Viewing Options in Drawing Viewer

Overview

The drawing viewer's varied viewing options let you view and compare drawings in multiple ways. This article explains how to open sheets in a single view, new tabs, split view, or overlay mode, and how to use each option to review changes, compare revisions, and understand differences between drawings.

Viewing Options

Anytime you see these buttons underneath a sheet, you can do one of three things: Open Sheet in New Tab, Open Sheet in Split View, or Open Sheet in Overlay Mode, respectively.

Single view is the default; only one sheet opens at a time in the drawing viewer when a sheet is selected initially.

Open Sheet in New Tab

To open a different sheet or revision in a new tab, click the corresponding new tab button, and the selected drawing will open in a new tab within the single view.

Open Sheet in Split View

Open any two sheets side by side with our split view. Open a sheet, click the corresponding split view button next to the desired second sheet (or revision), and view both sheets simultaneously. 

The default split screen lets you move around each sheet individually. You can adjust how much of the second screen is shown and navigate around both sheets independently.

If you lock the sheets, they will scale identically. Both sheets will move in tandem and allow you to closely analyze the same section on both sheets if you so choose (we like to use this to compare revisions side by side!).

When in split view, you can choose to Swap the two sheets to reverse the views, open a sheet in a New Tab, or Close split view all from the same menu that appears in the upper right corner of both open sheets.

Open Sheet in Overlay Mode

Overlay any two sheets and use our differences, ghost, and highlight features to toggle between sheets and see variations. Our overlay view is not limited to revisions on a single sheet. 

Differences 

Using the "Differences" feature in an overlay lets you toggle between two sheets or revisions by adjusting the blend amount. The first sheet will be in red, and the second in blue, to easily see the differences between the two sheets. 

This tool is probably best used to visualize changes between revisions. 

Ghost

The "Ghost" feature is essentially the same as the differences feature, except there is no color change to differentiate between the sheets. Instead, the first sheet is faintly visible over the second sheet. 

Highlight

The "Highlight" feature will show the differences between both sheets in white with a black background to prominently display changes. 

This feature is especially helpful when trying to see small changes between revisions.

Aligning Sheets

To align two sheets that do not have the same orientation, click Align Sheets, then on the first sheet, select 3 easily distinguishable points that appear on both sheets such as corners or intersections. Once you select the third point, the second sheet will appear. Select the same three points on the second sheet, and our software will align those three points to properly overlay the two sheets. If you incorrectly select the three points, simply select Reset Alignment and re-select the three points.

This is especially helpful when overlaying two different types of drawings. In the example above, we overlaid an architectural drawing and a structural one to show how alignment is beneficial across plan types.