Cutout Tool

Cutouts can be placed as either polygons or ellipses. More abstract shapes can be achieved by placing polygons and curving some or all of their segments. Once created, cutouts can be converted into area or volume markups.

1. Click Cutout on the Measurements tab and select the type of cutout desired, Polygon or Ellipse. The Cutout tool is engaged.

2. Locate the measurement to cut out from and hover the cursor over the markup, which will highlight in blue.

   

3. For Polygon cutouts, describe the shape of the cutout using one of the following methods:
   • Click and drag to create a rectangular cutout. Holding down SHIFT while dragging will force the shape to be a square.

   • Click on each point of the desired shape for non-rectangular polygons. Close the shape using one of the following methods:

     • Click the first point again to close the shape.
     • Press ENTER or C on the keyboard to automatically close the shape by connecting the last point placed to the first point placed.
     • Double-click when placing the last point to automatically close the shape by connecting the last point placed to the first point placed.

     Notes regarding placing non-rectangular polygons:

     • Hold down SHIFT to draw lines that are at horizontal, vertical, or 45° angles.
     • To remove the last control point, press BACKSPACE.
     • If any of the lines of the cutout will be converted into arcs, see Working with the Control Points and Curves below before defining the cutout: the direction in which the cutout is drawn will determine whether the arc curves inward or outward.

   

4.  For Ellipse cutouts, click and drag the shape. Hold down SHIFT while dragging to draw a circle.

Notes:

• Multiple cutouts can be defined for a single measurement.
• Use the Snap To options to place cutouts precisely.
• CTRL-click and drag a cutout to place a copy of it elsewhere in the measurement or in a different Area or Volume measurement.
• Overlapping polygonal cutouts will be automatically fused into a single, larger cutout. Additionally, if a polygonal cutout overlaps the edge of the Area or Volume markup Vu assumes you wish to remove the overlapping space from the markup and alters the markup accordingly without placing an actual cutout.
  • Curved cutouts cannot overlap other cutouts or the edge of the markup.

Once a cutout is placed in a markup, it can be converted into an area or volume markup. So, for example, if you have cut out a window's area from a the wall area measurement, you can now convert that window cutout into it's own area measurement.

1. Define the cutout, as described above, and exit the cutout tool by pressing ESC.
2. Select the type of markup (area or volume) to which you wish to convert the cutout.
   • To create a markup with the current default properties, go to Measure > Area or Measure > Volume to select it.
   • You can also select an area or volume markup from your Tool Chest tab to create a markup using its properties.
3. Move the mouse pointer over the desired cutout. The pointer will change to a fill icon and the cutout will be highlighted. Click to convert the cutout.
   • If there are multiple cutouts and you would like to convert them all to the selected markup, hold down SHIFT while clicking.

A control point defines where two line segments meet in multi-segment markups. Control points can be added or removed from these markups. See Working with Control Points for more information.

Further, the line segments of these markups can be converted to curves or arcs at their control points, allowing them to conform to nearly any shape. See Working with Curved Markups for more information.

When converting the lines of a cutout to an arc, whether the arc curves inward (concave) or curves outward (convex) depends on the direction in which the line was originally drawn.

• The lines of cutouts that were drawn clockwise will convert into concave arcs.
• The lines of cutouts that were drawn counterclockwise will convert into convex arcs.

The cutout is part of the measurement. Select the measurement to reveal the control handles for the measurement and the cutout.

To resize a line or change its angle, click and drag the appropriate yellow handle.

• Hold down CTRL while dragging a yellow control handle to curve the lines attached to it. See Working with Curved Markups for more information.

To remove a cutout, right-click on one of the lines of the Cutout and select Delete Cutout.