Keep Vectorworks template up to date

Vectorworks templates are a great way to speed up your design process and maintain consistency. They provide a foundation for creating new designs and can help you save time.

To ensure that your templates perform optimally, it is important to update them regularly. These steps are recommended at least every 2 years.

Updating your template is also the ideal time to clean up your document. If you notice that certain layers and classes are never used, clean them up so you can get back to work in an uncluttered environment

Updating Vectorworks template

To obtain a new and recent template, follow these steps:

• Open your template document and save it to the desktop. Give the document a clear name, for example "Transfer".
• Open a blank document from the File/New menu

Loading Design Layers

• Select Tools/ Organization to open the Organization dialog box.
• Go to the Design Layers
• Click “New…” at the bottom
• Choose the option "Import" and click on "Browse…"
• Go to the desktop and select the saved Transfer file
• A list of all design layers from the template is visible. Select all design layers and click OK. Check the option "Import objects on layer" if there are objects in the design layers that you want to bring to the new template
  

Load classes

• Go to Classes
• Click “New…” at the bottom
• Choose the option "Import" and click on "Browse…"
• Go to the desktop and select the saved Transfer file
• A list of all classes from the template is visible. Select all classes and click OK.
  

Load sheet layers

• Go to the sheet layers (if present in the template)
• Click “New…” at the bottom
• Choose the option "Import" and click on "Browse…"
• Go to the desktop and select the saved Transfer file.
• A list of all sheet layers from the template is visible. Select all sheet layers  and click OK.
• The content of the sheet layers won't be transferred. By opening a template, you can copy the content and paste it into your new document.
  

Setting Units

• Check the document units from the menu File/Document Settings/Units...
  

Get Dimension standard

• If you have a Dimension standard, you can upload it by activating the Dimension tool and opening the Dimension standard drop-down menu.
• Go to "custom dimension standard". A dialog box will open
• Click "Import" and select the Transfer file on your desktop.
  

Save template

• Go to the “File” menu and choose Save As Template. Please name your template correctly. Do not adjust the location of the template to allow Vectorworks to correctly retrieve your template.
• If you are working with a workgroup folder, it is recommended that you keep the template in the workgroup folder under Library/Standards/Templates.
  

Why is it important to update your Vectorworks template?

Vectorworks is becoming more advanced. Old templates can cause problems with the performance of your software. Updating your template can help improve the performance of Vectorworks and avoid any underlying errors/issues within the document.