10 Tips for Archicad Template Building

We are fresh off the production of our TPL Accelerator program, and have assembled a 10 Tips Video and Blog that will surely improve how you approach building your Archicad Templates.

If you can do all 10 of these, you'll be well on your way building an awesome project template file.

Tip 1 - Text Favorites

Are you saving Text Favorites as part of your Template? If not, this can be a useful task to complete that will improve your consistency of text based outputs across your entire Archicad template.

Integrating your Company Branding Standards into this setup process, provides the opportunity to create alignment between externally standards (word, excel, websites, etc...) and internal within Archicad.

Task 1 - Save Texts that Align with Archicad Text Input Settings.

Tip 2 - Master Textbox Formatting

Are you copying and pasting multiple column data lists into Archicad? If not, this can be a useful method for quickly adding standards, notes, code references, tables and more into your template file.

The key here is to leverage Tip 1, and quickly apply your text based format first.

Then, dive into the column tab sliders and adjust the formatting to an ideal width.

Task 2 - Practice Copying and Pasting Data Lists into Textboxes.

Tip 3 - Defined Annotation Groups

When consider the different view types we setup in our project templates, it's useful to think about 2 main categories of content.

Model Content.

Walls, Slabs, Columns, Beams, Objects etc... The 3D design tools that make up our model, and when displayed on various viewpoints, provides the baseline graphics for plans, sections and elevations.

Annotation Content.

This is the content that helps us communicate the specific functions and requirements for each view type. Think text, labels, lines, fills, dimensions, markers, objects and more... anything that helps us document our viewpoints.

With layer combinations, we can easily control the visible output of both of these two groups. What must be considered, is defining each type of view and drawing, and associating a specific and clear annotation layer.

Task 3 - Define each Annotation Group and Associated Documentation methods.

Tip 4 - Optimizing Project Size to Layout Size

A critical step to setting up any project template, is defining how your plan views will fit onto your preferred layout size.

It's important to consider:

• Drawing Scale and Insertion Point
• Maximum Area on Layout for Drawing View
• Areas on Layout for Title Block, Notes & Legends
• Distance from Exterior Walls to Grid Markers

Task 4 - Setup and Test Scales vs Master Layouts

Tip 5 - Use of Legends

Legends can be a useful drawing type on layouts, to help communicate the visual outputs of their related drawings.

Legends can also be useful for setting up, testing, and storing model favorites within a template. We can these placed instances,  "Visual Favorites".

Over the past years, we've used different methods of creating legends and storing visual favorites in Archicad. From Hotlinked Modules, to Renovations, to the latest method. Design Options. Design options have proven to be the most effective method for this, and user friendly as well.

Tip 6 - Leverage Attributes...First

When building a template, we have multiple options for where we can pull labels and drive documentation.

For Identifcation Purposes: Here is our Order of Preferred Labeling.

1. Attribute Names
2. Attribute Prefix/Suffix (Property Expression)
3. Element ID
4. General Parameters
5. Design Tool Specific Parameters
6. Classifications
7. Property Input
8. Manual Label/Text

 Task 6 - Consider your Autotext Labeling Tools, and parameters to source.

Tip 7 - Detailing Rigs

The quality of your template will often be felt most, when it comes to the details.

How well are your details setup? How quickly can you reference them on your drawings? How quickly can you swap them out and make standard details, project specific details?

When building a template, it's important to consider your approach to details early on, and craft a workflow for when to use model source views, or standard details.

Consider what scale, will fit onto your preferred detail grid layout set in your Master Layout settings.

3x4? 4x4? 4x5? At what scale? What Layout Size?

Task 7 - Determine the max size of your annotated details based on scale and grid setup.

Tip 8 - Define Viewpoint Settings

One of the biggest time savers when creating a template, is the careful setup of your Viewpoint Settings for Elevations, Sections, and Interiors. Each of these viewpoints (vertical projections), consist of varying model appearance settings, for cut, uncut, and distant elements.

Establishing the baseline model appearance is important, prior to applying any graphical overrides to the view. Do this first, and then if additional adjustments to the graphic outputs are required, layer on simple rules to get the visuals you want.

Task 8 - Review your Viewpoint Settings, and Make Note of Preferred Appearances.

Tip 9 - Take Your Time to Document

Writing the rules to the road of your Archicad Project Template, not only will benefit yourself, by improved clarity of how your template operates, but it also builds a bridge to collaborating with others, by establishing standards and guidelines to work within.

Building a template takes time, and is something that should continually evolve along with with improved skills in Archicad. Documenting your template, is perhaps the #1 task you should do, to improve and solidify your skills.

Task 9 - Document Your Template

Tip 10 - Build your Own!

The best template for you, is going to the the template that you build yourself, to your exact requirements.

It's pretty plain and simple.

It may be tempting to download or purchase a template that promises to save you time and frustration while also improving your outputs and increasing your capabilities (which can be true!).

But at the end of the day, jumping into a template developed by someone else, is not going to be as perfect as developing, knowing, and trusting the template you setup yourself.

This is our approach anyway with CONTRABIM 2.0

After years of trying to creating the perfect Archicad template that would suite the most amount of users, we've determined that the best path to Archicad templates, is for end users to develop and build their own, specific to their projects.

Those are our 10 Tips for Archicad Template Building!

How many of these techniques are you using? I encourage you to consider how these tips and tasks can be integrated into your own template development process.

Enjoy!

TPL Accelerator Training Program

If you want to go deeper into learning proven techniques for establishing your own Archicad, Template, check out our recently completed training program, TPL Accelerator.

This program guides Archicad users through the planning and development of their own project template files. The training program can be built using our CB2.0 template attributes, or by starting a clean project file with your own Archicad attributes.

The goal, is to walk users through the steps to create their perfect Archicad template, while planning and documenting their specific approach every step of the way.

To learn more, check out the course curriculum page here.

 TPL Accelerator Course