Line Thicknesses Definition

This section deals with line thicknesses definition. Line thicknesses is a property which can be applied to, and drives the representation of, almost all elements in a drawing, such as lines, curves, dimension lines, etc. (Line thickness cannot be applied to fonts and points). 

 

  • In releases up to V5 R9 SP2, line thickness used to be defined in Tools > Options > General > Display > Thickness & Font for the Drafting workbench as well as for other workbenches. For Drafting, line thickness is now defined in standards. Therefore, line thickness in drawings does not depend on the options defined in Tools > Options, but on what is defined in the standards. 
  • When opening a drawing created with releases up to V5 R9 SP2 (i.e. a drawing which does not contain its own line thickness parameters), the line thickness options defined in Tools > Options will be used. You can upgrade a CATDrawing document to this new standard format at any time, by performing the following operations in File > Page Setup:
    - changing the standard to another standard (ISO > ANSI for instance)
    - updating the current standard to the new format.
The information below is specifically intended for administrators customizing standards for the 2D Layout for 3D Design workbench:
  • When displaying line thicknesses in the 2D Layout for 3D Design window: the line thicknesses which are used are those defined in standards.
    This is the case of all elements displayed in the 2D or 3D background of a view in the 2D Layout for 3D Design window, whether they are:
    • layout elements (geometry, annotations and so on),
    • 3D wireframe elements (lines, points and so on).
  • When displaying line thicknesses in the 3D window (Part Design, for example): the line thicknesses which are used are those defined in the settings (through Tools > Options > General > Display > Thickness & Font).
    This is the case of all layout elements (geometry, annotations and so on), when displayed in the 3D window.
  • When printing a layout: the line thicknesses which are used are those defined in standards.
  • When editing part layouts in the context of a product: the line thicknesses which are used are those defined in the standards of the current layout (even when visualizing elements which belong to another layout).
    For example, take the following scenario, where:
    • the layout of Part.1 uses ISO_3D
    • the layout of Part.2 uses JIS_3D
    • the line thickness definitions are different in ISO_3D and JIS_3D.

    In this case, when visualizing Part.2 in the background of the Part.1 layout, Part.2 will be displayed using the line thickness definitions of Part.1.

Therefore, if you want the visualization of elements to be homogeneous in the 2D and 3D windows, you need to make sure that line thickness definitions in the standards match line thickness definitions in the settings.

Defining Line Thicknesses

Line thickness definitions are located in the Line Thicknesses node of the Standard Definition editor, available via Tools > Standards.

There are 55 line thicknesses definitions in the Standards editor. You cannot add additional instances of line thickness definitions. Out of these 55 definitions,

  • line thickness definitions ranging from 1 to 8 are pre-defined with different parameters for each, and available. 
  • line thickness definitions ranging from 9 to 55 are pre-defined with the same parameters for all, and unavailable. 

You can customize these definitions to suit your needs, by modifying one or several values of the parameters defining the style. Once defined, a thickness can be applied to any element which supports it, either via Edit > Properties, or using the Graphic Properties toolbar. 

 

Parameter

Description

Availability

Indicates whether this definition is available for users to choose from: 
1 = available
0 = unavailable.

Pixels

Specifies the size in pixels, with a maximum of 16; reflects the result displayed on screen.

mm

Specifies the size in millimeters; corresponds to the printed version.

 

The Availability parameter specifies whether or not a given line thickness should be available in the thickness list for users to choose from, when creating or editing elements. Users will only be able to assign "available" line thickness definitions to these elements. However, existing element properties in drawings will not be affected: if an existing element is assigned a line thickness which is flagged as "unavailable" in the Standards editor, then this line thickness will be used for this element but it will not be available in the thickness list, so that users cannot apply it to other elements.