How do 2D Symbols Bind to Fixtures

[MollyNDG]

I am trying to understand how 2D symbols (CAD blocks) are assigned to their fixtures. Specifically, how is the orientation paired and is there an insertion point that connects them? I am trying to understand their connection better, so any insights are greatly appreciated!

[DBCooper]

You can assign any cad block that is already in your plan to a fixture.  You can also generate a new one automatically.  You can start with an auto generated one and then edit it if you want to make it look better.  I think it is always positioned at the center of the back of the 3D box for the fixture.  If they are the same size, then it doesn't really matter, but if the cad block is a different size, then you may need to play some games to get it positioned where you want.  You can also rotate the block to any angle you like.  Most of this is done on the 2D symbol page of the fixture dialog.

 

One thing you can do is just place one of the library fixtures that is similar to what you are trying to do and check out all of the settings that it uses.

 

There are also a bunch of tech articles about symbols you can find here:

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/category/68/symbols.html

 

 

 

[MollyNDG]

On 11/28/2025 at 4:52 PM, DBCooper said:

I think it is always positioned at the center of the back of the 3D box for the fixture.  If they are the same size, then it doesn't really matter, but if the cad block is a different size, then you may need to play some games to get it positioned where you want.  You can also rotate the block to any angle you like.  Most of this is done on the 2D symbol page of the fixture dialog.

One thing you can do is just place one of the library fixtures that is similar to what you are trying to do and check out all of the settings that it uses.

I did some playing around with fixtures from the standard catalog and manufacturer catalogs and more questions have come up. I believe you are correct, the 2D CAD block does seem to be inserted to the 3D fixture at the back center, which is very helpful. With this understanding, I played around with a sink fixture from the Kohler catalog as I have never been able to get these to look and behave exactly as I wish. The Kohler sink has a bit of a cheaty line drawn in the 2D symbol to push the rest of the lines down to be where the actual countertop cutout would be. This works, but I would like it cleaner than this. My first thought was to put in a rectangle the size of the overall fixture and make it an invisible line, then create the rest of the symbol within it at the correct size/location. This doesn't work, however, because that line becomes visible when viewing the 3D fixture in plan. I played with this a bit, because I know you can make the text of a 2D symbol match color of the layer it is on and that will stay connected in plan view of the 3D fixture. It seems this works for text, but not for CAD. See attached images and plan for the example I played with. If we could get the CAD to behave as the text does, then I could push the 2D CAD block to the exact location I want and accurately represent a countertop cutout with a fixture that sits below the CT and is larger than the cutout. 

2D Symbols.zip