Microstation Tutorial 01

Introduction to MicroStation | CAD Notes
Introduction to MicroStation
I wrote this tutorial years ago, while I still working in a Bentley reseller. I wrote it in Indonesian, when it’s
still V8XM. I decided to rewrite it in English, and update some screenshot with V8i. Thanks for my
partner, I can get 30 days trial to do so. I know there are not many similar tutorial available. That’s why I
decided to share this on my blog. I hope this tutorial series will be helpful to you. Enjoy! You can also
bookmark the complete list in this table of content .
MicroStation Manager
MicroStation is a Windows compliant software. As any other software, you can start it from Windows
start menu, double click the icon from desktop, or clicking the icon in quick launch if you put it there.
When you start the application, you will see a dialog box: MicroStation Manager.
Not like another popular CAD platform, this application allows you to select user, project, and interface
at this dialog. You can fnd these options on lower right of this dialog.
Let’s change the user to examples. And change the project to building. What we just did is we set the
folder to examples>building at default location. This is where is it on Vista. If you use XP, you will see
it on different folder.
Let’s just open folder drawings, and select fle BSI300-GroundFloorPlan.dgn. You should see it
because it’s included in default installation. Open it.
The Interface
This is how MicroStation looks like. It’s not as complicated as this actually. I just arrange them closer so
you can see all components in limited image.
http://cad-notes.com/2009/10/introduction-to-microstation/[12/26/2012 2:22:54 PM]

Menu
I assume that you already get used to Windows applications. Menu in this application work just the
same. You can access all the tools and settings through available items in this application menu.
Task Navigation
Task navigation is where your tools are.
You can change active task from tasks list. Let’s say you need to give your objects dimension. If you
want to focus to dimension tools only, you can switch the active task to drawing>dimension. You will
only see dimension tools in active task.
Main tasks are the tools you will see no matter what your active task is. Main task mostly consist tools
related to objects manipulations and modifcations.
See several icons next to active task title bar? You can change the display by clicking it. Choose which
you think suit you most.
Now try to click the icon. That will activate the tool. Yeah, aren’t all Windows application works that way?
But now try to click on Place SmartLine tool, hold your mouse button. What do you see? You will see all
similar tools to create lines! You can select any other tools you want.
Try to click the ‘open linear as toolbox’ from the selection. That will open a toolbar for linear tools.

Activating and Using tools

Now you already know how to start MicroStation. You know where you can access MicroStation tools.
You just need to click on a tool from the list to activate it.
So how do you know what tool is active? You can see it from status bar and from tool settings.
Tool settings will show you only settings related to active tool. In this example, place smartline. Try to
click several points in your drawing area. There you go! It’s easy isn’t it?
Next, we will learn how to work with MicroStation fles .
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Working With Workspace and Design Files | CAD Notes
Working With Workspace and Design Files

In the last tutorial, you’ve been introduced to MicroStation . In this tutorial, we will start
working with workspace and design fles.
When you start a Windows application, most of them will create and open a new fle. But not here.
MicroStation have two types of fle: 2D DGN and 3D DGN. DGN is stand for design fle. Not limited to
DGN, you can also create a new DWG fle. If you are not familiar with this fle type, it’s AutoCAD fle.
We will discuss how you can create your own workspace, create new fles; and save fle and settings.
Creating Workspace
You can create multiple workspaces in MicroStation. If you need to design different drawings for
different industries, you can set each of them in a separate workspace. This will avoid you to arrange
tools and interface each time you need to create drawings in different industry. You can also use
workspace if you have multiple users working on the same workstation.
Let’s create a new workspace that you will use for this tutorial until the end. Open your MicroStation. If
you already open it, close your fle. You will see MicroStation Manager.
From user option list, select new…
MicroStation will ask you to give description for this user confguration. Type MicroStation tutorial then
click OK.
We have defned a user confguration for this tutorial. Now let’s create a new project.
From project option list, select new. Give name for this project: MicroStation Tutorial Files . And give
description: Tutorial fles from www.cad-notes.com. Of course, you can use your own description :)
It will create a folder at this location (for Windows Vista):
C:\ProgramData\Bentley\MicroStation\WorkSpace\Projects\MicroStationTutorialFiles
If you use Windows XP, you can fnd it in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application
Data\Bentley\… folder.
Preparing Tutorial Files
http://cad-notes.com/2009/10/working-with-workspace-and-design-ﬁles/[12/26/2012 2:24:24 PM]

I have prepared all tutorial fles we will use. Download them here, extract, and paste them into the
folder. The zip fle contain two folders: DGN and CELL. Select both of them, copy, and paste them
inside tutorial fles folder. When Windows ask you to overwrite those two folder, click yes. Those folder
is still empty anyway.
Up to this point, you have set user confguration and tutorial project. It may look complicated, but trust
me, it’s not :) You will love using workspace. Try to change the users and projects that available on the
list. Then change it back to our tutorial project. Very good for navigation, right?
Workspace can help you to manage your fles for different users, different project. But it doesn’t mean
that you have to save all fles in that folder. You can still save your fles to your desktop, C:\data folder,
etc.
Create New File

Let’s try to create a new fle. On the upper right of MicroStation Manager, you should see new fle
button. Click it.
Give the fle name My First Drawing. Do not click save yet. Check the seed fle. If it’s not showing
seed2D.dgn, click browse and select it. Seed fle is a drawing you can start with. Other applications call
it a template fle.
Click save. You will see it created a new fle with that name. Select it, and click open.
I know, it’s a bit different with other applications. But it’s not diffcult, isn’t it?
Set your Working Unit

MicroStation works differently in handling working unit compared to AutoCAD. I feel like I have to write
about this at very early stage, so if you are an AutoCAD user, you don’t get confused.
While in AutoCAD you can work with any working unit, and change it later, you can’t work that way here.
You have to defne your working unit at the very beginning. Before you start drawing. You can check
your working unit by accessing menu settings>design fle. Click on category working units on the left.
By default, in country using metric, MicroStation will defne the master unit (MU) as meters and sub unit
as millimeters. If it’s not your working units, change it now. After you fnish, click OK.
That’s how you create a new fle. I’ll stop right here now, and we will discuss more about working units.
To Understand Working Units

Have you copied the tutorial fles to our tutorial project? Click open. You should see several fles if you
have copied them. Find working_unit.dgn and open it. Don’t laugh at the design :) Yes, it is a very
simple drawing.
See the dimension. They show measurement in mm. Open design fle settings, and change the MU to
meters. Close the dialog and see what happen.
The dimensions are showing meters now!
Now try to activate Place Smartline.
Click anywhere on your drawing area, an look at the AccuDraw. It’s showing measurement in meters.
Click several times to draw lines. Right click to fnish. When it ask you to choose right click button
function, just let it be default value. Click OK.
Try to change the working unit again. Now try to place smartline again. You will see the measurement
showing different scale, even you create approximately line with same length! Now it’s using the new
working units. So don’t forget to check your drawing unit frst!
Saving File and Settings

Close MicroStation. Did it ask you to save your design fle? No. You placed some lines before, when you
open the fle again, you will still see the lines. Even you didn’t save the fle. MicroStation automatically
save it to your fle, every time you create an object. It can be a good news for you, or maybe a bad news
for some of you. However, I still recommend you to save your fle regularly by accessing fle>save or
press [ctrl] + S.
But now look at the dimensions. We have change the working units to meters (or you may have changed
it to something else) but it still showing millimeters! You need to save settings separately with saving fle.
There are a lot of settings you can save. We will get to this later. You san save the settings by accessing
menu fle>save settings or press [ctrl] + F.
Next, we are going to work with mouse and how you can control view/view navigation .
And don’t forget to bookmark the complete MicroStation tutorial list here .
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Using Mouse and Controlling View | CAD Notes
Using Mouse and Controlling View

You’ve introduced to MicroStation.You are also learned about MicroStation
workspace and how DGN fles work. Now we will learn how you can use
mouse and navigate the view.
Mouse as a pointing device has become indispensable in all design

applications, including MicroStation. Each applications may have unique
function on mouse buttons. We will discuss about using mouse in MicroStation.
View control (or in other software they call it view navigation) also have important role. You will do a lot
of zooming out, zooming in, panning, and other control during the design. Let’s make you comfortable
with it before we continue learning MicroStation further.
Mouse Button Function
Using mouse in MicroStation is almost the same with in many other program. But we use different
terms, and maybe unusual combination for many of you.
1. Left click (1) is called data point (DP) . When we place an object, we will need to defne a data
point. Either a start point, center point, next point… any kind of points! We can defne it by clicking
the left mouse. I guess that’s why they call it data point. We can also use data point to activate tools
from task navigation and as OK/accept button.
2. Right click (2) is called as Reset. Since V8 XM, we can choose not to use it as reset button. But
let’s just use it as reset button frst. Reset is used to cancel a running process or fnish using a tool.
3. Tentative button is when you press both left (1) and right (2) button at the same time. We use this
for temporary snap.
4. X Button is your mouse mid button. It’s only available for 3 button mouse. But I guess no body
using CAD still using 2 button mouse anyway :)
Clicking this button will activate/deactivate pan (no need to hold it).
Clicking it twice will activate ft view. MicroStation rescale your view to show every objects in
your drawing.
Scrolling this button will zoom in/zoom out the drawing area.
When the frst time you use Reset button, you may see this dialog. MicroStation will ask you whether
you want to use right click for Reset or pop up menus. I suggest you to leave the default value: use it as
reset button.
http://cad-notes.com/2009/10/using-mouse-and-controlling-view/[12/26/2012 2:26:27 PM]

That’s the basic. We can combine the mouse button with [ctrl], [shift], and/or [alt]. You can see all this
mouse function from MicroStation menu Worskpace>Button Assignment… Don’t try to change
anything yet. Just take a look for what you can do with them.
View Control
You can fnd view control toolbar under each view. If you are familiar with Windows applications, it
shouldn’t be hard. We will discuss most used tools frst, and the others later. Not all of them available for
2D drawings, so you might not see some of them.
The magnifer button with the + is zoom in. Clicking it will enlarge your drawing, just like you move your
eyes closer to your paper to get a better look.
We can use window area to magnify selected area in our drawing. You need to defne two data points
when you use this tool.
Fit view will adjust the drawing view scale automatically until you can see all of your object. Alternatively,

you can double click your X-button.
Pan view is used to pan or move your drawing area. Just like you move your paper around to see
another part of your drawing. Activate it, and click your data point to pan view. Alternatively, you can
press your X-button.
These are just like back and forth button. Just like undo and redo. But only for view control tools.
Hint: If you use AutoCAD, undo and redo will also affect the view control. But not in
MicroStation.
We will discuss more about MicroStation view control later.
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Precise Input: Using AccuDraw | CAD Notes
Precise Input: Using AccuDraw

