Ornamental Pro 2004 Instruction Manual (Section Manipulation)

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Introduction This is the second part of two manuals for Ornamental Pro. A section is considered anything that has pickets. It could be a railing, gate, security door, fence or window guard. The sections functions in OP are intended to help you quickly draw 90% of a gate, rail, etc. Each section has over 100 properties that you can change to let the program automatically draw the desired style of section. Ornamental Pro also lets you create section templates based upon the characteristics that you give to a section. Keep in mind that the sections functions can help you get 90% of the drawing done in seconds and you will need to draw the remainder of the details in the job with the basic objects.

Drawing a Section In order to best explain sections, you need to see one first.

Drawing your first section

��Click the purple Insert Section button at the top of the screen ��On the left side of the window that opens, you can click on the Rail – Standard Category

to expand it. ��Select Scroll Rail 1 from the list. You will see a preview of the style in the window. ��Click the “Accept” button.

Drawing the section on the drawing area: ��As you would draw a bar or other simple object, click on the left side of the white

drawing area and without letting up on the mouse button, move the mouse toward the right. A section of rail will appear as shown below:

Note: You can hold the “Shift” key while drawing a section and it will snap to horizontal just like any other object.

��In the section details pages to the right, you can specify a length and angle for that section.

Click on the corner joint styles and watch what happens to the corners of the section. Section Corner Styles

Bars join together evenly. This style has a nice rounded look and is most commonly used for curved top or curved bottom sections (curved top gates, etc.).

Bottom bar butts up against the post. Used for extending posts above or below the top or bottom bars of a section. Also used to attach post caps or mounting tabs to the post.

Post butts up against the bottom bar. Used in railing top corners, gate bottom corners and frame-style rails.

Creates a radius bend from the post to the bottom bar. You can specify the radius of this bend. It’s strongly recommended that the post and the top or bottom bar be the same material and thickness or it will not look right. This style is most commonly used for pipe rails.

��Click the buttons until you get the following configuration:

��Click on the right > page navigation button so you can see “Section Height” in the section

details page name list box (shown below).

Note: You will not see the section details pages to the right if you do not have the section selected (blue). If your section is black then click on it and it will turn blue (selected).

��Now click the “Keep Top and Bottom Parallel” checkbox. This will allow you to make odd shape sections.

��Click and grab different points (green highlighted squares) and move them around. Watch

how the section changes and the scroll patterns behave.

By un-checking the “Keep Top and Bottom Parallel” checkbox, you have the ability to manipulate the section into many shapes.

��Click on the “Keep Top and Bottom Parallel” checkbox once again and the section top will return to being parallel with the bottom bar.

Curving the top bar: ��Click on the right page navigation button so you can see “Top Bar” in the section details

page name list box (shown below). When you have the respective pages showing for one of the section bars (top, bottom, left post and right post), the selected bar will turn pink in color.

��Click on the “Curved” option button to cause the top bar to be curved. ��Now you can click and grab a new point that appeared on the curve of the top bar

between the two bar endpoints. Move that point up and down and watch what happens. You also have the ability to do the same thing to the bottom bar.

Remember: If you would like your section to be straight horizontal, simply click and grab one of the two lowest green points on the section (a dashed ground line runs between them) and hold down the “Shift” key. The section will snap to horizontal when you move the point with the mouse.

Picket Manipulation Ornamental Pro comes standard with over 100 picket patterns. You also may draw your own picket patterns to add to the library. Example Picket Manipulation – step by step:

��Start a new drawing by clicking “File” > “New Drawing” at the menu at the top of the screen.

��Click the purple “Insert Section” button at the top of the screen to open the section template browser.

��Choose “Gate 1” from the “Gates – Curved Top” category on the left side. ��Click “Accept” ��Starting from the left side of the screen, click and draw a section by not letting up on the

mouse button and moving the mouse toward the right.

��Hold the “Shift” key down while drawing to force the section to be horizontal. ��Release the mouse button and then release the “Shift” key. You should have a section that

is similar to the one pictured above.

��Click on the left or right page navigation button until you can see “Picket Sequence” in the section details page name list box (shown below).

Explanation of the picket sequence details page features: Picket List – Lists all of the pickets you have chosen to appear in your section. Add New – button opens the picket pattern library so you can add a picket pattern to the sequence Duplicate – button creates an identical picket to the one you have selected and adds it to the sequence list. Swap 1 – button allows you to change the picket that you have selected in the list with another one from the library. Swap All - button allows you to change the picket that you have selected in the list and all other similar pickets with another one from the library. Clear All – button clears all pickets from the list so you can start over. Remove – button removes a highlighted picket from the list. Move – Pressing these buttons will cause the selected picket to move to a different spot in the list (changes the order). Shuffle – Moves all pickets in the list at once and changes the order. Sequence Styles – Clicking these buttons will cause the pickets in the list to repeat in different ways. Spacing – the center to center spacing of the pickets Qty – the total number of pickets in the section Max End Space – When “Center Sequence” is checked, this allows you to specify the dimension on the end of the sequence that the end spacing is not to exceed. Center Sequence – Spaces the pickets at the desired space apart (center to center) and splits the difference on the remainder of the space at the ends of the sequence.

Space Evenly – Ignores desired spacing and pays attention to the quantity of pickets you enter. The program will divide up the section, evenly spacing the qty of pickets from each other and displays the actual spacing.

