The green block that is visible in Plan view is referred to as a Design Zone. A design zone is a container object for all components and parts. When using the Setup Wizard, the program will automatically place one design zone, typically on Wall C.
To add components and parts, the user must be in Elevation view. When moving the cursor over the design zone, a bold red outline will appear around it. This indicates that it is ready to be selected.
If the user left clicks, that design zone will be marked “Active” in the lower right corner. The user can also use the ELV tab when the design zone is active. If it is not active, the ELV tab will be grayed out.
If hovering towards the middle of the design zone, a white arrow will appear (pointing towards the wall). If the white arrow is clicked on, it will jump to the elevation view of that design zone.
In the ELV view, the borders of the design zone are outlined by dashed green lines. This is the buildable space on the wall - Components and parts can only be added to a design zone. The design zone turns light green when hovering over it, indicating that the curser is inside the confines of the design zone.
The dimensions on the left side of the design represent the ceiling height (outside dimension) and the height of the design zone (inside dimension).
The height of a design zone is defined by the top shelf height entered in the Setup Wizard.
There are various ways to adjust the height after exiting the setup wizard.
Add design zones on additional walls by selecting Design Zone in the Plan ribbon toolbar. Left click on the tool to turn it on, then hover over an empty wall.
New design zones will appear red when hovering over a wall. Place by left clicking. The tool remains on to add as many design zones as needed. Right click to turn it off.
If a design has multiple design zones, navigate back and forth between them using the arrows on either side in ELV view. This will loop through all design zones within the design, even if they are not directly beside each other.
When adding additional design zones, a bridging shelf is automatically added in the corners where the two design zones meet. Design zones overlap in the corner, but components can only be placed in one or the other.
Edit the design zone properties by right clicking on/in a design zone and selecting Properties [Design Zone]. This can be done in Plan or Elevation View.
This is where the user can adjust the overall design zone length and side offsets, if the design zone is not required to go wall-to-wall, or to ensure it doesn’t interfere with an obstruction. Use the circular buttons on the right of the fields to lock one of the numbers while adjusting the others. Any unlocked number will change when the others are edited.
The overall depth and height of new components can be changed in the design zone properties if needed (the top shelf height was originally set in the Setup Wizard). The user can also change finish settings specific to that design zone/wall.
Note that any new component (not template) will come in at the depth of the design zone, so always adjust the depth before adding them in if planning to design a whole system not at the standard 14” depth. This will save the user from having to change individual component depths while designing.
Any changes can be applied to other design zones within the same design by checking the boxes to the left of each field, and selecting Apply Properties To.. Room at the bottom of the dialogue box.
Entire design zones (with all components and parts) can be copied and pasted either within the same design (space) or another design in the same project file. In the Plan view, right click on the design zone, select Copy Design and right click to Paste Design on an empty wall.
The length can be adjusted by changing the appropriate Offsets in the Extents section of the design zone properties (to fill a wall, the Left and Right Offsets should be set to 0.25).
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