LANDWorksCAD v6 Getting Started Tutorial

LANDWorksCAD v.
6 Stand-Alone Software
Professional Landscape Design Software
Getting Started Tutorial
(Metric Edition)
CAD International
www.CAD.com.au www.CADInternational.com
2006 - 2013 - All rights reserved
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Introduction
Welcome to the world of LANDWorksCAD, the most versatile and easy-to-use professional
Landscape program available.
LANDWorksCAD is available as stand-alone software that includes RealCAD general purpose CAD
software as its core. You can alternatively purchase LANDWorksCAD as a plug-in application for
other CAD software such as AutoCAD or BricsCAD etc.
This tutorial uses the stand-alone version that includes RealCAD. It is intended to provide you with
an introduction to the features and power of LANDWorksCAD. We hope you find it helpful and fun
to use.
We know you are keen to start and may even want to jump ahead
on the basics:
but, lets spend a few minutes
The LANDWorksCAD Screen Layout

Start LANDWorksCAD. Your screen will look like Fig 1 below.
Start-up
Menu
Fig 1
The small window in the middle of the screen entitled LANDWorksCAD is called a Startup menu.
Its displayed every time you start LANDWorksCAD. Be sure to read the Did You Know section for
some tips on how to best use the software. You can read more tips by clicking on the Previous Tip
and Next Tip buttons. Each time you start LANDWorksCAD a different tip will randomly be
displayed.
The buttons on the right hand side of the menu should be fairly self-explanatory:
Open Existing Drawing select a CAD file that you have drawn previously.
Start New Drawing start a completely new drawing from scratch.
Open Template Drawing open a special drawing called a Template. Templates are simply
drawings that have been set up for specific applications, e.g. architectural, engineering,
landscaping, etc. Obviously, in your case, you would choose a landscaping template. In a
template, scales, line-styles, values, etc, have been pre-set for the appropriate application.
There may even be a title block or some lines and text already in the drawing.
Play Video Manual short learning videos to help you with the basics of LANDWorksCAD.
Getting Started Tutorial opens this document that you are reading now.
Visit Web Site takes you to the LANDWorksCAD website
The Recent Files box lists the last 9 drawings you worked on. Selecting a name from the list
opens that drawing immediately.
Always show this dialog tick box - un-ticking it to prevent this dialog from appearing in the
future. If you want to have the startup menu displayed again, select Options, System from the
drop down menu and tick the Show startup dialog option.
Close - closes the startup menu. The ESC key also closes the menu.
OK, now you know what the startup menu does, lets get going with LANDWorksCAD. For now,
please click on Start New Drawing to start. Your screen should look like Fig 2.
Title Bar
Main Toolbar
Interrupt Toolbar
Coordinates Bar
Prompt
Menu Bar
Background
Crosshair
LANDWorksCAD
Menu
Style Bar
Work Plane
Icon
Quick Toolbar
Drawing
Window
Click Status
Fig 2
NOTE:
If your screen does not show the LANDWorksCAD menu please do the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Click on the Tools menu

Click Load Application from the drop down menu
Click on LANDWorksCAD in the dialog box that appears
Click on OK
The LANDWorksCAD menu should now appear. It may not appear in the same position as shown
above, but it can be moved anywhere on the screen.
To ensure the LANDWorksCAD menu always appears in the future, do the following:
1. Click on the File menu
2. Click on Save Options
Click OK in the dialog box that appears after a few seconds.
Now lets look at the screen.

It may look a little daunting at first with icons and words all over the place, yet it wont take long to
get used to it. Youll find its all very logically laid out when you start using it just like driving a car
really.
Starting from the top, you can see the following:
Title Bar shows the name of the software, LANDWorksCAD, followed by the name of the open file.
(As you have only just started LANDWorksCAD, the file has no name and is thus labelled untitled). The
abbreviations that follow indicate the current drawing settings. These will be explained later in the tutorial.
Menu Bar drop-down menus such as File, Edit, Transform, etc. just like any other program.
Main Toolbar icon commands for drawing and editing. These are called the primary operations.
Interrupt Toolbar this contains icon commands that allow the primary operation to be interrupted so
that additional functions, such as zooming (second icon on top row), are made available making the primary
operation easier to perform.
Coordinates Bar this contains spaces (fields) to enter distances and angles or X, Y and Z coordinates
from your keyboard. You will use this when drawing accurately. You can also lock distances and angles
to assist in inserting and editing entities. The Padlock icons show as locked or unlocked.
Prompt lets you know what input is expected from you. The prompt changes as you work. The colour of
the prompt also changes depending on what you are doing. ALWAYS LOOK AT THE PROMPT!!!!!
Drawing Window this is where you create your drawing. Multiple drawing windows (views) can be
opened as desired.
The title bar of each view displays the view name, zoom value and plot scale (print scale)
NOTE: The white space in the drawing window does not represent a piece of paper. Rather it represents a
small part of an infinite space in which we can draw.
There is no limit to the size of what you can draw. Everything is to be drawn at real-size and then scaled to
fit onto whatever size paper you want.
Workplane Icon indicate the X and Y directions. Where X and Y meet is known as absolute zero or
the origin and is often a good place to begin a drawing.
Crosshair moves with your mouse movement and is also known as the crosshair cursor.
LANDWorksCAD Menu contains the commands specific to landscape architecture and design.
Background is where you display your drawing windows. You cant draw on the background. The
background area is always white whilst the drawing windows can be any colour you desire.
Style Bar this is where you set or change the basic properties of the entities you are inserting.
Quick Toolbar provides quick access to the Delete, Repaint, Undo, Redo and Grid commands.
Click Status reports how you just clicked; either DIG, SNAP or ENT-LOC is displayed.
Conventions Used in This Tutorial

It is HIGHLY recommended that you use a quality mouse with a roller wheel on top. For this tutorial
it is assumed you are using such a mouse.
You may need to select two icons, one top and one bottom, to activate a command as shown in Fig 3.
Fig 3
Certain terms are used repeatedly when explaining the steps in this tutorial. To save space, they are
defined below. Please be sure you understand these terms.
Term
Action Required
Select
Left click once
Click
Left click once
Right-Click
Right click once
Double-Click
Left click twice in quick succession
Drag
Click and hold down the button or roller wheel (youll

be told which) whilst moving the actual mouse
Snap
Crosshair shows as a SQUARE then click
Locate
Crosshair appears as a DIAMOND then Click
Tick/Un-tick
Click in the tick box to toggle a tick on or off
Type
Key-in the text using the keyboard
Enter
Press the Enter key on the keyboard
Shift+
Hold down the Shift Key used with other

functions. Eg Shift + Drag
Ctrl+
Hold down the Ctrl key on the keyboard used

with other functions eg. Ctrl + Drag
Alt+
Hold down the Alt key on the keyboard used with

other functions eg. Alt + Z = Zoom
LH / RH
Left hand / right hand

Table 1
RELAX
If you make mistake, it can be fixed!
We have tried our best to make the instructions in this tutorial as clear and easy to read as possible,
and yet you may make mistakes occasionally. Fortunately LANDWorksCAD has 2 methods of
recovering from mistakes.
The Esc key
Look at the top LH corner of your keyboard; you will see a key labelled Esc. This stands for Escape.
Pressing this key stops the current command without completing it. (It does not undo your mistakes
see below). It has no effect once you have completed the command. So, if youre following the
instructions in this tutorial or youre in the middle of a command and you make a mistake or get
confused, simply press the Esc key to stop the command at that point. You can then go back and redo the steps in the tutorial.
Undo
Even more powerful than the Esc key is the ability to Undo whatever you have done. If you have
made a mistake drawn the wrong thing or put something in the wrong position, even deleted
something by mistake the Undo command will reverse your steps and your mistake will disappear!
The Undo command can be found in the Quick Toolbar at the bottom of the screen as shown in Fig 4
below. You can Undo as many times as you like.
Fig 4
(Ctrl + Z also performs an Undo)
The arrow next to the Undo command is the Redo command. If you Undo a command because you
think you made a mistake, but then realise it was correct in the first place, the Redo command does
the command again for you. You can use the Undo and Redo commands repeatedly.
Well, that should be enough basics to get you going. Lets move on and start the real tutorial.
and remember to enjoy yourself!!!!!!
Simple exercises to show how things work

OK, lets spend some time getting familiar with the workings of LANDWorksCAD as we have been
discussing.
Move your cursor around the screen. Youll see the crosshair in the drawing window and a small
arrow in the toolbar and menu areas. As you pass your cursor over the icons on any of the toolbars,
note how the Prompt Bar displays the appropriate command prompts.
Holding your cursor over any icon for a short time, without pressing a mouse button, will also display
a small box with the same command prompt words described above. This is known as a tool tip.
Well now work with LANDWorksCAD, just a bit, to get used to it.
Drawing Lines and Circles

