1、Design

Parametric Drawing – Shift the Way You Design

Parametric drawing is a definite breakthrough in how we design, for it allows us to take full control of the size, position, and relationship of every object in the drawing. You don’t need to think much about how to start a drawing, just concern yourself with how you’d like it to end.

ZWCAD 2011 offers you two types of parametric constraints:

(1) Geometric constraints enable you to create relationships between objects, making them behave as a single whole.

(2) Dimensional constraints make it easy to change the sizes of objects by simply adjusting their dimensional values.

The new Parameter Manager allows you to add and edit parameters, which define the functional relationships among dimensional constraints.  

Designing with Parametrics

2、Efficiency

More Drawing Tools – Boost Your Efficiency

(1) MLeader, Table, and Field

These three features work together perfectly. You can use MLeader (multileaders) to mark part numbers in drawings, and then use Table to list all of them. Finally, you can add Field to display drawing information so they will update automatically to show the latest information about the drawing.

Table, Field, and MLeader

(2) Solid Profiles

The new Solprof (solid profiling) feature enables you to create profiles of 3D solids with an ease. You can get 2D and 3D profile line, as you prefer. Hidden lines and visible lines can be placed onto different layers automatically.

Profiles from 3D Models

(3) PDF Plotter

Newly integrated into ZWCAD 2011 is PDF plotter, which plots drawings to high quality PDF files. The output supports OLE objects, raster images, gradient hatches, and plot stamps. In addition, the PDF file can contain layer information from the drawing - just like what you see in the original. PDF files make it very convenient to share your drawings with customers, without giving them the originals of your design.

PDF Created from ZWCAD Drawing

3、Experience

Many More Improvements - Give You a Better User Experience

(1) ESnap Improvements

The speed of entity snap acquisition has been improved through the use of a different structure for the snap mechanism. Smart selection highlighting is now supported to highlight the object at which you are pointing. The new magnet snap means that once your cursor moves near a snap marker, it is immediately attracted to the exact snap point.

(Drawing from ZWCAD Design Contest 2010)

Smart Selection Highlighting

(2) Larger Raster Images

ZWCAD now allows you to insert raster images that are larger than 256MB. The processing of these large images is faster. Also enhanced is the correct insertion of images in PCX format.

(3) Reference Editing Improved

The reference editing function has been redesigned in ZWCAD 2011 so that the renewed Refedit command improves both speed and accuracy of in-place reference editing.

(4) Dimension Line Breaks

Use any object to break dimension lines automatically, or break the dimension line at any point manually. Despite the gap making the line look broken, the dimension is still a whole. And same command also removes breaks from dimension lines.

Dimension Breaks

(5) MText in Attributes

A new kind of attribute is available in ZWCAD 2011, MText. This means that you can now input multiple lines of text in attributes. This is very helpful when you need to specify a lot of information using attributes, such as detailed product descriptions.

(6) Online Help

You are no longer alone with out-of-date help documents. Online help is now accessible to every user, no matter the ZWCAD version being used. And all teaching movies are also directly available to watch online, instead of taking lots of time to download them.

Online Help

4、Expansion

Enhanced LISP and ZRX – Expand Your Design-Ability

(1) ZRX

Many new classes have been added to the ZRX interface, such as MFCs (Microsoft foundation classes), the load-on-demand functions, double-click protocol functions, and ZRX entrance messages. These make it easier for users to write more powerful applications, and to migrate their old ARX applications to ZWCAD in less time.

(2) LISP / VBA

LISP and VBA are also enhanced in ZWCAD 2011. The quality of some functions, like Vlr (VL reactors) and AutoLISP functions, are improved. New functions have been added to the Vlax and Vl series. We added new UI objects, methods, properties and events to make VBA more powerful.