Now you know how to use mouse in MicroStation . Now let’s see how we
can draw precisely in MicroStation. AccuDraw is your ultimate weapon to
place drawing elements in your design fles. It can help you to place
elements precisely, effectively, and effcient.
Since this tutorial is about 2D drawing, you will only see X axis and Y axis. But when you create a 3D
drawing, you will see one more axis: Z axis.
You can fnd AccuDraw above status bar. You can tear it off and make it foats like image in this tutorial.
It’s your choice.
If you’ve been playing with MicroStation for a while, you might have close AccuDraw by accident, and
now wondering how you can turn it on again. I did it before :) You can turn it on/off by clicking Toggle
AccuDraw on Primary Tools bar.
Let’s get started. Create a new fle, and open it.
Rectangular Coordinate
Activate Place SmartLine by clicking the button on task navigation. Click anywhere on your drawing
area. You will see a compass on your pointer.
Try to move your mouse pointer around. You will see the X and Y value changing. Move it to the right or
left of your compass. You will see the feld focus is on X feld. We can tell where the focus is by the
highlighted feld. Now move your pointer up and down near the compass. You will see the highlighted
feld now on Y.
The AccuDraw focus will move to feld with higher value.
Now move your pointer near to X or Y axis. You will see the line is thicker and sticky to the axis. We call
it indexed. Indexing will help you to draw lines parallel to X or Y axis.
http://cad-notes.com/2009/11/precise-input-using-accudraw/[12/26/2012 2:28:02 PM]

Move your pointer to the right, make sure X feld get the focus. Type 2 then [enter]. You will see the X is
pressed down, it means that the X value is locked. The focus automatically switched to Y value. Now we
can change the Y value. Since we want to create a horizontal line, type 0, then [enter] again. Both of you
X and Y value is now locked. Click your mouse left button to defne the data point. Remember,
MicroStation users call the left button mouse as data point. You will see the SmartLine placed.
Now move your pointer up until Y feld get the focus. Type 4 then [enter]. Move your pointer until it’s
indexed to Y axis. This will change the X value to 0. No need to lock it, click data point.
You may need to zoom out to see all your drawing. Scroll your mouse, until you see what you want.
Move your pointer to the left. Pay attention that AccuDraw now have focus on Y, not X. Isn’t X axis is
parallel to horizontal axis? AccuDraw compass will be rotated and follow the previous data points
orientation. Don’t worry about this now. You just need to move your pointer to get the correct focus.
Move it to the left, make sure it’s indexed. Press [enter]. This will activate SmartLock. SmartLock will
lock the horizontal value, which is Y value now. Move your pointer to the frst data point you defned. It’s
the starting point of this line. Wait until you see the yellow X symbol, and click on it. It was the snap tool.
Snap tool will ensure your data point ‘snapped’ to a certain point. We have a horizontal line now.
The last line, should be a vertical line to our starting point. Snap, and click on it again. There you go!
You’ve just created a rectangle with size 2×4 mm.
Polar Coordinate
During the design process, you may need to use other method to input your object. Not by X and Y
value, but using distance and angle. This is known as polar coordinate. How can we use polar
coordinate in MicroStation?
Easy, when AccuDraw get the focus, press [space] to change it to polar coordinate. You will see the X
and Y now is changed to distance and angle.
If you need to change it back to X and Y, simply press [space] again.

AccuDraw Challenge
Here is a little challenge for you. Can you create a profle like this image below?
Tips:
As mentioned previously, AccuDraw compass follows the previous data points orientation.
When you get to point (1), you need to reset the compass orientation. Press V to reset the
compass to view orientation. More explanation on this later.
Next, we will continue the tutorial on how to use tool settings .
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Precise Input: Using AccuSnap | CAD Notes
Precise Input: Using AccuSnap

We covered how to draw precisely using AccuDraw . Now we continue how to draw
precisely using AccuSnap to get a reference point.
When we place drawing elements, we need to reference to an existing point. We need

to place a point exactly at the end of a line, midpoint of a line, center point of a circle, et cetera. In
MicroStation, we use AccuSnap to do this. You have used AccuSnap for snapping your data point to a
line end before, now let’s get to know it better.
AccuSnap only active when MicroStation is asking you for a data point. It means when you need to
place a drawing elements or defne a data point during modify or manipulate your drawing elements.
When MicroStation doesn’t ask you for data point, AccuSnap is not active.
By default, the AccuSnap mode is set to fnd key points. Key points are different for each object type.
For example, key points for lines are the end points and mid point. Key points for circle are at its octants
(every 45 deg) and its center point.
Open a new drawing, create several objects in it. Rectangle, lines, circle, arc, et cetera. Don’t worry
about their size. We just use it to understand the AccuSnap behavior. We will do a drawing exercise on
the next tutorial.
Try to activate a drawing tools. Let’s use Place SmartLine. Move your pointer close to those objects and
see when and where the AccuSnap appear.
Overriding Snap Mode

During the design, we need to use more snap tools than just the key points. Don’t worry, MicroStation
has enough tools you can use. You can override the default mode by clicking the AccuSnap button on
status bar.
Or if you feel more comfortable with toolbar, you can show the button bar. Click the AccuSnap button
and select button bar.
How come the toolbar only showing a few mode, not as many as in menu? Right click on the toolbar,
and activate other mode you may need. Or, simply click show all. There you go; you have the entire
snap mode you can use!
Active and setting default Snap
http://cad-notes.com/2009/11/precise-input-using-accusnap/[12/26/2012 2:29:22 PM]

How do we know which mode is active? Active snap is shown as a pushed icon. When you see the
center point icon is pushed, then the active snap is center point. But there is more.
See the key point snap icon? It’s also pushed, and it’s shown in gray. The grayed button means it’s the
default snap mode.
Activate Place SmartLine. Try to override the mode to center point. Click on a circle to snap to its center.
After defning a data point, the key point will be back as the active snap mode. This is very useful if you
only need to change the snap mode for a point, and still want the key point as default snap mode.
On the snap menu, the default mode will have a blank circle on the left of it. While the active snap mode
have a flled circle.
If you need to change the default mode, you can do one of these:
1. Double click on a button in snap toolbar

2. Click the snap button on status bar, hold [shift] and click on a snap mode you want.
If you have fnished playing around with the default snap mode, make sure to switch it back to key point.
Tentative Snap
Do you remember which button is the tentative snap? Yes, press the left and right mouse click together.
I know some of you may not feel comfortable with it. I will show you how you can choose another
mouse click combination for at the end of this post. Let’s just use the default for now.
If you move your pointer close enough to a key point, you will see this point.
It’s almost like the snap point, but it’s not yellow. It’s a dashed cross. If you move your pointer closer to
that point, then it will change to snap point.
Let’s move your pointer until you see the tentative point. Click the tentative icon. MicroStation will show
you which point you are attempt to snap. The tentative point becomes a large white cross, and
MicroStation highlight the object. If you see it is snapping to correct point, click data point to accept it.
This is important if you have a lot of objects in your drawing. You can review whether you are snapping
to correct object or not. If it’s not, click reset (right click) to cancel it, and try it again.
Changing the Tentative Snap Assignment

If you still feel uncomfortable with clicking two buttons at once, you can change the button assignment.
Access MicroStation menu: Workspace>Button Assignments… MicroStation will open a dialog box.
Click Remap Buttons.
In button mappings dialog box, select the tentative. As you can see, currently it’s invoked by left
button – right button chord. Move your pointer to defnition area. Click your mouse to assign a new
button.

Many MicroStation users use mid button as tentative point. It’s a long story :) You will lose the pan
functionality if you use it. But you still can use pan scroll by pressing [shift] + data point. It’s not exactly
the same with pan view. If you don’t like the pan scroll, you can change the assignment from pan scroll
to pan view. It’s your choice!
Next, we will do an exercise for AccuSnap and AccuDraw .
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MicroStation tutorial: AccuDraw and AccuSnap | CAD Notes
AccuDraw and AccuSnap Exercise

We have discussed how you can use AccuDraw and AccuSnap as tools for
drawing precisely in MicroStation. Now we are going to do a little exercise to
use them. If you haven’t created a tutorial project, do it now. We are started
to use them.
Download accudraw_shortcut.dgn and replace the previous one with it. I will update all the fles later, so
you won’t need to download them every time we use an exercise fle.
Before we begin the exercise, there are two AccuDraw features I would like to introduce you: AccuDraw
calculator and AccuDraw shortcuts.
AccuDraw Calculator
AccuDraw has a built-in calculator function. This is very helpful if you need to use mathematical
calculation when placing a data point.
You can simply click your frst data point, move your pointer to a reference point. As you know, the value
in AccuDraw feld will show the exact distance between your two points. Don’t click the data point yet.
Just move your pointer to the second point, and press the equation operator. Type the equation you
wanted, then AccuDraw will calculate it for you!
Tips: For + or – operator, you need to lock the X or Y value frst. Otherwise, AccuDraw will
think you want to input negative or positive value. You can lock it after your pointer at the
reference point and press X for locking X axis value (or Y for Y axis value).
AccuDraw Shortcut
AccuDraw shortcut is a very cool feature in MicroStation. You can control many AccuDraw behavior with
it.
Make sure AccuDraw get the focus by pressing [f11], then press [?]. You can see the list of the whole
AccuDraw shortcuts.
You actually have used several of them: [enter] for smart lock, [Space] for changing AccuDraw mode
from rectangular to polar coordinate and vise versa, [V] for view rotation, [X] for lock X, and [Y] for lock
Y.
http://cad-notes.com/2009/11/accudraw-and-accusnap-exercise/[12/26/2012 2:30:12 PM]

Exercise: Using AccuDraw and AccuSnap

Open the accudraw_shortcut.dgn. This is an unfnished building plan. We are going to fnish it.
Drawing the parking lots mark

Activate SmartLine. Snap to point 1 and click data point. Now we need to draw the line perpendicular to
the curb. Press [R] then [Q] to activate rotate quick using AccuDraw shortcut. Snap to point 2 and click
data point.
The AccuDraw compass is now rotated following the curb orientation. Now we can draw the mark line
easily. Draw a 5 m length (this fle working unit is set to m).
Copying Mark
This time, activate copy tool.
Change the copies value in copy element settings to 5.
Click data point on point (1). You should select the line you just draw. You can tell by moving your
pointer and see which objects in your pointer now. Try to click Reset button on your mouse. This will
cycle your selection for overlapping objects in that point. If it doesn’t, zoom in and try again. Make sure

you select the line.
We will have to rotate our AccuDraw axis. This time we use [R] then [E], rotate element. Select the line
we created before. RQ and RE work just the same. The only difference is, RQ using points as
reference, RE using drawing element. One more thing: after using RE, the axis rotation doesn’t come
back to default. You need to reset it by pressing [V].
Move your pointer to point (2) until you see the snap point. Press [/] to divide the distance. Type 5. Click
data point.
Finishing the Building Center Lines
I will let you fnish this MicroStation exercise by your own. Try to fnish it like this image. If you have
problem, don’t hesitate to discuss it here!
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MicroStation tutorial: Using Tool Settings and Linear Elements | CAD Notes
Using Tool Settings and Linear Elements