To create something in a CAD system such as LANDWorksCAD you have to draw it. As a quick
demonstration well draw a few lines and circles to see how it is done.
1.
Select the Line Commands icon from the top row of the Main Toolbar, followed by the Insert
Line icon from the bottom row as shown in Fig 5 (LH group of icons).
Fig 5
2.
The Prompt Bar now prompts you to Select the start of the line.
3.
Position your crosshair towards the bottom LH corner of the drawing window and click. Dont
go too close to the corner; you need to leave some space for later work
4.
The Prompt Bar now prompts you to Select the end of the line.
5.
Move your crosshair towards the middle of the drawing window. As you move it a line will
appear, stretching between the point you just clicked and the crosshair.
6.
Move the crosshair around the screen, but dont click yet. Notice how the line continues to
stretch and follow the crosshair? This is called rubber-banding. If you happen to move your
crosshair out of the drawing window, the rubber-band will disappear as the arrow cursor
appears, but it will re-appear when you move back into the drawing window.
7.
Notice also the constantly changing number that appears next to your crosshair. This number
shows the distance the crosshair has moved from the last point selected. Its referred to as
distance tracking and can be used simply as a guide to how far it is between points or to draw
accurately in conjunction with other options in LANDWorksCAD, eg, the grid. More on this in
other tutorials.
8.
Without trying to draw a perfectly straight line, position your crosshair towards the top LH
corner of the drawing window and click. Again, dont go too close to the corner. A line will be
drawn between the two points you clicked and another rubber-band will appear following the
crosshair from the second point you clicked.
9.
Move your crosshair across to the top RH corner of the drawing window and click. Again dont
try to be accurate or too straight.
10.
Move your crosshair down to the bottom RH corner of the drawing window and click.
11.
Now position your crosshair approximately over the middle of the first line you drew, but dont
click yet!
12.
A small diamond should appear on the crosshair as shown in Fig 6. Still dont click yet! This
diamond indicates that LANDWorksCAD has seen the line and can use it in various ways if
you want it to. This will be explored more in later tutorials.
The Distance
Tracking
number has
been removed
from the image
Fig 6 for clarity.
13.
Move your crosshair down along the line to the beginning of the line. Dont worry if the
diamond disappears, it means youve moved your crosshair slightly off the line. Just move the
crosshair back over the line again.
14.
When you get close to the end of the line the diamond will be replaced by a small square as
shown in Fig 7. Still dont click yet! This square indicates that LANDWorksCAD has found
the very end point of the line.
Fig 7
15.
Make sure the square is still showing on the crosshair and now you can click!
16.
Notice how the rubber-band line jumped to meet the end of the first line you drew, even if you
werent pointing right at the end of the line? This is known as snapping to the end of a line
and later in this tutorial it will be referred to in this way, e.g. snap to the end of the line.
17.
The rubber-band is still active, but we have finished drawing lines for now.
18.
Right-click this will terminate the current sequence of lines. The Prompt Bar now prompts
you to Select the start of the line, allowing you to draw more lines if you wish.
19.
Right-click again to terminate drawing lines completely. The Prompt Bar will revert to the
standard prompt Select command or entities.
20.
You should now have a really rough rectangle displayed in the drawing window. Lets put a
circle in the middle of it.
21.
Select the Circle Commands icon from the top row of the Main Toolbar followed by the Insert
Circle by centre and circumference icon from the bottom row as shown in Fig 8.
Fig 8
22.
The Prompt Bar prompts you to Select the centre of the circle.
23.
Position your crosshair approximately in the centre of the rectangle, click and then move your
crosshair away a little bit, but dont click again just yet.
24.
The Prompt Bar now prompts you to Select a point on the circumference of the circle and you
will see a rubber-band circle attached to your crosshair.
25.
Move your crosshair until your circle looks about the same size as the circle in Fig 9 and then
click. The circle will be drawn.
Fig 9
26.
Dont worry if your rectangle and circle dont look exactly like these; remember, youre just
playing at the moment.
27.
The circle command is still active, so insert a few more circles of different sizes inside the
rectangle move your crosshair to various positions and then click, move your crosshair and
click again. Try putting circles within circles. Put about 6 circles in.
28.
Dont right-click yet; we havent finished putting in circles.
29.
Now lets try to be more accurate in our placement of a circle.
30.
Move your crosshair to the top LH corner of the rectangle until the small snapping square
appears and then click. It doesnt matter which line you are closest to as they meet at the
same end point.
31.
The centre of the circle will be inserted exactly at the corner point. Thats the whole point of
snapping to be accurate. Move your crosshair and click again when youre happy with the
size of the circle.
32.
Try inserting circles on the other three corners of your rectangle.
33.
When you have finished inserting circles, right-click to terminate the circle command.
Zooming and Scrolling

One of the difficulties with CAD software is that you are often trying to draw an object that is much
larger than the screen on which it is to be displayed, e.g. a house and surrounding gardens. To solve
this, you are able to zoom in on an object to make it look larger on the screen or zoom out from
an object to make it look smaller on the screen, or scroll sideways to see a part of the drawing
thats off the screen. It must be stressed that zooming DOES NOT change the physical size of the
object, it just makes it look bigger or smaller, in the same way that a zoom lens on a camera can
make objects appear larger or smaller to suit the photographer. Similarly scrolling DOES NOT
physically move or re-position the entities you have drawn. Rather, it is like flying over the entities
at a constant height. You are the one moving around, although it looks like the entities are being
moved
Using these zooming and scrolling techniques, it is possible to view any part of your drawing at
almost any scale you want. You can enlarge a really small object to work on it more easily or you can
step back from a large object to get an overall feel for its size.
Lets have a closer look at the circle you inserted at the top LH corner of your rectangle by zooming
and scrolling.
If youre using a mouse that DOES NOT have a roller wheel, please jump forward to the section titled
Zooming and scrolling without a mouse roller wheel on page Error! Bookmark not defined..
Zooming and scrolling with a mouse roller wheel

1.
Move your crosshair so it is roughly in the middle of the top LH circle. (dont worry if the
diamond or square appear on your crosshair, theyre ignored when zooming)
2.
Roll your mouse roller wheel slowly towards you. The circle will move towards you; you are
zooming in.
3.
Continue to roll the mouse wheel until part of the circle disappears from the drawing window
and then stop rolling the wheel. It doesnt matter if the LH part, the top part, or both disappear.
4.
Now roll the mouse wheel away from you. The circle will move away from you; you are
zooming out.
5.
Roll the wheel, either toward or away from you, until the rectangle and all circles are visible in
the drawing area again.
6.
Now well scroll around the drawing, i.e. move sideways, without zooming in or out.
7.
Move your crosshair to the centre of the drawing window.
8.
Now, press and hold down the mouse wheel. Dont let go until instructed to do so.
9.
While holding down the mouse wheel, move the mouse towards the right of the drawing
window. Dont let go of the mouse wheel yet!
10.
The entire drawing is moved sideways; part of it may even disappear from the drawing window,
but this doesnt matter.
11.
Keep holding down the mouse wheel and move your mouse around the drawing window to see
how you can scroll in any direction.
12.
Release the mouse wheel when youve had enough scrolling. It doesnt matter where your
rectangle and circles end up; well control them with some more zooming in a moment.
13.
Notice how both these operations, zooming and scrolling, were performed without selecting a
command. With LANDWorksCAD, moving around your drawing is really quick and efficient.
14.
There are times when you want to step back and see your entire drawing displayed in the
drawing window. To do this, instead of zooming out and panning around, possibly a number of
times, you can simply select the Zoom fit entities to window icon from the Interrupt Toolbar
as shown in Fig 10. Do this now.
Fig 10
15.
There are more zoom commands available, but that will do for now. Well explore the others
later in the tutorial.
Please jump to the section titled Zooming during the rest of this tutorial on page 16.
Zooming and scrolling without a mouse roller wheel

1.
Select the Zoom Commands icon from the top row of the Interrupt Toolbar, followed by the
Zoom in using window icon from the bottom row as shown in Fig 11.
Fig 11
2.
The Prompt Bar now prompts you to Locate the corner of the zoom window and the crosshair
changes to the shape of a magnifying glass, i.e.
3.
Position your magnifying glass above and to the left of the circle, as shown in Fig 12, and click.
The dot in the centre of the magnifying glass will define the start of your zoom window that you
will see in a minute.
Fig 12
4.
The Prompt Bar now prompts you to Locate the opposite corner of the zoom window.
5.
Move your magnifying glass diagonally down and to the right; an elastic rectangle will be
dragged with it.
6.
Move your mouse until the rectangle looks approximately like the one shown in Fig 13 and click
again.
Fig 13
7.
The area enclosed by the rectangle you defined has now been enlarged to fill the screen. This
is known as zooming in and this is only one method; there are others, which well explore
later.
8.
The Prompt Bar prompts you again to Locate the corner of the zoom window allowing you to
zoom in even further, enlarging the objects even more, if you wish. We wont do that now, so
right-click to terminate the zoom in command.
9.
Dont worry if the circle doesnt look perfectly smooth after you zoom in. This is easily fixed
although we wont do it just now.
10.
To zoom out and see all of your drawing again, select the Zoom and View previous icon
from the bottom row of the Interrupt Toolbar as shown in Fig 14. Notice you dont have to first
select the Zoom Commands icon from the top row as it is already selected.
Fig 14
11.
Now well scroll around the drawing, i.e. move sideways, without zooming in or out. Select
the Zoom scroll icon from the bottom row of the Interrupt Toolbar as shown in Fig 15.
Fig 15
12.
The Prompt Bar now prompts you to Locate the start of the scroll direction Press control or
drag to start dynamic scroll and the crosshair changes to the shape of a magnifying glass
again, i.e.
13.
Position your magnifying glass roughly in the middle of the top left circle on the screen, but
dont click yet.
14.
Press the left mouse button down and keep it pressed down.
15.
While holding down the left mouse button, move your mouse towards the centre of the screen.
Dont let go of the button yet.
16.
The entire drawing is moved sideways; part of it may even disappear from the drawing window,
but this doesnt matter.
17.
Keep holding down the mouse button and move your mouse around the drawing window to see
how you can scroll in any direction you want to.
18.
Release the mouse wheel when youve had enough scrolling. It doesnt matter where your
rectangle and circles end up; well control them with some more zooming in a moment.
19.
This is how you scroll, i.e. move around the drawing without zooming in or out.
LANDWorksCAD, moving around your drawing is really quick and efficient.
20.
The Zoom scroll command is still active the Prompt Bar is still prompting you to Locate the
start of the scroll direction Press control or drag to start dynamic scroll, so right-click to
terminate it.
21.
There are times when you want to step back and see your entire drawing displayed in the
drawing window. To do this, instead of working backwards though your previous zoomed views
and possibly panning around, you can simply select the Zoom fit entities to window icon from
the Interrupt Toolbar as shown in Fig 16. Do this now.
With
Fig 16
22.
You may not see a big change in the display depending on where you left you drawing after
scrolling.
23.
There are more zoom commands available, but that will do for now. Well explore the others
later in the tutorial.
Zooming during the rest of this tutorial

