Drafting Arrow

by | Feb 25, 2025 | Learning Center, Working Drawings

Video: https://youtu.be/MVpqP0COGQw

Transcript:

Multiple methods can be used to create drafting arrows for use in labelling or denoting direction. While working on a worksheet, let’s look at the different options available in Envisioneer.

  1. First, let’s make sure we are on a worksheet. Select any of the worksheets located at the bottom of the drawing area.

We will first add a leader with text. This will be used to denote certain aspects of your drawing that need attention or to simply call out the element.

  1. Under the Tools tab, select the Text with Leader button or select Tools > Leaders > Text with Leader from the menu.
  2. Once selected, the Text dialog box will be displayed, where you can enter the text you want to be visible on your plans. If you want to insert multiple text with leaders, select the Multiple Text Insert checkbox. This will allow you to enter multiple leader lines with different text options. Once you are done typing, select the OK button.
  3. Directions will be displayed in the lower-left corner of the commander, letting you know what you are selecting. Our first point is going to be the end of the arrow, so we want this to point to the element or area that is being called out.
  4. After selecting our first point, the commander will instruct us to Pick the next insertion point. Our cursor will be restricted to 90° movements if we have ORTHO enabled. We could just turn ORTHO off by pressing F8 on the keyboard of by selecting ORTHO in the lower right of the screen, but we may want to take advantage of the ANGLESNAP option as this will still restrict our movements, but it will lock them in at different angles, which by default is 15° based on our Settings > Document Settings > Drawings Aids. Let’s activate ANGLESNAP by pressing F6 on your keyboard of by selecting ANGLESNAP in the lower right corner of the commander. Then, we will left-click to insert our line on an angle.
  5. The commander now instructs you to Pick the next insertion point, which is the point at the end of the leader line where the text will be inserted. You can use the commander to set your distance and direction, or you can left-click to select your point.

This inserts the leader line with the text based on our selections. However, if you only want a leader line with an arrow, we can follow all the same steps above, but instead of adding text, we would just leave that area blank.

We can also add dwg files to our worksheets from our Drafting Symbols folder or from files representing arrows that we may have used in AutoCAD and saved to our computer.

  1. Under the Insert tab, select the Import CAD File button, or under the Insert menu, select the Import CAD File option.
  2. The Open dialog will be displayed, and we can see four folders. These files are shipped with Envisioneer and can be used in any of your projects. Select the Drafting Symbols folder.
  3. In this folder, we have different CAD files that can be inserted. We are going to select Northarrow5.dwg.
  4. This will open the Import dialog box, which allows us to customize the size and rotation of the drawing file. We will insert this file at a scale of ¼” = 1’-0”, so we need a scale factor of 48. Type 48 into the Scale X or Scale Y edit box and press Tab on your keyboard. This will update the drawing file to show the new size.
  5. Make sure the entire drawing file is visible in the preview area, and then select the Insert button. Move your cursor to where you want the drawing file to be placed, and then left-click to insert it.

You can also use the line command in Envisioneer to create your arrows for use in your drawings or in future drawings.

  1. Right-click on any of the working drawing sheets and select the Add Worksheet option.

This will create a brand-new blank worksheet with no other information added. In this worksheet, we can create a new arrow by using the Line command or the Draw tab of the Draw menu option.

  1. Use the commander to create the line to the size you would like, and then make the shape of the arrow using any drawing tools available to you.
  2. Once the arrow has been created, go to File > Export > 2D Drawing. This should open the Save As dialogue box in the folder where all the other drafting symbols are stored. Give the new arrow a name, and then select the Save button.

This new arrow is now saved for use in this file and any new future drawings you create.