s8-3 making an impression paul oakley

8/3/2019 S8-3 Making an Impression Paul Oakley

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Autodesk ImpressionHow to Make a Good Impression

Paul Oakley

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Course Summary:Autodesk Impression 2 is FREE software to Autodesk Subscription customers. So come and learn how to

Make a Good impression with your clients, by turning those CAD files into stylish presentations. In thissession, well explore the powerful capabilities of Autodesk Impression and how you can quickly and easilydevelop renderings and coloured presentation graphics from DWG and DWF files. Youll learn how to createand apply styles, substitute AutoCAD blocks with stylized blocks, and how to apply similar styles to other CADfiles.

Instructor:Paul has over 20 years of AEC industry experience specialising in CAD management, implementation and

Autodesk training. As vice chairman of the AUGI-UK Chapter and a qualified architect, Paul has assistedAutodesk in the development of AutoCAD Architecture. He has also been involved in various industry-led BIMinitiatives and more recently Avanti. Paul is now an implementation specialist with UK based Cadpoint, an

Autodesk Authorised Reseller and Training Centre. The company provides CAD consultancy services to clientsranging from small UK design companies to global architectural practices. Paul continues to present at major

industry conferences throughout the world, providing industry professionals with guidance on improvingefficiency, productivity and quality in the CAD arena

UK

Autodesk User Group International

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Copyright AUGI Design Academy 2008

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Making a good Impression!Introduction

Autodesk Impression enables you to immediately begin to develop creative illustrations from yourCAD data. With Impression, you can incorporate hand-drawn strokes, color fills, and entourageelements which, leverage intelligent data such as blocks and layers, bridging the gap betweencomputer aided drawings and the artistic human element.

Definition of Autodesk ImpressionAutodesk Impression is used to create presentation ready illustrations from CAD drawings.Typically, when you need to present a CAD drawing to customers, there have been two options:

1. Create presentation graphics by hand using pencils/markers/watercolors, etc.2. Import the CAD file into a general purpose graphics application.

With Autodesk Impression, you can quickly and easily create presentation-ready graphics to helpsell your ideas. Some benefits of using Autodesk Impression include:

Generate great looking imagesfast.

Presentation graphics are about winning business. The pictures have to sell the project anda lot of the time, they must be produced on short order.

Easily apply graphical styles to your CAD file. From distinct line types to textured coloredfills, you can use pre-built styles or customized styles that you create.

Easy to learn and use.

Impression is designed so that anyone in the office can learn the application in minutes andcan get great results right away.

Create compelling graphics quickly with built-in learning resources and an intuitive userinterface.

CAD compatible. Because Impression understands CAD data, the illustration process is much faster than with

general purpose graphics applications. Impression recognizes blocks, layers, hatches andother CAD-specific data.

You can open any DWG or DWF file in Impression.

Quickly create multiple design iterations.

Quickly update your presentation graphics when designs change or apply your signaturestyle to all the drawings that you produce.

Save time by saving and re-using your styles.


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ExampleIn the following illustration, two images have been combined. The left side of the elevation shows

the original CAD drawing. The right side of the elevation illustrates the same drawing after usingAutodesk Impression to create a more natural hand-drawn and colored look.

The User InterfaceBefore you begin to work with Autodesk Impression, you should familiarize yourself with the

interface. There are interface elements common to other Windows applications such as toolbarsand menus. If you have used other Windows applications, these user interface elements shouldappear familiar. There are also user interface elements that are specific to the application, such asthe Canvas, Dashboard, and the Status Bar.

1. Title Bar2. Menu Bar3. Toolbox4. Dashboard5. Canvas6. Status Bar


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The CanvasThe canvas is the main, printable drawing area and is displayed as a white piece of paper. The

size and orientation can be modified in the Document Setup dialog box. This is where you create,open, or import drawings. When objects are displayed on the canvas, you can then stylize themusing various Autodesk Impression tools. You can create or move objects outside of the canvas,but anything outside of the canvas is not included when printing or creating an image file.

