Printable Grid

EFD has a built in Grid which allows you to position your stands more easily, however this grid only shows on-screen and does not show on a print out or an exported PDF. These instructions will show you how to create a grid that is printable/exportable.

Creating a printable / exportable Grid:

Below is a very simple stand layout which we will add the grid to. The grid shown already is the built in grid that can only be seen on-screen, you will see that the stands are on the grid. If in your case the stands are not on the grid, you can align your plan to the grid using the Align to Grid function.

1

Before creating your printable grid, you need to you need to add a new Layer to put it on. We recommend naming the new layer '1m Grid' or '1ft Grid', depending on your drawing. Don't forget to make this new layer the current layer. We have also changed the colour of our layer to Blue so it is easily visible for instructional purposes, however we recommend using a light colour so it does not overpower the rest of the things on your plan. For help with layers click here.

2

To draw a Grid we are going to use the Hatch function because this is a very quick way of drawing lots of lines.

Click on the 'Hatch' button which is located on the DRAW ribbon.

3

The following Hatch Options dialog will now appear.

Pitch - This is the distance between each hatch line that will be created. Our sample Grid needs to have 1m spacing so the Pitch is set to 1.0.

Offset - This cannot be changed when using a Cross Type hatch (see Type below).

Angle - This will be the angle of your Grid. Our sample is level so we will leave this at 0.0.

Type - This is the type of hatch you will use. Setting this to Cross means that you will have lines going both horizontally and vertically.

Note: The Hatch preview does not show the Pitch or Angle, only the type of lines it creates.

4

After the above settings have been changed click OK. You now need to draw around the area you would like the grid, as shown below.

5

A Grid will now be created which can then either be printed or exported.

Tip: After printing or exporting your plan to PDF you find that the grid is appearing on top of stand edges making them hard to see, go to step 6.

6

To put the grid underneath your stands, select your grid then press F4 on your keyboard, and then select 'Send to Back' as shown below.

NOTE: For this to work correctly, the 'Include Layers' option in the View settings must be enabled first, see here on help with this.

Page updated

Report abuse