In This Topic
A template is simply a pre-saved drawing that can be used to base new drawings on. They are useful if you have a standard layout that should be repeated i.e. if you want:-
- a border, company logo and title block on every new drawing;
- to add any set of page objects or properties, such as cabinet depths and kickboard heights, to multiple drawings;
- to set page size, e.g. A3 and scale defaults;
- to have a series of templates that let you quickly select between a few preset material colour schemes;
- apply costing information (See topic on Pricing Extra Items in the CM-Cabinet Library User Guide)
In this tutorial we will discuss how to:-
- apply templates to a new drawing;
- create a new template;
- unlock to allow editing of a template;
- delete existing templates;
- duplicate objects by creating a Common Page;
- set a common size/font or format individual labels;
- unlock common size/font to copy to another template.
A template is typically applied when starting a new drawing using the Create from template dialog (shown above). However you can apply one or more templates in a currently opened drawing - see Apply Template topic. These dialogs allows you to merge in a template in several ways:-
- Ask you about any conflicts - this means you can apply multiple templates that may affect different aspects of the drawing.
- Overwrite existing values with ones from the template.
- Keep the existing drawing value.
Since these templates should contain only properties relevant to their purpose, you could apply them all, in any order, without problems. It also means you could switch between similar templates at any time because they will only overwrite a limited number of properties.
To create templates you start CabMasterPro as per normal, except without a library. You can update a current template by moving things around (see Allow Edit) or create a template from scratch. The following outlines the basic steps required.
- Start a new drawing with NO library by selecting "<none>".
Example
The reason for creating a template with no library is so that when you apply the template, the Drawing Properties aren't replaced with those from whichever library you were using at the time.
A template should contain the minimum amount of properties it needs to do its job.
See FAQ
Applying Template Deletes Properties - If the "Create from template" dialog is presented and you are creating a template from scratch, then again select "<none>".
Example
You can update a template or create a new template from an existing one, in which case you would select the relevant template from the list displayed.
- Then place on your new drawing everything that you want to be part of the template such as border, images or text boxes and set page size and scale if required.
- From the File menu, select Save As. Ensure the "Save as type" is Template (*.QIT) and type in a descriptive "File name".
- Now save the drawing as a template in the "Templates" folder (instead of the usual "Data" folder by clicking the "Folder Up" button to move up one directory ), so that it is detected at start-up.
Exact
File Locations, including your "Template" folder, can be found using the
File >
Options [
F10] dialog.
From now on when you start a new drawing, you will be able to apply the template you just created.
Trouble Shooting: See FAQ Saving Templates which discusses problems with...
- finding a saved template and;
- cabinets placed not starting at 1.
Items such as text boxes, graphics lines, logos etc, that got added because they are part of a template, are not normally editable. This is because templates are locked down so that they do not interfere with cabinets and drawings in general and to prevent users from accidentally editing, or dragging, resizing etc a template item.
Also, formula controlled text updates as the details, such as client and material information, in the Drawing Properties change. See discussion on Formula Controlled Labels below.
Plan View Options F9 - Click to Expand
To unlock/lock, open View Options [F9] and check/uncheck the Allow Edit of Template Items, as shown.
If, however, you want to deliberately change or copy a template item, you can temporarily enable this checkbox, but it is recommended you turn it off again when done. This is because usually, when drawing a new job, you will not be wanting to edit items that arrive as part of the template. Once locked, it can no longer be selected as part of the drawing.
If you apply a template to a drawing that already has one applied, and the current template contains page objects (e.g. text boxes or rectangles) you will be asked whether you wish to delete existing template items.
- No - the new objects will be merged in with the drawing, leaving all existing objects untouched.
This is required when more than one template is applied to the one drawing - see example in Scale Drawing Tutorial.
- Yes - all the objects that were added by the original template will be deleted, as well as any drawing properties that it merged in. This effectively allows you to completely replace the current template, which can be useful in some cases. For example, if you have several templates with different border and title layouts, you can use this functionality to switch between the layouts at any time, without affecting the cabinets on the drawing.