During the rest of this tutorial, rather than explain in detail how to zoom in and out and how to scroll
every time you need to do so, well simply say zoom in to or zoom back to the previous view
or zoom fit to see everything or scroll to the left; statements like that, and you can choose
whichever technique from the preceding sections suits you best. It might be a good idea to bookmark
the section for ease of reference until you have mastered zooming and scrolling. We will, of course,
provide hints during the tutorial; we wont leave you completely stranded.
To end this tutorial and clear the drawing area, select File, New from the Menu Bar.
The dialog box shown in Fig 17 will be displayed.
Fig 17
Click on No we dont want to save what we have drawn at this time.
The LANDWorksCAD screen will revert to how it looked when we first started.
Practical Hands-On Tutorial

The aim of this tutorial is to draw a plan similar to that shown in Fig 18. In creating this drawing you
will learn how to:
1.
Start with a template file
that has been previously set up
for you.
2.
Save the template file as
your own drawing.
3.
Draw the property.
4.
Draw the house outline.
5.
Draw the simple
rectangular patio.
6.
Draw the driveway and
straight path.
7.
Draw some simple straight
steps.
8.
Draw the curved path.
9.
Hatch the house outline.
10. Draw curved garden
edging.
11. Insert existing trees and
plants.
12. Label and size the existing
trees and plants.
13. Insert a schedule for the
existing trees and plants.
14. Insert proposed trees and
plants.
15. Label the proposed trees
and plants.
16. Insert a legend for the
proposed trees and plants.
17. Update the legend.
18. Add some other figures.
19. Add a title sheet to the
drawing.
20. Add text to the drawing.
21. Save the drawing.
22. Print the drawing.
Fig 18
Items such as labels and text have
been left off this image for clarity.
A copy of this drawing plan showing

the dimensions used throughout the
tutorial can be found in Appendix 2.
Within the steps listed above you will learn to control the colour, layer, style and weight of the
objects you draw. These properties will be explained during the tutorial. You will also learn how to
edit the objects, i.e. move, copy, stretch, trim, break, etc.
The approach taken is a holistic one, i.e. rather than learning all about inserting lines by just playing
with lines, in this tutorial you will learn to insert and control lines by drawing a property boundary
and the outline of a house; rather than learning how to edit lines by experimenting with the
different edit options, you will edit the lines using the appropriate option as and when you need to.
So, lets go!
Start with template file that has been previously set

up for you
1.Select File, New from Template from the menu.
2.Select the LWTute01.cad file. The Preview window wont show anything because nothing has
been drawn yet.
3.Click on the Open button to confirm your selection.
4.Your screen should then look like Fig 19.
Fig 19
A template file is simply a drawing that has been created and saved, often with nothing drawn in it, but
all properties and parameters, such as colours, scales, grids, default angles, etc, set appropriately.
You can create as many template files as you need.
Save the template file as your own drawing

It is always a good idea when starting a new drawing from a template to save it immediately. The
template is only a starting point and you will lose your drawing if something happens to your
computer and your drawing does not have a name to save to.
1.Select File, Save as from the menu.
2.Choose the ~My Drawings folder in the LANDWorksCAD-v5 folder and enter a name for the
drawing. You can use whatever name you want really, but a suggestion for now is to add your
initials to the end of the template name. For example, if your name was John Smith the
drawing name would become LWTute01_JS.
3.Click on the Save button to confirm your drawing name.
4.Look at the Title Bar your new drawing name is displayed there now, with a .cad extension,
which is LANDWorksCAD way of identifying its files. You dont have to worry about adding the
.cad extension manually; LANDWorksCAD does it automatically for you.
5.While were saving, lets set up LANDWorksCAD to automatically save the drawing every 10
minutes. This will reduce the possibility of losing work you have done.
6.Select Options, System from the menu.
7.The dialog box shown in Fig 20 will be displayed.
Fig 20
8.Set the Auto Save options as shown and then click OK. The options may already be set,
which is fine; at least now you know how to turn on Auto save.
Draw the property/lot boundary

Well use some simple line commands to draw the lines of the property (lot) boundary, but we must
first select the correct colour, layer, style and weight for the lines. It is a bit like selecting the correct
pen or pencil when drawing by hand.
It should be mentioned here that if you are supplied with a paper copy of the property boundary lines and/or
house outline, this could be scanned into LANDWorksCAD and traced over or simply used as a background
reference image. This tutorial does not cover this, but later ones do.
Colour
LANDWorksCAD has 256 active colours you can choose to draw with. The main reason for using
colour is that it makes it easier to identify and select different elements of the drawing.
Layer
Think of a layers as perfectly transparent pieces of tracing paper numbered 0 1023. (These can
also be named) All the layers are stacked on top of each other to form a drawing. Only one of
these layers can be on top of the stack at any one time and this is known as the active layer.
Anything you draw is always drawn on the active layer. Any layer can be made the active layer at
any time. Layers can also be turned off at any time, thus temporarily hiding the objects drawn on
them.
Layers can be used to group related objects together, e.g. you might put all the plants on one
layer, and concrete on another layer. You can then turn off the plants layer whenever you want if
you just need to work on the concrete for a while without seeing the plants.
Style
The solid, dashed or dotted appearance of lines etc are referred to in CAD as Styles.
LANDWorksCAD has 256 styles to choose from and any of them can be modified to suit your
needs. Six have been pre-defined for you.
Weight
The weight is the width or thickness of the lines from 0mm to 3mm. 0mm equates to the
thinnest possible line that can be printed on your printer.
Warning:
There are some printers that dont print lines that have a thickness of 0mm. They
read the 0 literally and print nothing!
LANDWorksCAD has an easy way of controlling these four properties, called Style Sets. A Style Set is
a named combination of these properties, e.g. in this tutorial there is a Style Set named Boundary
which has the colour set to 150 (khaki brown), the layer to 1, the style to 0 (solid) and the weight to
0.1mm. By selecting a Style Set, the four properties are automatically set for you.
OK, enough of the theory, lets draw some lines!

9.To set the line properties, select the Default/Change Style Set list box from the Style Bar as
shown in Fig 21. You can click anywhere in the list box.
Fig 21
10. A list of existing Style Sets will be displayed as shown in Fig 22. Select the Style Set named
Boundary from the drop-down box as shown.
Fig 22
The Style Bar now displays the properties of the Boundary Style Set, as shown in Fig 23,
including an image of a line that has those properties. The RealCAD Title Bar also displays the
properties at its RH end, i.e. Col 150 Lay 1 Sty 0 Wei 0.10.
Fig 23
11. Select the Insert Line icon from the Main Toolbar as shown in Fig 24.
Fig 24
The Prompt Bar now prompts you to Select the start of the line.
Well draw the boundary starting from the bottom LH corner and well place this corner at the
position on the screen known as absolute zero or the origin, which is indicated by the
workplane icon. This is a common way of starting drawings as it gives a known point of
reference.
12. To do this, make sure all the fields in the Coordinates Bar are set to 0.00 (zero) as shown in
Fig 25 (they will be because the template has been set up for you) and simply press Enter.
Fig 25
The Prompt Bar now prompts you to Select the end of the line.
13. Move your crosshair across the screen. As you move it a line will appear, stretching between
the origin point you just selected and the crosshair. This is the rubber-banding we explained
earlier in the tutorial.
If you were to click now (dont!) you would draw a line, but you wouldnt have any control over the
length or angle of the line. You could move your crosshair across to the right from the origin until
the Distance Tracking indicated approximately 20,000, which is the length of the line, but it still
wouldnt be accurate enough. To have control and accuracy for the lines we draw we type
coordinates instead. LANDWorksCAD has three coordinate systems that can be used:
Cartesian:
uses horizontal (X), vertical (Y) and height (Z)
Cylindrical: uses distance (D), angle (A) and height (Z)

Mapping:
uses bearing (B), length (L) and height (Z)
These coordinate systems can be used interchangeably.

