The plot plan editor is a simple two-dimensional CAD system with specific adaptations for drawing plot plans. In the interest of simplicity several features available on commercial CAD packages have been left out or limited.

The plot plan prints as a single 8 1/2 x 11 sheet with a north arrow and a client information header at the top. The client information is taken directly from the system design data and is not editable through the Plot Plan Editor.

Think of the printing part of the plot plan as an 8 1/2 x 11 window that floats over the drawing. This “view port” can be moved around with the Pan tool.

The scale of the drawing is selectable from 1“ = 25' to 1” = 400'. When changing scale on the plot plan any existing text will also be stretched or shrunk to the new scale.

Click on the “Accept” button to complete a selection started by one of the editing, library or objects routines. Alternately press the [Enter] key. Note that the “Accept” button is enabled (not grayed out) only when there is a CAD operation pending.

Click on the “Cancel” button to quit a pending CAD operation. Alternately press the [ESC] key or start another operation. Note that the “Cancel” button is enabled (not grayed out) only when there is a CAD operation pending.

• New - clear current plot plan and start a new one
• Load - load a previously saved plot plan
• Merge - add contents of a previously saved plot plan to the current one
• Save - save the current plot plan to disk
• Export as DXF - export the plot plan as a Drawing Exchange Format file.
• Print - sends the plot plan to a printer
• Print to PDF - creates and saves a PDF version of the plot plan

The “Edit” button has a drop down menu of editing operations. The most recent edit operation becomes the default operation of the edit button as reflected by the icon.

Removes selected objects from the drawing.

• Click the “Delete Objects” menu item.
• Select each CAD object to delete by clicking on it.
• Complete the selection and commit the delete by clicking the “Accept” button or pressing the [Enter] key.

Only one object at a time can be edited and not all objects are editable. Grouped objects such as most objects in the Library cannot be edited. Text can be edited by double clicking on the text.

• Click the “Edit Object” menu item.
• Select the object. If the object can be edited control “handles” will appear at the object's control points.
• Drag the handles to re-size the object.
• Either accept the edit or cancel it by clicking either the “Accept” or “Cancel” buttons, respectively.

Changes the position of the selected objects

• Click the “Move Objects” menu item.
• Select the objects to be moved by clicking on them.
• Complete the selection by clicking the “Accept” button or pressing the [Enter] key.
• Click the mouse to establish a starting point.
• Drag the objects to the new location .
• Click again to set them into position.

Turns the selected objects about an axis.

• Click the “Rotate Objects” menu item.
• Select the objects to be rotated by clicking on them.
• Complete the selection by clicking the “Accept” button or pressing the [Enter] key.
• Click the mouse to establish the axis around which to rotate the objects.
• Move the cursor to rotate the objects.
• Click the mouse to set the new orientation.

The option menu items control how the editor operates.

Toggles the grid on or off. The grid does not show when printing.

When the snap is toggled on mouse clicks are “pulled” to the nearest grid intersection.

When use ortho is toggled on objects are drawn perpendicular to the grid.

An alternative to selecting each object with a mouse click.. The selection is made by clicking on the drawing and drag a rectangle around the objects to be selected. Only those objects that are fully within the drag rectangle will be selected. The “Accept” button does NOT need to be clicked when using this option.

Moves the viewing/printing rectangle of the drawing.

• Click the “Pan” button.
• Click and drag the drawing to the desired view.

The zoom level changes the visual viewing size of the drawing in the editor. It does NOT affect the size or scale of the printed drawing.

The library is a collection of pre-defined object groups (blocks in CAD parlance). The most recent library operation becomes the default operation of the library button as reflected by the icon.

Defines and saves a group of objects for future use.

• Click the “Define Block” menu item.
• Select the objects to include in the block and press the “Accept” button.
• Enter a name for the block in the input dialog that appears.
• The selection is removed from the drawing.

Adds a block defined using “Define Block” to the drawing.

• Click the “Add Block” menu item.
• Enter the name of the block in the input dialog.
• Move the cursor over the drawing.
• Click when the objects are in position.

Adds a to-scale drawing of the system's footprint to the drawing. This feature is available only when the Plot Plan Editor is launched from the Design Wizard.

• Click the “System Bed” menu item.
• Move the cursor over the drawing.
• Click when the bed is in position.

Adds a dosing tank symbol to the drawing. Two varieties are available: round or rectangular.

• Click one of the “Dosing Tank” menu items.
• Move the cursor over the drawing.
• Click when the tank symbol is in position.

Adds a septic tank symbol to the drawing. Two varieties are available: round or rectangular.

• Click one of the “Septic Tank” menu items.
• Move the cursor over the drawing.
• Click when the tank symbol is in position.

Adds a grid of perc hole symbols to the drawing. Two varieties are available: 2 x 3 and 2 x 4.

• Click on either the “2 x 3 perc holes” or “2 x 4 perc holes” menu item.
• Move the cursor over the drawing.
• Click when the grid is in position.

Adds a test pit symbol to the drawing.

• Click on the “Test Pit” menu item.
• Move the cursor over the drawing.
• Click when the symbol is in position.

Adds a generic house symbol to the drawing.

• Click on the “House” menu item.
• Move the cursor over the drawing.
• Click when the symbol is in position.

Adds a well symbol to the drawing.

• Click on the “Well” menu item.
• Move the cursor over the drawing.
• Click when the symbol is in position.

Objects are fairly simple drawing building blocks. The most recent objects operation becomes the default operation of the objects button as reflected by the icon.

Adds a line to the drawing.

• Click on the “Line” menu item.
• Click on the drawing to establish the starting point for the line.
• Click again on the ending point.

Adds a line with an arrowhead at one end to the drawing.