We will start discussing details on our drawing tools. We are going to
discuss some basic drawing tools, and how to use it with tool settings. The
basic elements are linear, circle, and polygon elements.
Using tool settings

We use tool settings to change the element parameters. Tool settings will
show you all available parameter for active tool. When you activate place circle, it will show you
parameters for circle. When you activate place line, it will show you all parameters for line. Not just for
drawing, it’s also used for modify and view navigation tools.
Activate place circle and take a look at the tool settings for circle. You can see that there is a diameter
parameter. But if you have been playing with MicroStation tools for a while, you’ll fnd out that you don’t
need to input diameter when placing circle. You can simply use AccuDraw to place two data points. So
how can tool settings and AccuDraw can work together?
They talk to each other. Let’s try to activate place circle from navigation bar. Place a data point
anywhere on your screen as the circle center point. Now move your pointer. As we have discussed
before, the value in AccuDraw will be updated instantly. You can move your pointer, type the radius,
and click data point to place the circle. But don’t defne the second data point yet! See your tool
settings. The diameter value is also changing.
Click reset to cancel this circle placement. Now, with the place circle still active, lock the diameter value
in your tool settings, and type the diameter value.
Move your pointer to drawing area. Now you can see a circle attached to your pointer! If you defned the
diameter (or radius) before defning data point, you can click only once to place the circle. Very useful if
you have to place many circle with the same radius.
Linear Elements
We will discuss more about circle later. Now, let’s discuss about linear elements.
Place SmartLine
We’ve been using SmartLine a couple of times. It’s named SmartLine, but we can place several
elements type just using this tool. The elements can be:
Line, if it only has one line segment

Arc, if it only has one arc segment
Line string, if it has several line segments
Complex chain, if it has several line and arc segments
Complex shape, if it’s a closed element
A SmartLine can have arc and lines. You can change the segment type from line to arc and vice versa
during placing the element. You can also change the vertex type to rounded or chamfered.
http://cad-notes.com/2009/11/using-tool-settings-and-linear-elements/[12/26/2012 2:32:17 PM]

MicroStation tutorial: Using Tool Settings and Linear Elements | CAD Notes
A little tip: You can quickly change the top most parameter in tool settings by pressing [~] in
your keyboard. See the animation for creating the profle below.
You can download an old animation here. They will show you how those profle were created. I created
it using a free recorder when I still use V8 XM. Yes, it’s executable fles, they have their own player.
Place Line
Another linear element that we can consider as basic is ‘place element’. You only can place a simple
line using this tool. Every line you created only has one segment. You create four line segments, then it
will be four separate lines.
Let’s take a look at the tool settings. There are only two parameters: length and angle. Try to lock the
value for these two before you place your line.
What happen? You only need to place one data point, and it already has the length and angle you
wanted!
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http://cad-notes.com/2009/11/using-tool-settings-and-linear-elements/[12/26/2012 2:32:17 PM]

Dialog with Focus: Using MicroStation Shortcuts | CAD Notes
Dialog with Focus: Using MicroStation Shortcuts

Before we continue further with MicroStation tutorial, I want
to discuss about dialog with focus. You may fnd that
sometimes it works when you use AccuDraw shortcut, but
sometimes it doesn’t. The reason is, you may have the
focus on other dialog. You need the focus on the AccuDraw
dialog to use AccuDraw shortcut. Confused?
Understanding and Controlling the Focus

What is this focus we are talking about? In GUI, we can give input to a component that currently has the
focus. An active dialog box is shown with clearer color than the inactive dialog boxes. If you open
several applications, if you press [alt] + F to open fle menu, then the active application will show the
menu. More details in Wikipedia . MicroStation has many dialog boxes inside the application itself.
If you are an AutoCAD user, you can type AutoCAD command anywhere and anytime. Command line
always has the focus. But not in MicroStation. There are several dialog can get the focus, and each of
them has specifc shortcut that we can use. You can see the status at the right bottom of MicroStation,
at the status bar.
Home
Moving focus to home: press [F12] OR [esc]

When you see this icon, it means the focus now is at home. When focus at home, you can use the task
navigation shortcut. There are some letters and numbers on the task navigation. That’s the shortcut key.
You can press [1] to activate element selection. You can press [Q] to activate place linear group, then
press [1] to activate the place SmartLine. It’s very useful to speed up than using mouse to activate it.
AccuDraw
Moving focus to AccuDraw: press [F11]

When you see this icon, then you can use AccuDraw shortcut. We have discussed AccuDraw shortcut
before.
Tool Settings

Moving focus to Tool Settings: press [F10]
Personally, I’m not a fan of tool settings shortcut when it has the focus. Like default Windows dialog
boxes, you can see some text are underlined. Segment Type for example.
http://cad-notes.com/2009/11/dialog-with-focus-using-microstation-shortcuts/[12/26/2012 2:32:56 PM]

Dialog with Focus: Using MicroStation Shortcuts | CAD Notes
It means that you can press [alt] + S to change that parameter.

Tool settings can use task navigation shortcut too. And I prefer to use it. Press [esc] OR {f12] –yes, we
move the focus to home- and you will see some letters near the parameters. You can press the letter to
change it. I think this is more fun.
Key-In
Moving focus to key-in dialog: press [F9]

We haven’t use key-ins yet. We can activate MicroStation tools by clicking our mouse above the tool
icon, and apparently we can use task navigation shortcuts, and surprisingly, we can key-in the tool!
Why we would do that? Isn’t using task navigation shortcut is faster?
Sometimes, using key-in can be faster, and it can control everything. Things that you can’t control in
task navigation. When you press p, then key-in will show you every tool started with p. After you type pl,
then it will auto complete it with ‘place’, press [space], then it move to 2nd column. Press s then m to
activate smartline. You will see options available for SmartLine in the 3rd column.
If you remember how we changed the mouse button assignment , that’s a key-in. Pan view and Pan
scroll are key-ins. You can also assign key-ins to function keys [f1] to [f12]. You can see the assignment
by accessing menu Workspace>Function Keys.
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http://cad-notes.com/2009/11/dialog-with-focus-using-microstation-shortcuts/[12/26/2012 2:32:56 PM]

MicroStation Drawing Elements: Circles and Polygon | CAD Notes
MicroStation Drawing Elements: Circles and Polygon
We tried to draw several times before. But until now, we only use linear elements. Now we are going to
discuss circles and polygons. I don’t usually write details on how using a specifc tool. I usually write
concept and ‘how to’ tutorial. But i already wrote this tutorial as a book before (in Indonesian). So I don’t
want to mess the original material structure anyway.
Circle and polygon are closed shapes. Closed shapes have some properties that open shapes don’t.
Let’s see the tool settings for circle.
You will see area, fll type, and fll color. You can change the fll type to opaque or outlined. Opaque will
place the circle and fll the object with fll color you choose. Outlined will also place the circle with fll
color, but still preserve the outline color.
Tips: If you don’t see the fll color, click view attributes on your view toolbar. Select fll. It’s
the frst icon on your view toolbar.
Circles
Placing a circle
You can place circles using these method:
Center: You defne two points: the center point and a point on the edge
http://cad-notes.com/2009/12/microstation-drawing-elements-circles-and-polygon/[12/26/2012 2:33:43 PM]

Edge: You defne 3 points on the circle edge
Diameter: You defne two points on the edge as the circle diameter.
We will do a little exercise at the end of this tutorial, but now:
Placing an Arc
Placing arc is pretty much the same with placing circle. There are some methods and options, but I think
they are self explained. You need to try them to understand the options better.
You can defne the direction by rotating your pointer to other direction around the center of arc. And of
course, you can manually override the direction parameter to CW or CCW.
Placing Polygons
Placing Blocks
Block is a rectangle. MicroStation call it block, but you know it as rectangle in AutoCAD. Block in
AutoCAD is cell in MicroStation. Confusing? Sorry, I can’t help it :) But don’t worry about that. Let’s
continue…
You can place a block by using two methods: orthogonal or rotated.
Orthogonal requires you to defne two points at the block corners.
Rotated requires you to defne three points: start point, rotation angle, and the block corner.
Placing Shapes and Orthogonal Shapes

Placing shape is very similar with placing SmartLine. But you have to defne the last data point at your
frst data point, so the shape will close. You can also fnd one button that you don’t see in other tool
settings: close element. Clicking the button will automatically close your shape.
Orthogonal shape is similar to shape. The only difference is the edges is perpendicular to each other.
Regular Polygon
You can create a regular polygon with number of edges from 3 to 4999.
You can use these following method to place a regular polygon. Below are the illustration of the
methods. The circle is only for illustration. You will not see it in your drawing.
Inscribed: First data point will be the center, and the second is the polygon corner.
Circumscribed: First point is the polygon center, and the second point is the distance from center to
polygon edge.
Edge: You defne two points on the polygon edge.
A Challenge: Create this drawing using regular polygon, circle, and arc
If you have problem, you can download the animation here.
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Using MicroStation Text | CAD Notes
Using MicroStation Text

An engineering drawing always has text. In this section we will discuss about placing and editing text,
changing the text attribute, and understanding text style. Here are the text tool you can fnd in text tools
group.
Placing and Editing Text

Placing Text
You can place text by activating place text tool. After you activate the place text tool, MicroStation will
open the Word Processor Window.Type the text you want in the Word Processor, use the ruler to
arrange the paragraph, tabs. You can also create superscript, subscript, insert symbols, etc. This is just
like a simple version of Word Processor you use in the offce!
After you fnish, simply click data point in the position you wanted.
Editing Text
You can edit text by:
1. Double click the text

2. Select the text, hold [reset] until you see the context menu, and select edit text.
3. Click edit text button from task navigation.
Tips: Right click is the reset button, it has been a default button in MicroStation for years.
But since Windows offers right click as contextual menu, we can use it too. Just hold it a little
longer.
Edit text is not just for editing the text content. We can also use it for editing the text attribute. Look at
the tool settings. You can change the value and accept it by clicking data point on your screen.
Text Style and Text Attribute

We can save the common text attribute we use in a text style. If your texts are using a text style, when
http://cad-notes.com/2009/12/using-text/[12/26/2012 2:35:02 PM]