For this tutorial well ignore the Z coordinate because we are only drawing in 2D.
Well start with the horizontal line and well use the Mapping coordinate system.
14. Press B on the keyboard and then look at the Coordinates Bar. The X, Y, Z coordinates that
were displayed before have been replaced by B, L, Z for mapping as shown in Fig 26.
Fig 26
For this horizontal line the bearing is 90 and the length is 20,000mm (20m).
15. Type 90 for the bearing.
16. Type a space (using the spacebar) this moves the focus to the L coordinate box as shown
in Fig 27.
Fig 27
17. Type 20000 for the length of the line.
18. Press Enter and the line is drawn.
Youre probably thinking it seems a lot of work just to define a line, but with only a little practice
youll find coordinate entry quick, easy, accurate and efficient.
The Prompt Bar still prompts you to Select the end of the line - so you can immediately draw the
vertical line.
The vertical line has a bearing of 0 and a length of 42,000mm (42m).
19. To draw the vertical line, type the following while watching the Coordinates Bar carefully:
B 0 space 42000 Enter
(Note: the 0 is a zero)
The Prompt Bar still prompts you to Select the end of the line - so you can draw the next line.
The back line has a bearing of 250 and a length of 26,000mm (26m).
20. To draw the back line, type the following:
B 250 space 26000 Enter
To draw the LH line we can simply snap to the beginning of the horizontal line
21. Move your crosshair over the LH end of the horizontal line until a small square appears (not a
diamond) as shown in Fig 28. (the line is shown very thick here to make it easier to see)
Fig 28
22. When you see the square, click.
The last line will be drawn connecting exactly to the beginning of the first line.
23. Right click to terminate drawing that sequence of lines.
Draw the house outline

OK, now weve got the site boundary in place, lets draw the outline of the house, ensuring it is
correctly positioned on the property.
The Prompt Bar now prompts you to Select the start of the line, but first well set the line
properties.
24. Select the Default/Change Style Set list box as shown in Fig 29 and select the House Style
Set from the list displayed.
Fig 29
The bottom LH corner of the house is 2m from the LH property boundary and 6m back from the
front property boundary. We can define this point easily using an offset construction and well
use XY coordinates to draw the house outline.
25. To use an offset construction, select the Locate an offset point icon from the Interrupt
Toolbar as shown in Fig 30.
Fig 30
The dialog box shown in Fig 31 will be displayed, allowing you to choose whether you want to
offset from one or two entities and how far the offset(s) are.
Fig 31
26. Tick the two Fix Distance boxes; enter the distances shown in Fig 31 and click OK.
The Prompt Bar prompts you to Locate the first offset entity.
The first distance you entered was 6000, so the first entity to locate is the front boundary line.
27. To Locate the front boundary line, move your crosshair over the line until you see a diamond
(not a square) and then click. It doesnt matter where along the line you locate it.
The Prompt Bar now prompts you to Locate the second offset entity.
28. Locate the LH property boundary.
The Prompt Bar now prompts you to Locate the intersection position.
29. Dont click your mouse button yet, but move your crosshair around the screen a little.
Depending on where your crosshair is, you will see one of four possible intersection points,
indicated by a small + sign where the two moving guide-lines intersect. We didnt tell
LANDWorksCAD on which side of the entities the offsets were to occur so, with two lines each
having two sides to choose from, there are four possible answers.
30. Move your crosshair around until the intersecting lines look like Fig 32 and then click.
Fig 32
31. The dialog box shown in Fig 31 will be redisplayed in case you want to end the line using the
offset construction, but we dont so select the Cancel button.
A rubber band line will now be attached to your crosshair, starting at the offset point defined, as
shown in Fig 33. (your Distance Tracking number may be different to this one its not critical)
Fig 33
32. To draw the bottom, horizontal line of the house outline type:
X 6000 Enter
To draw the remaining lines of the house, type the following sequence:
Y 4000 Enter
X 10000 Enter
Y 8000 Enter
X -4000 Enter
(note the minus sign)
Y 4000 Enter
X -12000 Enter
(note the minus sign
Y -16000 Enter
(note the minus sign)
The minus signs are required to ensure the line is drawn in the desired opposite direction. A
positive value draws a line in direction of the Workplane arrows shown by Fig 34. Negative
values draw the lines in the reverse direction.
Fig 34
33. Right click to terminate drawing the house outline.

The house outline should be complete and positioned correctly on the property. Fig 35.
Fig 35
Now well draw the patio, steps, paths and driveway, starting with the patio
Draw the simple rectangular patio

The Prompt Bar is prompting you to Select the start of the line, but first well set the line
properties again.
34. Select the Default/Change Style Set icon as shown in Fig 36 and then select the Paving
Style Set from the list displayed.
Fig 36
LANDWorksCAD has a number of options that allow us to accurately control the position and
placement of objects. Well use one of these now to start the horizontal patio line in the correct
position, 1000mm back from the front of the house.
35. Select the Locate along a reference entity icon from the Interrupt Toolbar as shown in Fig
37.
Fig 37
The dialog box shown in Fig 38 will be displayed, allowing you to choose how far along a line you
wish to start.
Fig 38
36. Set the distance as shown and then click OK.
The Prompt Bar now prompts you to Select the reference entity.
37. Locate the vertical line of the house towards its bottom end but not right on the end. Fig 39.
Fig 39
38. The dialog box shown in Fig 38 will be displayed again to allow you to define the end of the
line you are drawing in the same way, but we dont want to do that so simply click Cancel.
39. Move your crosshair around the screen. You will notice the rubber-banding of the line you are
drawing starting from the point you just defined.
The Prompt Bar prompts you to Select the end of the line.
Well type in coordinates now to ensure accuracy.

40. Type the following:
X 6000 Enter
This draws a horizontal line 6000mm (6m) long to the right.

41. And now type: Y 3000 Enter
This draws a vertical line 3000mm (3m) going up.
The patios done easy eh? It should look like Fig 40.
Fig 40
42. Right-click to terminate this sequence of lines.
43. Right-click again to terminate drawing freehand lines.
This was one of several ways we could have drawn the patio lines. You will find there is always
more than one way to draw using CAD. Well use some other techniques to draw the paths and
driveway.
Draw the driveway and straight path

It may seem a strange way of doing things, but well just draw the RH driveway line and the LH
path line to start with. Stay with it; itll make sense as you do it all.
The RH driveway line is offset 300mm in from the edge of the house and goes down to meet the
boundary line. Well use a vertical line and the technique in step 35 in the previous section to
draw this line.
44. Select the Insert vertical line icon from the Main Toolbar as shown in Fig 41.
Fig 41
The Prompt Bar prompts you to Select the start of the vertical line.
45. Select the Locate along a reference entity icon from the Interrupt Toolbar as shown in Fig
37.
46. Set the distance to 300 in the dialog box that appears and click OK.
47. Locate line A towards its RH end as indicated. (A diamond not a square on your cursor
please)
48. Cancel the dialog box that re-appears.
49. Move your crosshair around the screen. This time the rubber-band only moves vertically
because we are drawing a vertical line and the new line starts 300mm from the end of the
selected line.
50. Locate the bottom, horizontal boundary line B.
The RH line of the driveway is drawn.
Now well draw the LH line of the straight path.
51. Snap to the bottom of line as shown by C.
52. Locate the bottom, horizontal boundary line again as indicated by the B.
The LH line of the path is drawn and your drawing should look like Fig 42.
C
D
E
B
Fig 42
Rather than draw the next lines the same way, well offset the lines we have already drawn.
This is an easy way of copying a line at a specified distance away.
53. Right-click to terminate drawing vertical lines.
54. Well start with the driveway locate the driveway line now, indicated by the D in Fig 42.
Notice it now appears dotted? This indicates that it is selected and any subsequent commands
will work only on this line.
55. Select the Offset entities by a given distance icon from the Main Toolbar as shown in Fig
43.
Fig 43
The dialog box shown in Fig 44 will be displayed, allowing you to choose how far from the
selected line you want to offset the new line.
Fig 44
56. The driveway is 3400mm wide so enter that amount into the Offset distance box as shown
and then click OK.
The Prompt Bar now prompts you to Select the position of the offset profile, from the selected
entity. This basically means which side of the line do you want the copy?
57. Position your crosshair so it is anywhere to the LEFT of the dotted line and click.
The other driveway line will appear.
58. The Prompt Bar still prompts you to Select the position of the offset profile, from the selected
entity so we could continue to repeatedly offset the line we selected, but we want to offset the
path line now instead, so right-click to terminate the current offset sequence.
59. Locate the path line that we drew earlier, indicated by the E in Fig 42.
60. Select the Offset entities by a given distance icon from the Main Toolbar again, but set the
Offset distance (the path width) to 1500 this time.
61. Position your crosshair so it is anywhere to the RIGHT of the dotted line and click.
The other path line will appear. Youll notice it doesnt reach the patio, but we can trim/extend it
to meet.
62. Right-click to terminate the Offset command.
63. Right-click again to de-select the dotted path line.
Your drawing should look like Fig 45.
G
F
Fig 45
64. Select the Trim entity to another entity icon from the Main Toolbar as shown in Fig 46.
Fig 46
It may sound funny to use a Trim command for this, but Trimming in LANDWorksCAD really
means altering the length of an entity; it can lengthen or shorten an entity. (trim or extend)
The Prompt Bar now prompts you to Select the entity to trim.
65. Locate the RH path line you have just drawn anywhere above its centre as indicated by the F
in Fig 45. The line will appear grey and dotted to indicate it is selected.
The Prompt Bar now prompts you to Select the intersecting entity or the position to trim to.
66. Locate anywhere along the horizontal line G of the patio. (diamond cursor)
The path line is extended to meet the patio line.
67. Right-click to terminate the trim command.
Draw some simple straight steps