If you want the certain parts of your template, such as your logo and contact details, to appear on more than one "Page" of a drawing, then you can move these to the Common Page.
Example : A drawing with multiple pages
In this example, on Page 1 we have placed a picture of the company logo (see Insert Picture). This is not, however, reflected on Page 2.
Show Common Page
To "Show" the Common Page right click any of the "Page" tabs and select from menu.
Move to Common Page
To move objects to the [Common] page:-
You can set a common size/font for your template items by using the
File > Prepare > Resize Labels command, then:-
- Press the Pick new font radio button, as shown.
- Then click the Select... button which will open a dialog, allowing you to configure a new font size etc. Change as required and close.
- Ensure that the "Include template items" check box is ticked and close this dialog also.
Example 1
You can add/change
Label and text as per the following. Simply...
- Select the label or text;
- Right click and Format Item;
- Amend as applicable.
Example 2
There are two ways to add variables (including formula controlled labels) to a newly created template i.e. Copy or Load existing.
Formula Controlled Labels
The Text box of a label can be, and frequently is, formula-controlled and these variables are denoted by being highlighted in yellow. The formula controlled text updates as the details in the , for example, change.
Only Developer software users can update these fields but they can be copied which is useful when creating new templates.
The first way is to copy labels from an existing template and paste these into your new template.
With your template that you are creating open...
- Open a 2nd copy of CabMasterPro either from the Windows > Start menu or using your desktop icon.
Windows 11: Left click on Start menu and then the "All Apps" button top right (this changes to "Back" button)
Start menu
- From the "Create from template" dialog select an existing template that has variables and ensure that the "Allow Edit of Template Items" option is ticked.
Plan View Options F9 - Click to Expand
- Select the label that you want to copy and use your clipboard to Copy from one template and Paste to the other, as shown. Repeat.
Example: Copy formula controlled text into New template
Copy the formula controlled variable (below left) and Paste into your new template (below right).
Click on image for more on Formula Controlled variables. If 'Allow Edit' is turned on, you can move/resize etc the copied variables.
Click to see more on Formula Controlled Items
Another way to add variables, is to load supplied variables using the ToolData provided for the Labels Tool.
With your template that you are creating open...
- Right click on the Label Tool;
- Click on Load from the presented menu;
Example: right click and load
- From the presented "Load" file dialog, select the relevant variable (in this example CustomerName.qtd);
If the 'ToolData/Label' folder is empty then you can use your
Support Login to download the
ToolData for Template Variables provided there. These variables are used in the
following video. (See
Help Topic for details on how to locate and extract).
Example: Load file dialog
- Click on drawing page to place and drag to the correct position.
Tips on Placing Labels
After copying/loading labels you may find that the font and size are different. This is where
File > Prepare > Resize Labels is useful. As you can see in the example below left, the text "Customer" is a different size and font to the variable.
After closing the "Resize Labels" dialog, all text is now displayed with the same size and font, as shown below right.
As you can see above, the label text "Customer" is not correctly lined up with it's associated variable.
There are a number of ways to move labels. You can simply select the text and use the
arrow keys on your keyboard to move in the required direction. Hold down the
Ctrl + arrow key to make small movements.
You can use
Markers, available on Insert ribbon, to provide a
snap handle to assist in the easy placement of text.
In the
following example, we have 2 labels placed but now need to place at even intervals. To do this add markers in a clockwise direction:-
- the first marker (highlighted in green) was placed lower left
- then using the movement commands we added markers 150mm apart in the Up direction.
- when we reached the top we added a marker (highlighted in purple) 50mm to the Right
- then we added makers 150mm apart in the Down direction (highlighted in orange) until parallel with the first marker.
Example
First marker shown in green, continue to add markers Up until top is reached.
Then add marker right shown in purple, continue to add markers Down until bottom reached.
- Now we can select and move the text but first ensure that the Snap To Handle is on i.e. tick the check box as shown.
Example
Video
This video discusses how to create a template in CabMaster. (15.28mins)
See Also
Watch the Video which covers all the points discussed in this tutorial. 
