Updated Design F/X Ribbons (2020)
- Changes to the F/X Admin Ribbon
- Tools We've Added to the F/X Admin Ribbon
- Tools We've Moved Within the F/X Admin Ribbon
- Tools We've Removed from the F/X Admin Ribbon
- Changes to the F/X Details Ribbon
- Tools We've Added to the F/X Details Ribbon
- Tools We've Moved Within the F/X Details Ribbon
- Tools We've Removed from the F/X Details Ribbon (None)
- Removed: F/X Site Ribbon
We've made some changes to Design F/X. As of May 2020, the F/X Site ribbon requires a Planting F/X license, so that ribbon is no longer available with Design F/X. However, we made sure the license still includes the site tools most commonly employed by Design F/X users. We built these tools, along with a few new ones, into the F/X Admin and F/X Details ribbons. We also moved a few buttons around on both ribbons and removed a handful from the F/X Admin ribbon that Design F/X users don't typically incorporate into their workflow.
The updated F/X Admin ribbon for Design F/X
The updated F/X Details ribbon for Design F/X
Our goal in making these changes was to push through some more general-type tools specifically to beef up the Design F/X license, while also streamlining the ribbons by making some tools easier to get to and removing others that simply aren't being used in Design F/X. For more information, see the Why We Made These Changes section below.
Learn more about Design F/X, our CAD plugin for working with CAD details.
Changes to the F/X Admin Ribbon
Tools We've Added to the F/X Admin Ribbon
You'll see three new tools on the F/X Admin ribbon in Design F/X:
- SuperLayIso: Hide all layers outside a selected layer.
- SuperLayFreeze: Hide all layers within a selected block.
- Set Mask Size: Assign offset factors to multileader (MLeader) with Mtext backgrounds.
You'll find the SuperLayIso and SuperLayFreeze tools on the Layer Tools flyout.
For information on how these tools work, see our documentation on:
The Set Mask Size tool is on the General Tools flyout.
Bonus Tools:
Our Calculate Totals tools aren't new – we've had them on the F/X Site ribbon in Planting F/X and Irrigation F/X for years. But the Area Total, Length Total, and Area Callout tools are also available on the F/X Admin ribbon in Design F/X.
We wanted our Design F/X users to reap the benefits of these simple but essential features, so we added all three to your Design F/X license. See our documentation on:
- Area Total: Measure the the cumulative size of a closed polyline region on a selected layer.
- Length Total: Measure the cumulative span of all polylines or other linear objects on a selected layer.
- Area Callouts: Label a closed region in a drawing.
Tools We've Moved Within the F/X Admin Ribbon
We've moved the following features from the Tools flyout to the Layer Tools flyout in Design F/X, as well as Planting F/X and Irrigation F/X:
- Xlayer: Edit layers in an Xref.
- Layer Color: Quickly edit the assigned color of a layer by clicking a line.
Former location of the Xlayer and Layer Color tools
Tools We've Removed from the F/X Admin Ribbon
We've removed the following tools from the F/X Admin ribbon in Design F/X.
- Import CSV: Removed because no data in Design F/X requires this tool.
- All Preferences screens except General and Details: Removed because Design F/X users typically do not need to configure the RefNotes, Planting, Plant Sizes, or Irrigation Preferences.
- XCOPY: Removed because no data in Design F/X requires this tool. Design F/X still includes the XCORO tool.
- FXPlode: Removed because this tool works specifically with our Concept Graphics tool, which isn't included in Design F/X.
- Drive: Removed because this tool is not necessary for working with details.
For information on these removed tools, see our documentation on:
Changes to the F/X Details Ribbon
Tools We've Added to the F/X Details Ribbon
You'll see a whole new Match and Copy flyout on the F/X Details ribbon that includes the following tools:
- Match Object: Place copies of a block or hatch already placed.
- Match Properties: Assign the symbol and all other data from block to block or hatch to hatch.
