keep all files related to a plan in a project folder as mentioned by others. Recently started working with pdf files in camera callouts for handeling detail views instead of CAD Details. Still a fairly new process for me, but it has a few benefits that I like such as file compatibility if you want to send a detail to an outside party that does not use CAD as such. PDF files are up to date in all applications that access the pdf file and ready to send out if req'd. Work in progress, but I like it so far. PDF files also work better in camera views than imported dwg files as far bounding box issues are concerned. I would also like to see chief be capable of inserting a U3D or 3D pdf file into a camera view that would then be sent to layout. By the way, the pdf files I use are kept small, even the U3D files so I have not encountered any issues so far other than working with something new. Who knows what might happen down the road. Edit: There is one thing I might mention that I have found so far when working with pdf files in camera views and that is that the pdf file in the camera view sometimes looks like things are missing. But when sent to layout and printed they look fine. That is a bit unnerving to deal with. Not sure why that happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRAWZILLA Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I f you put all your pdf's in the plan file, then it always knows where it is, and you don't need "save in plan" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbuttery Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 I f you put all your pdf's in the plan file, then it always knows where it is, and you don't need "save in plan" Perry: In theory, nice idea reality is "things go bump in the night" folders get moved within HD's or to other HD's send the layout or plan to another chiefer and invariably something will be missing etc etc etc I've been bit by this too many times to count my partner has been bit by it also - so its not just me.... there is NO reason that CA can't make this a default or preferences setting Lew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldCKD Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 Perry that's what I had been doing until I got the bright idea to put all my appliance PDFs in a separate folder on the desktop. I often use the same appliances over and over and it will make it simpler to find them in the future. As long as I maintain some discipline when saving the files it should be the same result as if I have them stored in the client folder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommy1 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Look yall, this is all about file management when dealing with layouts and different hard drives mostly. If you are the only person working on the plan on that specific hard drive, then problems with associated files and a layout is minimal as long as you DON'T change the path from which something was sent to the layout like rearranging files in Windows Explorer (or Windows Browser) after you sent something to the layout. This will change the path of the file sent to the layout and therefore cause an association issue with the layout. If more than one person is going to be working on a plan with different computers (hard drives), then file association issues between the users will happen if everything associated with the plan and layout is not in a single main folder. This means that if sharing plans between hard drives then you either need to use something like DropBox or Zip the folder with the files and send it to the other person, or move the folder to the other hard drive via jump drive. Most of the plans I work on will have between two to three people working on it at different times. File management is critical once the layout is started. Textures are not an issue if you are the only person working on it on a single hard drive. But when sharing between multiple people, you have to be careful about textures used in a plan. For example if I use a texture that I know the other person doesn't have on their computer, then I know that I need to put that texture (image file) in the folder or they will get an error as soon as they take a render camera telling then that there is an image file missing. By me putting that texture (image) in the folder, I know that they will see it in a render. However, just because it's in the folder doesn't mean that they will be able to assign that texture to a new item in the plan. They will have to take that image (texture) from the folder, put it in a separate folder and then do a "convert texture to material" so that it will then be in their library so that they can assign that new texture to something. Bottom line, if you keep all associated plan files, layout files, new textures if your sharing, or any file sent to the layout in a folder, you will not have any file association problems. I have helped many people over the years that call me and want to know why a layout doesn't update or is losing items. I have been able to fix it and find the problem 100% of the time. Side note: Symbols from the library do transfer from computer to computer and should not be an issue BUT the textures for the symbol is can be an issue. Custom molding profiles used for crown, baseboards, banding, etc.. will be an issue too if the other person wants to add that profile to something new in the plan. This is why I always place the new custom profile in a cad detail in the plan so that they can add it to their library if they need to use it for something new in the plan. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dshall Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Great post Joey, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRAWZILLA Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 You can also create a new toolbar with all your things in it using the " Place Lib. Object" tool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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