ArchiCAD 16 Tip 2: Zone Stamp 2_16 Tuesday, 21 August, 2012

While browsing in archiCAD looking for my correct zone stamp yesterday I accidently stumbled on to

something new and nice!!!!

HIDDEN within the Zone tool is and extra Zone stamp, by default we are working with the Zone

stamp 1_16, however there are a Zone stamp 2_16 that we can also use.

To change the stamp we need to open the Zone categories dialog box.

Once opened you will see a dialog box showing all your default zone categories.

I then created a new zone category and selected the "Zone

Stamp 2_16" as the stamp for the new category.

This way I could safely play with the zone stamp setting without

messing up my default zones.

Click "OK" to go out.

We can create a new category, rename and

also delete.

Current Zone Stamp selected for the active

category.

Here we can see the default categories listed.

Back on the floor plan open the Zone dialog box and

select the newly created zone stamp.

So let's see what is different in this stamp!!!

Open the Settings Tab page.

Here we see that there are sub-categories that can be

edited. We will go through each in a moment.

The stamp can be scale sensitive which means that by

activating this check box the Zone Stamp 2_16 will display

different info depending on the scale of the drawing /

view.

We can also select between 3 different scales. We can

setup each scales info by going through the sub-

categories one at a time for each scale. Let's start with

the 1:50 scale. Meaning that what we select and edit now

will show in a scale of 1:50 only!!!

Also notice that there are 3 Style types that we can

choose from, to start with I will use "Style 1"

Identification (1:50)

Here we will setup how and what the zone stamp uses to Identify

the room / area it is placed in.

"Zone Name" is linked to the "Zone Name on the "Name and

Positioning" tab page. Here we can also find a drop down

list of default names to choose from or we can enter our

own name.

"Zone No." is linked to the "Zone No." under the "Name and

Positioning" tab page.

If you check the "Use Category as Name" it will use the

"Zone Category" name as in the "Name and Positioning" tab

page

If you check the "Category ID" it will use the "Zone

Category" ID as in the "Name and Positioning" tab page

"Use Category as Name" overrides the

"Zone Name"

"Category ID" overrides the "Zone No"

We have now finished the "Identification" sub-category and can

click on the button to continue to the next sub-category

tab page.

Finishes, Heights (1:50)

If we check the "2. Zone Name Line" check box we can

add a second line with custom text in it to our zone

stamp. Simply type the custom text in the space provided.

We can also display further information like the

Apartment ID by checking the check box to activate.

Doing this will open the space next to the name where

we can now type in the necessary information to display.

We can specify the floor finish of the room / area that

the zone is placed in. Under "Flooring we can either

choose a default material from the dropdown list or type

in our own material.

The same applies to the "Ceiling" and the "Wall Finish"

We can now continue to the next sub-category page.

Area, Volume (1:50)

If we activate the "Height Values" we can select to

display a "Level" marker in front of the values within the

zone stamp.

We can add the Finished Floor level height by typing in

the value into the space provided. Same for the Zone

Level (Zone level being your Unfinished floor level)

If we however select the "Automatic Finished Floor level"

and the "Automatic Zone Level" check box the typing

field becomes locked.

The zone tool will now use the "Zone Level" as the

Finished floor level and the "Subfloor Thickness" to

calculate the Unfinished floor level.

We can add the areas (note that the area calculations

are dependent on the settings you setup under the

Project Preferences and the Area Calculation Tab page.

Window Area will calculate all the windows within the

surrounding walls.

Perimeter calculates the perimeter of the surrounding

walls.

Ceiling Height is set up under the "Name and Positioning'

tab page.

Zone Volume calculates the volume of the zone.

Area and Volume Price

Here we can add information regarding the currency and the

price that the zone needs to use for pricing.

This does not show in the zone stamp on the floor plan and it

also does not show in calculation schemes. So looks like it is only

for information only.

Text Style (1:50)

Here we can define what the text must look like for the Title as

well as for the information within the zones.

Appearance (1:50)

Now we can click on "OK" to go to the floor plan and see what

this zone stamp looks like.

NOTE: If you do not see all the information that we added make sure that your SCALE is 1:50

on the floor plan.

Note the "Model Size" and "Paper Size" meaning is the

scale of the stamp linked to the model or the paper size.

"Automatic Line Spacing" and deselect to specify a line

spacing.

Show or Hide the stamp frame.

Apartment ID frame can be different than the rest of the

stamp

So to recap, we have now set up this zone stamp to show all

these information on a scale 1:50.

You can now go and setup the scale 1:100 and 1:200 and select all

the information to show on each.

Make sure you have scale sensitivity selected, otherwise the zone

stamp will not change the information based on the scale.

The zone stamp also has 3 different styles:

Style 1 Style 2 Style 3

Remember that the Apartment ID can have a rounded, square or no frame and that you can turn of

the background fill within the Appearance page.

Hope you find this useful...

Cecilia Smith