AutoCAD Architecture 2025 Sheet Sets
Implementation of Sheet Sets in AutoCAD Architecture is quite easy once you get into it and is an excellent tool to use. A sheet set is an organized and named collection of sheets (basically selected layouts) from several drawing files. With the Sheet Set Manager, you can manage drawings as sheet sets.
A sheet set can be created with the Create Sheet Set wizard. In the wizard, you can either create a sheet set from scratch based on existing drawings or use an example sheet set as a template. Layouts from specified drawing files are imported into the sheet set. The associations and information that define a sheet set are stored in a sheet set data (DST) file. When you create a new sheet set using the Create Sheet Set wizard, a new folder is created as the default sheet set storage location. This new folder, which is named AutoCAD Sheet Sets, is located in the My Documents folder.
It is important to note that the DST file should be stored in a network location that is accessible to all sheets set users on the network and mapped using the same logical drive. It is strongly recommended that you store the DST and the sheet drawings in the same folder. If an entire sheet set needs to be moved, or a server or folder name changes, the DST file will still be able to locate the sheets using relative path information.
Overview
Before you begin creating a sheet set, several steps should be completed. First, drawing files need to be consolidated. Move the drawing files to be used in the sheet set into a small number of folders in order to simplify sheet set administration. Second, eliminate multiple layout tabs. Each drawing you plan to use in the sheet set should have only one layout to be used as a sheet in the sheet set. This is important for access to sheets by multiple users, as only one sheet in each drawing can be open at a time. Third, create a sheet creation template. Create a drawing template (DWT) file to be used by the sheet set for creating new sheets. You specify this template file in the Sheet Set Properties dialog box or the Subset Properties dialog box. Fourth, create a page setup overrides file. Create a DWT file to store page setups for plotting and publishing. This file can be used to apply a single page setup to all sheets in a sheet set, overriding the individual page setups stored in each drawing. It is important to note here that although it is possible to use several layouts from the same drawing file as separate sheets in a sheet set, it is not recommended. This makes concurrent access to each layout by multiple users impossible. This practice can also reduce your management options and can complicate the organization of your sheet sets. To open the Create Sheet Set Wizard, click on the View tab, Palettes panel and select Sheet Set Manager. When the palette opens, click the drop down that says Open and select New Sheet Set.
In the Create Sheet Set wizard, when you choose to create a sheet set from an example, the example sheet set provides the organizational structure and default settings for the new sheet set. You can also specify that folders are created corresponding to the subset storage paths of the sheet set. After you create an empty sheet set with this option, you can import layouts or create sheets individually.
In the Create Sheet Set wizard, when you choose to create a sheet set from existing drawing files, you specify one or more folders that contain drawing files (see Figure 1). With this option, you can specify that the subset organization for the sheet set duplicates the folder structure of the drawing files. The layouts from these drawings can be imported into the sheet set automatically. You can easily add more folders containing drawings by clicking the Browse button for each additional folder.
Figure 1 – Create Sheet Set Wizard
Import A Layout into A Sheet Set
After you create a sheet set, you can import one or more layouts from existing drawings. You can initialize a layout by clicking on its tab to activate the previously unused layout. A layout does not contain any plot settings before initialization. Once initialized, layouts can be drawn upon, published and added to sheet sets as sheets after the drawing has been saved. This is a fast method for creating multiple sheets from layouts in several drawings. In the current drawing, you can drag a layout tab directly onto the Sheets area of the Sheet List tab in the Sheet Set Manager.
To import a layout into a sheet set, begin by clicking the View tab on the Palettes panel and select Sheet Set Manager. In the Sheet Set Manager, Sheet List tab, right-click the sheet set node, a subset node or a sheet node and then click Import Layout as Sheet (see Figure 2). In the Import Layouts as Sheets dialog box, click Browse for Drawings and then navigate to the drawing you want to use. If you wish to select several drawings, use SHIFT or CTRL when you click on the drawing files. Next, click the check boxes of the layouts to be imported as sheets in the current sheet set and click Import Checked.
Figure 2 – Import Layout as Sheet
Create A New Sheet in A Sheet Set
As an alternative to importing existing layouts, you can create a new sheet. When you place views in this sheet, the drawing files associated with the views are attached as xrefs to the sheet drawing. To create a new sheet in a sheet set, begin by clicking the View tab on the Palettes panel and select Sheet Set Manager. In the Sheet Set Manager, Sheet List tab, right-click on the sheet set node and then click New Sheet. You can now select a drawing template and layout and then select OK.
Create A New Subset
Sheet subsets are often associated with discipline such as architectural, electrical and others. For example, in architecture, you might use a subset named Structural, and in Electrical, you might use a subset called Lighting. In some cases, you might also find it useful to create subsets associated with a review or completion status. Subsets can be nested into other subsets as needed. After you create or import sheets or subsets, you can reorder them by dragging them into the tree view.
To create a new subset, begin by clicking the View tab on the Palettes panel and select Sheet Set Manager. In the Sheet Set Manager, Sheet List tab, right-click the sheet set node or an existing subset and click New Subset. In the Subset Properties dialog box, under Subset Name, enter the name of the new subset and click OK (see Figure 3). You can drag the new subset anywhere on the sheet list, even under other subsets. It is important to note that if you want to create a subset under an existing subset, you can right-click the existing subset. On the shortcut menu, click New Subset.
Figure 3 – Subset Properties
Re-Associate A Sheet in A Sheet Set
If you move a sheet to a different folder, you should re-associate the sheet to the sheet set with the Sheet Properties dialog box to correct the path. For any relocated sheet drawing, the paths for Expected Layout and Found Layout are displayed in the Sheet Properties dialog box. To re-associate the sheet, click the path in Expected Layout and then click to navigate to the new location of the sheet. It is important to note that you can quickly confirm whether a sheet is in the expected folder by looking at Details at the bottom of the Sheet List tab. If the selected sheet is not in the expected location, path information for both Expected Location and Found Location is displayed in Details.
