Mac computers can be used to create professional landscape designs with gCADPlus. The figure below shows a ‘food garden’ design created on a Mac. Click on the image to view the design as a high-resolution PDF ready to email to a client. Better still, once the PDF file is displayed, right-click on it and save it to the file in your downloads folder. Use Finder and open the PDF with Adobe Acrobat Reader to appreciate the high resolution.
gCADPlus in action – reviewing the gCADPlus interface
This movie provides a quick review of the gCADPlus interface by demonstrating several drawing commands, such as rectangle and arc, and editing commands, such as offset and control of the placement of entities using the OFFSET command.
Creating a CAD version of your logo.
Using a raster (image) version of your logo in title blocks makes it possible to present your design concepts. However, the print quality of the PDF file you send to a client might be poorer if an image file is used. Moreover, raster versions of logos are usually large. Since presenting a design usually involves using several sheets, each with a title block, the design file size may be unnecessarily large. Making a CAD version of your logo based on an existing raster copy of the logo is a good first step towards improving drafting efficiency.
How to import a raster version of a logo into the gCADPlus drawing editor
To make a CAD version of a logo, we need to be able to import the logo image into gCADPlus. Here, we demonstrate gCADPlus’ ability to handle various image files and bring them into the drawing. In this example, after creating an A2 size layout sheet, we paste images of species used in a design and print a PDF version of the images on an A4 sheet to show the versatility of gCADPlus. We are now in a good position to import a copy of our logo ready to trace over it.
Tracing over an existing logo to make a CAD version
We capture a logo from a web page, draw a rectangle of appropriate size for the logo, paste an image, size it appropriately, and then trace over the image to create a CAD version. We add some text, matching the text’s colour to the text’s colour in the image file using IrfanView. The Properties box is used to adjust text height and width. Finally, the image file is removed, and the left corner of the new CAD logo is moved to Cartesian coordinate 0,0.
Tip: If you are starting, you can, of course, create the logo from scratch using gCADPlus. Making a CAD version of a logo like the one shown below is a very good first exercise for someone learning CAD.
Saving a drawing file
The drawing containing the new logo will often be used as a block in other designs. It is a valuable resource and needs to be saved where it can be easily located.
This movie shows how to carefully file drawings in the Mac environment when the Windows emulator CrossOver is in use. Installing gCADPlus creates a large number of folders. We use the SaveAs command and place a new design for a logo into its appropriate place in the gCADPlus file system. We tested our work by inserting the logo into a new design.
Making a logo from scratch
We show how to use gCADPlus to create a new CAD version of a logo for a group that specializes in planning urban food gardens. We also discuss the influence that typography has on a logo’s impact.
Testing the CAD logo in a title block.
The next step is to insert the logo into a title block on a layout sheet and test its quality by printing to a PDF writer.
We insert a new logo into two title blocks and print a test design using PDFWriter.
Creating a custom title block
Create a minimalist title block incorporating your new logo.
Tip: Opinions vary regarding what is required to satisfy the client’s needs. Your design may be used in some development applications; in that case, a detailed title block may be required.
Good housekeeping – filing work carefully
As a landscape design practice grows and works digitally, it becomes increasingly important to store files efficiently.
We create a new design by running one of the templates and save the design in a ‘Jobs’ folder.
Making a design studio template
We create a template for our design studio by running one of the gCADPlus templates, editing it by replacing the existing title block with a new one and saving the new drawing in the correct gCADPlus template location. We then test the template.
Using the same approach, a second template is created by a designer who works in the UK.
Backing up your valuable work
This movie shows how to back up a copy of gCADPlus and the work completed using it on an external device.
Fine-tuning templates
Speed drafting can be done by creating a template containing commonly used symbols, legends, linetypes, text styles, dimensioning styles, layers, etc.
This movie shows one such template being used to assist a design studio in cutting drafting time and applying a more consistent approach to developing landscape plans.