Using MicroStation Text | CAD Notes
you change the text style attributes, all texts using the same style will be updated. However, you can
override the style attributes in tool settings before placement. But if you do this, then when the style
attributes updated, the overridden attributes will not be updated too.
You can create and manage text style by accessing menu element>text styles.
I think most of the settings are self explained.
Challenge
Open place text.dgn. Give the room name using text. Label the coordinate, and give the foor plan a title.
Play around with placement method, style, and justifcation.
You can see the animation here.
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http://cad-notes.com/2009/12/using-text/[12/26/2012 2:35:02 PM]

MicroStation tutorial: more MicroStation text tools | CAD Notes
More MicroStation Text Tools (1)
We have discussed about using the text tools in MicroStation. There are more text tools we can use for
annotation. We will discuss it in this section.
Place Note
Place note will place a text and a leader arrow. Similar to place text, activating this tool will open the
word processor. Type the text in word processor, then place data points to defne the leader arrow in
your drawing.
Take a look in tool settings window. Since XM edition, we now have callout mode here. In the pre-XM
version, callout has separate button in annotation tool.
Open place note.dgn, and try to add some callout and note like this. Just type any text you feel right as
a practice.
Graphic Group
Notes leaders and texts are two objects in a graphic group. Check the ‘graphic group lock’ before you
modify (moving or copying) the notes. Make sure it’s turned on or they will be treated as separate
objects. You can turn on/off the lock by clicking the lock symbol
http://cad-notes.com/2009/12/more-microstation-text-tools-1/[12/26/2012 2:35:45 PM]

Enter Data Fields and Text Node

Both of these two tools are used to reserve some space for text. When we want to defne the text
location and style for later input, we can use them. This is common to maintain a drawing standard. For
example: placing text in titleblocks.
Enter Data Field

We use enter data feld for texts that we already know how many characters will be used. It can be the
date format dd/mm/yyyy or standard drawing numbering like A-xxx or similar use.
We can place ‘enter data feld’ by using text tool. Just use underscore _ to reserve the space. If we want
to reserve the space for dates, then type __/__/____.
We can change the value by using ‘fll in single data feld’ and ‘auto fll in enter data feld’.
Both will open a text editor. Type the desired value and press [enter] to apply the value to the
underscores.
Fill in single data feld will ask you every data feld you want to change. Auto fll in enter data feld will
automatically search for empty data feld. When it fnd data feld that already changed, it will skip the
data feld.
Text Node
We use text node if we want to reserve text space that we don’t know the text length yet. You can
change the text node value using the edit text tool.
Notes: We can hide and show enter data feld and text node from view attributes
Exercise
Download this fle and put it in your tutorial project. This is a simple table, and we are going to reserve
some space for our text. The frst column will be the revision number, 2nd column the revision date, and
the last one the revision description.
1. Activate the place text tool, type ‘REV-___’ (without quote) in word processor window. Place it at
the frst empty row in the revision number column.

2. Place text ‘__/__/____’ in the 2nd column, top row.

3. Activate place text node tool. Place it in the 3rd column, top row.
4. Activate modify tool, hold [ctrl] and click the 3 texts we added. This will select the 3 texts.
5. Press [esc] once to move the focus to home, then press 3 then 1 sequentially. This will activate
copy tool. Change in tool settings dialog, number of copies to 8.
6. Click anywhere in your screen to defne a datapoint, move your pointer down, indexed to Y axis.
Type 400 then click datapoint. Your texts are copied to the empty cells.
Try to use ‘fll in single data feld’ to change the frst row.
Then try what’s the difference when you use it to change the values in 2nd row.
Don’t forget to change the description using edit text!
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More MicroStation Text Tools (2) | CAD Notes
More MicroStation Text Tools (2)
Text Field
MicroStation Field is used to show element, model, or fle properties. You can show any properties that
your objects have. The common use of feld is in title block. Field will automatically show when the fle is
plotted, who save it, fle name, et cetera.
You don’t need to manually edit your felds value. Some felds are automatically updated. But if they
don’t, you can update your felds by keying-in ‘feld update select’ to update selected felds or ‘feld
update all’ to update all felds.
Let’s try this tool directly using the ‘feld.dgn’. This fle is provided in the early tutorial. This is a simple
drawing that showing rooms concept. We are going to show the rooms area using felds.
Activate place text tool, type “Area =” (without quote). We can add feld by right clicking in word
processor, and select insert feld from context menu.
MicroStation will ask you what feld type you want to insert. Select ‘element properties’.
Select any rectangle in the drawing. MicroStation will open a dialog box. All the rectangle properties are
here. Select ‘area’ feld in geometry category. Make sure you see the area value at the bottom of this
dialog. Click OK.

Create more felds to show the rest of room areas. Try to show another feld too. Perimeter is another
common value to be shown in this conceptual design.
Modifying the objects

Try to modify the rectangle size. Activate modify element from MicroStation navigation toolbar.
Move your pointer, snap to a midpoint or endpoint of a rectangle, click data point. Move your pointer and
click another data point to accept the modifcation.
You should see the rectangle modifed. And… the feld value updated!
Other Text Tools

These are some more text tools that you might will use frequently. I’m not going to write about it in
details. You can try it by yourself, while I’ll try to fgure how I can put it in some exercises later.
Match Text Attributes

We need to change the value in tool settings regularly. When we place text, sometimes we want to
match all the values to existing text in our drawing. This is the right tool for it. Activate it, and select a
text in your drawing to match it’s attributes.
Change Text Attributes

This one is for changing existing text attributes.

Copy Increment Text

I love this tool. You can copy text that contain numeric numbers and create incremental copies.
If you copy text that contain numeric and letters, then the possibilities would be:
1 : the result will be: 1,2,3,4,…
1A: the result will be 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A,…
5D1: the result will be 5D1, 5D2, 5D3, 5D4,…
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Selecting Multiple Elements (1) | CAD Notes
Selecting Multiple Elements (1)

We’ve already used some MicroStation manipulation tools in earlier exercise. We are going to learn how
to select multiple elements before we go further with MicroStation manipulation and modifcation tools.
In that exercise, we only able to manipulate one element at a time. We activate the manipulation tool,
then we choose the element. No way we can select more elements after that. We call this verb-noun
selection.
In many cases, we need to manipulate multiple elements at once. We can’t do it with verb-noun
selection. We have to select our elements frst, then activate the manipulation tool. We call this noun-
verb selection. This is very ‘Windows explorer’ behavior, isn’t it? How do you copy (or move) multiple
fles to another folder? Correct! We select them frst, then activate the tool (either copy or move).
However, some tools are not able to manipulate/modify multiple elements. If you activate this tool, all
elements in your selection set are removed.
I know in AutoCAD, it’s easier to use verb-noun selection. It’s a bit painful for AutoCAD users, but it is
very friendly for the rest of Windows users.
We have many way to select objects in MicroStation, to make our life easier.
The basic way to do this is by holding [ctrl] and pick every single element we want. This will add the
elements to our selection set. Or, we can click and drag our pointer and select every element inside the
boundary. We are going to discuss how to select our elements in MicroStation.
MicroStation Element Selection Tool
MicroStation ‘Element Selection’ tool is the default tool that active every time you start MicroStation.
You can move your pointer to an element and see a tooltip (unfortunately doesn’t appear in my
screenshot) before picking it.
Element Selection Settings
http://cad-notes.com/2009/12/selecting-multiple-elements-1/[12/26/2012 2:37:42 PM]

Like any other MicroStation tools, element selection has some settings on tool settings window. Let’s
take a look.
Selection Method
The options for selection method are: individual, block, shape, circle, and line. If you activate the
block/shape/circle method, then we are defning the shape. Every elements inside the shape will be
selected.
This is something new in MicroStation V8i I believe.
1. When we defne block (or shape/circle) with 2nd data point on the right side of 1st data point, then
we are selecting elements that the whole parts of the element inside our boundary.
2. When we defne it right to left, then we will select every element that the whole part of it inside our
boundary AND every element touching our boundary line. You will see the boundary line as dashed
lines.
Except for line method, it will select every element touching that line.
Left to right selection Right to left selection
In V8XM, I remember that we need to change the selection by clicking the active selection method icon.
Selection Mode
The options are: new selection, add to selection set, subtract (remove) from selection set, invert your
selection set, and select all elements. You can also press [ctrl] + A to select all elements.
If you have selected element in your drawing, then the selection mode will change. You will see another
tool: clear selection set.
Attributes flter
If you click the small arrow on the right bottom of this tool setting, you will see extended settings for this
tool.

We used to call it power selector. But now, element selection and power selector are the same tool. You
can see every attributes in your drawing in extended settings. If you want to select every element with
red color, then go to color attribute tab, and click red. This is very excellent selection tool. I love it so
much.
Let’s Try It
Open any fle in MicroStation sample fles. I use an example in Geospatial project.
I use BSI200-D03-Public Works.dgn in drawings folder.
Try to use different methods, different modes to see how they works.
Also try to click the attributes to select elements by attributes.
Select every elements by pressing [ctrl] + A. See that attributes selected are highlighted.
Try to flter out by clicking highlighted attributes.
It’s easy to select elements in MicroStation isn’t it? Next, we are going to learn how to use fence for
multiple elements manipulation.

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Selecting Multiple Elements (2)

We have discussed how to select multiple elements in MicroStation , to manipulate or modify objects .
That is the most common way in many applications. We select words or paragraph before we copy them
in Microsoft Word, we select fles in explorer before we copy them, and we select cells in Excel before
we copy them. There is another way you can work with multiple elements in MicroStation: using fence.
So What is a Fence?
We use fence to defne a

boundary around our
MicroStation elements.
Unlike selecting objects with
modify tool, fence will always
there. You can place more
elements, and use the fence
again. That’s why they call it
fence!
Further more, we can save the
fences for later use. Very handy
if we manipulate certain
elements repeatedly.
Defning and Modifying Fence Content

So how we can defne fence and using it?
We can place fence by accessing place fence from task navigation. It’s the button with number 2.
Click the tool, hold it until you see all the MicroStation fence tools. Click open ‘fence’ as a toolbox .
Activate the place fence tool. You can’t use other fence tools before you defne your fence.
Let’s take a look to the tool settings. We can choose existing elements in our drawing to be a fence, but
I’m more likely to defne it by creating blocks or shapes.
You can defne the fence just like you place your block (or shape, or circle, depends your fence type).
How to modify the elements?

After we defned the fence, we can manipulate elements in two ways:
Using Manipulate Fence Content Tool

You can use the ‘manipulate fence
content’ tool in the fence tools group.
You can see the copy, move, scale,
and more MicroStation manipulation
tools here.