Well draw the steps now, but first lets zoom in to make life easier.
Remember how to zoom in? See the instructions that start on page 12 for full details, but for now
position your crosshair roughly in the middle of the bottom boundary line and roll the wheel
towards you until the patio area is bigger on the screen. Dont zoom in too far.
The bottom step goes from the edge of the house across to the path and is a horizontal line.
68. Select the Insert horizontal line icon from the Main Toolbar as shown in Fig 47.
Fig 47
The Prompt Bar prompts you to Select the start of the horizontal line.
69. Snap to the end of line A (shown in Fig 45)
70. Locate anywhere along the RH path line B.
71. Right-click to terminate drawing horizontal lines; theres an even easier way of putting the rest
of the steps in.
Your drawing should look like Fig 48. You may not see both boundary lines depending on how
you zoomed in.
A
B
Fig 48
72. Locate the step line you just drew.
73. Select the Translate (Copy) entities icon from the Main Toolbar as shown in Fig 49.
Fig 49
The Translate (Copy) Options dialog box shown in Fig 50 will be displayed.
Fig 50
74. We need 3 more lines spaced 250mm apart going up the screen (in the Y direction) so set the
fields as shown here then click OK.
Three more lines will appear, completing the steps.
75. Right-click to de-select the dotted step line.
Your drawing should look like Fig 51.
Fig 51
Draw the curved path

Now for the curved path. Well create this without using quite as much accuracy as the path and
driveway to show how you can draw something so it looks right rather than based purely on
coordinates. Well be drawing 1 arc and then offsetting it so at least the width of the path is
accurate.
76. Select the Insert Arc by start, circumference and end points icon from the Main Toolbar
as shown in Fig 52.
Fig 52
The Prompt Bar prompts you to Select the start of the arc.
77. Click approximately where the point labelled 1 is shown in Fig 53.
3
2
Fig 53
The Prompt Bar now prompts you to Select a point on the circumference of the arc.
As you move your crosshair now you will see a curved rubber-band.
The Prompt Bar now prompts you to Select the end of the arc.
The arc will be drawn and should look similar to Fig 54. Dont worry if it doesnt look exactly the
same. The idea here was to put in a path that looks right and that is up to you.
Fig 54
80. The Prompt Bar prompts you to Select the start of the arc allowing you to draw more arcs if
you wish, but well create the other side of the path by offsetting the arc we just drew, so rightclick to terminate the command.
81. Locate the arc you just drew it will appear dotted.
82. Select the Offset entities by a given distance icon from the Main Toolbar as shown in Fig
55.
Fig 55
The dialog box shown in Fig 56 will be displayed, allowing you to choose how far from the
selected arc you want to offset the new arc.
Fig 56
83. The path is 1500mm wide so enter 1500 into the Offset distance box and then click OK.
The Prompt Bar now prompts you to Select the position of the offset profile, from the selected
entity. This means which side of the arc do you want the copy?
84. Position your crosshair so it is BELOW the dotted arc and click.
The arc defining the other side of the path will appear.
85. The Prompt Bar remains the same, meaning we could continue to offset the arc, but weve
finished for now, so right-click to terminate the current offset.
86. Right-click again to de-select the dotted arc.
Your path should look similar to Fig 57.
Fig 57
Obviously it looks a little messy at the moment, but we can tidy it up easily by trimming again.
LANDWorksCAD has a fantastic tool called the Magic Eraser, which makes trimming and
deleting linear entities amazingly quick and easy. By linear entities we mean lines, arcs, circles
and curves. The Magic Eraser works as follows when no command is active, ie, the prompt
displays Select command or entities, hold down the ALT key, then hold down your LEFT mouse
button and drag the crosshair over the entities to be deleted and/or trimmed. Your crosshair will
change shape to look like a pencil with an eraser on the end and as it moves across the screen it
displays a temporary tracking path. Any entity the eraser crosses will be deleted or trimmed, as
appropriate if the entity is not crossed by any other entity, it is deleted; if the entity is crossed by
another entity or entities, the part of the entity crossed by the Magic Eraser is trimmed. Well use
this technique to tidy up the paths.
87. Using the Magic Eraser technique described above, drag your crosshair over the RH ends of
the arcs you just drew, as indicated by the wiggly line in Fig 58 below. It doesnt matter
whether you drag from top to bottom or vice versa. The end sections of the arcs will be
trimmed back to the LH driveway line.
Fig 58
88. Use the Magic Eraser to trim the LH ends of the arcs. Remember, if you make a mistake
simply click the Undo icon at the bottom of the screen.
Your path should now look similar to Fig 59.
Fig 59
Now we can use the Magic Eraser to tidy up where the curved path meets the straight path and
driveway.
89. Using the Magic Eraser technique, drag your crosshair across the driveway and straight path
lines as shown in Fig 60 below.
Fig 60
90. The sections of driveway and straight path between the 2 arcs will be trimmed, making the
path look much neater. Your drawing should look similar to Fig 61.
Fig 61
91. In creating this curved path we positioned it purely by eye. The only accuracy involved was
defining the width of the path. We could have positioned the first arc with far more accuracy if
we wished by defining the centre of the arc using coordinates. The point to be made here is
that LANDWorksCAD can be as accurate or free-form as you want it to be.
Lets zoom out so we can see the whole drawing again.
92. Select the Zoom fit entities to window icon from the toolbar as shown in Fig 62.
Fig 62
Hatch the house outline

Now well hatch the house outline, but first well set the line properties again.
93. Select the Default/Change Style Set icon as shown in Fig 63 and then select the Hatching
Fig 63
94. Select the Insert plane by interior position icon from the tool bar as show in Fig 64.
Fig 64
The Prompt Bar prompts you to Locate the interior of the polygon to fill.
95. Click anywhere inside the house outline.
Your house should now look like Fig 65.
Fig 65
The hatching you see here was predefined as part of the original file you opened to start this
tutorial. LANDWorksCAD contains many other predefined patterns and you also have the ability
to define your own patterns.
It may seem that its taken a fair while to get the house, etc in place, but with experience and
practice this will become much easier and faster.just like driving a car.
Draw curved garden edging

So now lets work on the garden. The idea is that you are designing a new backyard for your
client. Theres not much there at the moment, but youre about to wave your magical designers
wand!
Well start by putting in the proposed garden edging using a freeform curve. Then well insert
some symbols to represent the existing vegetation. Finally well insert some more realistic
looking symbols for the proposed vegetation.
As usual, well set the line properties first.
96. Select the Default/Change Style Set icon as shown in Fig 63 above and then select the
Gardens Style Set from the list displayed.
97. Select the Insert curve icon from the Main Toolbar as shown in Fig 66.
Fig 66
98. The Curve Insert dialog box will appear allowing you to set the Curve degree. For now well
just leave it at the default setting of 2. Select OK to continue.
The Prompt Bar prompts you to Select the start of the curve.
Well be putting in a curve that roughly follows the points shown in Fig 67 below. We say
roughly because it is not critical exactly where the garden edge is. Feel free to experiment a bit
if you wish.
99. Click roughly where each point is shown in Fig 67 going from left to right. A curve will be
inserted, following the points you insert.
Fig 67
100.
After youve clicked on the last position, right-click to terminate the command.
Your finished garden edging should look something like that shown in Fig 68 allowing for your
possible creative experimentation!
Fig 68
The ends of the curves are obviously too long, so well trim them back to meet the boundary
lines.
101.
Using the Magic Eraser technique drag your crosshair over the two end sections of
the curve that extend past the boundary lines, as shown in Fig 69 below.
Fig 69
Your curve should now look similar to that shown in Fig 70 below.
Fig 70
Hmmm, looks pretty good, but not quite right. The bulge indicated by the red ellipse in Fig 71
should be deeper; more like Fig 72.
Fig 71
Fig 72
We can achieve this, without having to redraw the whole garden edge, by moving the curves
control points.
102.
Locate the garden edge curve anywhere along it is fine. The curves control points
(or handles) will appear, as shown in Fig 73.
Fig 73
103.
Locate the point indicated by the number 1 in Fig 73.
104.
Click and drag your crosshair youll find the point you just located follows your
crosshair and drags a section of the curve with it, allowing you to see how the shape of the
curve will be changed. Release the mouse button when you are happy with the shape.
105.
The command is still active; so repeat for the points numbered 2 and 3.
106.
Right-click to terminate the command when youve moved the third point.
107.
The curve may look a bit dotted once the control points are turned off. To refresh the
screen, select the Repaint windows icon from the Quick Toolbar at the bottom of the screen
as shown in Fig 74.
Fig 74
The resultant garden edging should look similar to that shown. It doesnt matter if its not exactly
the same; youre just playing and learning at this stage. The idea is that you know you dont have
to necessarily redraw things. They can simply be edited.
OK, now its time to put in some existing trees
Insert existing trees and plants

