Overlay and comparison tool in Fieldlens Web
Within Fieldlens features we now offer Drawings Overlay comparison. This tool is available for users with a paid account. and provides the ability to compare different versions of your drawing sheets, and also drawings from different disciplines.
This tool is available for all Project collaborators (with a paid account) not only for Project Organizers.
Comparing drawing versions for the same Sheet number
When you have multiple versions of a drawing sheet, you can use this tool to do an overlay comparison for 2 different versions at a time. See the instructions below to learn how:
Open the drawing sheet you need to review and click the Compare button on the top right. A list of all the previous versions of this sheet will be listed on the right side. When you hover over each of the versions listed a Compare button will pop up for each one. Click the button once you selected the version to use in the overlay comparison.
After clicking the Compare button you will see both versions overlayed and the differences will be in red. There are some tools you can use for a better experience, see step 3.
Once you are on the Comparison screen you have a couple of tools that can help you better navigate and work on your drawing:
On the top left you to have tools to drag your drawing, zoom in/out as needed, and you can also Download a PDF version of your overlayed drawings.
On the second row on the top left, you have 3 tabs to navigate your drawings. You can view each drawing separately (Old Document/New Document) or you can view the Comparison tab where you find the overlayed drawings.
On the top right the button Align Documents, will help you re-align the drawings to be exactly positioned one on top of the other, see step 4 for more details.
IMPORTANT: When using the option to "Align Documents" in a computer device with a touchscreen, see instructions on how to align your documents on a touchscreen device on this link.
Once you click the Align Documents button, you can select three points on both documents for manual alignment. For best results, choose points near the corners of the documents, ensuring the points are in the same order on both documents. Near the top right corner, you’ll see a circle with an augmented resolution for a more precise selection so you can select pixel by pixel where to place your markers for alignment If you need to make corrections simply click the Reset option on the top right corner and start over. To exit the comparison screen, click the X above the Reset button, and you’ll be back on the original drawing view screen.
Align Documents using a touchscreen computer device
When using a touchscreen display, the tool to align the documents looks a bit different. you will see an object with the "Select Point" label, that's going to be located in the center of your screen. See the image below.
You need to use the buttons to zoom in/out and use your touchscreen (with your fingers or stylus pencil) to drag the drawing and locate the reference point you need to use to realign in the center of the cross. Once your selected point is in the middle click "Select Point"
Repeat the same step to pin your 3 reference points for the 2 drawings to be compared.
You can also use your scroll sliders on the side and bottom to move the selection point.
If you are using 2 external screens connected to your touchscreen laptop you'd need to use the touchscreen feature to be able to align the drawings.
Comparing sheets from different drawings or disciplines
When you need to compare 2 different drawing sheets, for example, you need to know how the roof plan looks when overlaying it over the floor plan, you can select 2 drawings from different disciplines and overlay them on a single view.
See the instructions below to learn how:
Open the drawing sheet you need to review and click the Compare button on the top right. On the right-hand side, you’ll see a dropdown menu where you can select the second sheet to use in the overlay comparison, by default your recently viewed drawings will show up in the list, but you can also search for the drawing you are looking for.
Once you select the second drawing from the list you can hover over the thumbnail and you’ll see the Compare button. For this example, the first drawing selected is the Mechanical Floor Plan, and the second one is the Mechanical Roof plan. Click the blue Compare button and go to step 3 for more instructions.
A window with both sheets overlayed will be displayed, remember that the auto-calibration might be off, but you can use the Align Documents tool on the top right to re-calibrate them. By default, this is how our drawings look, see step 4 for a view of them after re-alignment.
After re-calibrating the documents, you can see both are properly aligned and ready for you to work on them.
Once you are on the Comparison screen you have a couple of tools that can help you better navigate and work on your drawing:
On the top left you to have tools to drag your drawing, zoom in/out as needed, and you can also Download a PDF version of your overlayed drawings.
On the second row on the top left, you have 3 tabs to navigate your drawings. You can view each drawing separately (Old Document/New Document) or you can view the Comparison tab where you find the overlayed drawings.
On the top right the button Align Documents, will help you re-align the drawings to be exactly positioned one on top of the other, see step 4 for more details.
