Custom Attachments (BedCAD)
Attachment is a catch-all term for items that are automatically attached to your design i.e. worktop, cornice, pelmet and plinth.
Most units in BedCAD have some form of attachment. When you add a unit, BedCAD works out the shape of the attachment for you and adds it to the design as part of that unit. The shape of the attachment will follow the shape of the unit.
You will encounter situations where you will need to specify the shape of the attachment yourself. For example:
- Extending the worktop from a unit
- Creating an attachment in a different colour or profile
- Creating an attachment in a non-regular shape
Custom Attachments
Custom attachments have many uses.
- Creating complex worktops.
- Creating designs with multiple colours of worktop, cornice, pelmet or plinth.
- Creating complex back panel shapes.
The method used to create the shape for your attachment outline is the same for all room systems.
The shortcut for custom attachments in all room systems is 'CWT'
Choosing the Type of Attachment
Select the type of attachment you want to create.
Custom-made Worktop: Creates a custom shaped piece of worktop using the colour 'worktop' i.e. the default worktop colour.
Custom-made Worktop 2: Creates a custom shaped piece of worktop using the colour 'worktop2'. Use this to create pieces of worktop in a different colour/material to the default e.g. islands, butcher blocks.
Custom-made Worktop 3: Creates a custom shaped piece of worktop using the colour 'worktop3'.
Custom-panel: Creates a custom shaped panel using the colour 'custom_pan1'. The height of the panel is determined by choosing the relevant style under 'This Design' - 'Attachments', 'Custom panel'.
Custom-panel - colour12: Same as 'Custom panel' except it uses 'colour12'
Select the type of attachment you wish to create and click 'OK'.
Height Off Ground, Island, Colour
The properties of the attachment depend on the type you have selected.
Height Off Ground: Distance from the floor to the underside of the attachment. For worktops this will default to the height of the base cabinets, for cornice the height of the tall units etc.
Island: If selected the attachment will be created as a free-standing item. For worktops this means worktop edging will be drawn around all the sides of the item. For cornice, it means cornice will be drawn around all sides (and so on for pelmet, scribe etc). If unselected the last side that is drawn for this item will be assumed to be the 'back' edge and will be left plain i.e. no edging, cornice etc.
Cornice Colour (or Pelmet colour or Plinth Colour etc): The colour for this attachment. Default means it will use the same colour as the rest of the design (in this case cornice). Selecting cornice2 or cornice3 will use the colour cornice2 or cornice3 as appropriate.
Make any changes you require then click 'Edit Points' to start drawing your new attachment.
IMPORTANT - clicking 'OK' will skip the drawing step and place a zero-sized (i.e. 0 x 0) attachment onto your design.
Drawing the Attachment
The custom attachment drawing screen.
Zoom/Pan Controls
Works the same as the controls in 'Drag and Drop' - hold down the Shift and Control keys and the left mouse button to move/pan the plan around the screen, Shift, Control and right mouse button to zoom in/out.
Works the same as the controls in 'Drag and Drop' - hold down the Shift and Control keys and the left mouse button to move/pan the plan around the screen, Shift, Control and right mouse button to zoom in/out.
Mouse controls
When drawing your attachment (i.e. the mouse pointer has 'New' below it):
When drawing your attachment (i.e. the mouse pointer has 'New' below it):
- Left-click the mouse to add points to the outline
- Right-click the mouse to zoom out so the plan fills the screen.
When editing a completed attachment (i.e. the mouse pointer has 'Edit' below it):
- Left-click on a point and drag to change the position of that point. The other sides to your attachment will move accordingly. If multiple points are selected, all points will move.
- Left-click on a side and drag to change the position on that side. The other sides to your attachment will move accordingly.
- Left-click anywhere on the drawing screen and drag the mouse to select multiple points.
- Right-click on a point to select one of several options for re-shaping that corner (see below). If multiple points are selected changes will be applied to all points.
- Right-click on a side to select one of several options for re-shaping that side (see below).
Keyboard Controls
When drawing the outline (i.e. the pointer shows 'New'):
Escape: Holding down the escape ('Esc') key whilst drawing your outline will disable 'Snap to grid'. When you release the key, 'Snap to grid' will resume. Also works when editing a complete outline.
Shift: Holding down the shift key will force the point you are drawing to snap to the nearest point, even if 'Snap to grid' is de-activated. Also works when editing a complete outline.
When editing a complete outline (i.e. the pointer shows 'Edit').
F1/F2 (with one or more points selected): Radius the selected point(s). Defaults to 150mm radius. Press F1 to decrease the radius, F2 to increase. Both work in 10mm steps.