Using MicroStation Manipulation Tools

If you use any MicroStation tool, take a
look into the tool settings. You will see
an option to use fence! It is disabled if
you haven’t defned any fence yet.
You will loose your existing fence when you select individual element using modify tool, or defne a new
fence.
Let’s Try Using Fence

Open the fence.dgn. Try to create fence by creating blocks and try to manipulate the content. Also try to
use different fence types and fence modes.
You can download this animation to see how it works . It is an exe fle, so you don’t need to install any
player to see it.
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MicroStation tutorial: Element Manipulation | CAD Notes
MicroStation tutorial: Element Manipulation
Let’s move further. You can practice more about drawing MicroStation elements by yourself. I suggest
you to explore more MicroStation Drawing tools by yourself. If you have understand how to use
MicroStation tools, it should be diffcult. And don’t hesitate to discuss or ask a question in comment
area.
In this article, we will learn how to use element manipulation in MicroStation.
Copy And Move Element

Moving and copying MicroStation element have the same workfow. We select the elements, defne the
frst point and then defne the distance and direction for the duplicate location. If we use copy, then the
original elements will remain. But move, the original elements will be deleted.
Scale
We can resize elements by using MicroStation scale tool. If we know the scale value, then we can use
active scale. But if don’t know the scale value, just the fnal size, we can use 3 points. We defne the
scale base point, reference 2nd point to defne existing size, and then 3rd point as the expected size.
Be careful with X scale and Y scale in active scale method, or proportional in 3 points method.
MicroStation can resize elements to only one axis.
Rotate
We can rotate MicroStation elements using 3 methods: by active angle, 2 points, and 3 points. Active
angle and 3 points are the same with the one we use in MicroStation scale tool. 2 points is almost
similar with 3 points, but it will use X positive axis as the 0 degree.
http://cad-notes.com/2010/01/element-manipulation/[12/26/2012 2:39:17 PM]

Mirror
This tool name is already explain what it does: mirror elements. We can mirror element vertically,
horizontally, or use a virtual line as a mirror line.
Array
We use MicroStation array tool to copy elements several times at once. We can copy it as a rectangular
pattern, polar pattern, or along path.

Align Elements by Edge

MicroStation Align by Edge is used to align elements to another element edge as reference.
Stretch
This MicroStation tool is used to stretch elements at it’s vertex inside a fence. We can create a fence
directly using this tool, but it’s limited to rectangular fence only. If you need complex shaped fence,
defne a fence frst, then use this tool.
Copy Parallel
This MicroStation tool is used to copy an element parallel to original element. There are 3 modes we
can use: miter, round, and original. Round will create rounded edges. Miter will keep the result distance
the same, and might try to add more vertex. You can only see the effect for some element types, such
as ellipse. Original, will keep the original shape. It might not true parallel with original object.

Move to Contact
Move to contact will move the objects to the defned direction, and stop when fnd frst element as a
contact.
We will do some exercise later.
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Exercise: MicroStation Manipulate Tools | CAD Notes
Exercise: MicroStation Manipulate Tools

Nothing hard about using manipulate tools. The only thing you need to do to understand and get used to
it is practicing… a lot. So let’s try to do an exercise to get to familiar with it. Download and open
manipulate.dgn.
Here is what we are going to do: I give you challenge, and you fnish it. Try it, and after you’ve done,
watch the video. I strongly suggest you to try it frst!
The challenge
Zoom to point 1 until you can see the column clearly.
We need to rotate the column to make it parallel to the centerline. Can you do it?
Now we already have the column at the right angle, we can duplicate it to the other grid intersections.
Copy the column using intersection point as base point.
*hint: press [tab] to cycle between objects
Place the column to point 2, 3, 4. After you fnish, select the columns at point 1, 2, and 3. Copy it using
point 1 as base point to point 5.
http://cad-notes.com/2010/01/exercise-microstation-manipulate-tools/[12/26/2012 2:40:18 PM]

Now zoom to point 6. We are going to make a mirror of the existing room to it’s left. Be careful when
selecting the objects, to avoid duplication and stacked to other objects.
After you fnish with array, use stretch to lengthen the wall at point 7.
The next thing we are going to do is creating array for our chair. Create 5 chairs around the table.
*Hint: You can enter mathematic equation in the angle feld
Press [ctrl] + E to open level display dialog box. Activate text level. Try to rotate them parallel to the
centerline.

Not so diffcult, isn’t it?
At this point, I would like to hear your feedback about this tutorial series. We will continue next week,
and I hope you can give me suggestion to improve this tutorial.
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Modifying MicroStation Elements | CAD Notes
Modifying MicroStation Elements
When we draw in MicroStation, we will need to do modifcations. Either because we make mistakes or
because it is easier and faster to just draw it and modify the drawing later. Here are the tools you can
fnd in modify groups.
Modify Element
This is the basic modifcation tool. We only can modify one MicroStation element using this tool. And
only verb-noun selection. What this tool do is basically move a vertex point. It can be a rectangle corner,
midpoint, circle or arc edge, arc or line end points, etc.
Modify tool when picking vertex on Modify tool when picking vertex on
corner edge
Remember: pay attention to the tool settings. Each object type will show different options.
For example: this tool can also change the vertex corner to rounded or chamfered.
Partial Delete and Break Element

Both tools name should be self explanatory. Partial delete will delete some part of the MicroStation
element. You need to defne 2 points for the start and end points for cutting. You also need to defne the
cut direction by moving your pointer.
http://cad-notes.com/2010/02/modifying-microstation-elements/[12/26/2012 2:41:56 PM]

Break element will break your MicroStation element at a point. If you break a line, then it will be two line
segments.
Extend Line
Although the tool name is extend line, we can also use it to ‘shorten’ line. This tool is pretty similar with
modify tool. However, extend line will lock your pointer parallel to your line, to make sure the only
property you change is the line length.
We can change the distance by using AccuDraw or flling distance value in tool settings.
Extend Element to Intersection

There are two similar tool to extend element(s) to intersection. The only difference is the frst one will
extend 2 elements until they intersect, and the last one only extend one element to the intersection point.
Either the elements are actually intersecting or not.
Trim Elements
We use this tool to trim element by using other element as cutting element. To cut several elements,
select the cutting element frst, then activate the trim tool.
For more options, use Intellitrim.
Intellitrim
Trim allows you to pick one element to trim (or cutting element) at a time. When we need to trim several
elements at once, or we need to use more than one cutting elements, then we can use Intellitrim.
Quick Mode
Quick mode allows you to select one cutting element, and create a fence that touch multiple elements to
trim. You can also use 3 operations: trim, extend, and cut. Cut will cut elements to two segments, but do
not delete any of the segments.
Advanced Mode
Advanced mode allows you to select multiple cutting elements and multiple elements to cut. It’s a bit
tricky at frst.
1. Defne to elements you select frst as cutting elements or elements to trim. Select in tool settings
option.
2. Select the cutting elements, after you fnish, click reset. The option in tool settings window will

change, asking you to choose elements to cut.

3. Pick the elements you want to cut, after you fnish click reset.
4. Pick the elements side you want to keep.
5. Click reset to end it.
Insert and Delete Vertex

I think the tools name are self-explanatory. If you delete a vertex from a rectangle, then it will become a
triangle. If you add a vertex to a rectangle, then it will become a fve sides polygon.
Construct Circular Fillet and Construct Chamfer

These tool will change a corner to a fllet or chamfer. We can do this by using modify tool. However, in
construct chamfer there is something modify tool can’t do. We can defne each distance.
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Working With MicroStation Views | CAD Notes
Working With MicroStation Views

When we do a design in MicroStation, our design can be very large or complex. It will be very useful if
we can open several views to see the design from different angle/perspective (for 3D) or simply open
different views to show different areas. Imagine you have a very large area. Instead of zooming and
panning every time you want to see different area, you can show them in different views. It will be more
useful if you work with multiple monitors with your workstation. MicroStation allows you to do that. We
can open 8 views simultaneously when working with a MicroStation design fle.
The interesting thing about MicroStation views is, we can treat them individually. Each of them can
represent any part of your design from different angle with different properties. Let’s take a look at this
example.
View 1 is the ‘ft view’ of our project.

View 2 is the larger view of the north area of our building.
Now take a look to view 3. It is a rotated view of our project!
Still not impressed? In view 4, we can hide some annotation and building details!
We can open/close a view by clicking the view buttons in view groups.
Arrange and Manage MicroStation Views

After we open several views, we can tile or arrange them just like in other Windows applications: using
windows menu>tile. You can cascade or arrange them too.
http://cad-notes.com/2010/02/working-with-microstation-views/[12/26/2012 2:42:47 PM]

However, sometimes it’s easier to meet our requirement just by dragging the views corner, and drag the
title bar to move the views to their desired position.
When we work with common views arrangement, we can save the MicroStation views arrangement
using view group. We will do MicroStation view exercises later.
View Control
Each MicroStation view has a view control bar. You can zoom, rotate, and pan your views individually.
And you can get previous/next view from each of them too!
If each of them has a view control, then how does it work? Simple. You can activate the view control
tool in any view, and click in whichever view you want. It will control the view you click. Doesn’t matter
where you activated the tool. This applies to all view control, except for rotate view and window area.
For rotate view, it will rotate the view where you activate the tool. But you can click in other view to get
the reference points.
And for Windows area, you can select where you want the area to be shown. You can defne area in
view 3, but show the selected area in view 1.
View Attributes
Each MicroStation view has view attributes. We can control them individually. For example, we can
show annotations in view 1, but turn them off in view 2. Or shading in view 1, but wireframe in view 3
(for 3d design).
MicroStation Saved Views

If you have many view confgurations that you want to keep, you can use saved views. Saved views will
save your confguration for individual view. This is different with view group. View group saves the views

arrangement and location. Saved views save how your views are set.
In the next tutorial, we will practice with view control and view arrangement.
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Exercise: Working with MicroStation Views | CAD Notes
Exercise: Working with MicroStation Views

We have discuss how MicroStation views can give you great benefts. Now we are going to do a little
exercise. Download this fle before you start, and open it.
Creating and Activating View Group

Let us create a MicroStation view group.This view group will save the arrangement we made when
working with views, and leave the default settings unchanged. Activate MicroStation View Group.
In the opened dialog, click create view group.
Give the view group a name. Fill the description if necessary.
Close this view group dialog. Make sure the new view group name is shown in the view bar. If it’s not,
change the active view group by clicking the drop down menu.
Opening and Arranging Views

Open view 1, 2, and 3 by clicking their buttons on MicroStation view groups.
Three views will be opened. Resize and arrange the views. You can resize the MicroStation views by
clicking and dragging the view edges.
Tips: You can’t resize the view when it is maximized. Restore down by double clicking the
view title or click restore down button.
Arrange the views like below. All you need to do is defning the view location and size. To fne tune the
views arrangement, click from MicroStation menu: Window>Arrange.
http://cad-notes.com/2010/02/exercise-working-with-microstation-views/[12/26/2012 2:43:47 PM]

Controlling Views
Zooming Area
Click ft view on view 3. We are going to use it to see the whole area.
Now activate window area from view control toolbar. You can do it from any view. Change the ‘apply to
Window’ option in MicroStation tool settings to 1. Select the area to show the left area of the building.
Do the same to show the right area of the building in view window 2.
Rotating View
Activate rotate view. In view 1, click points 1 and 2 consecutively. This will rotate view 1, so you
can see the building orientation match the view.