• Click on the “Arrow” menu item.
• Click on the drawing to establish the arrowhead point for the line.
• Click again on the tail point.

Adds a dimensioned line with arrowheads at each end to the drawing.

• Click on the “Dimension” menu item.
• Click on the drawing to establish the starting point for the line.
• Click again on the ending point.
• An input dialog will appear with the length of the line for editing.
• Edit the text, if desired, and click the “OK” button.

Adds a rectangular box to the drawing.

• Click on the “Rectangle” menu item.
• Click on the drawing to establish a corner.
• Click again at the opposite corner.

Adds an opaque rectangular box to the drawing.

• Click on the “Rectangle - Filled” menu item.
• Click on the drawing to establish a corner.
• Click again at the opposite corner.

Adds an ellipse to the drawing.

• Click on the “Ellipse” menu item.
• Establish a bounding box to define the ellipse:
• Click on the drawing to establish a corner of the bounding box for the ellipse.
• Click again at the opposite corner of the bounding box.

Adds an opaque ellipse to the drawing.

• Click on the “Ellipse - Filled” menu item.
• Establish a bounding box to define the ellipse:
• Click on the drawing to establish a corner of the bounding box for the ellipse.
• Click again at the opposite corner of the bounding box.

Adds an arc to the drawing.

• Click on the “Arc” menu item.
• First establish a bounding box to define an ellipse that includes the arc:
• Click on the drawing to establish a corner of the bounding box for the ellipse.
• Click again at the opposite corner of the bounding box.
• Move the cursor and click to establish the starting end point of the arc along the ellipse.
• Click again to define the ending point of the arc.

Adds a series of connected line segments to the drawing.

• Click on the “Polyline” menu item.
• Click on the drawing to establish the first point of the first line segment.
• Click again to end the line segment and start the next.
• Repeat until all segments except the final one are drawn.
• With the cursor in position, press the [Enter] key to add the final line segment and complete the operation. KNOWN BUG: Do NOT press the “Accept” button. Pressing the “Accept” button will add an extra, unwanted line segment to the polyline.

Adds an opaque polygon to the drawing.

• Click on the “Polygon” menu item.
• Click on the drawing to establish the first point of the first line segment.
• Click again to end the line segment and start the next.
• Repeat until all segments except the final one are drawn.
• With the cursor in position, press the [Enter] key to add the final line segment and complete the operation. KNOWN BUG: Do NOT press the “Accept” button. Pressing the “Accept” button will add an extra, unwanted line segment to the polygon.

Adds a continuous curving line to the drawing. The spline is defined by a series of control points that “pull” the curve into shape. The more points you use to define the spline, the more control you have over the shape.

• Click on the “Spline” menu item.
• Click on the drawing to establish the first control point.
• Repeat until all control points except the final one are drawn.
• With the cursor in position, press the [Enter] key to add the final control point and complete the operation. KNOWN BUG: Do NOT press the “Accept” button. Pressing the “Accept” button will add an extra, unwanted control point to the polygon.

Adds and defines drawing annotation.

Adds a caption to the drawing using the current height, face, and alignment settings.

• Click on the “Add” menu item or click on the “Text” button.
• Enter the text in the input dialog.
• Click on the drawing to place the text.

The height in points to draw text. The point height is based on the current scale settings. Changing the drawing scale will cause the text to draw in a different size than originally selected.

The typeface of the text to be drawn.

The justification setting for text to be drawn.

The drawing scale is selectable from 1“ = 25' to 1” = 400'. The default scale is 1“ = 50'.

Select the appropriate scale using the scale drop down menu. Approximate coverages for the various scales are:

The way a CAD object is drawn is determined by the settings of its layer. Each layer has its own attribute set of colors, pen size, visibility, etc. Up to 256 different layers can be defined. It is not necessary to use the layering feature to create a plot plan.

The current layer is selected with the layer drop down menu. As an object is created it is assigned to the current. Changing the attributes of a layer (such as color, pen width, etc) automatically changes the way all the objects in that layer are drawn.

Double click in the layers drop down menu to open the layer editor.

The north arrow prints in the top left corner of the plot plan to indicate the direction of north relative to the drawing. To change direction of the north arrow:

• Double click on the north arrow
• Move the cursor to rotate the arrow
• Click when the arrow is pointing the correct direction

First, decide the direction North will point and then turn the North arrow to suit:

• Double click on the North arrow.
• Move the mouse to rotate the arrow.
• Click the mouse when the arrow points the right direction.

Select the appropriate scale using the drop down menu. The default is 1“ = 50'.

Place the bed onto the drawing:

• From the “Library” dropdown menu select “System Bed”
• Move the cursor and you will see the system footprint following the cursor.
• Click to place the bed.

The default orientation of the bed is the slope arrow pointing (down slope) to the left.

Rotate the bed into the correct orientation:

• From the “Edit” dropdown menu select “Rotate Objects”. Note that the “Accept” and “Cancel” buttons are now enabled.
• Select the bed by clicking on it.
• Accept the selection by either clicking the “Accept” button or pressing the [Enter] key.
• Click on the drawing to establish the pivot point around which you will rotate the bed.
• Rotate the bed by moving the cursor.
• When the bed is in the right orientation click the mouse.

If you need to move the bed into a different position:

• From the “Edit” dropdown menu select “Move Objects”.
• Select the bed by clicking on it.
• Accept the selection by either clicking the “Accept” button or pressing the [Enter] key.
• Click on the drawing to establish a starting point.
• Move the bed by moving the cursor.
• When the bed is in the right position click the mouse.

Place the test pits, perc holes, and dosing and septic tanks using the same methods.

Other features can be drawn using the tools under the “Objects” dropdown menu.

Remember that you can move the drawing's print window around using the Pan tool.