PalettesImpression Palettes are similar to AutoCAD palettes. They contain the necessary components tostylize, modify and create geometry. They can also be made transparent, by right-clicking the titlebar and clicking transparency from the menu, so they do not hinder the canvas and objectscontained on it. Palettes expand and collapse vertically and some palettes have horizontal slidingdrawers that contain additional functionality. When a palette is collapsed, it changes to a'compact' state which reduces screen real estate, but still exposes the primary functionality of the

palette.

The following image shows the Layers, Current Layer Style, Styles, Align and Distribute palettes,and the Blocks palette in its expanded state.


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Property flyouts reside on the edge of a palette and are identified by an arrow. When you roll yourmouse over the arrow, the contents of the drawer are displayed as long as your cursor is over the

drawer contents. If you would like the drawer to remain open, click the arrow. The followingimage shows the cursor placed over an arrow of the styles palette and the slide-out drawer isdisplayed which contains additional properties that can be modified.

The Status BarThe status bar is displayed at the bottom of the application window. In addition to displayingstatus updates about the current tool, it also contains tools to set the zoom scale, turn objectsnapping on/off, access the communication center, as well as determine if styles should be scaled.The display of the status bar can be toggled on/off using the Display menu.


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Working with Autodesk ImpressionIllustrations in Autodesk Impression can be created from existing DWG or DWF files, various

image files, as well as IRF files, the native file format for Impression. In Impression, each openedor imported view becomes a separate sketchthat contains its own set of layers. You can alsocreate geometry in a native Impression file. Once you have identified the file you intend to workwith, you use tool such as lines, rectangles and circles and techniques such as drag and drop tocreate your illustrations.

Opening Files

When you open a .dwg file you can select a default stroke forall imported geometry. You can also specify a plot style table or use a combination of assigned stroke and existing plotstyle. The stroke that is selected applies a 'visual style' to the

geometry that is apparent as soon as the items appear onthe canvas.

Open Layout and Viewports

Whether you are creating a plan, an elevation, or aperspective view of your 3D model, the options in the OpenLayout and Viewports dialog box are the same.

If you want to render a perspective view, just save a layoutwith the viewpoint you want, for example a view through acamera. No need to worry about hiding lines: Impressiondoes that for you. In the Open Layout and Viewports dialog

box, click the expansion arrow in the lower-right corner tosee other 3D import options.

You can also use the flatshot command inAutoCAD to set up elevation views from a 3Dmodel and place them on a layout to illustrateelevations.

By default, layout views (paper space views)retain their native page size and scale. However,for model space views, the geometry is scaled to

fit the default canvas size. You can specify a newcanvas size and orientation as you open thedrawing in Impression.


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The following illustration shows a typical workflow. Graphic1 shows a site plan as done in a CADprogram. Graphic 2 is the same drawing file when opened in Impression. A gray pencil stroke

style has been applied to the drawing. Graphic 3 shows the completed site map of the CAD filewith a distinctive hand-drawn look.

Import Files or GraphicsYou can import other CAD, graphics files, or parts of other Impression files, to a blank canvas oran existing illustration. File types that can be imported include:

IRF DWG DWF

BMP JPG GIF

PCX PNG PSD

TGA TIF


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Process: Creating an Autodesk Impression IllustrationThe general process for creating an Autodesk Impression illustration is as follows:

1. Identify a CAD file from which you want tocreate an illustration.

2. Open the CAD file with Autodesk Impression.A default style is assigned to the CAD data.

3. Assign appearance styles to the layers orobjects from the opened CAD file to stylize thelinework and fill areas bound by linework.

4. Create custom appearance styles and assignthem to layers/objects as necessary to stylizethe illustration.

5. Replace Blocks that exist in the CAD file withImpression blocks. Vary their scale and rotationangle as necessary.

6. Open additional CAD files with similalayer/block schemes and import the style orblock maps from previously created Impressionfiles to automatically generate illustrations thatcontain the same look and feel.