Well put in some figures to represent the trees and plants that exist in the backyard at the
moment. Some of the trees are to be removed, some are to be retained. Well then label them
and produce a schedule of existing plants. Please note this tutorial does not cover inserting
concept plants.
First though, as ever, well set the line properties.
108.
Select the Default/Change Style Set icon and then select the Vegetation-existing
109.
Now select the Insert Existing Plant icon
from the LANDWorksCAD Toolbar.
The dialog box similar to that shown in Fig 75 will be displayed. There may be a slight delay
before it appears as LANDWorksCAD connects for the first time to its Excel database of plants.
Fig 75
This dialog box lists all the plants that have been defined in the Existing Plants section of the
LANDWorksCAD Excel database of plants.
The area at the top of the dialog box, called Selected Items, is where you select the plant you
want from the list.
The buttons below the Selected Items list let you work with the database from within
LANDWorksCAD. See manual for details on how this works.
110.
Try selecting a plant from the list to see what they look like.
The Insert Figure section of the dialog box lets you insert the selected plant in several different
ways. 1 Point, 2 Points, Scale 2 Points
The Replace button allows you to replace an existing figure on the drawing with one you select
from the list. More on this later.
The Cancel button is, hopefully self-evident; clicking this button closes the dialog box without
anything being done, no matter what you might have clicked on to that point.
Well be putting in four plants as shown in Fig 76 (the numbers are for identification purposes
only).
Fig 76
111.
The first three plants to be inserted are actually going to be removed as part of the
new garden design, so select the first plant in the list, the one with the description that says
remove, and then click the 1 Point button.
An image of the plant will be attached to your crosshair and the Prompt Bar prompts you to
Locate the position to place the plant.
112.
Position your plant approximately where the item labelled 1 is shown in Fig 76 and
click your left mouse button to insert it. It doesnt matter if its not in the exact position shown
and dont worry about the size of the plants, this will be adjusted later.
113.
The image of the plant remains attached to your crosshair and the Prompt Bar still
prompts you to Locate the position to place the plant so insert two more plants where the
items labelled 2 and 3 are shown.
114.
The fourth tree will be retained in the new garden design, so right click to stop
inserting plants.
115.
Select the Insert Existing Plant icon
again from the LANDWorksCAD Toolbar.
116.
This time select the second plant in the list, the one with the description that says
retain, click the 1 Point button and insert the plant where the item labelled 4 is shown in Fig
76.
117.
Right-click to stop inserting plants.
Now well correctly identify, label and resize size these existing trees.
Label and size the existing trees and plants

118.
Select the Label Existing Plant icon
Fig 77
119.
Enter the information shown here. The Botanical Name, Label item using and Status
information can be selected from their drop down boxes. The Item Name is automatically
generated. All other information needs to be typed in. You can press the Tab key to move
from field to field.
Brief explanations of the options in this dialog box are given below:
Botanical Name lets you identify the existing plant by its Botanical name.
Label item using lets you choose which property of the plant is used to actually label it, eg,
you could label it with its common name for a copy of the drawing thats going to the client.
In this case were using the Botanical name. The items in this list are taken from the
LANDWorksCAD database.
Item Name lists the value of the property selected in the Label item using box. It can be
edited if required.
Label Prefix defines a prefix to help identify the plants, eg, if you have a number of
Banksia ericifolia, you could set the prefix to Be and they would be labelled Be1, Be2, etc.
The prefix can be up to 256 characters long.
Text Size lets you define the size of the text used to label the plants. If Scale text by the
plot scale is ticked, the size entered is multiplied by the drawings plot scale so it can be
seen on screen. If Scale text by the plot scale is not ticked, you must determine how big
the text needs to be to be visible on the screen.
Trunk Diameter is the actual, measured diameter of the plants trunk.
Height is the actual, measured height of the plant.
Spread is the actual, measured diameter of the plants foliage. This value will be used to
resize the figure so it is the correct size on the screen.
Status 1 & 2 let you select some common conditions of plants.
Comments let you add additional information to the drawing.
120.
Press OK to continue.
The Prompt Bar prompts you to Select the figure to label.
121.
Locate figure 1. It will turn grey and the text label T1 will be attached to your
crosshair.
The Prompt Bar now prompts you to Select the position of the label.
122.
Click roughly in the middle of the figure.
The figure will be re-sized based on the spread value entered in the dialog box, the label T1 will
be inserted where you indicated and the dialog box will be re-displayed.
123.
Repeat the process for the other figures, with the information shown in Table 2.
If you make a mistake at any stage, cancel from the dialog box and Undo what you have done.
You will have to select the Undo icon a number of times to completely undo the resizing and
labelling because there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes. Just watch the screen until
the figure is back to its original size.
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Botanical
Name
Lagerstroemia
indica
Lagerstroemia
indica
Ceratopetalum
gummiferum
Label Item
Using
Botanical
name
Botanical
name
Botanical
name
Item Name
Lagerstroemia
indica
Lagerstroemia
indica
Ceratopetalum
gummiferum
Label
Prefix
Text Size
Trunk
Diameter
400
400
200
Height
15000
15000
5000
Spread
10000
10000
4000
Status 1
Remove
Remove
Retain
Status 2
Comments
Scale text
by plot
scale
Table 2
124.
Cancel the dialog box when it re-appears after the fourth figure. This will terminate
the command.
Your screen should look similar to Fig 78. Notice how the figures have been resized to match the
spread value and the labels have been inserted.
Fig 78
Having labelled the existing plants, we can now automatically create and insert an Existing Plant
Schedule.
Insert schedule for the existing trees and plants

125.
Select the Existing Plant Schedule icon
Fig 79
126.
Leave the heading as it is, change the Table Size to 500 as shown and make sure all
the boxes are ticked. Hopefully these options are self-explanatory you can choose whether
or not you want this information included in the schedule.
127.
Press OK to continue.
The Prompt Bar prompts you to Locate the position of the tree schedule.
128.
Well need to zoom out slightly because were going to place the schedule below the
bottom boundary line so point your crosshair roughly in the middle of the house and roll the
mouse wheel away from you until your drawing is about half the size.
129.
Click about 5mm below the bottom LH corner of the boundary lines. The point you
are locating is the top LH corner of the schedule.
A list of the existing plants with their relevant information will be inserted into your drawing. This
is the schedule, but its probably too small to read so lets zoom in and have a look at it.
130.
Point your crosshair roughly in the middle of the schedule text and roll the mouse
wheel towards you until you can read the text.
You should be able to read the text now, as shown in Fig 80 and you can see that it is the
information you entered for the Label Existing Plant command earlier.
Fig 80
OK, now lets put in some new proposed trees and plants into the drawing.
Insert proposed trees and plants

