What is Drawing View?

Drawing View is a view type that makes it easy to link display Layer Elements on top of a PDF. Simply upload a PDF file to the view and you can drop onto the PDF annotations or markups that are linked to Elements within that Category.

When to use Drawing View

The most common use case for Drawing View is to link survey items to their location on a drawing. Our customers use site plans, floor plans, and elevations as their base drawing while they actively survey in the field. (Note that any kind of drawing or graphic can be used in Drawing View, as long as it’s a PDF file.)

Once the drawing is uploaded, you can use one of 4 different annotation/markup styles to link that location to existing Elements or to create new Elements on the go. Once an Element is linked, a snapshot of its location will appear in that Element’s detail panel.

The power of Drawing View is that it automatically gives your Element data context. With Drawing View filtering, you can track and manage the surveying process in real time.

Create a Drawing View

As mentioned previously, view types like Drawing View will only display data within the Category it is created. When creating a new Drawing View, note that only Elements within the Category will be available to be placed onto the PDF.

To create a new Drawing View:

1. Navigate to the Category that you’d like to create the view in

2. Click on the “Select View” button at the top of the page

3. Click the “+ Create a New View” button

4. Give the View a name

5. Click the “Drawing” radio button

6. Click “Choose PDF” button and upload your PDF file

7. Choose the markup tool from the dropdown

8. Choose your preferred markup tool style

9. Optional: create the view with the current filter, sort, and display settings

10. Click “Create View” to save

Manage Drawing View Settings

Rename the View

1. Under the Category, click on the “three dot” icon next to the View name

2. Click on “View Settings”

3. Click on the view name and rename, Layer will automatically save your changes

Manage View Filters

You can add filters to Drawing Views to display only certain Elements on the PDF.

1. Click the “Filter” icon in the top right corner

2. Add filters

3. Click “Save Changes” to save the changes to the view. If you only need

<aside> 💡 This feature is helpful during surveys to track which rooms have been surveyed vs rooms that still need to be surveyed. In this scenario, set a filter to only display rooms that still need to be surveyed. Once the room has been surveyed, those items will disappear from the view.

</aside>

Replace PDF

Project designs evolve, which inevitably means that you may need to replace the PDF. To do this and preserve the location of your existing annotations, make sure to export the PDF at the same page size as the existing PDF.

1. In the Drawing View, click on the “three dot” icon in the top right corner of the view.

2. Click “View Settings”

3. Click “Choose PDF” button and upload your PDF file

Change the Markup Tool

You can choose from 4 different markup tools in Drawing View. You can mix and match these different types of annotations on the PDF.

1. Dot

2. Cloud

3. Polygon

4. Rectangle

To change the markup tool:

1. In the Drawing View, click on the “change markup tool” icon in the top right corner of the view.

2. Choose the markup tool from the dropdown. Go into “View Settings” to change the specific styling of the markup tool.

Duplicate the View

1. Under the Category, click on the “three dot” icon next to the View name

2. Click on “Duplicate View”

3. The duplicated view will be listed as the last view in the Category. Rename the view as needed.

Delete the View

Note that only Project Owners and Editors can delete Drawing Views.

1. Under the Category, click on the “three dot” icon next to the View name

2. Click on “Delete View”