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Appearance Styles

Using appearance styles, you can select a collection of imported CAD geometry and apply different

appearances, such as a hand-drawn line, a watercolor fill, or a cartoon-style appearance to theselection. Additionally, you can customize the appearance of objects that are created in AutodeskImpression, such as shapes, arrows, text, and other geometry.

Styles PaletteAppearance Styles are accessed from the Styles Palette. The Styles Palette displays theappearance styles that are in use, saved in the current Autodesk Impression file, or accessible inStyle Libraries.

You can create styles from scratch, which is a great way to add a personal touch to your designs.You can also import and export styles so they can be used with other design files that you workwith.Styles that are created get saved with the Autodesk Impressionfile. You can import existing styles from the sample files thatship with the program, from files you have received fromsomeone else, or from other files that you have stylized. Stylesare imported using the Import Styles / Open Libraries dialogbox.From this dialog box, you select the Impression file thatcontains the styles that you want to use. All available styles in

the file are displayed on the right side of the dialog box. Youcan then select the styles you want to import using standardWindows selection methods or click the Select All button to select all the available styles. Onceyou have selected the styles you want to import, click the Copy Selected Styles to Palette button.The styles are then copied from the selected file to the current Impression f ile and are available asSaved Styles on the Styles palette.


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Open Style LibraryYou can also set up Impression files to be used as style libraries. By using a style library you have

access to all the styles, but without the additional overhead of having all the styles in the currentImpression file.

You can open a file as a style library using the same dialog box shown above, but by selectingOpen File as External Library instead of Copy Selected Styles to Palette.A reference to the style library is added below the other opened libraries that are listed in the topsection of the Styles drop-down list on the Dashboard. To add a style from one of the open libraryfiles, right-click over the style and select Add to Saved Styles or click Add to Saved Styles at thebottom of the Styles pane. The style is then imported into the current Impression file andavailable for use.

Exporting StylesOne way to build style libraries that can be used on future projects or shared with others is toexport styles. When styles are exported, a new Impression file is created that does not containany geometry or layers. Since the exported styles are stored in an Impression file, it can beopened and you can then import other styles into it. This can be an effective way to manage thestyles that are in your libraries and also to remove styles that you do not want or to make newstyles based on those that you exported.

Exporting styles to a new Impression file is also a great way to create an Impression file that canbe used as a template when starting a project.


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Definition of Appearance StylesAppearance styles are primarily assigned at the layer level, but can also be applied directly to

objects or areas. An appearance style is composed of one or more:Strokes Define the appearance of vector geometry paths.Fills Define the appearance of the region inside vector geometry paths.Effects Perform operations based on the vector path to change an object's appearance.

The individual pieces of an appearance style are drawn in a user-specified order, from left to rightin the image above.

1. Stroke 2. Fill 3. Effect 4. Appearance Style

Each piece of an appearance style can be edited separately and moved to a different location in

the draw order of the style.

Sample Style

In the following illustration, a sample style isshown utilizing a stroke, effect (roughen),stroked (or compound) fill, and a basic solid fill.The order in which each element appearscorrelates to the draw order for the element.The higher an element appears in the list, thecloser that element will be to the top of the raworder.In the following example, the Fill element wouldbe drawn first or lower in the draw order, whilethe Stroke with the Roughen effect would bedrawn last, or at the top of the draw order.


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Style Editor PaletteThe Style Editor palette is used to create, modify, and access appearance styles.

The Style Editor palette contains several important areas:1. Style Name

Displays the name of the active style. Provides basic tools to copy the active style.

2. Style Element TreeDisplays appearance style elements in a visual representation of draw order. There arebasic tools to create a new fill/stroke, show/hide the elements drawer, and delete a styleelement.

3. Style PreviewDisplays a preview of the selected appearance style.

4. Properties AreaDisplays properties of a selected element in the appearance style. You can capture specificstyle elements as presets. The properties area provides a preview of individual strokeelements.

5. Save Current Style Element

Saves the current style element as a preset, available from the drop-down list.

