Inserting a file from the local file system into a drawing

On selecting the Insert from File command, the Insert from File dialog box is displayed. To insert a file from the local file system into a drawing, you will have to:

  1. Select the document to open.
  2. Choose whether to import the entire document or just some entities.
  3. Define the origin to position the document in your drawing.
  4. Define parameters to be applied on the imported entities.

Proceed as follows:

1 Select the document.
a Under Files of type, select the type of document you want to open in the list of formats supported by think3.
b In the Look in selection box, select the folder containing the document to open (initially, the drawing directory chosen when installing the think3 application is proposed). You can navigate through your file system like in any Exploring window of the Microsoft® Windows operating system.
A list of all documents of the specified type located in the selected folder will be displayed in the box below.

Please note steps a and b can be performed in reversed order.
 
c Click on the document you want to open. The document name will be displayed in the File name box. If the document type is ".e3" or ".e2" (and when the selected document was saved the proper options were set in the Preview tab of the File Properties dialog box), a preview image of the file contents will be displayed in the frame on the right.
d Click Open to open the document.

Note

If you select a drawing document (".e2") including views of a model, a warning will be displayed, informing you that all the references to the model from which the views were derived will be lost, that is any changes made to the model won't be applied to the views.
The Import File dialog box is displayed.
2 Choose whether to import the entire document (typically, a two-dimensional drawing) or just some entities.

Note

Only the entities lying on XY plane will be imported.
Selecting All option in the Import File dialog box, you will also be able to import profiles from ".e3" files.
3 You can define the point that will be used to position your drawing in two ways:
  • Type the entity coordinates in the X and Y boxes
  • or
  • Click Change button and select directly a point on the drawing
4 Click OK. The selected entities or the whole drawing (depending on which you chose) will be displayed: drag them to the position where you want to position them and click the mouse on that position.
5 Now you can define various parameters to be applied on the imported entities using the selection list:
(The path of the file from which the entities are imported is displayed in the selection list under File name)
a Select Origin selector to specify the origin for the entities to be imported into the drawing.
b Type the scale value in the Scale box, in order to scale the imported entities in the drawing.
c Type the angle in Angle box. You can rotate the imported entities counter-clockwise starting from the X-axis; negative values are also allowed i.e. -360 deg to 360 deg.
d Mirroring can be enabled by selecting the Mirror mode options from the drop-down list:
  • If entities are not to be mirrored, select None option
  • If entities are to be mirrored about X-axis, select On X option
  • If entities are to be mirrored about Y-axis, select On Y option
e Keep Attributes check box under More Options controls the attributes of the imported entities:
  • If selected, copies of objects retain the attributes (such as color, line type, and layer) of the original. If not selected, copies assume the corresponding current property values.
6 Now drag the defined entities to the place you wish and click the mouse at that position.