- Copy Along Line: Place duplicates of a block along a drawn straight path.
- Triangular Array: Place duplicates of a block in a triangular pattern.
- Rectangular Array: Place duplicates of a block in a rectangular pattern.
- Mirror: Place an inverse duplicate of a group of blocks.
All of the above are valuable layout tools that Planting F/X and Irrigation F/X users have enjoyed for years. They're incredibly helpful in building details as well, so we added them all to Design F/X.
In addition, we'll be adding the View Import tool, which will allow you to bring a detail section cut from Revit into CAD, to the F/X Details ribbon.
The Planting F/X Revit plugin is still in beta mode. Design F/X for Revit is not yet in Beta testing. However, we are looking for users to help beta test Planting F/X for Revit. Beta testers should be experienced Land F/X users who have already completed projects in Revit and are willing to report bugs in detail. If interested, please let us know via a technical support ticket.
Tools We've Moved Within the F/X Details Ribbon
We've moved the following tools within the F/X Details ribbon:
- Bubble Callout: Annotate a detail with numbered labels referring to a corresponding note in a legend (schedule).
- Keynote Manager (also known as Keynote Callouts): Annotate details with labels from a master list.
- Keynote Schedule: Summarize all Keynote Callouts placed in a detail.
Our Bubble Callout, Keynote Callout, and Keynote Schedule tools were formerly available in the Callouts flyout.
We've given the Bubble Callout tool its own button on the F/X Details ribbon.
We've also added a Keynotes flyout, where you can now find the Keynote Callout and Keynote Schedule tools.
Tools We've Removed from the F/X Details Ribbon (None)
We haven't removed any tools from the F/X Details ribbon for this update.
Removed: F/X Site Ribbon
For the reasons described below, we've removed the F/X Site ribbon, along with most of the tools it includes, from Design F/X. Access to the F/X Site ribbon now requires a Planting F/X or Irrigation F/X license.
We realize that a number of our site tools can still be helpful for Design F/X users, so we've included these selected tools in the F/X Admin and F/X Details in Design F/X. (See below for more information.)
See our Site & Hardscape documentation for an overview of which tools are included in the F/X Site ribbon.
Why We Removed the F/X Site Ribbon
We decided to make this license requirement shift for two main reasons:
• Common Design F/X Usage
First, we looked at what our Design F/X users are typically doing with the tools included in the license. We found that Design F/X has been used primarily for general CAD work and detail work in offices with multiple types of Land F/X licenses. In those offices, the tools we've moved into Planting F/X will still be available within Planting F/X and/or Irrigation F/X.
In looking at which F/X Site tools were actually being used within Design F/X, we picked the most commonly used tools and built them into Design F/X:
Our Area Total and Length Total tools, previously only available on the F/X Site ribbon, are now available on the F/X Admin ribbon, exclusively for Design F/X users.
Our Match and Copy tools were already available for planting, site, and irrigation. We've added new versions of these tools to the F/X Details ribbon, meaning they're also still available for Design F/X users.
• Increased support and content requirements for our Site tools
Second, the expansion of the scope of our Site tools, including manufacturer 2D and 3D content for Reference Notes (RefNotes) as well as our vastly improved lighting module, has dramatically increased the technical support and content upkeep loads required for our Site tools. As such, we saw a need to move a few of the tools from Design F/X into Planting F/X.
In fact, the support load is closer to that of Irrigation F/X, but we decided to keep it more affordable by including these tools within Planting F/X. Irrigation F/X users will also have access to these tools because Irrigation F/X includes Planting F/X and Design F/X. As always, we are sensitive to our clients' needs and budgets, and we are constantly finding ways to add even more value to our software while keeping it as affordable as possible.
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- Land F/X
Our software tailors AutoCAD® to the needs of landscape architects, irrigation designers, and other professionals. We automate your most tedious tasks and ensure accuracy, giving you more time to design.