i want to save a copy of all the drawings that went out the door. when i try to make a copy of my current folder (lets call it folder 1) which has all the drawings, it creates a copy (lets call it folder 2), but, all the drawings in folder 2 still look up the references from folder 1. what i want is after i make the copy, the drawings should now look up ALL the xrefs from folder 2 rather than the original folder 1, and i can make folder 2 as read only. by that way, i can make sure that i have a record set of what went out, and can move on with the original folder 1 and make changes again as necessary. anyone has any suggestions on how to do that?
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saving a copy of drawings that went out
- Thread starter youngEIT
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Yes File / ETransmit is the right direction.
It'll allow you to create the files you'd send out without touching the original files and file structures. (We actually only send out the PDF's- yes they can be back-stripped but so what ?) THEN those "ETransmit" files can be collected together to the folder you use to archive what you sent. THOSE remain untouched as what you sent out, and yet you have the 1st original files with all their X-Refs etc relationships still intact for further editing. We use this approach to collect our formal archived drawing set, and set the folder to read-only for archival purposes, yet gives us a way to keep a snapshot of where we were on a particular date, and yet continue to move ahead with the active file set. That date can be the date we sent the intermediate project for interim review, etc. Really works pretty well.
Good Luck !
It'll allow you to create the files you'd send out without touching the original files and file structures. (We actually only send out the PDF's- yes they can be back-stripped but so what ?) THEN those "ETransmit" files can be collected together to the folder you use to archive what you sent. THOSE remain untouched as what you sent out, and yet you have the 1st original files with all their X-Refs etc relationships still intact for further editing. We use this approach to collect our formal archived drawing set, and set the folder to read-only for archival purposes, yet gives us a way to keep a snapshot of where we were on a particular date, and yet continue to move ahead with the active file set. That date can be the date we sent the intermediate project for interim review, etc. Really works pretty well.
Good Luck !
Look into how your Xrefs are attached. Sounds like you have the paths set to absolute if you change them to relative it would fix the issue you describe. Changing to relative Xref pathing could cause other issues in your current work flow that you need to look into, but it does have its advantages.
Ludpeka1 has a good thought. Also, some offices use drive mapping - for example S: is \\server\data\CAD. This can make it easier to use your folder2 for backup purposes since you can change the drive mapping whenever you want. Using pdf is a great way of maintaining an archive copy of "what went out". Some offices print one copy, then scan to pdf then send and archive the pdf.
etransmit works fine, but takes a while to etransmit each file in a large drawing set one at a time. Sure, you could probably run a script to automate it, but there is an easier way. Just use winzip and get all the cad files in the sheets, working and xref directories etc. zipped at one time. When you name the zip file, use a submittal date in the name and place it in the archive directory. Much faster and easier.
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