6. Style ElementsContains customizable groups of style elements (strokes, fills, and effects). You can usethese to construct new appearance styles in the style tree window or to modify styles. Theyare accessed via a drop-down list by selecting the black arrow.


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Style GroupsThe chain of elements that make up an appearance style can contain "groups". Groups are similar

to parentheses in a mathematical equation; the contents of a group are put together before thegroup is added to the top-level style tree.

The primary use for style grouping is to display and create compound styles and fills. Groupingalso allows you to apply effects to specific pieces of a style tree. For example, you can apply aneffect to only one fill. Style groups can be expanded and collapsed using the plus/minus boxesdisplayed next to the group.

Style ElementsStyles are made up of style elements. They are added to a style definition from a drop-down listfrom the style editor.

StrokesStrokes are drawn on top of vector geometry and define the appearance of geometry. You cancreate two types of strokes:

Standard Outline

The right side of the illustration shows CADdata opened in Autodesk Impression.

When opened, the CAD data (left) has beenassigned a gray pencil stroke (right).


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Standard StrokesA standard stroke is a line of a uniform thickness, filled in with a solid color or gradient.

Outline StrokesOutline strokes contain a stroke and a fill as part of their definition as shown below.

In the following image on the right, astandard stroke is converted to an OutlineStroke. The dashed property is applied tothe outline stroke and a gradient fill is added

to the stroke. If you were to make theembedded stroke dashed as well, the outlineof the dashes would also be dashed.


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FillsFills describe the appearance of the area inside of a vector.

1. No Fill

2. Uniform

3. Gradient

4. Texture

EffectsEffects are used to visually alter vectorpaths. They appear to alter the vector path,but are non-destructive.

In this illustration, a Roughen effect isapplied to the current stroke resulting in a

hand drawn appearance.

Effects can be applied as part of an entire appearance style, in which case they affect thegeometry of all strokes and fills the same. Alternatively, effects can be applied to individual partsof an appearance style, i.e., to a single stroke, but not the fill.

Roughen Effect Applied to Stroke Roughen Effects Applied to Stroke and Fill


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There are two types of effects available:Effect Type Description

Drop Shadow Creates an offset shadow under geometry as shown on the left in thefollowing image.

Roughen Adds noise to the vector path and provides a hand-drawn look as shown onthe right in the following image.

The ToolboxThe Toolbox is the collection of various tools required to create geometry in an Impression file. Alltools in the Toolbox are accessible from the Tool Bar or from the Tools menu. Only the tool barprovides a way to change the property settings for each tool by selecting the gray arrow beneaththe tool.

The contents of the toolbox are similar to those of the Draw toolbar in AutoCAD. Both thecontents of the toolbox and Draw toolbar are the primary locations for geometry creation.

In the following image, the Freehand Tool is used to create a small pond on the property. Thecurrent layer of the drawing has a fill applied, making the process a single step to create thepond. You can see the additional options available for the Freehand tool because the cursor hasbeen placed on the gray arrow.


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Preparing a Drawing to Open or ImportLayer Styling vs. Area Styling

There are two main methodologies to creating illustrations with Impression; layer styling and areastyling. In addition to the two main methodologies, you can also apply a style directly to anobject. How you intend to work with the illustration will help you decide which styling method(s)you should use.

Layer StylingLayer styling is the most powerful way to work with Impression. It involves having styles appliedto specific or standardized layer names created in either the CAD (.dwgor .dwf) file or theImpression (.irf) file. To take advantage of the most powerful and time saving tools in Impression,Style Mapping and CAD Geometry Update, the layer styling method should be used.

In this method, you can change the style that is assigned to a layer by selecting the layer youwant to assign a style to and then choosing the style you want assigned to it. All objects, bydefault, are assigned a By Layerproperty which allows the line work of the object to inherit theproperties of the style assigned to the layer that the object is on.

Procedure: Applying a Style to a LayerThe following steps describe how to apply a style to a layer.1. Find the desired Style in the appropriate library.2. Drag the styles swatch directly onto the layer you wish to apply it to in the list.


