Home Design Software by SoftPlan

Earth Pattern and Wood Grain Pattern Added

SoftPlan’s Paint pattern libraries have been expanded to include both an earth and a wood grain pattern. Click below to view an example of these patterns.
Select Draw > Paint > and the respective library to add.

Paint Magnification can be Input From the Keyboard

Version 12 now has the ability to manually input the value for paint magnification by using the keyboard. In previous versions the scroll buttons needed to be used to select a value. To adjust the magnification of paint select.
Edit > Edit Item. Click on the paint pattern. Click in the magnify field for horizontal or vertical and type in the value using the keyboard. Press OK. The paint pattern will automatically update on screen.

Paint Patterns May Contain Arcs and Circles

Version 12 has improved the Paint feature by allowing the original paint pattern to be created using arcs and circles with a smaller radius. Previous version of SoftPlan also allowed arcs and circles to be used in paint patterns but their radius needed to be much larger for the paint to appear intact when used in a drawing.

To create a Paint pattern:

Select Draw > Paint > Paint Definition Template and sketch a box approximately 1’ x 1’.
Select Draw > Shapes > Circle or Arc and create the desired pattern inside the template. The diameter of the circles and arcs can now be as small as 2”.
Edit the Paint Definition Template and select the Add Pattern button.
Choose a Paint library and give the pattern a name.

To draw the Paint pattern:

Select Draw > Paint and select the desired Library and pattern.
Left click in the area on the drawing you wish the pattern to fill. The small radius circles and arcs will now maintain their original appearance more accurately than in previous versions.

Paint Patterns May Contain Textured Shapes

Version 12 has improved the ability to create custom Paint patterns by allowing shapes to maintain Textures that have applied to them. Additionally, a shape given a dashed Linestyle can also be used to create a Paint pattern. In previous versions, if a shape had a dashed Linestyle or Texture applied the Linestyle and Texture would have been ignored and the only basic shape would have been used to create the Paint pattern.
Select Draw > Paint > Paint Definition Template to be used as a canvas to create the new paint pattern. Select Edit > Edit Item and edit the Paint Definition Template to the size of the repeating pattern. Select Draw > Shape > and select a shape to be used to create the paint pattern. In the Status bar, select a Dashed Linestyle or Texture to be applied to the line. Draw the pattern in the template. As the pattern is drawn, it will be repeated around the template to help in previewing the pattern’s overall design. Select Edit > Edit Item and edit the Paint Definition Template again and select Add Pattern to add the new paint pattern to the Paint Library. Once the pattern is added, select Draw > Paint > select the new pattern and click into an enclosed area of the drawing to fill with the new paint pattern. The Linestyle and Texture are maintained when the paint is applied to the drawing.
This applies to all Linestyles and Textures except for the solid fill texture.

The Paint Template Acts as a Knife Blade for Trim and a Boundary for Extend

SoftPlan Version 12 has the ability to now use the Paint Definition Template as a boundary edge for the Trim and/or Extend command. This eliminates having to use “extra” lines as boundary edges when creating your paint patterns.

Select Draw > Paint > Paint Definition Template.
Click once to begin your template box.
Drag the cursor and click again to complete the template.

At this point you can proceed with creating your paint pattern within the template you had defined. If any of the items partially fall outside of the template edge, or do not quite meet the template edge:

Select Tools > Trim or Extend.
Click on the edge you would like to use as the Trim or Extend edge.
Click on the item to Trim or Extend.
Once the item is selected, it will be trimmed or extended to the edge of the paint definition template you had selected, and the paint pattern display will update to show the correction made.

Paint Patterns Avoid Opening Dimensions

Paint patterns will now avoid painting over Opening Dimensions, much as they do for Dimension numbers. Previous versions of SoftPlan would paint over the opening Dimension.