Automatic Border

The Automatic Border tool lets you control every aspect of a sheet format’s border, including zone layout and border size.

Using the Automatic Border tool, borders and zones automatically update to match changes in the Zone Parameters tab of the Sheet Properties dialog box without having to manually edit the sheet format. You can also include Margin Mask areas where formatting elements such as labels and dividers are not shown. This is helpful when you want to mask an area on a sheet for notes.

To use the Automatic Border tool:

  1. In a drawing, click Edit Sheet Format (Sheet Format toolbar).
  2. Click Automatic Border (Sheet Format toolbar).
  3. Set options:
    • On the first page of the Automatic Border PropertyManager, select items to delete from the sheet's format. For example, you can delete existing format entities before creating a new smart border.
      When you use the Automatic Border tool, the borders and zone dividers automatically align and update with existing zones.
    • On the second page, define the margins, borders, and zones.
    • On the third page, define Margin Mask areas for zone labels and dividers that provide a convenient location for notes. In this example, the margin masked area includes the upper right zone labels.

  4. Click .

Creating a Zone Layout

This example uses the B (ANSI) Landscape sheet format. First, you remove the existing zone labels and zone dividers. Then, you add new zone information to create four rows and six columns.

To show or hide drawing zone lines, click View > User Interface > Zone Lines.

To create a zone layout:

  1. Create a new drawing and select B (ANSI) Landscape as the sheet format/size.
  2. Click Edit Sheet Format (Sheet Format toolbar).
  3. Click Automatic Border (Sheet Format toolbar).
  4. To remove the existing zone labels and dividers, on the first page of the PropertyManager, select the zone letters and zone dividers on the sheet to delete. As you select the letters and dividers, the notes and lines appear in Delete List.
    These entities will not be deleted from the sheet until you click .
  5. Click .
  6. Under Zone Size, select Evenly sized and set Rows to 4 and Columns to 6.
  7. Under Zone Formatting:
    1. Select Show zone dividers.
    2. Set Length of Zone Divider to 0.25in.
    3. Set Length of Outer Center Zone Divider to 0.25in.
    4. Set Length of Inner Center Zone Divider to 0.25in.
    5. Under Zone labels, select Show columns and Show rows.
  8. Click .
  9. Under Margin Mask, click Plus .
  10. In the graphics area, you can resize the mask and drag it over view labels and zone dividers to mask them out.
  11. Click .
  12. Click Edit > Sheet, or right-click any blank area on the drawing sheet, or the sheet icon in the FeatureManager design tree, and click Edit Sheet.
After you create borders and zone dividers with the Automatic Border tool, any changes you make to the zones using the tool or Sheet Properties > Zone Parameters will automatically update.