Template:PDS Working Environment
Contents |
Main Menu
At the top of the screen, you find the Main Menu. The menus contained in the Main Menu are often referred as the Menus. They allow you to perform the operations you need in order to draft, edit, change, save, plot, and cut your patterns. In general, the menus contain more advanced tools or less commonly used ones, as opposed to the tools you will find in the toolbars and toolbox.
Icon Toolbars
Beneath the Main Toolbar, you find a number of icon toolbars, designed for your convenience. Each icon represents a tool that can be used for working on your pattern(s).
Pieces Window
The Pieces Window is located below the Icon toolbars. This window displays all the pattern pieces that exist in a particular style. Once we begin working on a pattern, all the pattern pieces appear in this window, along with the name of each piece and the style information.
Working Area
In the center of the screen you find a large blank rectangle. This is your Working Area. When you select a pattern, the pattern pieces are spread out across the Working Area. Here you make all changes, and create and draft your pattern pieces. If you do not see the pattern pieces in your working area, you can select the pieces you wish to work on from the Pieces Window. Alternatively, you can choose "All to working area" from the Edit menu. Doing so will bring all the pattern pieces to your Working Area.
Rulers and Guide Lines
Rulers can be added to the working area using the View menu.
Guide Lines: Click & Hold on the horizontal or vertical ruler and drag guides into the workspace.
You can drag Guides around the workspace or remove them by dragging them back to the ruler.
To delete all Guides: Ctrl + Alt + G
To delete a single Guideline: Select Guideline and press delete on your keyboard
- Zooming : Move the Mouse Wheel to Zoom In & Out.
- Home (or Mouse wheel Button): Brings all the pieces in the working space into a comfortable focus. Clicking the Mouse Wheel produces the same results.
- Home + Shift : Zooms in on one selected piece in the workspace.
- Browsing pieces - Page Up/Down
- Next Piece in Piece Bar - Tab key
The Toolbox
To the left of the Work Area you find a tab labeled Toolbox. In the Toolbox you will find all the tools designed to assist you in the pattern drafting and updating process. For your convenience, the different tools have been divided into groups according to their functionality. When you point to this tab, a box unfolds to reveal 14 tabs: Each of these tabs is labeled according to the functionality of the tools that it contains. For Instance, if we select the General tab from the Toolbox, we find the general tools to assist you with drafting your pattern. The keyboard shortcut for each tool is listed to the right of the tool. If a tool has a keyboard shortcut, you must hold all of the keys down simultaneously in order to invoke the tool.
Status Bar
The Status Bar is located at the very bottom of the screen. It provides useful information on how to use the different tools you encounter when using the program. The Status Bar also indicates your current working status, as well as the status of selected pattern pieces.
The Status Bar is divided into two sections.
- Tool usage – on the left-hand side.
- Pattern piece status – on the right-hand side.
When you point the cursor at any tool icon, a description of the tool appears in the Tool Usage section of the status bar. After selecting a tool, step-by-step instructions for using the tool appear in the tool usage section of the status bar. Click on a specific pattern piece to view its current status. Please refer to the following example:
Once the tool has been selected, the status bar will give step-by-step instructions on the tool usage
The piece status section of the Status Bar indicates the following information:
- Working units – The units by which the pattern is measured (e.g., centimeters, inches, yards).
- Piece Locked – indicates if a piece is locked.
- Cut line – indicates if the piece is programmed according to the cut line or the sew line.
Preferences
The Preferences window allows you to control and modify most settings. To access the Preferences window, go to the Tools menu. The Preferences option is at the bottom of the list. Note the different categories on the left-hand side of the window. From this window you can control everything from working units and piece settings to color setting and automatic saving. After making modifications to your screen click Apply to preview the changes. Once you are satisfied, confirm them by clicking OK. You can restore default settings at any time by clicking on Restore all Defaults.
Side Tabs
Side Tabs are tabs which appear on the sides of your screen and represent windows which have been undocked. Side tabs grant you easy access to a number of different windows in the program. These windows are divided into two categories.
- 3D windows – contain tools and properties pertaining to the 3D portion of the program.
- Design Assistance Windows – contain properties, measurements, and values of pattern pieces, as well as tools to assist you in the design and drafting process.
If you have not rearranged the window placements, the 3D Side Tabs will appear on the right-hand side of your screen, and the Design Assistance tabs will appear on the left. If one of the 3D windows that you are searching for does not appear on the screen, you can find it under the 3D menu. This will present a list of all 3D windows from which you can select the desired window. Invoke the Design Assistance windows from the View Menu if they are not displayed.
Moving And Docking Windows And Toolbars
- To keep a window open while you are working, you must dock the window. To do so, first open the window. Once the window is opened, click on the image of the thumbtack which appears on the upper right-hand side of the window. Click on the thumbtack once so that its tack points down to dock the window.
To make a window appear as a side tab, you must undock the window. To do so, click on the thumbtack that appears in the upper right-hand side of the window. Click on the thumbtack once so that its tack points to the side. Once you have undocked the window, it will roll up and attach to one of the sides of the screen.
To reposition a toolbar, first locate the toolbar handle. The toolbar handle is a four-hold handle found on the extreme left-hand side of each toolbar. Click on the toolbar handle, and the cursor turns into a 4 arrow moving tool. In this state, you can drag the toolbar to any location on your screen.
To reposition a window, you must first make sure that the window is docked. Place the cursor anywhere along the bar on the top of the window where the window name is indicated, then drag the window to the desired location. To make the window appear as a side tab on one side of the screen, simply drag the window to the center of the screen. Four arrows will appear, each pointing to a different side of the screen. Without releasing the mouse, drag the cursor and place it on top of the arrow that is pointing to the side of the screen on which you wish to place the tab. Please see the following example:
