eTransmit, Publish, and Archiving
As we continue our journey with using Sheet Sets, it’s a good time to look at the big three features… eTransmit, Publish, and Archiving.
Yes these are standard AutoCAD commands, and yes you can use them without using Sheet Sets, but it is the combination of using them in conjunction with the Sheet Set that makes them so powerful. Why? Many reasons, but for one, where else do you have a list of all the drawings for a project in one easy-to-access list?
eTransmit
eTransmit is a tool to collect all the related files for a drawing or group of drawings and roll it into a neat little package. This includes grabbing all the xrefs, images, underlays, and even the fonts.
To access eTransmit within the Sheet Set, right-click on the section or selected drawings you want to collect. By right-clicking on a section, AutoCAD will analysis all the drawings contained within that section. For example, in the image shown below, all the sheets within the Architectural section will be analyzed for the eTransmit.
Using the left side panel of the Create Transmittal dialog you can deselect sheets you do not want to include with the transmittal. The right-click menu provides options to Check all / Uncheck All and to Expand/Collapse All. Append notes in the bottom dialog.
The Files Tree and Files Table provide views for the files included in the transmittal. Similar to the Sheets view, you can deselect files you do not wish to include. Use Add File to add additional files to the transmittal. These files do not need to be contained within the Sheet Set.
Transmittal Setups
Transmittal Setups are templates to set the defaults for the transmittal. You can define multiple Transmittal Setups to have templates for different scenarios.
Use the Modify Transmittal Setup dialog to configure the template, including:
- the package type as a Zip (collecting all the data) or a Folder (set of files)
- the file format including saving the drawings in an older format
- the Path options including keeping the files and folders as is, keeping the structure but saving to a different location, and placing all the files in the same location
The Actions provide features to process the drawings contained within the transmittal. Set default plotter to ‘none’ is useful when sending the transmittal to someone who won’t have access to your plotters. This eliminates the constant prompt for a printer that won’t be found. Additionally, Bind the external references, Purge the drawings (with the defaults), and Remove any associated Design Feed.
Use the Include section to include additional files. This includes fonts, material textures, files from data links, photometric web files, and the sheet set itself.
Live and In Action
Upon clicking OK, AutoCAD processes the selected section or file to collect the data and copy it to the set location.
Feature Image “Sheet Swap” by lisaclarke