Picket details buttons – Only one button appears if none of the pickets in the list are

selected. If you select a picket then three other buttons appear. ��Click the “Add New” button

��When the picket pattern library appears, choose a pattern with some scrolls. You may

either double-click the pattern or press the “Send to Drawing” button. ��After the library closes, you will see the new picket pattern in your section.

��Select your new pattern by clicking on the pattern name in the list. The selected

patterns in the section will turn pink.

��Click the “Picket Dimensions” button ��Type in 4 into the “Top End Offset” box – this demonstrates how you can make the

pickets stick up above or below the top bar. You may also do this on the bottom too.

��Click the “Picket Tabs and Caps” button ��Change the “Top End” dropdown list to “Cap” ��Click the white square and the spear and post cap library will come up.

��Select a spear cap from the “1/2 inch spears” category by double-clicking it or by

clicking the “Open” button Now you have spear caps on the selected pickets. ��Select the other picket from the sequence list that doesn’t have spears on it yet. ��Like you did earlier, click the “Picket Dimensions” button. ��Type in 2 into the “Top End Offset” box – this shows you that you can stagger the

heights of the pickets on a section.

��Click the “Picket Tabs and Caps” button ��Change the “Top End” dropdown list to “Cap” ��Click the white square and the spear and post cap library will come up. ��Choose the same spear cap as you did earlier (you really don’t have to) and double-

click.

Manipulating the Scroll Pattern Let’s say we do not want the scroll pattern that is in our section to curve the way it does. Right now, it’s positioned halfway between the top and bottom. Let’s say we would like it to be in reference to the bottom and go across straight. Here’s what you do:

��Select the pattern in the list that has the scroll pattern on it. You can click the patterns in the list until the desired picket turns pink.

�� Now you can click the “Picket Dimensions” button.

��Click the “B” button near “Pattern Center” ��Type 20 in the box under “Pattern Center” Now you have told the program to base the scroll pattern 20 inches from the bottom instead of having it centered between the top and bottom bars. Notice how the patterns now run straight. This is because the pattern is spaced off of the bottom bar, which is not curved. If you were to curve the bottom bar, the patterns would follow along.

��This time, click the “T” button near “Pattern Center” so you can see the patterns based from the top bar.

��Type in –10 in the box under “Pattern Center”

Notice how the scroll patterns follow the shape of the top bar. You may also try experimenting with the “Top End Offset” and the “Bottom End Offset” buttons and entering different numbers in the boxes.

The “Pattern Buffer Space” is a measurement that you can specify for a picket pattern to allow any special patterns to have more room on both sides of it that other picket patterns in the sequence.

Parent and Child Sections Ornamental Pro has the ability to draw multiple attached sections. This can be a huge advantage when drawing railings or curved-top gates. Sample multi-section railing:

��Start a new drawing by clicking “File” > “New Drawing” at the menu at the top of the screen.

��Click the purple “Insert Section” button at the top of the screen to open the section template browser.

��On the left side of the window that opens, you can click on the Rail – Standard Category to expand it.

��Select Scroll Rail 1 from the list. You will see a preview of the style in the window. ��Click the “Accept” button.

��Click on the left side of the drawing area and draw the section out towards the center of

the drawing area. Hold the “Shift” key down while you do this so the section is horizontal.

This furthest-left section is considered the “parent” section. Now we will draw a “child” section that has all of the characteristics of the parent.

��Hold down the “S” key and move the mouse pointer over the parent section’s bottom right point. The mouse pointer will change to a rail-shaped pointer.

��Click down on the parent section point and move the mouse to the right and Ornamental Pro will automatically create a like section attached to the parent.

You may manipulate the child section by changing the properties in the section properties pages to the right such as angle, length, height, etc. Notice the other section is a dark blue. If you wanted to change its properties, simply click on it.

��Click on the top right point of the child section and drag it up and down. You can easily create a 42” guardrail and a 36” handrail (like shown below)

You could attach another child section to the lower right point on the child section that you have drawn. This particular rail has the “Share Picket Sequence” checkbox unchecked because we do not want the pickets to flow in sequence from the parent to the child. In this case, each section has it’s own section balance.

Curved-top Driveway Gate ��Start a new drawing by clicking “File” > “New Drawing” at the menu at the top of the

screen. ��Click the purple “Insert Section” button at the top of the screen to open the section

template browser.

��Choose “Gate 1” from the “Gates – Curved Top” category on the left side. ��Click “Accept”

Starting from the left side of the screen, click and draw a section by not letting up on the mouse button and moving the mouse toward the right until you are about half way across the drawing area

. ��Hold the “Shift” key down while drawing to force the section to be horizontal. ��Release the mouse button and then release the “Shift” key. You should have a section that

is similar to the one pictured above. ��Like the rail section above, hold down the “S” key and move the mouse pointer over the

parent section’s bottom right point. The mouse pointer will change to a rail-shaped pointer.

��Click down on the parent section point and move the mouse to the right and Ornamental Pro will automatically create a like section attached to the parent. Once the new section is started, you can release the “S” key and hold the “Shift” key to make the child section horizontal also.

This particular parent-child section configuration is sharing the picket sequence. On other words, the parent section has the sequence that will be repeated and spaced uninterrupted from parent to all children sections.

��Experiment with this section by moving the section points at the top up and down and see how you can shape the section.

��Experiment with picket sequence manipulation to further enhance the section appearance.