CET Designer 1.4
Apart from continual enhancements of existing functionality CET Designer 1.4 offers several new features.
A listing with the main new features in CET Designer 1.4
- Easier to work with large drawings
- New tools for selecting components
- New features for arranging components
- Help finding components in the drawing area
- Improved print handling
- New features for removing components
- New and improved text tools
- New dialogs
- Other new tools and features
Easier to work with larger drawings
Possibility to have multiple views of drawing area
When you are working with a drawing there might be situations when you feel it would be easier if you could see the 2D or the 3D drawing area from a different view. Now this is possible!
To generate an additional view, go to the Views menu and select New 2D view or New 3D view. A popup window appears with the new view (see figure below). You can now zoom and pan the drawing in the popup window.
Special support for zooming to popup view
With the new Zoom rectangle to popup view tool you can zoom in a component or group of components in the drawing area and display the zooming result in a popup window. With this feature you can easily change a small detail in a drawing while you simultaneously get a general view of the whole drawing. You find the Zoom rectangle to popup view tool in the 2D view toolbar.
Multiple drawing support
If you would like to work with more than one drawing at the time, there is now a feature that enables you to have several drawings opened at the same time. If you select the Enable multiple drawings checkbox in the Control Panel, an additional drawing will open next time you click the New button without closing your current drawing.
Easier ways to jump between different views in a large drawing
When you are working with a big drawing, you might work with special areas or zooming views of the drawing. To make the zooming and panning easier, you can connect a key binding to a special view. This makes it easy to return to the same view. You can connect four different views to different key bindings. For example, see figures below.
Possibility to use dual monitors
Good news is that CET Designer now supports the use of dual monitors, which could make the work with multiple drawings easier.
New tools for selecting components
Select a single component in a group
Now it is much easier to select one component in a group of components by using the new Select single Object tool. You do not longer need to disconnect a component from a group of components before selecting it. You find the new Select single Object tool in the 2D view toolbar.
Select all components in a group
In the 2D view toolbar you also find the new tool Select all objects in a group. This tool is useful when you wish to select a whole group of components. Just click the button in the 2D view toolbar and click the group of components you wish to select.
Select components with a lasso
To select several components at a time, which are not part of a group, use the new Lasso tool that you find in the 2D view toolbar. This tool can be used in several different ways (for example, see figures below).
Draw through the objects Surround the objects Click and surround the objects
Inverse selection
Before After
New features for arranging components
Support for aligning components in different ways
You find several new features for aligning components in the drawing area in the Arrange menu.
Possibility to distribute components in the drawing area
Now it is simple to distribute components in the drawing area using different distributing features. You find the options in the Arrange menu. To distribute components in the drawing area means that the distance between them will be adjusted to be the same for all the selected components.
Support for replicating components
It is simple to replicate a component in the drawing area by using different replication features. You find the Replicate features in the Arrange menu. You can choose if the replicated components should be positioned in a line or as a rectangle.
Help finding components in the component area
Possibility to search for components
If you are looking for a component but you can’t find it in the component area, just go to the new Search tab, enter a search term in the input field and click Search.
Possibility to browse for components
If you do not know the name of the component you are looking for, you can choose to search for the component by browsing for it. Go to the new Browse tab in the component area and browse in the tree view.
Improved print handling
The print frame dialog has changed appearance
There are new options in the Print frame properties dialog, for example the Template button that opens the Open dialog where you can locate your print template. Another new button is the Maximize button that adjust the size of the print frame to fit the application window.
Possibility to adjust page settings
Now it is possible to determine the margins on a print out in the Page setup dialog, which is accessed from the Print frame properties dialog.
Possibility to adjust the size of a print frame to fit the application window
With the new feature Maximize in view it is much easier to handle a print frame. By clicking the option Maximize in view in the Print frame properties dialog or in the popup menu that appears by right clicking the print frame, you can adjust the size of the print frame to the application window.
New option in the Render to file dialog and in the Photo series dialog.
Now you have the option to choose a white background on your print out which is an advantage if you would like to save ink. You find this option both in the Render to file dialog and in the Photo series dialog.
New features for removing components
Improved generic remover
The Remover tool is now available in the 2D and 3D view toolbar and can be used on any components in the drawing area.
Possibility to remove all modifications that have been made since last time the drawing was saved
In the File menu you will find a new item called Revert. This feature removes all components and modifications since last time you saved your drawing.
Remove components by cropping
An easy way to remove unnecessary components from the drawing area is to use the new Crop feature. This means that you select the components in the drawing area that you wish to keep and then remove the rest. You find the Crop feature in the Edit menu.
New and improved text tools
More options when inserting static text
When you have inserted a text box in the drawing area you have several new options to edit the text. You find the options in the green input box that appears when you insert the text box. The figure below shows all available options.
Text input box
New label tool
There are several options to create text in a drawing. If you only need to create a short text in a drawing, the easiest way is to use the new tool called Label. A label is static text with reduced editing possibilities. You find the Label tool in the Create print template tab.
The Placeholder tool has changed name to Data field
The former Placeholder tool has chanced name to Data field. You find this tool in the Create print template tab as before.
New dialogs
You will notice that several dialog boxes have changed appearance and now have a similar look. These dialogs are the Load drawing dialog, the Save dialog, the Save favorite dialog and the Insert favorite dialog. The purpose of these changes is for you to feel familiar with the appearance and the options when you open a dialog box.
Some of the changes in the dialogs include the possibility to choose how to display your files. You can also get more detailed information about a drawing by clicking the file name.
Other new tools and features
Block handling
One of the major news in 1.4 is the possibility to handle blocks.
If you have a group of components that you wish to place in the drawing area repeatedly, e.g. a group of workstations, you can save these as a block. The advantage of using a block is that all modifications that are made in one block in the drawing area will affect all other blocks of the same type in the drawing area.
For example, if you would like to change the worksurfaces in all workstations in a room, you simply need to change the worksurface in the block.
To create a block, select the group of components that you wish to use as a block, right click and select Create block in the menu that appears. When inserting a block, just right click in the drawing area and select Insert block from the menu that appears.
Possibility to create and remove key bindings
Now you have the possibility to create your own shortcuts. Go to the Edit menu and select the option Key bindings.
Easier to jump back and forth in the component bar
In CET Designer 1.4 it is easier to jump back and forth in the component bar. Click the component area and use the Backspace key, as well as Backspace + Shift, to navigate backwards and forwards between the tabs that you have been visiting lately.
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