Working With AccuDraw

Activate place text tool.
Type TOILET and try to move your pointer to view 1. You can see that the text will follow the view
orientation. Without placing it, move your pointer to view 1. You can see that the text orientation also
follow the view.
This is very useful if you need to draw geometry in different orientations.
View Attributes and Level Display

You can control each MicroStation view attributes and level display.
Click the view attributes button in view 3. Turn off text and dimensions. You will see the attributes are
now hidden in view 3 only.
From MicroStation menu, click settings>levels>display. Or alternatively, you can press [ctrl] + E.

You can see the list of used levels in this drawing. I didn’t create many levels, but should be enough for
you to play around :) Click the level name to show/hide the levels.
You can apply the changes to all opened views or only the view you selected. Pay attention on the
dialog title. The level will be hidden/shown for the view that is mentioned in the title bar. To change the
active view, you can simply click the MicroStation view title bar.
Saved Views
The last view tool we are going to use is MicroStation saved views. You can access it from MicroStation
menu utilities>saved views.
Saves views is completely different with saving view groups.View groups save the view Window
arrangement and position. Saved views save the view attributes, levels, and more properties. You can
load the saved settings to other view if necessary.
Your challenge in the last section of this exercise is saving the view and load it again :)
Loading View Group

Remember that we created a new view group? Try to change it back to default and see what happen!
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MicroStation Level and Level Attributes | CAD Notes
MicroStation Level and Level Attributes

MicroStation levels are used to separate and distinguish your drawing objects. When the drawing
become complex, you will need to control the object appearances. You will need to show them in
different colors, different line weight, and different line style… or you may need to show/hide objects in a
certain category. You can use levels and their attributes for this purpose.
You can group object in the same category in a level. This is probably has the same concept with
reference fles (will be covered later). Imagine you draw in a paper. After you have done, you want to
add more objects in different category, but you don’t want to mess your previous drawing. So you take a
transparent paper and place it above your previous drawing. You draw on that transparent paper. When
you need to see the original drawing, you simply remove the transparent paper. But when you need to
see the complete drawing, you place the transparent paper. When your drawing become more complex,
you will need more transparent papers. Each paper is level. And unlike the transparent paper,
MicroStation levels are much more convenient and virtually unlimited. Not really, but I believe you will
never use more than MicroStation has provided.
Managing Levels and Controlling Level Display

MicroStation Level Manager
You can create, delete, and manage your levels in MicroStation level manager. To open level manager,
you can access MicroStation menu: Settings>Levels>Manager. You can create a level, rename it, and
change its attributes. You can also see whether the levels are used in your drawing or not.
You can only delete level that is not in used. When the level has bullet in used column, then you can’t
delete it.
You can rename and change the level attributes by clicking on desired column. In this example, you can
choose the line style from the pop up menu.
MicroStation Level Display

If you are an AutoCAD user, you can control the level display on/off in the AutoCAD layer manager
(level in MicroStation is layer in AutoCAD). But not in MicroStation. You turn them on/off in MicroStation
level display window. You can open it by accessing MicroStation menu: Settings>Levels>Display.
You can see which level is used (has objects on it) in the used column (1). The used levels have bullets
in the column. The active level is highlighted in green (2). Active level is where your objects will be
placed when you use drawing tools. The hidden levels are shown in white (3), while the shown levels
are highlighted in blue.
http://cad-notes.com/2010/03/microstation-level-and-level-attributes/[12/26/2012 2:45:15 PM]

Changing MicroStation Active Level

There are several ways you can set the active level:
1. From level manager or level display, right click above desired level and choose ‘set active’
2. From key in window, type ‘active level LEVELNAME’. Change the LEVELNAME with the level name
you want to use.
3. Choose the level from attributes toolbar.
MicroStation Level Attributes

MicroStation has many level attributes. By default, it will only show you three attributes: color, line style,
and line weight. Open level manager, right click above an attributes title bar and you will see the
complete list of level attributes. You may not need all of them, but when you do, click the attributes to
show it on level manager.
By Level Properties
By default, object attributes will use ‘by level’. It means your object will use the attributes you set for the
level. However, you may need to override the attributes when you place your objects. You can do it
from attributes toolbar.
Color
The color usage should be clear. When you need to distinguish your objects, color is the easiest

attributes to be noticed. And of course, if you want to print in color, you will want your objects to look nice
by using colors.
Line Style
MicroStation has two types of line style: standard or custom. The standard line styles are mark by
number: 0 to 7. While the custom line style are using names.
The difference between those two is the standard line styles are just symbolic, and the custom line
styles act like actual objects.
Take a look at this example, all of them are SmartLine with different line style. The frst one is using
custom line style: rail road. The second is using standard line style no.4. And the last one is using
custom line style: dash dot.
After I zoom in those objects, you can see that the rail are also looks bigger. The 3rd line is now showing
dash dot. But take a look the 2nd line. It still maintain the dash dot size. Doesn’t matter if you zoom it
very close, you will still see it at that size. Standard line style is very useful for annotation and symbolic
lines. For example: object center lines.
Line Weight
Color is probably the best way to distinguish your objects category. But most technical documents are
printed in black and white. To distinguish your objects in black and white documents (and we also use it
in manual drafting) is using the line weight. There are 32 line weight you can use, from 0-31. The
number is just index, not actual weight (just in case you are thinking 31 is 3.1 mm or something, like I
was before). You can map the actual pen weight later when you print.

We will try a simple exercise later.
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MicroStation tutorial: Using Cell | CAD Notes
Using MicroStation Cell

When we draw, we need to draw same objects repeatedly. It can be a standard objects/parts,
annotation, symbol, etc. In the past, when we have to draw manually, we have a transparent paper that
contains those symbol. We place it above our paper, scratch it… and voila! We have it on our drawing.
MicroStation cell have the similar concept. We can defne and save the objects on a cell library. And
whenever we need it, we just look for it in our library and use it. No need to draw the same object
repeatedly. In this post, we will discuss how we can use existing MicroStation cell library. On the next
post, we will discuss how we can create our own MicroStation cell library.
Download this design fle and this cell library fle , and save it to your computer. We will use it in this
MicroStation tutorial.
Before you continue, open the place cell.dgn.
Loading Cell Library

Before we can use the cell, we need to load a MicroStation cell library. You can defne which cell library
you want to use from cell library dialog box. Access it from MicroStation menu element>cell.
MicroStation will open a dialog box. From this cell library dialog, access fle>attach fle… Find the fle
you have downloaded and attach it. You will see the cell list. All the cells are in the cell library fle.
Pay attention that you can attach a folder. It means that if you have multiple cell library inside a folder,
you can attach them at once by selecting the folder. Cell library usually contain cell for similar
purposes/discipline. However, if you have large cell library, some people prefer to use folders to
manage the fles too.
Now see the buttons in red rectangle. You can defne how do you want to use this cell. The most basic
use of MicroStation cell is for placement. You simply select a cell and place it to your drawing. We will
see how we can use it for other purpose later.
Click on seater 2 seats. Click Placement button. Now you should see NONE has changed to the cell
name. Now you have defne the active cell for placement. You may close this dialog.
Placing Cell
Access place active cell from task navigation. Now you can see the active MicroStation cell on your
pointer, and dynamically determine the cell location. Click your mouse at the desired position.
You can change several settings before you place it. These are the basic settings for placing cell.
http://cad-notes.com/2010/03/using-microstation-cell/[12/26/2012 2:45:57 PM]

MicroStation tutorial: Using Cell | CAD Notes
Tips: You can double click the cell name in cell library list. This will also activate place active
cell.
Understanding Shared Cell

You can stretch MicroStation cell and change the text data feld value within cell. So if you have similar
objects, but have different sizes, you can create a cell and stretch it later. However, there are some
cells that you don’t need to modify. To prevent this type of cell being modifed, you can use shared cell.
Activate use shared cell in cell library dialog box.
The other advantage of using shared cell is, you can reduce your MicroStation design fles. Shared cells
using the same information for every instance in your drawing. Without shared cell, if you have 100
cells, then you have 100 cell information! I’m not sure if this is still an issue now, as any new computer
now can handle quite a large fle easily.
Exercise
Place available cells to your exercise fle. Feel free to design your own room!
You may try to use some sample cells in the sample project. For example in
C:\ProgramData\Bentley\MicroStation\WorkSpace\Projects\Examples\Civil\cell (folder path in Vista)
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http://cad-notes.com/2010/03/using-microstation-cell/[12/26/2012 2:45:57 PM]

Creating MicroStation Cell tutorial | CAD Notes
Creating MicroStation Cell

In the last MicroStation tutorial, we have learned how to use MicroStation cell . Cell is a common
drawing element that you can use over and over again. In other word: it’s a library. So how to create
MicroStation cell?
You need to draw your objects before you convert it to a cell. You can use SmartLine, block, circle, etc.
After you fnish, you can convert all the objects to a single cell.
Understanding Cell Library

Before we can actually create our cell,we need to create a cell library frst. A cell library usually holds
several similar cells. For example, you want a library of cars. You can create a cell library fle named
cars. Then you might want to create a cell library to keep your annotation symbols, or probably AEC
symbols. That’s what a cell library is for. It keeps a similar cells within one fle.
Let us try to create a cell library and cells. Download this fle and open it . We have 3 simple objects that
we want to save as cells.
They are created from simple elements such as text, line, circle, arc and line string. These are the
objects that form the elevation view symbol.
From MicroStation menu, select element>cells. The cell library dialog box will be opened. Take a look
to the dialog title. It says cell library: [NONE].
It means that we haven’t attached any cell library yet. From this dialog menu, click fle>new. Type a
name for the new cell library. Something like Training Cell will do. Click save.
Now the dialog title will show you the cell name, but this cell library is still empty. Look at the right
bottom of this dialog. you will see several buttons to create and modify cells. But all of them are grayed
and disabled. Why the create cell button is disabled ? We need to defne the cell origin before we start
creating it.
Creating Cell
Now that we have created a cell library, we can start saving our cells here. This is a little bit tricky,
especially for AutoCAD users. Move away the dialog box a bit, but don’t close it. Just enough for you to
see the objects you are going to convert as a cell. Let’s start with the elevation symbol. Select all objects
that make that symbol. You should see the whole symbol highlighted and turns to purple.
http://cad-notes.com/2010/04/creating-microstation-cell/[12/26/2012 2:47:05 PM]

Now from navigation task, click and hold on place active cell , choose defne cell origin from the drop
down menu.
Place the origin at the center of the symbol. Origin is the base point or reference point that you will use
when placing the cell. You may use different location for the origin. But I guess for this kind of symbol,
we use its center point.
Now back to cell library dialog. You will see that now the create button is enabled!
Click the create button. Give the cell proper name and description.
Now you should see the cell name on the cell list.
Not so diffcult, right? Now create the rest of all the objects to cells.

