4.6 Plant Symbols in CAD

This project involves making CAD versions of your plant symbols.

Prerequisites

Visit the online learning site and take the course appropriate for this project - CAD versions of symbols.

Plant symbols in CAD.

The figures below show some examples of symbols made using CAD software. Your hand drawn samples from the earlier projects are similar in form. The aim in this assignment is to turn your hand symbols into CAD symbols. The symbols here have been drawn by past students and have now been incorporated into our GardenCAD Pro software. We would hope that your symbols get incorporated too.

This means that whenever you decide to use CAD as a means of creating a garden plan you will have these personalised symbols at your disposal. We want you to learn how to create your own symbols, that's how you stamp your own personality into your CAD designs.

Symbol Group 1:

Symbol Group 2:

Symbol Group 3.

Symbols 3

Symbol Group 4.

Symbols 4

Symbol Group 5:

Symbols 5

Creating your own symbols

For your immediate reference, here is the 'GardenCAD symbol standard'

New drawing

Start a new drawing. Do not use a template.

Create New Layers

Create the following layers:

L-PLNT-CONSTRUCTION,

L-PLNT-SYMBOL,

L-PLNT-NAME

Set the drawing colour for each layer will at BYLAYER. [You will however change the drawing colour as your draw - colouring various parts of the canopy and branches appropriately].

Tip: Make sure that you know how to make a layer current. You will want to move to a layer, (say L-PLNT-SYMBOL) and change the drawing colour to an appropriate shade of green or whatever to indicate the plant species that you are designing for. You need to be able to switch back to drawing by layer when you have finished this.

Place a circle on L-PLNT-CONSTRUCTION

Start by drawing a CIRCLE centred at Cartesian coordinate 0,0 on layer L-PLNT-CONSTRUCTION with a canopy diameter of 1000 units (radius 500 units). Draw another circle on the same layer with a radius of 15 units as the central indicator. Do not use a cross for this as the cross will be in an awkward position after a rotate. We recommend setting the line thickness of each circle to 0.5mm so the position of each new species stands out when plotted.

Now work on layer L-PLNT-SYMBOL

Here different colours are commonly used along with the PLINE (Polyline) command. We use the PLINE command to trace around the approximate circumference of the circle (using the circle on the L-CONSTRUCTION layer as a guide and then use the PEDIT (Properties in gardenCAD) command to change the 'fluidity' of the shape. This gives us a symbol which we can use to show the client a rough draft of the design - the full high coloured version comes next. In contrast to the circles on the construction layer, keep the line thicknesses here quite fine (certainly less than 0.5 mm).

Now we use the PLINE command, the HATCH command to make small highly coloured blocks (canopy1, canopy2 etc.). Stamp these into the drawing on this new layer. You might care to make a group coloured ligher and place these in the 0-90 degree arc to give the appearance of sun shining on the symbol.

Draw a couple of branches and make these into blocks (branch1, branch2 etc.) Stamp these over the circle to make the shape. Test the symbol both on the screen and when plotted to paper. Save the symbol in your own block library (folder).

Send a copy of several your new symbols as email attachments to info@gardencad.net