Drawing multi-part structures in a single drawing (Master Canvas)

With Master Canvas you can draw multi-part structures — for example, displays or furniture — in a single drawing. You draw all the components of the structure in one drawing. Then you separate an individual component in its own drawing, in which you can add further modifications — for example, articles and 3D representations.

Working on a Master Canvas project involves three steps:

Creating a Master Canvas in the project.
Sketching the parts that you need.
Converting the sketches into Master Canvas 1ups.
Creating production-related drawings such as layout, 3D, bridges drawing, and so on.

I. To create a blank Master Canvas

Method I: When you start a project, you can convert the initial blank drawing into a Master Canvas

With this method, you start by creating a project from scratch, and then upgrade it to a Master Canvas.

Do one of the following:
- Click New project .
- On the File menu, click New.
- Press CTRL+N.

A blank drawing appears.

Right click the drawing's tab, and then click Convert to Master Canvas.

The drawing is now a Master Canvas.

Start sketching in the drawing or import drawings.

Method II

This method you create a new drawing of type Master Canvas.

Right-click the lower border and then click Create Master Canvas.

This creates both an empty Master Canvas and an empty drawing.

II. To upgrade an existing drawing to a Master Canvas

You can choose to make the drawing you are currently working on into a Master Canvas project.

You cannot convert to a Master Canvas a 1up drawing:

From a design you have loaded from the Library of Resizable Designs.
That takes part in a layout or one that has its own 3D drawings. In such a case, delete the non-1up drawings, and then proceed with the conversion.

Right click the drawing's tab, and then click Convert to Master Canvas.

The drawing is now a Master Canvas.

III. What you can do in a Master Canvas

Once you have a Master Canvas drawing, you can:

Sketch designs and convert them to 1ups in order to create 3D model or layout drawings.
Drag available 1ups drawings into the Master Canvas.

1. Converting sketches into 1ups

After you have sketched your parts or otherwse populated the Master Canvas, you need to convert the parts into 1ups.

Select a sketch.
Right-click, and then click Convert to 1ups.

In the New Drawing dialog box that appears, type a name for the new drawing, and then click OK.

After you click OK, the following occurs (pictured):

EngView creates a separate drawing from the sketch (1). You can use this drawing as a normal 1up drawing and create, for example, a 3D drawing from it.
The sketch now appears as a 1up and is outlined in the graphical area (2). The outline is a visual indication that the earlier sketch is now a 1up that has its own drawing.
In the tabular area, the drawing is now listed in the 1ups tab (3).

Repeat Steps 1–3 for all the sketches that you want to convert to 1ups for the purposes of the final structure.

2. Drag available 1up drawing of the project into the Master Canvas

The 1up menu

Each generated 1up has its own, three-icon menu (pictured), which appears when you click the 1up. In it you can:

Edit the drawing . You can modify the drawing either in the master canvas or in its own drawing. The modifications you make in either drawing appear automatically in both drawings.
Create a 3D representation of the drawing . Here's an alternative method for creating a 3D drawing.
Edit the drawing's properties.

1up Actions

Copying a 1up (make a replica of the 1up)

You can use a replica of an available 1up and use it as a reference during drawing a detail. For example, the hole in the side panel must be as wide as

To make a replica of a 1up, drag the 1up from the table on the right and position it where it is needed

The place and the size are drawn relative to the shelf.

You can delete a replica when it is no longer needed.

Cloning a 1up

You can clone a 1up, which creates a new drawing. For example, if the right-hand wall of a display has already been drawn, you can clone it to create a 1up drawing for the left-hand side. You can use the mirror transformation to achieve precise cloning.

To clone a 1up, right-click it, and then click Clone on the context menu.

After you click Clone, a blue cloned sketch of the cloned drawing appears and follows the mouse pointer (pictured).

NOTE: While the cloned sketch is still following the mouse pointer in the graphical area, you can use the contextual edit bar to define the new drawing: in Drawing name, type a name; in Article, click and select an article for the drawing; in Flip Part , mirror the 1up to position it as a mirror image of the original 1up.

Position the cloned sketch where you want it to be.

The new drawing is created automatically from the cloned 1up.

Viewing dimensions

Parts' dimensions are not displayed by default. To view them, select the part, and then click Show 1up Dimensions on the contextual edit bar.

Viewing dimensions of all parts

You can switch at once on the dimensions of multiple parts in the Master Canvas: Select the parts whose dimensions you want to view, and then click Show Part's Dimensions on the contextual edit bar.

Hiding dimensions

To no longer view the dimensions of a part or multiple parts, select the part or parts, and then click Show Part's Dimensions on the contextual edit bar.

Opening a 1up's own drawing

While in the master canvas, you can go to 1up's drawing wither by clicking its tab or by right-clicking the 1up, and then clicking Go to 1up Drawing.

Edit in place

You can begin editing a part directly in Master Canvas rather than in its own drawing. To do so, right-click the part, and then click Edit 1up in Place on the context menu.

Switch to 3D

To create a 3D representation of a part or edit already created 3D:

Select the part and click the button
Right-click it, and then click Switch to 3D View on the context menu.

If the part already has a 3D drawing, EngView takes you to it.

Edit 1up drawing properties

To inspect the general properties of the drawing behind a part:

Select the part, and then click the button.
Right-click the part, and then click 1up Properties on the context menu.

Editing part's spatial positioning, view side, and articles

You can inspect the positioning, view side and the article applied onto a part. To do so, right-click it, and then click Object Properties on the context menu.

NOTE: The controls in the dialog box are identical with those that appear in the contextual edit bar when you select a part.

Reverting a 1up to original sketch

If you no longer need a 1up but want to preserve the sketch it originated from, you can revert the 1up to the sketch. Right-click the 1up, and then click Revert to Sketch on the context menu.

NOTE: When you revert to a drawing's sketch, the corresponding 1up is deleted.