Adding floors to the ground level

The Level tool is used for adding one or several floors to the ground level. You can also determine the height from the ground for each level.

Adding Floors to the Ground Level

In order to add one extra level to the ground level, proceed as follows:

Select the Level tool from the Tools tab.
Move the mouse pointer to the drawing area. A small, gray square-shaped frame is attached to the mouse pointer.
Place the level in the drawing area and adjust its size in one step by clicking and holding the mouse button. Then move the mouse pointer in a diagonal direction until you have stretched the frame to desired size.
Release the mouse button. The Level Settings dialog appears (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: the level settings.

Move the mouse pointer outside the drawing area to drop the level and then go to the dialog.
Since you are to add only one extra level and this amount is already predefined in the text field next to the heading Number of levels to add, there is no need to make any alterations.
Instead go to the text field below and enter the Height per level, i.e. the height difference between the levels.
Click once on the Add levels button. The extra level is shown in the table below.
Click OK or Apply. The extra level is now also visible on the drawing area, above the gray frame that represents your ground level. The two levels are linked together and each has a green label attached to it, displaying the level status (see Figure 2 below).

Figure 2

Other Dialog Options

The Level Settings dialog also contains the Printout field. Checking the box Show level text... will display the text on the green label on the printout. Checking the box Show level text background... will also display the actual label behind on the printout. This option is only available if you have chosen to display the text. Both options affect all levels in the drawing area.

Note:

For each click on the Add levels button in the Level Settings dialog, a new level is shown in the table below.
You can change values In the Height column afterwards. Click in the field that you would like to change and type in a new value. The values in the Height from ground column are then updated automatically.
It is also possible to change values in the Height from ground column This will then automatically affect the Height column.
By clicking the square-shaped icon in the Level column (see Figure 1) you can change the label color to a different color. Each level can then have a specific color, which will show on the printout.
All values that you enter in the Level Settings dialog must be confirmed with TAB or Enter.
It is not possible to change the Height from ground on Level 0 – it always remains 0.
You activate a level in the drawing area by clicking on the green label that is attached to the level or by clicking on the border of the level frame (between the solid and the dotted line).
When a level is activated, you can adjust the size of it by dragging one of the yellow snap points. This will change all levels that are linked together.

Now it is possible to place components on the different levels. Select the desired components and place them within the gray frames that represent your levels in the drawing area. Within each level, a gray outline is shown. These are contours of the components that are placed in the level closest below.

Each level has a green label attached to it, showing the level status. The following information is displayed:

Height from ground: Shows the value that you typed in.
Show level below as outline: Yes/No
Show 3D together: Yes/No

In order to change the status of a level, click on the yellow triangle in the top left-hand corner of the green label, or right-click on the green label. A pop-up menu appears which displays the following options:

Delete – deletes all levels that are linked together.
Add Another Level – adds a new level above the existing levels. The Level Settings dialog opens and enables you to change values or to add levels.
Copy Line Drawing to Levels Above – copies all line drawing components, for example, a building layout from the ground level and pastes this information to all other levels. The position of the line drawing components will be exactly the same as they were originally.
Reload - is used for redrawing the selected level. If you have made updates to a level and this information does not appear in the drawing area, click here.
Settings - opens the Level Settings dialog.
Show 3D Together – allows you to show/hide part or all of the 3D (three dimensional drawing) for the chosen levels. Turning it off means that in a 3D image, components on different levels will appear on ground level. If the 3D is turned on, the different levels will be shown at the height that you have specified for them (see Figure 3 below). This choice applies to all levels that are linked together.

Figure 3

Show Level Below as Outline – shows/hides the outline of the level below.

Note:

When moving a gray frame (i.e. your level) the components within the frame will be moved along in the drawing area as well.
When you develop a 3D image, the components will be shown at the height that you have specified for the level that they are on.
If you want to develop a 3D image of one floor at a time, place a camera on each level. Make sure that the camera is within the gray frame. See Figure 4 below.

Figure 4