FIGURE 1A. Here’s how to add Title Block functionality to a title block in a sequence of steps: No. 1, sketch a title block frame; No. 2, add notes; No. 3, select those notes and add them to a Title Block Table, add tool tips, and surround the notes with a hot spot rectangle; No. 4, save the Sheet Format. To see how things went, test the Sheet Format with a drawing.

Title blocks on drawings are defined as part of the company’s drafting standard. With the CAD software being discussed, templates are created to capture that company standard. The customized drawing templates then can be used as a good start in creating production drawings.

This (ongoing) discussion of the design of templates will emphasize Title Block functionality, a somewhat simpler approach than using custom properties. The idea is that the drawing file stores the product manufacturing information (PMI). With the custom properties approach from previous episodes, the PMI is stored in the part or assembly files and then is simply displayed by the drawing’s Sheet Format. As foreshadowing, the simpler approach may end up with less convenience.

The CAD software has special functionality that can be applied for title block design and data entry. The PMI stored in the Title Block travels with the drawing file and does not change the 3D model file in any way.

Title Block has a double meaning. We will capitalize in the context of CAD functionality and use lower case when using it as common drafting terminology.

The Sheet Format, another CAD term, of the drawing defines what the title block looks like and where the Title Block fields are located on the drawing.

Customized Sheet Formats are as easy to create as Save Sheet Format. Sheet Formats are used to update existing drawing templates and existing drawings.

In this demonstration, an existing drawing is being edited to design a revised Sheet Format. That Sheet Format will be used by an updated Drawing Template. With the starting point drawing open, the Edit Sheet Format tool is used. Figure 1A shows the three steps involved in setting up a Title Block.

Step No. 1 calls for sketching the title block’s frame and adding titles. In this example, the sheet is 11 by 17 in. (B size). The sketched size of the title block and its fonts are adjusted for legibility on the hard copy.

In Step No. 2, notes are added to each of the fields desired in the title block. (A note is a CAD term for an item that contains text.) The fields (notes) in this example are Description, Material, Tolerance, Finish, and Deburr. Because we’re editing an existing drawing, we might be tempted to make notes meaningful as they are added. However, keep in mind how the template will be used. Help the user understand what data needs to be changed from default. For example, the note for description “ASSEMBLY, BASE, FMA CART” might be better as “ENTER DESCRIPTION” in the finished template.

With the fields positioned in the title block, we are now at Step No. 3, where the Title Block is defined. While editing the Sheet Format, right-click the mouse to pop up a menu and select “Title Block Fields ….”

FIGURE 1B. To test the Title Block, open a drawing using the Sheet Format from Figure 1A. Move your mouse over the title block on the drawing. The cursor should change to Title Block Table. When it does, right-click the mouse and select Enter Title Block Data from the pop menu. Tab through the fields, make changes as needed, and click the green checkmark when completed.

The Title Block has a hot spot that appears as a rectangle with handles. The users of the template will have to position the mouse within the hot spot to access the menu to get to the data entry fields.

Set the size of the hot spot accordingly. Keep in mind that a right mouse click in the hot spot is needed to access the Title Block. Because the right-click button has other uses in other locations on the drawing, keep the hot spot just around data entry fields.

To add fields to the Title Block, select available notes. In this example, there are five notes to select.

Each field in the Title Block table has a Tooltip entry that can be filled in. This helps the user understand what is to be entered as they arrive in the field.

The fields in the Title Block can be reordered for the convenience of the user when tabbing through the fields.

Step No. 4 calls for saving the Title Block (embedded in this Sheet Format) so others can use it. Edit the Sheet (as opposed to editing the Sheet Format). Save the Sheet Format with a meaningful name. In this example “sheet format - dumb title block” was used. The “smart title block” version is promised later.

Gerald Davis Design and Consulting

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