Export a technical drawing as PDF

Starting with Halocline 2026.4, the "Drawing" export creates a dimensioned technical drawing as PDF for a library object: a cover sheet, and for each assembly its own sheet with views, dimensions, item numbers and a parts list. This lets you pass workstations, racks and fixtures straight on to the people who build your equipment, to purchasing or to a supplier. Especially for setups built from aluminum profile systems, you no longer need to redraw them in your CAD software.

How good the drawing turns out is decided when you build your object: groups, names and attributes determine the sheets, item numbers and parts list. How to prepare your object for this is described below under "Notes: preparing objects for the drawing".

Instructions

• Select the object in the library: In the library, select the object you want to generate a drawing for.
• Export: Choose "Export" and select "Drawing (PDF)" as the format.
• Parts list as CSV (optional): Turn on "Parts list as CSV" if you also need the parts list as a table, for example for ordering. This option is only available in the desktop library.
• Save: Choose the target folder. The file is named after the object; the CSV file sits next to it under the same name.

If the export reports notes, for example about objects that could not be drawn, you will see "Export finished with … notes" instead of the success message. The drawing was still created.

What the drawing contains

The sheets

• Cover sheet: The entire object is shown here as an isometric view, including tools and load carriers. Tools and load carriers are only drawn on the cover sheet, to show what the object is used for. They are not drawn on the following sheets.
• Assembly sheet: A sheet with front view, side view, top view and isometric view is created for the object itself and for every group in it. Subgroups get their own sheets in turn, as deep as your group structure goes. CAD objects are drawn in detail in the isometric view; in the other views only their bounding envelope is drawn.
• Parts list: Each assembly sheet gets a parts list that combines identical parts and shows quantity, dimensions and further information. If it is too long to fit on the assembly sheet, it goes on a sheet of its own.

For identical groups, for example five identical rack shelves, only one assembly sheet is created. In the parent parts list they are listed with their quantity.

The views follow orthographic projection, the title block follows ISO 7200. All sheets are A3 landscape; the scale is chosen automatically for each sheet.

Dimensions

• All dimensions in millimeters.
• The parts of an assembly get chain dimensions, plus the overall dimensions.
• Parts mounted at an angle get their angle. Where an angled part hides another one, the hidden edge is dashed.

Item numbers and parts list

Every part of an assembly has an item number in a circle, in the drawing and in the parts list next to it. For each item the parts list shows:

• Item: the item number
• Type: box, group or CAD (an object imported from a CAD file)
• Description: the name of the object
• Attribute: the attribute(s) of the object
• Quantity: how often the part occurs in this assembly
• Dimensions (mm): the three dimensions

Parts with the same name and the same dimensions are combined into one item. An item that is not visible in any view, for example because it is hidden, is marked with * in the parts list.

The title block

In line with ISO 7200, at the bottom right of every sheet:

• Owner: you can set this as an attribute on the library object with owner:XYZ. Without it, the field stays empty.
• Created by: you can set this on the library object with author:XYZ. Otherwise the Windows user name of the creator is used.
• Title: the name of the library object. Sheets of subgroups also show the subgroup's name.
• Document type: cover sheet, assembly drawing or parts list
• Reference: you can set this on the library object with ref:XYZ. Without it, the field stays empty.
• Scale, date and sheet number

Notes: preparing objects for the drawing

The drawing reflects how your object is built. A few deliberate decisions while building it make the difference between a usable drawing and a good one.

Form groups deliberately

Every group becomes a sheet of its own, every part of a group an item on that sheet. So think about which assemblies your equipment builders build as a unit, such as frame, worktop, shelf or rack level, and combine exactly those parts into a group.

• Too few groups result in a sheet with a great many items and a long parts list.
• Too many groups that came about by chance result in many small sheets nobody needs.
• Creating identical assemblies by duplicating pays off: identical parts are drawn once and counted.

If your Halocline object is not yet ideally structured, you can move parts into the right structure afterwards. Use cut, copy and paste for this. It lets you move objects quickly between groups and levels without redrawing them.

Give identical parts the same name

The name is the description in the parts list. Only parts with the same name and the same dimensions are combined into one item with a quantity. Unnamed parts have an empty description; with the same dimensions they count as identical parts.

With the new "Edit several objects at once" feature you can quickly specify your objects afterwards. For any multiple selection you can now change information on all parts in one step, for example set the name of all crossbars of a rack.

Use attributes for the parts list

Your own attributes appear in a separate column of the parts list. Use them for everything your equipment builders or purchasing need, for example manufacturer, profile system, material or surface: Aluminum profile 40x40 slot 8, anodized. You also set these for many parts at once with "Edit several objects at once".

Create a separate version for the drawing

An object in the layout often contains things that matter for planning but get in the way when building it: monitors, bins, tools, placeholders for machines or helper geometry. For more complex setups it is therefore worth creating a separate version for the drawing:

1. Duplicate: Duplicate the setup in the layout.
2. Clean up: Remove everything that is not going to be built, and check groups, names and attributes.
3. Add to the library: Put the duplicate into a collection of its own, for example "Drawings for equipment construction".
4. Export: Export the drawing from this version.

This keeps your layout complete, and the drawing shows only what is to be built.

Good to know

• Tools and load carriers only appear on the cover sheet, never in the parts list. So you only need to remove them if they get in the way on the cover sheet.
• Parts imported from CAD are drawn with their shape in the isometric view. In the other views, the dimensions and the parts list they appear as a bounding box.
• One object per drawing: The selected library object is drawn with everything in it.
• Deeply nested setups: If many parts lie closely behind each other in the views, the export takes longer. If it is foreseeably too complex, Halocline stops with a note. Split the setup into groups in that case, or export assemblies separately.
• Item numbers can change when you rebuild the object or use a new version of Halocline. Do not use them as a permanent reference, for example in an order, without generating the drawing again.

Entering owner, reference and creator

You fill these fields of the title block through the custom attributes of the library object. Write owner:, ref: or author: there, directly followed by the value. Separate several entries with a semicolon. The attribute may contain other text as well.

• A value ends at the next semicolon, comma or line break. Spaces are allowed.
• Upper and lower case do not matter. If an entry appears more than once, the first one counts.
• Only the top-level object counts. Attributes of individual parts appear in the parts list, not in the title block.
• In VR you type the colon with Shift + period.

Parts list as CSV

From Halocline Desktop you also get the complete parts list across all levels as a CSV file, with the same item numbers as in the drawing:

• Level: 0 is the object itself, 1 its items, 2 the items of a subgroup, and so on
• Item: the item path, for example 3.2 for item 2 in the group with item number 3
• Type, description, attribute, dimensions (mm): as in the drawing
• Quantity: per parent assembly
• Total quantity: for the whole object, i.e. what you order for one build
• Marked on sheet and Own sheet: where you find the item or the group in the drawing

Watch out when opening the file in Excel: If you open it with a double-click, Excel turns item paths into dates or numbers; depending on your language settings, 3.2 becomes "3-Feb" or 1.10 becomes 1.1. The file itself is correct. This keeps the paths intact:

1. In Excel, choose Data → From Text/CSV and select the file.
2. Under Data Type Detection, choose Do not detect data types.
3. Click Load.