To make drawings in Advance Steel, number the model first, then open the Drawing Processes palette (Output tab > Documents panel), select the parts, assemblies or cameras you want drawings of, and click a process. Advance Steel makes the drawings automatically and lists them in the Document Manager. The other method, Drawing Styles, makes one drawing at a time with every setting chosen by you.
Drawings come near the end of the Advance Steel workflow: after the model is built, checked and numbered. Below is how both methods work, where the drawings end up, and what to check.
Drawing Processes vs Drawing Styles: which should I use?
Both are on the Output tab > Documents panel.
- Drawing Processes make drawings automatically, using preset steps for the template (prototype), scale, views and orientation. They can put views on one sheet or many. This is what you’ll use most of the time.
- Drawing Styles make you set each step yourself: select objects, scale, drawing number, prototype and so on. Use them when you need one drawing set up a particular way.
What kinds of drawings can Drawing Processes make?
- Camera drawings. General arrangement (GA) drawings, anchor plans, plans, elevations and connection details, based on cameras you place in the model. See camera views in Advance Steel.
- Single part drawings. One drawing per part, or several parts on one sheet.
- Assembly drawings. Main parts and assemblies, with or without the drawings of their attached parts.
How do I make GA drawings from cameras?
- Select the cameras you want drawings of.
- Open the Drawing Processes palette and click the Cameras category.
- Click the process you want.
How do I make single part drawings?
- Select the parts in the model.
- In the Drawing Processes palette, go to Single Parts – Selected.
- Click the process.
- Click OK in the Process Properties dialog. The drawing is created.
How do I make assembly drawings?
You can draw assemblies with or without the drawings of their attached parts. I’d use the processes for selected assemblies, so you control exactly what gets drawn.
Without attached parts:
- In the Drawing Processes palette, click the Assemblies category.
- In the model, select the main part of the assembly.
- Click one of the processes for assemblies without attached parts (the upper 7 in the list).
- Click OK in the Process Properties dialog.
With attached parts: same steps, but pick one of the processes with attached parts (the lower 4 in the list).
Where are my drawings saved?
Advance Steel makes a project folder named after your model file, next to it, with a subfolder for each kind of document. Drawings go in the Details folder. Here’s the folder structure for a project file called Platform 2A RV:
If you batch print to PDF, the PDF is saved next to the model file, with the same name as the model.
How do I find and manage drawings?
Use the Document Manager. It lists every document Advance Steel made: drawings, BOMs, part lists and NC/DStV files. You can preview them, double-click to open them, change their prototype, update them with or without a revision, delete them, or print them.
Anything that’s out of date after a model change is listed under Update Required, so it’s easy to find.
Home tab > Documents panel > Document Manager:
Output tab > Document Manager panel > Document Manager:
What if my drawings come out blank or wrong?
- Blank drawings. The model isn’t numbered. Run numbering and make them again.
- Drawings in Update Required. The model changed. Update them from the Document Manager.
- A view is too small for a detail. Add a callout view.
- Wrong title block. Change the prototype, or set up a custom title block.
- Someone needs the drawings in plain AutoCAD. Explode them first.
If you’re looking at hardware or software upgrades, my toolbox page lists the tools I use and any discounts I know of.