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Area StylingArea styling is an alternative method of applying styles to closed areas which is different from

layer styling. This method is the fastest way to produce illustrations. It involves applying stylesdirectly to objects or enclosed areas and does not require specific layers, or any layers at all otherthan the default layer 0. The area styling method could be used for individual or one-offillustrations that are not intended to be updated as the CAD design changes or be used to carryforward different illustrative iterations.

As you import objects from DWG or DWF files into Impression, there will be times when youcannot just work with layer styling alone due to the way the imported objects are organized onlayers. In these instances, you may be able to apply a majority of the styles using layer stylingand then do any additional stylizing of the design using either area styling or by applying a styledirectly to an object. When a style is attached directly to an object it is referred to as a styleoverride. When an object has a style override assigned, the style that is assigned to the layer is

ignored.

Area styling is done using the Area Fill tool, which identifies a closed area by determining if linescreate a closed object by touching end-to-end or if they overlap.

Procedure: Applying a Fill to a Closed AreaIf you need to create a fill for a single closed area, do the following:1 Select the layer current that you want the fill to be created on.

2 Click the Area Fill tool.

3 Click the tab with the down arrow below the Area Fill tool toadjust the gap tolerance value as needed.

4 If you want to assign a style other than that assigned to thecurrent layer, select it from the Styles pane on theDashboard.

5 Position the crosshairs over the closed area and click to createthe fill.

6 Press the ESC key to end the Area Fill tool.


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Organizing Content with the Layers PaletteYou create, organize, and navigate content using the Layers palette. In the Layers palette, you

can: Select entire groups of content including views, layers,

and selection sets.

Change draw order

Create new views

Group layers

Toggle the display and lock/unlock status of views andlayers.

Guidelines for preparing a file to be brought into Autodesk ImpressionFollowing are some general guidelines to keep in mind when preparing a .dwg file to be opened orimported into Autodesk Impression:

Use standard layer-naming conventions. Purge unused named items such as blocks and layers. Freeze layers that are not essential to the illustration. This might include text, dimensions, or

sections of the drawing. If you plan to substitute Impression blocks for blocks in the original drawing, keep the

original blocks as simple as possible.

Style MappingA Style Map is a portion of an Impression file that contains layer and style assignments, includingall relevant style definitions. Any Impression file can be used as the source to import a Style Map.When working with style maps, you should note the following:

Layers matching the name of the layers in theimported file receive the correspondingAppearance Style.

If a layer does not exist in the current file, butdoes exist in the imported file, it is not created.

Only styles that are successfully mapped to an

existing layer in the current f ile are added tothe Styles palette. You do not export a style map. When

importing a style map, you use any AutodeskImpression file to import its layer and stylerelationships.


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Using Impression BlocksThe blocks available for use in a drawing are displayed

in the Blocks palette. The Block Palette is accessiblefrom the Palettes menu or by pressing the F4 key. Onceyou have accessed the blocks palette, you can importblocks from your current drawing or from an externallibrary. Blocks used in your drawings are displayed inthe Blocks palette on theSaved Blocks search filter. Other items in the Blockspalette represent libraries providing read-only access toadditional blocks.

When one of the read-only blocks is imported into yourdrawing, a copy is placed on the Saved Blocks tab. The

block is editable in your drawing while the original ismaintained in the library. Additional block instances canbe inserted from the Saved Blocks tab.1. Libraries

Libraries are used to organize blocks. There are also search filters provided where you canaccess Saved Blocks and In Use Blocks in the current file. Saved Blocks can contain defaultand custom block definitions. Other libraries can be accessed to provide a read-only link tolibraries in other Impression documents.

2. Redefine BlockReplaces an existing block definition with a block consisting of the current selection set fromthe canvas.

3. Create Block from SelectionCreate a block from objects selected on the canvas.

4. Create MultiblockCreates a multiblock from blocks selected from the palette. A minimum of two blocks mustbe selected.

5. Display Substitution MapOpens the Block Substitution Map palette.

6. Link to a Block LibraryAllows you to select another Impression file that has saved blocks which you want to includein a block library.