First well zoom back so we can see the whole property.
131.
Select the Zoom fit entities to window icon from the Interrupt Toolbar. Its one on
the bottom row of Error! Reference source not found. above. Move your cursor over each
icon until you find it.
Lets set the line properties as usual.
132.
Select the Default/Change Style Set icon (look back at Fig 63 if youve forgotten
how) and then select the Vegetation-proposed Style Set from the dialog box that is displayed.
133.
To insert proposed plant, select the Insert Proposed Plant icon
LANDWorksCAD Toolbar.
from the
Fig 81
The area at the top of the dialog box, called Selected Items, lets you select the plant you want to
insert into your drawing. This list is obtained from the LANDWorksCAD database spread sheet
called LANDWorksCADPlantDatabase.xls.
134.
Click once anywhere in the row of the plant you want.
Preview images of the plant will be displayed in the six bottom right hand boxes. The images that
are displayed will depend on what has been defined in your LANDWorksCAD database.
135.
Select a few plants to see their preview images. Scroll down to see more plants and
scroll sideways to see more information about the plants.
The buttons directly under the Selected Items list let you edit the database from within
LANDWorksCAD. And the areas below that, called Palette and Search Field, let you search for
plants based on certain criteria or combinations of criteria, e.g. a plants botanical name, a plants
common name or even a minimum height. This is not covered in this Getting Started tutorial.
When youre happy with the plant you have selected, you can insert it into your drawing in several
different ways. These techniques are explained in detail in the manual that we encourage you to
look at! The three most basic methods are explained here though.
The plant you selected is attached to your crosshair and is inserted where
you click your mouse at the nominated or original size and rotation.
you click your mouse at the nominated or original size. Move the mouse and
a second click determines the rotation/orientation.
you click your mouse. Move the mouse and a second click determines the
rotation/orientation and size of the plant.
136.
For now scroll through the list of plants and find one you like the look of. Click on the
1 Point option.
An image of the plant will appear attached to your crosshair and the Prompt Box prompts you to
Locate the position to place the plant. The image is the one that was seen in the top LH
preview box in the dialog box, but this can be changed later.
137.
Position your plant somewhere in the back garden area and click to insert it. You
may want to zoom in closer to the garden area first.
138.
The image of the plant remains attached to your crosshair and the Prompt Bar still
prompts you to Locate the position to place the plant so you can insert more than one of each
plant if you want to. Insert a couple more.
139.
Right-click when youve finished inserting that plant.
140.
Select the Insert Proposed Plant icon
time click the 2 Point option.
again and choose another plant, but this
Like before, an image of the plant will appear attached to your crosshair, but this time the Prompt
Bar prompts you to Locate the centre of the plant.
141.
Click somewhere in the garden area to position your plant and then move your
crosshair away to see what happens next.
142.
You now have the ability to adjust the orientation of the plant. The Prompt Bar
prompts you to Locate the outside of the plant. Click again when youre happy with its
orientation.
143.
As before, after youve inserted one plant, the plant image remains attached to your
crosshair and you can insert more of that plant. Put some more in.
144.
Right-click when youve finished inserting that plant.
145.
Select the Insert Proposed Plant icon
this time click the Scale 2 Points button to insert it.
again and choose yet another plant, but
Like before, an image of the plant will appear attached to your crosshair, and the Prompt Bar
prompts you to Locate the centre of the plant.
146.
Click somewhere in the garden area to position your plant and then move your
crosshair away to see what happens next.
You now have the ability to adjust both the orientation and the size of the plant.
147.
Move your crosshair until youre happy with the orientation and size of your plant and
then click.
148.
The command is still active, so put a few more of this plant in the back garden. Try
using different orientations and sizes. Right-click to terminate the command when youve
finished.
Your garden area might look something like Fig 82 when youve finished. Probably much better!
Fig 82
Currently the plants are displayed as basic figures, but they can be displayed as detail figures
or as bitmap images. Exactly how they look depends on how they are defined in the
LANDWorksCAD database.
149.
Select the Plant Display Switching icon
from the LANDWorksCAD menu.
Fig 83
150.
Click on the white dot next to Show Detail Figures, as shown and click OK.
Fig 84
151.
Click Yes and all the plants you have inserted as basic figures will be redisplayed as
detail figures. Your garden area might look something like Fig 85.
Fig 85
Because we didnt pre-select any plant figures, all plants were changed to Detail figures. If we
select some plant figures before choosing the command, only those selected plants will be
displayed as chosen.
Well change the display to bitmap images, but well pre-select some plant figures so only they
change.
Drag a selection window from position A to position B, as shown in Fig 86. By drag a selection
window we mean place your crosshair at position A, hold down your left mouse button, drag your
crosshair over to position B and then release your mouse button. The figures inside the selection
rectangle will turn grey, indicating they have been selected.
Fig 86
152.
from the LANDWorksCAD menu, click
on Show Bitmap Images and click OK. You wont be asked if you want all plants modified this
time.
153.
Repaint the screen by selecting the Repaint Windows icon at the bottom of the
screen as shown in Fig 87. This will ensure the screen display refreshes both the line work and
the bitmap images.
Fig 87
Your garden area might now look something like Fig 88.
Fig 88
154.
from the LANDWorksCAD menu and
select Show Detail Figures again. Well work in that mode from now on.
Label the proposed trees and plants

Now well label the new plants, but of course well set the line properties first as usual.
155.
Select the Default/Change Style Set icon and then select the Text Style Set from
the dialog box.
The labels will look similar to Fig 89.
Fig 89
156.
You will be asked to select 3 points to define the label:

1. the Start of the leader (the lines) which is the tip of the arrowhead
2. the corner of the leader
3. the end of the leader
157.
The thing to remember is that you define the points of the label moving away from the
plant. If you make a mistake, simply right-click to terminate the command, select the Undo icon
and then repeat the command.
158.
Select the Label Proposed Plant icon
159.
The dialog box shown in Fig 90 will be displayed
Fig 90
Explanations of all the options in this dialog box are given in the manual
160.
Set the information as shown in Fig 90 and click OK. Because we havent selected
any plants, Number of plants is set to 1.
The Prompt Bar prompts you to Locate the entity to label.
161.
Select a plant. Here were selecting the plant in the top RH corner. It will turn grey to
indicate it has been selected.
162.
91.
Follow the prompts in the Prompt Bar to insert the label. It should look similar to Fig
Fig 91
Note: to keep the leader line between points 2 and 3 horizontal, hold down the Shift key as you
define point 3.
163.
The command is still active, so label a couple more plants, but dont label them all,
well try something slightly different next. When youve finished labelling plants, right-click to
stop the command. Remember, if you make a mistake, simply right-click to terminate the
command, then select the Undo icon and then repeat the command.
This time well select some plants before running the command.
164.
First select all the same plant species. To do this select the first plant, hold down the
Shift key and select the other plants.
165.
Now select the Label Proposed Plant icon
The Number of Plants box shows you the number of plants you have pre-selected. This only
works for plants that are the same species of course otherwise the labelling would be incorrect.
166.
Click OK and draw the label from one of the plants.
The label is inserted and lines are drawn between each of the selected plants, indicating the label
applies to them as well. These lines can be changed to any colour, style and weight that you
prefer.
167.
If there are any plants not yet labelled, label them now. Use either technique a
single plant or multiple plants. Remember to right-click to stop the command if you change
techniques.
When all labels are in, your drawing might look something like Fig 92.
Fig 92
Insert legend for the proposed trees and plants

We can also insert a legend that describes the plants in more detail. It should be noted that you
dont have to label the plants and insert a legend; they are not dependent on each other. You
can label the plants and/or insert a legend.
First of all we need to zoom out to give us room to place the legend.
168.
Select the Zoom fit entities to window icon (see if you can work out which one it is)
169.
Then select the Zoom out icon and click in the middle of the house.
170.
Right-click to terminate zooming.
171.
Now select the Proposed Plant Legend icon
Toolbar.
172.
from the LANDWorksCAD
Fig 93
173.
Brief explanations of the options in this dialog box follow:

Database Fields and Legend Fields lets you control what information about the plants is to
be displayed in the legend. You can refer to the manual for details on setting these up to
suit your needs.
Heading lets you enter a heading for the legend.
Group By lets you group the plants in the legend by a common factor, eg, here we are
grouping plants by Type, so all shrubs will be listed together, all trees, all palms, etc.
Show Borders controls if the legend has lines surrounding it and between the columns and
rows of data.
Show Relative Size controls whether the sample images of the plants that are shown in
the legend are drawn at relative size or all at the same size.
Show Quantity controls if the quantity of each plant is included in the legend.
Show Quantity Last controls if the quantity of each plant is shown in the last column of the
legend or the second column.
Table Size is an indication of the size of the legend on the screen. You may have to
experiment to find the size that suits your drawing.
174.
Set the options you desire and then click OK.
The Prompt Bar prompts you to Locate the position of the legend.
175.
Click approximately 5mm below the LH end of the Existing Plant Schedule.
176.
The legend will be drawn. You may need to zoom in to read it use the mouse wheel
or the Zoom in icon until you can read it, as shown in Fig 94. Yours will probably look different
to this one because you have inserted different plants with different quantities and different
items in the Legend
Fig 94
Notice it shows the symbol used for the plant and all the information that was selected in Fig 93
above. Also, the plants have been grouped by their Type.
177.
Note down the name and quantity of the first plant in the legend. Well do something
with it in a moment.
178.
Select the Zoom fit entities to window icon so we can see the whole drawing again.
Update the legend

OK, the client decides they want another one of the plants that is first in the legend, but in the
front garden. (I told you wed do something with it soon) Rather than go through the standard
insertion procedure, we can just copy one of the existing palms and then update the legend.
179.
To copy the plant do the following steps:
a) point to the plant so that the selection diamond appears dont click or do anything else just
yet
c) press down your left mouse button and keep holding it down dont let go until told to!
d) press down one of the Ctrl keys on the keyboard and keep holding it down again dont let
go!
e) move your mouse an image of the plant will be attached to your crosshair.
f) drag the plant to the front of the house, near the existing plant labelled T1.
g) release the mouse button only when you are happy with the position
h) now release the Ctrl key
This is one way of copying something in LANDWorksCAD. If you hadnt held down the Ctrl key,
you would have only moved the plant, not copied it.
Another way of copying is using the standard Windows Copy and paste method.
180.
Select another plant from the garden.
181.
Select Edit, Copy from the menu or select Ctrl + C on the keyboard if you know that
technique.
The Prompt Bar prompts you to Select the position to use as the origin of the copied entities.
182.
Click again roughly in the middle of the plant.
183.
Select Edit, Paste from the menu or type Ctrl + V on the keyboard if you know that
technique.
184.
Click somewhere else in the garden, away from the plant you selected.
A copy of the plant will appear.

