CAD/D Public Hearing Plans

This is a continuation of Tips for Creating Color Plans which describes the general process of creating color shapes over existing detail features and proposed roadway features.  

Creating Sheet Models for Printing - Video

The following steps are explained in more detail in the video

• Use the Create Sheet - Place Named Boundary task on the NH_HER task menu to set the appropriate level, color and other settings.
• Use the Place Named Boundary tool to create new Engineering sheet model encompassing the area of the project.  Two data points will be needed to define the sheets extents.  When the Create Drawing panel appears, select the Detail_2d_NH_SheetOnly drawing seed.  Set the scale to the appropriate value for the project.
• The new sheet model will default to a D size drawing and include a cut-sheet border.  Delete the border cell.  In the Model Properties, change the Sheet Size from ANSI D to Custom.  In the Properties box, set the Height and Width dimensions to the desired size.  Note that the height cannot be more than 34.5", the maximum length is 200".  When the dimensions are changed, it may be necessary to use the Reference File Manager to move the file attachment so it is contained within the new sheet limits.
• Turn levels on and off in the sheet model to obtain the desired display.
• Add the legend to the Default model and add other notes to the sheet model.
• If you discover that linestyles are not displaying properly while looking at the Sheet Model view, open the Reference Manager and check the Settings of the attached reference file.  If the Scale Line Styles By Reference Scale setting is activated, click on the icon to disable it.  That should solve the problem.
• Update logical name to “her”.

Copy the Engineering sheet model to Aerial

• After copying the sheet model, update levels displayed as needed turning on raster and turning off all existing detail levels.
• In the Default model, Clip the raster reference dgn so it is only displayed within the drawing border.
• Continuing in the Default model, use the Clip Mask tool to clip the display of the referenced aerial photo behind the legend and any other notes.
• When adding annotation on top of the aerial in the sheet model, use the B_ text styles… they have a white background

Copy the Aerial Sheet Model to Public

• Update cells and level display as needed.
• Add legends and other notes for the sheet

Pen tables have been developed to adjust colors and line weights of elements on the drawing when plotted. There is a separate pen table for printing each of the three Sheet Models - nhdot-Hearing-Plan-(Engineering).tbl, nhdot-Hearing-Plan-(Aerial).tbl and nhdot-Hearing-Plan-(Aerial-Public).tbl. To use the pen table, first select the printer where the plot will be sent. Then select Attach from the Pen Table menu on the Print dialog box. Pen tables are stored under the workspace folder in ...\standards\tables\pen\. When modifying plot color, weight, etc., the pen table refers to the reference drawings by logical name. When manually attaching reference files, be sure to define the logical names appropriately.

Before plotting the color plan, the update sequence of the references should be modified.  Reference manager Settings > Update Sequence.  Any Aerial files should be top in the list and the Active Design file should be second (top if no aerial files).  This will let all other detail drawings be drawn after the colors so they will show up on top.  Element priority is set to -100 for existing color floods so that proposed floods will be on top.  This can be done as part of the pen table also.  

Modify PLTCFG for Custom Sheet Sizes

• For the pdf to truncate, the desired sheet size needs to be defined in the pltcfg file.  A copy of the pltcfg file should be added to the project folder and renamed to include the project number in the file name. Start by opening the Print dialog.
• Select the desired pltcfg file.  For generating PDF files, we recommend selecting NHDOT-PDF-C-Layers.pltcfg.  
• Edit the plot configuration file (File > Edit).  Use Save As to save to a project folder or a personal location including the project number in the filename.
• Create a new Paper size – Custom 1 – set to the sheet size of the sheet created earlier.  This is necessary for the PDF file to be created at the correct size.
• Save it.

Add to Print Organizer – Set Pen Tables

• Open Print Organizer (File > Print > Print Organizer)
• Add the dgn and select the Site Defaults print style.  This will add all three views to the Print Organizer list.
• Set the printer to the plot configuration file created previously 12345NHDOT-PDF-C-Layers.pltcfg.
• Select the Engineering model and right click to get to Properties.  Set the Paper size to Custom 1 and the pen table to nhdot-Hearing-Plan-(Engineering).tbl.
• Repeat for the Aerial and Public models selecting the appropriate pen table.
• 
• Save the pset as 12345-Color-Roll-Plans

While the three drawings typically have the same dimensions, if they are different, it will be necessary to create separate Custom plot sizes in the pltcfg file.

To ensure that the pltcfg file is found when the PSET is printed, it may be necessary to edit the project's configuration file and add the line

MS_PLTCFG_PATH < $(PROJDIR)PlanPDFs\

or

MS_PLTCFG_PATH < $(PROJDIR)Standards\Data\  

depending on where you saved the edited pltcfg file.