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Replacing and Modifying MicroStation Cell | CAD Notes
Replacing and Modifying MicroStation Cell

After you’ve been working with MicroStation cell for a while, I’m sure you will be wondering how to
modify the cell on your drawing… and how you can modify the cell in your cell library. Well, I guess the
best practice in MicroStation is, you don’t change the cells on your drawings, but you replace them.
For AutoCAD Users

If you are AutoCAD users, I know you will be trying to fnd something like edit in-place or
block editor. And you will expect modifying the cell defnition will update all cells in your
drawing automatically. MicroStation cell might be similar to AutoCAD block. But they are
totally different animals.
MicroStation cells are library, objects that you use repeatedly. Imagine you are placing
chairs when you design an offce space. When you realize that you want other type of chair,
you do not create chair on your own, but you pick another type from catalog and use it. I
guess this makes sense. You keep the frst chair model in your library, but you don’t change
it because you might need it later. You simply remove it from the drawing (but not changing
the defnition) and replace it with another type.
AutoCAD and MicroStation have different concept on this ‘reusable contents’, so don’t try to
make cell behave like block!
Modifying MicroStation Cell

However, you will need to modify cells. You may need to correct some mistakes, update the library, or
for other purposes. How to modify cell library ? There are two ways: you can delete the MicroStation
cell defnition and recreate it, or you can modify the MicroStation cell within cell library fle
directly.
Recreate the cell defnition

AutoCAD users may love this workfow. You can place your cell to your drawing, then drop the cell.
Drop is a tool that will break your element to simpler elements. You created cell from several elements,
and drop element will break the cell back to the original elements.
Make necessary changes, then recreate the cell. You need to delete the original cell from cell library
frst, before creating cell with the same name.
Opening and Modifying MicroStation Cell Library

Another method to do this is by opening the cell library. Cell library basically is a DGN fle. You can
open it using fle>open, then change the fle type to MicroStation Cell Libraries (*.cel).
Each cell is placed in separate model. Each model will use the cell name. To switch to the cell you want
to modify, access fle>models. MicroStation will open model dialog. This model dialog will show you all
cells the cell library has. You can double click to open the model, or right click>open. This will open your
cell.
http://cad-notes.com/2010/04/replacing-and-modifying-microstation-cell/[12/26/2012 2:47:55 PM]

Replacing and Modifying MicroStation Cell | CAD Notes
Do the modifcation as necessary on the drawing. After you fnish, save this cell library. Now your cells
are updated!
Replacing Cell
Now if you back to your design fle, you will see that your cells are still using the old defnition. They are
not changed to the new cell defnition. Yes, you need to update them manually. Or change the cell to
another cell defnition.
You can do that by using replace cell tool.
This tool is called replace cells. However, you can also use it for updating your cell defnitions.
Activate the replace cell tool, and take a look to the tool options.
You can use update or replace cell as the method. Remember, you need to attach the cell library. Some
cell tools won’t work if it can’t fnd the cell defnition in cell library.
You can also change single cell instance, or update every cell that use the same defnition.
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http://cad-notes.com/2010/04/replacing-and-modifying-microstation-cell/[12/26/2012 2:47:55 PM]

Using MicroStation Cell as Points, Terminators, and Patterns | CAD Notes
Using MicroStation Cell as Points, Terminators, and Patterns

We are still discussing about MicroStation cell. We already discussed that we can use cells as
reusable library. Now we know that we can place the cell. However, there are more that we can do with
cells. Look at the cell library dialog box. At the bottom of the dialog, we can see several options, how we
want to use the cell. We already use the active cell for placement. And there are more options.
We can also use cells to place point, terminator, or as pattern. Try to open a cell library. You may
want to try to create several cells for this tutorial. I created several cells: benchmark point (I will use it
with place point tool), arrow (for terminator), and diamond pattern (for pattern). Look the active cells
below. I can activate different cells for different purposes. To activate your cell, just select the cell, and
click button. If you want to use it for placement, then click placement button. Click terminator if you want
use use selected cell as line terminator. And so on.
Placing Cell as Point

Now how can we place point? The place active point tool is under place SmartLine>Points.
After you activate the tool, look at the tool settings. You will see the point type now is cell. You are still
able to use element as point type, but now cell become the default point type.
Try to place your cell. You can place it by clicking data point, and the cell will be placed at your pointer
position. You may want to try the other point tools and see if you can use active cell too.
Using Cell as Terminator

I created this cell for my terminators. Terminators will automatically fnd line/arch segments and place
the terminator there. The terminator will also be rotated, parallel to the line direction. Remember, you
need to create the terminator to point to positive X axis. That is the 0 deg angle, or the terminator
direction.
http://cad-notes.com/2010/05/using-microstation-cell-as-points-terminators-and-patterns/[12/26/2012 2:48:41 PM]

Try to create several lines, SmartLines, arc, etc. Now try to activate the place active line terminator.
This tool is under place active cell tool group.
Click data point close to the line end. Click data point again to accept. This tool is very useful for placing
arrows or other terminators. Especially if you need to place them with angles like this. You don’t need to
rotate them later. Simply click data points!
Using Cell as Patterns

Pattern area tool is under hatch area tool group.
While hatch area only can create parallel lines pattern, pattern area can be used for any kind of pattern.
As long as you defne the pattern in cell library. We will discuss about hatch area in details later.
Just like the other tools, you can see the active cell as pattern defnition.

This capabilities allows you to create any kind of pattern you want. And it’s very easy to do. These are
some samples you of patterns using cell defnition.
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More Annotation Tools: Dimension | CAD Notes
More Annotation Tools: Dimension

We have discussed about using text and cell to annotate our drawings. Let us explore further about
annotation tools. This time, we are going to discuss how to use MicroStation dimension.
Even if we create our drawings in exact sizes, plot it in certain scales, we still need to add dimensions. It
doesn’t make sense if people need a ruler and measure every element in our drawing.
The dimensioning tools are in dimensions tools group.
There are many dimensioning tools we can use. Basically how to use them is just the same. Remember
to follow the guides in status bar!
Dimension Styles and Dimension Attributes

Dimension appearance is controlled by dimension attributes. While each dimension can have different
attributes, we can manage them effciently using dimension styles. You can save different attributes
settings in each style.
You can access dimension style dialog from MicroStation menu: element>dimension styles. You can
have many dimension styles to use in your drawings.
The dimension attributes are grouped into four category: geometry, units, text, and symbology. Each
category is represented in a tab. The last tab, advanced, has all of the attributes in it.
Explore the settings available in this dimension style dialog, try to change the values and options. You
will see live preview at the bottom of the dialog box.
Basic Dimension Settings: Alignment, Dimension Mode, and Association
http://cad-notes.com/2010/06/more-annotation-tools-dimension/[12/26/2012 2:49:38 PM]

Try to activate dimension element
MicroStation will open dimension tool settings. Below is the basic tool settings. You can choose
dimension styles and other basic arrangement. If you want to have more settings, click small triangle at
the right bottom of the dialog box.
There are many settings that you can change here. Let us discuss several of them.
Alignment
This is how you defne your dimension alignment.
1. View will give you dimension aligned with your view. This is useful if you rotated your views and
want to have dimension parallel to your view.
2. Drawing will give you dimension parallel to your coordinate (ACS). View rotation will not affect the
dimension orientation
3. True will create dimension parallel to your element.
4. Arbitrary will place your dimension arbitrarily. This is very useful if you want to create an isometric
dimension.
Association
If you activate association, this will associate your dimension with the element. If you move the element,
resize, or do other modifcation… then the dimension will automatically updated.
Dimension Types
Under location option, you can see what kind of dimension you can create. In this example, you can see
dimension types for dimension element.
You can dimension the whole element, create label line, or dimension size perp – line. Try to select
a line, change the dimension type and see what will happen!

You will see the dimension types changing, depends on object you select. If you select a circle or arc,
then you will see these dimension types.
And this what you will see if you activate dimension linear:
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More Annotation Tools: Pattern | CAD Notes
More Annotation Tools: Pattern

We already discussed several annotation tools. This is the last one.
Another ‘must have’ annotation element in a drawing is pattern. Pattern is used to show object
materials, show section area, and some other purposes.
In MicroStation, we have the types of patterns: hatch area, crosshatch area, and pattern area. Hatch
and crosshatch are used for simple pattern, while pattern area is used for complex pattern. If you need
to defne your own pattern, then defnitely you have to use pattern area.
Hatch Area
Hatch area is used to create hatch pattern with parallel lines. You can control the spacing and angle of
this pattern.
There are several ways to create hatch area. You can choose the element as closed boundary. You can
also pick points to let MicroStation fnd the boundary using food, union, intersection, difference, or
picking points.
Associative parameter will associate your pattern to your elements. If you move or modify the elements,
then the pattern will adjust to the new boundary.
Snappable pattern by default is off. Most users don’t want to snap to patterns since it will make your
drawing messy. To many reference point will be found. Only activate it when necessary.
Crosshatch Area
Crosshatch is very similar with hatch, only here you have two parallel lines defnitions crossing each
other.
http://cad-notes.com/2010/08/more-annotation-tools-pattern/[12/26/2012 2:50:24 PM]

More Annotation Tools: Pattern | CAD Notes
Pattern Area
Hatch and crosshatch are used for simple patterns. Pattern area is used for creating complex pattern.
You can use complex pattern from cells or .pat fle. You already learn about cells , so you will not have a
problem using it as pattern. Pat fle is extension for pattern/hatch fle from AutoCAD. If you are not
familiar with AutoCAD and you don’t have custom pattern fles from AutoCAD, then you probably will
never use fle to defne your pattern.Cell is easier to defne.
Exercise
You can start the exercise by downloading this fle: pattern.dgn. Here is how the fle looks like.
See how you can do it in our YouTube channel here .
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http://cad-notes.com/2010/08/more-annotation-tools-pattern/[12/26/2012 2:50:24 PM]

Preparing sheets in MicroStation | CAD Notes
Preparing sheets in MicroStation

If you are following MicroStation tutorial in CAD Notes, you may wonder how you can arrange your
drawings or even 3d models to a sheet. Then you will want to plot it. In this tutorial, we will start from
creating a seed.
A seed is a template fle. We use it to create a new design fle . Having a seed fle that met our
requirement will help us to save time. You will see why in next tutorial.
Creating a sheet model

Create a new fle. Use seed2d.dgn as seed fle.
From MicroStation menu, choose fle>models. This will open a dialog box. By default, using default seed
fle will create a fle with one design model. Now let’s create more model. Click create a new model.
Another dialog box will open. Fill the felds as follow:
1. Type: sheet – 2D
2. Name: A1 sheet
3. Description: CAD Notes A1 default (or you may use your company name)
4. Size: ISO A1
http://cad-notes.com/2011/03/preparing-sheets-in-microstation/[12/26/2012 2:51:20 PM]

Click OK after you fnished.
You should see the new model opened. It should have sheet boundary in your view. That is ISO A1
paper size.
So how you can switch between design model and sheet model? You should see the list in view group,
above MicroStation status bar.
Notes for AutoCAD users: This is similar to AutoCAD layout.
Adding title block to sheet

Now we have the sheet. Your next task is to create the title block inside the boundary. If you already
have a standard title block, you may use it. If you don’t, you can use the sample fle.

