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Working with site plans or plots

Working with site plans or plots

Owned by Daniel Steiner
Last updated: about 4 hours ago
4 min read

Many inspection companies get site plans from their clients (municipalities) or managers (engineers, architects) showing the area with the objects to be inspected. The following article describes three possibilities that WinCan VX provides to finally have such site plans integrated into the project either as a simple file attachment or as an embedded part of the inspection report.

Attach existing plan directly to the project

This possibility allows the user to select a file in the formats PDF, JPEG, PNG and attach it directly to the current project. The file is copied into the project sub-folder \Misc\Docu and becomes a part of the project structure:

Open the desired project and select the command Tools > Project Documents:

image-20250121-134701.png

Hit the folder icon (1) in the dialogue box below, browse for the corresponding file (2) and click on Open:

image-20250121-135552.png

The plot is then copied directly into the project subfolder \Misc\Doc

Import existing site plans as project pictures

Use this possibility, if the site plan already contains all important details and just needs to be printed directly as a part of the inspection report.

Open the desired project, select the project header tab (1) and hit the PLUS icon (2) in the panel Documents:

Browse for the corresponding picture (e.g. JPEG or PNG) representing the corresponding plot and click on Open. The files can now be printed directly as a part of the inspection report. Just make sure the report page Project Pictures is selected:

The final result looks as illustrated below:

 

A large site plan can thus be split into 2 or more parts which are saved as separate files and then added to the project. When printing the report one project picture page per part is created and showing all details needed.

Use existing site plans as background layers

If you need to complete an existing site plan to show currently missing objects (i.e. sections, laterals manholes, connection points etc.), you would need to launch the software module WinCan DRAW and load the plan as a background layer:

Hit the command Extended Modules > WinCan Draw > Project Drawing:

Change the Layout if necessary and confirm the rest of the settings in the dialogue that pops up first:

Hit the command Home > Change Background and browse for the corresponding file (e.g. JPEG, PNG or PDF) representing the desired plot and click on Open. WinCan DRAW then resizes the file so that it matches into the empty background (4):

You can now start drawing all inspected objects (i.e. sections, laterals and manholes) on the site plan using classic drawing tools like Line, Ellipse, Rectangle etc. (1) or selecting one of the predefined icons from the symbol bar (2). Use the Select tool to move a drawing object to the desired location.

Once you have finished the project drawing, save it and close WinCan DRAW. The drawing can now be printed as a part of the inspection report. Just make sure the report page Project Information is selected:

The final result looks as illustrated below:

 

WinCan DRAW also allows you to create more than one drawing sheet: a large plot can thus be split into 2 or more parts, which must be saved as separate files and used as backgrounds for each drawing sheet.