To re-associate a sheet in the sheet set, begin by clicking the View tab on the Palettes panel and select the Sheet Set Manager. In the Sheet Set Manager, open a sheet set. Now on the Sheet List tab, open the sheet that you want to re-associate. Next, in the Sheet Set Manager, right-click the sheet you wish to remove and then click Remove Sheet. Save the drawing. In the Sheet Set Manager, right-click the sheet set and click Import Layout as Sheet. In the Import Layout as Sheet dialog box, click Browse for Drawings and navigate to the drawing you wish to use. Click the check box of the layout to be re-associated as a sheet in the current sheet set and click Import Checked (see Figure 4).
Figure 4 – Re-associate Sheet in a Sheet Set
Add A View to A Sheet
From the Model Views tab, you can easily add a view to a sheet by placing a named model space view or the entire drawing onto the current sheet. It is important to note that after creating a named model space view, you must save the drawing to add the view to the Model Views tab. Click Refresh on the Model Views tab to update the Sheet Set Manager tree view.
To add a view to a sheet, begin by clicking the View tab on the Palettes panel and select Sheet Set Manager. In the Sheet Set Manager, open a sheet set. On the Sheet List tab, you can either double-click on a sheet to open it or create a new sheet and open it. On the Model Views tab, click the plus sign next to a folder to list the drawings in the folder.
From the list of drawing files, do one of the following:
- To add a model space view to a sheet, click the plus sign next to a drawing file to list its named model space views and then right-click a model space view
- To add an entire drawing as a view in a sheet, right-click a drawing file
Click Place on Sheet. As an alternative, you can also drag a model space view or a drawing from the Model Views tab to a sheet.
Now, right-click on the sheet and then click the scale you wish to use for the sheet view. Specify the insertion point for the sheet view. The specified view is now added to the sheet. If a view label block is defined in the sheet set properties, a view label that displays view-specific information is automatically placed on the sheet.
Add A Sheet List Table
The first sheet in a sheet set will usually be a title sheet that includes a description of the sheet set and a table that lists all the sheets in the sheet set (see Figure 5). You can create this table, called a sheet list table, on an open sheet. The table automatically includes all the sheets in the sheet set. Once a sheet list table is created, you also have options to edit, update or delete the cell content of the table.
Figure 5 – Sheet List Table
To add a sheet list table, begin by clicking the View tab of the Palettes panel and select Sheet Set Manager. In the Sheet Set Manager, open a sheet set. Right-click a sheet set name, subset, or multiple sheet set names and subsets and then click Insert Sheet List Table. In the Insert Sheet List Table dialog box, set the Table Style in the Table Style Settings group. Next, on the Table Data tab, specify Title Text for the table and add, remove or change the order of the column entries. On the Subsets and Sheets tab, select the subsets and sheets to be included in the sheet list table. Please note that if you add a sheet to a subset later, you will automatically be prompted to update the sheet list table. Click OK.
Publish A Sheet Set
From the Sheet Set Manager, you can easily publish an entire sheet set, a subset of a sheet set or a single sheet set. It is quicker to publish a sheet set in the Sheet Set Manager rather than using the Publish dialog box. When you publish from the Sheet Set Manager, you can publish an electronic sheet set by publishing to a DWF, DWFx or PDF file, or you can publish a paper set by publishing to the plotter named in the page setup that is associated with each drawing sheet (see Figure 6). You can also publish your sheets using a page setup that is saved in the page set up overrides DWT file associated with the sheet set. This page setup overrides the current page setup settings for the individual publish job.
Figure 6 – Publish a Sheet Set
When you open the Publish dialog box from the Sheet Set Manager, the Publish dialog box automatically lists the sheets you selected in the sheet set. You can then modify the sheet set for publishing. It is important to note that you can specify that sheets are sent to the plotter in reverse order. This option is available from the Publish dialog box and from the Sheet Set Manager.
Sheet Sets in a Networked Environment
This was touched on in the Overview section of this article, but I wanted to give some additional information, as many of us work in networked environments. Each team member should have network access to the DWT (drawing template file) and the DST (sheet set data file) that you created earlier in this article. Any changes that are made by any team member will open the DST file briefly and the information that is stored in that file is updated accordingly. Any time the DST file is opened, you will see a lock icon displayed next to the sheet set name that is located at the top left corner of the Sheet Set Manager. There will be one of three color dots in the lock icon: green, red or yellow. The green dot indicates that the Sheet Set Manager on your computer has locked the DST file temporarily. The red dot indicates that the Sheet Set Manager on a team member’s computer has locked the DST file temporarily. The yellow dot indicates that the sheet has a special state in the file properties, possibly read-only. All members of the team can see the changes to the sheet set in the Sheet Set Manager tree view automatically.
Team members in your networked environment can also see status data for sheets in the current sheet set. This data is displayed in the tree view and indicates whether the sheet is available for editing, the sheet is locked, or the sheet is missing or found in an unexpected folder location. It is important to note that a false lock icon may be displayed if a network problem exists. In this case, click the sheet to display more information in the Details area of the Sheet Set Manager. The Sheet Set Manager automatically polls the active sheets of team members for status changes and updates the tree view. You can force this polling cycle to occur faster by clicking on Refresh Sheet Status on the Sheet List tab. You can also update all sheets in a set automatically once all other users have closed their drawing files by clicking on the Resave All Sheets option in the sheet set shortcut menu.