Open a new MicroStation session. Do not open the fle in your current session.
Browse to this location (for Windows 7, you may need to fnd it in other folder if you use Win XP or Vista)
C:\ProgramData\Bentley\MicroStation\WorkSpace\Projects\Examples\Building\seed
Open BSI300G-0-Border.dgn
It should show title block drawing. Select all objects in the drawing then choose in menu edit>copy.
Now move back to our previous fle. From MicroStation menu, choose edit>paste.
Place the title block inside the boundary. You may need to move it later to place it precisely.
Press [ctrl] + F to save the setting. This will make MicroStation open this model by default, not the empty
design model.
Now we are fnished creating our seed. We will use it in our tutorial later, to place our drawings here.
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Add drawings into MicroStation Sheet | CAD Notes
Add drawings into MicroStation Sheet

Let’s continue working on MicroStation tutorial. This time we will create a new sheet using
MicroStation seed fle we created before, then we will put our drawings inside it.
Creating a new sheet

Let’s start. In MicroStation, you may add sheet model in the same or different DGN fle. I don’t really
know how you MicroStation users usually do this. But AutoCAD users usually put the layout (or sheet)
within the same fle where they create the drawing. However, I see that in Autodesk vertical products,
the 2D generated drawings can be in different fles. This also common when we use Sheet Set in
AutoCAD.
Now I will let you decide where you want to put it. Or if your company already use MicroStation, you may
want to share how you do it.
Now create a DGN fle. Use the seed fle we created before.
We already have one sheet. Let’s add one more. Go to menu fle>models.
Click create a new model.
In create model dialog, choose type: sheet from seed . Then click the magnifer to choose our seed fle.
Find the seed fle, open it. You will see a dialog asking you to choose which model you want to use.
Choose A1 sheet we created before.
Hint:
A seed fle allows you to have several sheets settings. You may want to have settings for
several paper sizes in a seed fle.
http://cad-notes.com/2011/03/add-drawings-into-microstation-sheet/[12/26/2012 2:52:33 PM]

Click OK.
Give name ‘table design’.
Now we have two sheets in this design fle.
Placing drawings
OK, now that we already have the sheets, how can we put our drawing in it?
If you have a drawing, you may use it. But if you don’t, you can download this fle and use it .
Let’s open A1 sheet views if you haven’t open it. You can switch to that view using view groups (see
image above).
Go to menu fle>references.
In the dialog, click attach reference.
Choose the fle you want to put here.
MicroStation will open another dialog box. In this dialog, change the detail scale to 1:100. Or if you use
your own drawing, adjust the scale as necessary.
Click OK.
Now you can see the fle listed in references dialog box. You also should see the drawing in your
MicroStation view.

You can move the drawing when the fle is selected in this dialog. You can move, copy, scale, and use
other manipulate tools at the top of this dialog.
Modify drawing boundary

Let’s try to clip the reference. You can close or simply move the reference dialog box. Activate place
block and draw a rectangle like below.
Back to reference dialog box. Make sure the drawing is selected. Now activate clip reference.
Pick the rectangle we created before. The drawing is now clipped.
The other tools are at the bottom of this dialog. You can change the drawing scale, rotate it using the
felds there.
I will not discuss about this dialog further here, because the details about it are supposed when we talk
about references. (I hope I can cover it soon)
Placing 3D model
Can we place 3d model? Yes. let’s try to place our 3D table in the 2nd sheet .
The steps are the same. The difference is, after you select the fle, you need to tell MicroStation which
view you want to use. Change the view to top and use 1:5 scale.

Click OK, and the drawing now appear.
Create projection view

A good tool that is really useful when you work with 3D models is copy/fold reference.
This will add a new projected drawing based on selected reference. You can quickly add front and side
view using this tool. Select which drawing you want to create projected view (we only have one now)
then activate the tool. Click in your drawing where you want to put it.
Don’t forget to check the tool settings!
Setting reference presentation

When you work with 3D models, you may want to use different presentation. Below, I add one isometric
view and set the drawing presentation to illustration.

You can do it by selecting the drawing, then activate set reference presentation.
By default, it will use the parent presentation. But we can override it for a specifc drawing. You can
change the display style in the opened dialog box.
This tutorial ends here. Now you should be able to create your own seed fle and add drawings with
different scales and boundary inside your title block. We will cover more in references and views for 3D.
4
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AutoCAD to MicroStation migration tip: working with references | CAD Notes
AutoCAD to MicroStation migration tip: working with

references
If you are an AutoCAD user who is migrating to MicroStation, you might fnd in some design fles you
can’t snap to elements in referenced fles. Or even worse, you can’t modify the XREF fles like selecting,
moving, scaling, etc.
It’s not a bug. It works as designed.
Why would people want the ability to prevent that? When you work with many references, and the
design become complex, you would want the ability to exclude some drawings from selected, snapped,
etc. But sometimes we still need to see them.
Let’s open MicroStation references dialog box. You can do it by accessing menu fle> references.
Manipulating reference
On top of this dialog box, you can see some manipulate tools (1).
Before MicroStation XM version, this is the only way you can manipulate a reference fle. You can’t
select reference on screen and use manipulate tools like other drawing elements.
In recent version, you can still manipulate reference fles from this dialog. And also able to manipulate
reference fles like other drawing elements (more about it below).
Changing reference properties

Below the dialog box, you can change the reference properties (2).
Again, if you choose not to manipulate reference as element, you need to edit here. If you choose to
edit it as element, you can also change these properties from element information.
Now let’s examine the reference list (3). There are several columns hold information of reference
properties. You can change it from area (2), or directly changing it from area (3).
Now let’s see below. From left to right, the columns show that the reference is displayed, snap-able,
selectable, and treated like other elements.
If you want to exclude the elements in that reference from snapping, you can simply uncheck snap next
to the reference.
Do you like this feature?

So do you think these features are helpful? I know some AutoCAD users want to have this for years. It’s
http://cad-notes.com/2011/08/autocad-to-microstation-migration-tip-working-with-references/[12/26/2012 2:53:24 PM]

AutoCAD to MicroStation migration tip: working with references | CAD Notes
simple, I wonder why Autodesk hasn’t implemented it to AutoCAD yet.
0
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http://cad-notes.com/2011/08/autocad-to-microstation-migration-tip-working-with-references/[12/26/2012 2:53:24 PM]

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Introduction to MicroStation | CAD Notes

http://cad-notes.com/2009/10/introduction-to-microstation/[12/26/2012 2:22:54 PM]

Task navigation is where your tools are.

http://cad-notes.com/2009/10/introduction-to-microstation/[12/26/2012 2:22:54 PM]

Activating and Using tools

Next, we will learn how to work with MicroStation fles .

http://cad-notes.com/2009/10/introduction-to-microstation/[12/26/2012 2:22:54 PM]

Working With Workspace and Design Files

From user option list, select new…

It will create a folder at this location (for Windows Vista):

Preparing Tutorial Files

http://cad-notes.com/2009/10/working-with-workspace-and-design-ﬁles/[12/26/2012 2:24:24 PM]

Create New File

Set your Working Unit

To Understand Working Units

http://cad-notes.com/2009/10/working-with-workspace-and-design-ﬁles/[12/26/2012 2:24:24 PM]

The dimensions are showing meters now!

Now try to activate Place Smartline.

Saving File and Settings

http://cad-notes.com/2009/10/working-with-workspace-and-design-ﬁles/[12/26/2012 2:24:24 PM]

Using Mouse and Controlling View

Mouse as a pointing device has become indispensable in all design

Mouse Button Function

http://cad-notes.com/2009/10/using-mouse-and-controlling-view/[12/26/2012 2:26:27 PM]

http://cad-notes.com/2009/10/using-mouse-and-controlling-view/[12/26/2012 2:26:27 PM]

you can double click your X-button.

We will discuss more about MicroStation view control later.

http://cad-notes.com/2009/10/using-mouse-and-controlling-view/[12/26/2012 2:26:27 PM]

Precise Input: Using AccuDraw

Let’s get started. Create a new fle, and open it.

The AccuDraw focus will move to feld with higher value.

http://cad-notes.com/2009/11/precise-input-using-accudraw/[12/26/2012 2:28:02 PM]

If you need to change it back to X and Y, simply press [space] again.

http://cad-notes.com/2009/11/precise-input-using-accudraw/[12/26/2012 2:28:02 PM]

Next, we will continue the tutorial on how to use tool settings .

http://cad-notes.com/2009/11/precise-input-using-accudraw/[12/26/2012 2:28:02 PM]

Precise Input: Using AccuSnap

When we place drawing elements, we need to reference to an existing point. We need

Overriding Snap Mode

Active and setting default Snap

http://cad-notes.com/2009/11/precise-input-using-accusnap/[12/26/2012 2:29:22 PM]

1. Double click on a button in snap toolbar

Changing the Tentative Snap Assignment

http://cad-notes.com/2009/11/precise-input-using-accusnap/[12/26/2012 2:29:22 PM]

Next, we will do an exercise for AccuSnap and AccuDraw .

http://cad-notes.com/2009/11/precise-input-using-accusnap/[12/26/2012 2:29:22 PM]

AccuDraw and AccuSnap Exercise

http://cad-notes.com/2009/11/accudraw-and-accusnap-exercise/[12/26/2012 2:30:12 PM]

Exercise: Using AccuDraw and AccuSnap

Drawing the parking lots mark

This time, activate copy tool.

Change the copies value in copy element settings to 5.

http://cad-notes.com/2009/11/accudraw-and-accusnap-exercise/[12/26/2012 2:30:12 PM]

you select the line.

Finishing the Building Center Lines

http://cad-notes.com/2009/11/accudraw-and-accusnap-exercise/[12/26/2012 2:30:12 PM]

Using Tool Settings and Linear Elements

Using tool settings

Line, if it only has one line segment

2. Place text ‘//____’ in the 2nd column, top row.