Software provider Stardraw.com has announced a major upgrade to Stardraw Design 7 project design and documentation system application for A/V systems integrators.
With access to 70,000 symbols from more than 700 manufacturers, Stardraw Design 7.1 brings new features based on requests and feedback from users in more than 80 countries, as well as bug fixes and functionality enhancements.
Among the most requested features is Cable Bridges, a drawing mode that indicates where cables cross without intersecting. The mode can be toggled and is parameter-driven, enabling Radius, Orientation, Coalescence and Style of Bridges to be set. Whenever changes are made, either to Cables or a parameter, or by using the on/off toggle, the drawing redraws automatically.
‘Technically, Cable Bridges presented several not-insignificant challenges,’ says Stardraw.com CEO, Rob Robinson, ‘But we’re delighted with the results and now, for our customers who’ve wanted to use bridges in their drawings, there’s a smart, automatic feature at their fingertips that can considerably enhance legibility of complex designs without adding one single second to the time it takes to create a design.’
Another enhancement is a re-working of Print capabilities, enabling users to select one, some or all drawings in a project to be printed, and to define print options from a single interface. Where, previously, printing was accessed and set up from each drawing individually, now it can all be done in one pass. Also new is a Fit to Pages option, which defines how many pages to print across, automatically scaling and tiling the drawing to the appropriate number of pages. This is useful when using an A4 or Letter size printer for drawings that are only legible in large-format paper sizes (A3 or C-size and upwards). Drawings can be output to multiple pages to be assembled into something larger. Monochrome printing and Quick Preview have also been added, as well as an option to define Print Area for sending a distinct area in a drawing to print, ignoring the remainder.
Other enhancements include support of DWG 2013, 2014 and 2015 formats, Symbol Text Height which increases symbol text height (particularly for I/O labels) by 25 per cent for better legibility of symbol-heavy drawings, and Drawing Tab Management which allows re-arrangement of drawing tabs to any preferred or logical order.
‘The fact that it is a free upgrade for customers with a current subscription is a way of recognising and thanking customers for their support of our products and the invaluable feedback we’ve received through our online forums and contact in the field,’ Robinson says. ‘To mark 21 years since the launch of our first application of this type, we’re delighted to unveil Stardraw Design 7.1 as a superbly mature, feature-rich and customer-focused application.’
Stardraw Design 7.1 is available as a free upgrade to users holding a current subscription and will be released at InfoComm 2014.
More: www1.stardraw.com