7. Export a block

Allows you to export the selected block(s) to a file that can be used as a library file for otherillustrations.

8. DeleteRemove selected blocks.

Stylizing CAD Blocks with Block Substitution


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Blocks from a DWG file can be stylized in Impression using block substitution. Block Substitutionallows you to replace blocks with any Impression block simply by dragging a block from the block

palette onto a block on the canvas. This will automatically change all blocks that have the samename to the chosen Impression block. For example, a typical site plan drawing could containhundreds of tree blocks or other types of landscape objects. By using a block substitution, you canreplace all instances of that block in a single step. This can be used to save time when stylizingmultiple design objects that are made from blocks such as landscape plantings, but can also beused anywhere repetitive objects exist.

Appearance of Substituted BlocksWhen you substitute a block, a block substitution icon is added to the blocks preview image in theBlocks palette. The icon illustrated in the following image indicates that the block is currentlybeing substituted with another block. Use the Block Substitution Map palette to see specifics aboutthe block substitution.

Using Block Substitution MapsOnce a block substitution is created, you can edit it with the Block Substitution Map palette. TheBlock Substitution Map palette allows you to change blocks that are substituted, add or deletethem, or change them back to their original CAD form. When you save the Impression file, theblock substitution map is saved with it. The map can be imported into other files. Importing BlockSubstitution Maps enables you quickly duplicate previous block substitutions that you used inother drawings. This is similar in concept to Style Mapping.

In the illustration on the right, ablock substitution is set to

randomly vary the scale of theblock. The arrows indicate thesame block insertion at differentsizes.


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Using Multi-BlocksA Multi-Block is a block that is made up of two or more blocks. Very easy to create, multi-blocks

provide you with another method of stylizing your drawings by combining several blocks into asingle entity, that when inserted, or used as a substitution block, generates random instances ofthe block. For example, inserting a multi-block that consists of two blocks would result in twodifferent blocks being displayed randomly during the insertion process. If you use a Multi-Block tosubstitute blocks in the drawing, Impression will automatically alternate the block instances thatare shown, resulting in a random assignment of blocks to the substitution.

Once the multi-block is inserted, you have theoption of manually specifying a particular blockto be shown from those that are used to createthe multi-block. In the illustration on the right,a Multi-Block that consists of two umbrella

blocks has been inserted. During the insertionprocess, the block instance that is inserted israndomly determined.

Sharing Impression ImagesImpression files include drawing information from the original CAD drawing, plus the Impressionstylizations, layers, objects, blocks, etc.

Impression illustrations can be saved as .dwf files, viewable with Autodesk Design Review. Theycan also be saved into several file formats popular in the desktop publishing world, including:

PSD - The native Adobe Photoshop format EPS - The standard for embedding graphics in page layout applications PDF - For electronic document sharing

PNG, JPG, and BMP - Popular image formats

Impression illustrations can be printed on all page sizes supported by standard plotters withresolutions up to 300 dpi.

More Learning ResourcesYouve attended this presentation, but whats next? Impression can be downloaded from theAutodesk Subscription site. Speak to your company Autodesk subscription manager.

A variety of learning resources are available for Autodesk Impression. Two of them are built rightinto the product:


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The Quick start Tour helps you understand the basic concepts used in creating a rendered

image in Impression, with easy to follow step-by-step exercises and informational videos.

The Quick Start Guide, available from the Help menu, provides a more in-depthintroduction to the application.

An online resource, the Impression Community, http://impression.autodesk.com/ includeseverything from tutorials to discussion groups to user submitted tips.

For further training information contact an Autodesk Authorised Training Centre such as CadpointLtd.

I hope that you have enjoyed this session and that it has provided an in sight into how to make a

get started using the Autodesk Impression software.

If you require any further help, would like to discuss any of the issues raise or require anyinformation then please contact me at CADPoint on the email below.

Thank you for attending Making a Good Impression.

Paul Oakley

s8-3 making an impression paul oakley

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