F3/F4 (with one or more radiused corners selected): F3 decreases the smoothness of the radius, F4 increases the smoothness. May be required on larger radii (over 600mm).
F7 (with a point selected): Selects the next point. Used to select multiple points. See example below.
F8: Grabs the outline of the worktop. Same as pressing the 'Grab Outline' button on the toolbar. See example below.
F9 (with a single point selected): Only works on a corner that has been curved. Allows you to specify the exact radius. Same as right-clicking on a point and selecting 'Specify radius...'. See example below.
Control + Z: Undo the last change to your outline.
Control + Y: Redo i.e. undo your last undo.
The Custom Attachment Toolbar
Grid Spacing: Specifies the size of the scale grid.
Snap to Grid: Will force the points defining the outline of your attachment to snap to the nearest grid point.
Draw Grid: Will draw the grid at the spacing provided by the drop down menu to the left.
Perpendicular Line drag: When moving a side of an attachment, this option forces it to only move at right-angles to the direction of the side. Useful for extending worktops in a particular direction.
Slide Line: When moving a side of an attachment, this option forces it to only move at right-angles to the direction of the side. Useful for extending worktops in a particular direction.
Start New: Deletes the current outline and starts again. Can be pressed at anytime i.e. when drawing the outline or with a complete outline.
Grab Outline: Automatically creates a worktop that follows the outline of the units on the design. Press again to cycle through all available outlines i.e. if you have a run of units and an island, the first press will select the first run, the second press will select the island.
IMPORTANT - Only works with custom worktops.
Simplify: Simplify will remove any unnecessary geometry used to draw the outline, for example, if more than 4 vertices have been used to create a rectangle.
View: Under the view drop down menu, you will find these additional options:
Draw Plan: If selected your plan will be shown whilst drawing the attachment.
Plan Zoom: Zooms the plan so the plan fits on the screen.
Worktop Zoom: Zooms the plan so the current attachment outline fits on the screen.
Store Image: Stores the current view of the worktop screen. Can be retrieved via the 'Images' button in 'Page Layout' mode or 'Window' - 'Browse Images'.
Exit Editing: Puts the attachment onto your design and returns to the main design screen.
Plan Zoom: Zooms the plan so the plan fits on the screen.
Worktop Zoom: Zooms the plan so the current attachment outline fits on the screen.
Store Image: Stores the current view of the worktop screen. Can be retrieved via the 'Images' button in 'Page Layout' mode or 'Window' - 'Browse Images'.
Exit Editing: Puts the attachment onto your design and returns to the main design screen.
Edit Points: Moving, Deleting, Clipping and Curving
You must have a complete outline before being able to edit it i.e. it says 'Edit' and not 'New' under the mouse pointer.
Right-click on a point to bring up the following options:
Set Snap Latitude/longitude: Moves the horizontal (latitude) or vertical (longitude) origin of the grid to the horizontal/vertical position of the current point.
Set as Snap Origin: Moves both the horizontal and vertical origin of the grid to the position of the current point.
Move Point(s): Moves the current selected point(s) by a specified amount. Enter the distance to move in the dialog box that appears. To move to the left or down the screen, enter a negative value.
Precise Clip: Prompts for a distance to clip (or cut back) the selected corner.
Clip: Clips (or cuts back) the currently selected corner. The distance cut back is half the length of the shorted side leading into the selected point.
Delete Point: Delete the currently selected point. The outline will then be re-drawn without the selected point.
Curve Corner: Curves the currently selected corner. Defaults to a 200mm radius. Radius can be increased by dragging the curve to the desired size. See example below.
Right-click on a side to bring up the following options:
Set as Rough Edge: Removes the edge profile from the selected edge of your attachment.
Set as back edge: Removes the edge profile from the selected edge of your worktop.
Align Grid: Aligns the grid to the selected side. Also moves the grid origin to the start of the selected side.
Hide Dimension: Removes the dimension from this edge of the attachment.
Move Line: Moves the selected side by a specified amount. See example below. Alternatively the side can be moved by holding down the left mouse button and dragging into position.
Square Off: Returns a clipped corner to its original shape.
Add Radius: Turns the selected side into a semi-circle. Uses half the side length as the radius. See example below.
Add Centre Point: Divides the currently selected side into two sections. Splits the side in the middle.
Add Point x2: Divides the currently selected side into two sections. Adds two points ontop of eachother in the same location.
Add Point: Divides the currently selected side into two sections. Splits the side wherever the mouse was right-clicked.
Changing the Shape Of the Attachment Profile: This is covered in Setting Up Your Design - Attachments. The attachment you need to change will depend on which attachment you select i.e. if you are using 'worktop2' change the attachment for 'Worktop2', if you are using 'Plinth3' change 'Plinth3'.
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