Copyright: (C) 1996-1997 Visio Corporation
Citation: (C) 1996-1997 Visio Corporation


Landscape - Small Plan Template

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For information about how a particular shape behaves, right-click the shape, then choose Shape Help from the shortcut menu.

Before you create your landscape drawing:

•	Measure the perimeter of the property and buildings, or obtain a legal description of the property.

•	Measure the size and placement of existing plants or garden structures that you want to keep in your new plan.

Laying the foundation

By default, the Landscape - Small Plan Template opens a scaled drawing page in landscape (wide) orientation. You can change these settings at any time.

To change the page settings and drawing scale:

1.	Choose File > Page Setup.

2.	On the Page Size tab and the Drawing Scale tab, choose the settings you want for the drawing size, the printed page size, and the scale, then click OK.

To change the measurement units, click the Page Properties tab and choose the unit you want to use from the Measurement Units list, then click OK.

See also:

Rotating and resizing pages

Setting page orientation and scale

Drawing to scale

When you're choosing a drawing scale for a landscape plan, keep the following things in mind:

•	Drawing units are sizes in the real world. Page units are sizes on the printed page. The ratio of page units to drawing units is the drawing scale.

•	The smaller the drawing scale, the larger the area you can represent. A scale such as 1 inch = 10 feet allows you to draw an entire plan on one page. A scale such as 1/4 inch = 1 foot allows you to focus on one section of the garden.

•	When you drop shapes on a scaled drawing page, they adjust automatically to the scale you've set.

See also:

Setting page orientation and scale

Configuring landscape planning shapes

When you drop some of the landscape planning shapes on the drawing page, Visio Technical prompts you for information about the shape characteristics. For example, when you drop the Variable Circular Spray Head shape, a dialog box prompts you to enter values for the Spray Area. If you want to change data in property fields after you've dropped the shape on the page, right-click the shape, then choose the appropriate command, such as Set Spray Area, from the shortcut menu.

You can change the characteristics of some other landscape planning shapes by right-clicking them and choosing the appropriate command from the shortcut menu. For example, right-click a tree shape, then choose Properties to define the tree's Common Name and Foliage Type.

Creating a property outline from a legal description

If you have a legal description of your property, you can run the Property Line tool to create a shape that represents the area. Choose Tools > Macro > AEC > Property Line. Enter the bearing and distance of each property line in one of the rows in the dialog box. For details, click the Help button.

Incorporating buildings into your landscape plan

To incorporate buildings and other structures into your landscape plan, you can

•	Use wall shapes from the Building Core or Walls, Shell And Structure stencil to draw the structures.

•	Open an existing home plan drawing you created in Visio Technical and create the landscape plan within that drawing.

•	Import a home plan you created in another application.

If you choose the first option, open the Building Core or Walls, Shell And Structure stencil and draw the structures before adding landscape shapes. To open the stencil, choose File > Stencils > AEC > Building Core or Walls, Shell And Structure.

If you choose the second or third option, you can place the existing drawing on a background page, then assign it to a foreground page on which you add the landscape planning shapes. This way, you can create the landscape on top of the existing drawing without accidentally changing the drawing.

If you choose the third option, and the existing home plan is in an AutoCAD file, you can use the AutoCAD File Converter to open the drawing in Visio Technical. Choose File > Open. In the Open dialog box, under Files Of Type, choose AutoCAD (*.dwg, *.dxf).

See also:

Using backgrounds for common page elements

To create a landscape plan:

1.	Add shapes for fences and paths, recreational equipment, plants, and irrigation systems.

When applicable, right-click a shape, then choose the command that allows you to associate information with it or change its characteristics.

2.	Use the Plant Callout shape to annotate plants. Use shapes from the General - Annotations and General - Dimensioning, Architectural stencils to annotate other parts of the drawing and show dimensions.

Using layers with landscape drawings

A layer is a named category of shapes. When you create a landscape plan, Visio Technical places the shapes on layers. For example, when you drop a Hose Bib shape, Visio Technical adds the shape to an Irrigation System layer. When you drop a Perennial Border shape, Visio Technical adds it to a New Plants layer. You can view or change a shape's layer assignments by choosing View > Layer Properties.

When shapes are assigned to separate layers, you can treat the shapes separately. For example, you can hide or lock all layers except the one you want to work on or you can print shapes based on their layer assignments. You can also generate numeric or inventory reports for shapes on particular layers.

See also:

About layers

To view only one layer in a drawing:

1.	Choose View > Layer Properties.

2.	In the Layer Properties dialog box, under Visible, uncheck all the layers except the one you want to view, then click OK.

Working with shape properties

A custom property is a field in which you can store information. Visio Technical associates property fields with many landscape planning shapes. For example, the Broadleaf Evergreen Tree shape has Common Name and Foliage Type properties. You can enter data into the fields by right-clicking the shape, and choosing the appropriate command from the shortcut menu.

If you want to associate additional data with your landscape planning shapes, you can run the Custom Properties Editor to add properties.

To run the Custom Properties Editor:

•	Choose Tools > Macro > Custom Properties Editor.

See also:

Adding, editing, and deleting custom-property fields

Generating reports from properties

If you've entered data for the properties associated with your landscape planning shapes, you can run the Property Reporting Wizard to generate inventory or numerical reports based on the data. For example, you could create an inventory for all the fall-blooming plants in your plan.

To run the Property Reporting Wizard:

•	Choose Tools > Property Report.

See also:

Creating reports from custom data

Linking shapes to other drawing pages, other files, or World Wide Web locations

You can add navigational links to any shape in your diagram, so that users of the diagram can right-click the shape to jump to separate drawing pages, separate files, or documents on an intranet or the Web. For example, you can link a shrub shape to the Web page of the nursery from which you want to buy it.

To add links to shapes:

•	Choose Insert > Hyperlink.

See also:

About using hyperlinks

Placing Visio drawings on the World Wide Web

You can easily convert a Visio Technical drawing to a format Web browsers can read. Then you can distribute the drawing on an intranet or the Web.

See also:

Exporting shapes and drawings in .jpg or .gif format

Saving drawings as HTML pages


Configuring landscape planning shapes

Creating a property outline from a legal description

Drawing to scale

Generating reports from properties

Incorporating buildings into your landscape plan

Laying the foundation

Linking shapes to other drawing pages, other files, or World Wide Web locations

Placing Visio drawings on the World Wide Web

Using layers with landscape drawings

Working with shape properties