185.
Either of these techniques is a valid way of copying entities in LANDWorksCAD; you
just need to find which suits you best.
Now we have added some new plants, we need to update the legend.
186.
To do this, simply repeat the process for inserting a Proposed Plant Legend as
described in the previous section, however, when prompted to locate the position of the legend,
snap to the top LH corner of the existing legend. The existing legend will be replaced by an upto-date version.
187.
Zoom in on the legend as you did before.
You will see that the quantities have been updated to account for the plants we copied.
188.
Add some other figures

LANDWorksCAD is not limited to just plants; it comes with a variety of other objects as well. As
examples, lets put in a rotary clothes-line and a car.
189.
Select the Insert figure by origin and direction icon from the Main Toolbar as
shown in Fig 95. This command works the same as the 2 Point technique for inserting plants
you used previously; the first point you click positions the figure and the second point
orientates it.
Fig 95
190.
The dialog box shown in Fig 96 will be displayed. Locate the Furniture and Equipment
folder (Usually in C:\Users\Public\LANDWorksCAD..\Figures\)
191.
Select the Clothes Line Rotary file and click the Open button.
Fig 96
An image of the clothes-line will be attached to your crosshair and the Prompt Bar prompts you to
Locate the position to place the figure.
192.
Position the clothes-line wherever you like in the yard. Click to insert it, move your
crosshair around and click again to orientate it appropriately.
193.
Right-click to terminate the command.
Now for the car

194.
Select the Insert figure by origin and direction icon again and select the Cars and
Transport folder, then select your desired car from the list.
195.
Insert and rotate the car into the driveway. Hold Shift to lock the rotation angles as
you move your mouse around.
Almost there now well put a title sheet around the drawing to make it look better, add some text
and then we can print the finished drawing.
Add title sheet to the drawing

Well insert one of the standard title sheets that are supplied with LANDWorksCAD.
First lets zoom out a little so theres room to work with the title sheet.
196.
97.
Select the Insert figure by origin point icon from the Main Toolbar as shown in Fig
Fig 97
197.
The dialog box shown in Fig 98 will be displayed and it will still be listing the files in
the previously used folder. Browse back up the folder tree until you can see the Title-Sheets
folder. (C:\user\public\LANDWorksCAD..\Title-Sheets\..)
Fig 98
198.
Select the Title-Sheets folder, scroll until you see the file called Drawing Sheet
A4V. Click on it once to see a preview.
199.
Set both the X Scale and Y Scale options to 200, as shown and then click Open.
200 is the scale of this tutorial drawing, i.e. the scale required to fit the drawing on to a vertical
(portrait) A4 sheet of paper. In this example we are increasing the size of the sheet rather than
decreasing the size of the drawing! This is the simplest way to fit your drawing to the paper but
there are other ways not covered here.
200.
An image of the title sheet, A4 size with Vertical orientation and scaled up to suit the
drawing, will be attached to your crosshair. Position it so that it surrounds your beautiful
drawing and click to insert it. It should look like.
Its possible that all of your drawing may not fit inside the title sheet. This means you need to
change the X and Y scale factors used when inserting the title sheet, but dont concern yourself
with this detail just now.
Add text to the drawing

201.
202.
Select the Insert text by origin point icon from the Main Toolbar as shown in Fig 99.
Fig 99
203.
The dialog box shown in Fig 100 will be displayed, allowing you to enter text.
Fig 100
204.
Type in the word Garden as shown. Set the height to 5, then click OK.
The word Garden will be attached to your crosshair and the Prompt Bar prompts you to Locate
the position for the text.
205.
Position the text between the front of the patio and the curved path as shown in Fig
101 and click. The text will be inserted.
Fig 101
206.
Right-click to stop inserting that particular piece of text.
207.
Repeat steps 202 206 for the words Lawn, House and Driveway and position
the text as shown in Fig 102. (The words are boxed for clarity)
Fig 102
You can also add text to your title sheet.
208.
Zoom in to the bottom RH corner of the title sheet. This is where you add the text
that is specific to the drawing. Notice that in this title sheet there are areas for the title or
drawing number, who drew the drawing, the date it was drawn and the scale of the drawing.
Your own title sheet may have more information on it.
209.
Use the Insert text by origin point command to add the text shown in Fig 103,
except use your initials and todays date. Use a text height of 4mm.
Fig 103
210.
Now to save and print the drawing.
Save the drawing

211.
Select File, Save from the menu to update the drawing.
212.
Your drawing has been automatically saved every 10 minutes because we turned on
the Auto Save feature at the beginning of the tutorial, but its a good idea to get in the habit of
manually saving your drawings as well
Note: In trial mode you can only save drawings with up to 100 entities in them.
Print the drawing

Now well print the finished drawing.
213.
First of all, we need to zoom out a bit to give us room to insert a paper border around
the plan. This will make sense in a minute.
214.
Select the Zoom out icon from the Interrupt Toolbar and click roughly in the middle of
the house.
215.
Right-click to stop zooming.
216.
Select File, Print Preview, Selection from the menu.
217.
Fig 104
218.
Enter the information as shown and then click OK. A4V refers to an A4 sheet of
paper with vertical (portrait) orientation.
219.
A dotted rectangle will appear attached to your crosshair. This rectangle represents
an A4 sheet of paper scaled to suit the drawing.
220.
Position the rectangle so that its corners meet the four corner points of the title sheet
as shown in Fig 105 and click.
Fig 105
You will be shown your drawing in Print Preview mode. It should look like Fig 106.
Fig 106
221.
If everything looks OK (and it should) click on the Print icon on the Toolbar as shown
in Fig 107 and your drawing will be printed.
Fig 107
The
icon lets you select and configure your printers properties.
The
icon lets you change the scale at which the drawing will be printed, eg, to print an A3
drawing on to A4 paper for faxing. This icon also lets you select if the drawing will be printed in
colour or black and white.
The
222.
icon close Print Preview mode and returns you to your drawing.
Click the
icon when your drawing has printed.
223.
To finish off, select the Zoom fit entities to window icon so we can see the whole
drawing again and select File, Save from the menu.
224.
Thats it; youre finished well done!!
Conclusion of the Getting Started Tutorial

That concludes this Getting Started Tutorial for LANDWorksCAD standalone/ RealCAD version. We
hope you enjoyed it.
LANDWorksCAD has great depth and ability. Not all the functions have been explored in this tutorial,
but we hope it gives you an idea of what it can do.
It is recommended that you spend some time playing with the commands. Don't worry if the result
is not what you expect first time and remember you can always UNDO!
There is a range of great Video tutorials available also. Just contact us to get a link to access the
latest ones.
In addition to this tutorial, some users will find the RealCAD Getting Started Tutorial also very
helpful as it explores functions of the core software not covered in this tutorial.
CAD International
info@cad.com.au
www.cad.com.au
Copyright 2006 - 2013. LANDWorksCAD and RealCAD are developed by CAD Australia Pty
Limited. (T/A CAD International) All material contained in this tutorial is subject to international
copyright laws and may not be copied or distributed without the prior permission.

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LANDWorksCAD v.

This page is intentionally blank

but, lets spend a few minutes

The LANDWorksCAD Screen Layout

Click on the Tools menu

Now lets look at the screen.

Conventions Used in This Tutorial

Left click once

Left click once

Right click once

Left click twice in quick succession

Click and hold down the button or roller wheel (youll

Crosshair shows as a SQUARE then click

Crosshair appears as a DIAMOND then Click

Click in the tick box to toggle a tick on or off

Key-in the text using the keyboard

Press the Enter key on the keyboard

Hold down the Shift Key used with other

Hold down the Ctrl key on the keyboard used

Hold down the Alt key on the keyboard used with

Left hand / right hand

Simple exercises to show how things work

Drawing Lines and Circles

Dont right-click yet; we havent finished putting in circles.

Now lets try to be more accurate in our placement of a circle.

Try inserting circles on the other three corners of your rectangle.

Zooming and Scrolling

Zooming and scrolling with a mouse roller wheel

Move your crosshair to the centre of the drawing window.

Zooming and scrolling without a mouse roller wheel

Zooming during the rest of this tutorial

Practical Hands-On Tutorial

A copy of this drawing plan showing

Start with template file that has been previously set

Save the template file as your own drawing

Draw the property/lot boundary

OK, enough of the theory, lets draw some lines!

uses horizontal (X), vertical (Y) and height (Z)

Cylindrical: uses distance (D), angle (A) and height (Z)

uses bearing (B), length (L) and height (Z)

These coordinate systems can be used interchangeably.

(Note: the 0 is a zero)

23. Right click to terminate drawing that sequence of lines.

Draw the house outline

(note the minus sign)

(note the minus sign

(note the minus sign)

33. Right click to terminate drawing the house outline.

Draw the simple rectangular patio

Well type in coordinates now to ensure accuracy.

This draws a horizontal line 6000mm (6m) long to the right.

Draw the driveway and straight path

Draw some simple straight steps

Draw the curved path

Hatch the house outline

Draw curved garden edging

Locate the point indicated by the number 1 in Fig 73.

Insert existing trees and plants

Now select the Insert Existing Plant icon

from the LANDWorksCAD Toolbar.

Select the Insert Existing Plant icon

again from the LANDWorksCAD Toolbar.

Right-click to stop inserting plants.

Label and size the existing trees and plants