Tip MicroStation Tip: AccuSnap – Cycle Through All Elements Within Range Using AccuSnap, it’s easier to snap to the desired element when there are multiple elements within range of your snap tolerance. Simply use the…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Selecting an Alternate Sheet Using Print Styles are a great way to help standardize your printing processes. If you’re using Print Organizer they are a necessity. Print Styles can…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Create a two line Note element with the leader extending between the lines of text Using typical dimension settings when using the Place Note tool with two lines of text it displays like this: In some cases this is ok, but there are many…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT Tip: Update 15 Undocumented Additions: With every MicroStation update, there is a What’s New section in the help documentation that highlights the new features in each release. While working…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT Tip: Custom WorkSet Properties as Text Fields In MicroStation CONNECT Edition we encourage the use of creating project specific WorkSets. One reason for this is to take advantage of the custom WorkSet…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT Edition Tip: Workflow and Tab Switching The ribbon interface introduced in Bentley’s CONNECT Edition MicroStation platform-based products is generally well crafted to facilitate common workflows…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT Tip: AccuDraw Compass Rotation In MicroStation CONNECT Edition the AccuDraw compass rotation shortcuts (such as RE, RQ, T, etc.) only work if the Context Sensitivity setting is toggled on.…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT Tip: Ellipse by Ends In MicroStation CONNECT Edition there is a new Ends method for placing Ellipses. Using this method you place the ellipse by placing the two ends of the primary…
Tip ORD – MicroStation Tip: MS_DGNLIBLIST variables In the CONNECT Edition products there are many new resource-specific MS_DGNLIBLIST variables. When do you use them, and when do you not? I’ve had…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Active vs. Passive Named Groups When using the Add to Graphic Group tool to create Named Groups there is a Member Type selection for Active or Passive. The Member Type settings are as…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Setting the default font When opening design files you may occasionally get a warning message about a missing rsc font. The default is to replace the missing font with the STANDARD rsc…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT Tip: Editing recorded macros The Bentley Macro Recorder (BMR) in MicroStation CONNECT allows the user to record tool selections, data points, and key-in entries. These are saved in a .bmr…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT Tip: Disable User Preference settings In the MicroStation User Preferences dialog there are two settings turned on by default that you probably want to disable. The first of these is the Help…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Flood Methods – Part 2 A previous tip detailed that using any of the Flood Methods in MicroStation requires the entire region being flooded by visible in the view window.…
Tip ORD – MicroStation Tip: AccuDraw Set Origin While working in OpenRoads Designer (ORD) there are many times you need to preform some standard MicroStation tasks. When doing so you may get frustrated that…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Automate Coordinate Entries – Part 2 I previously published a tip on how to use Excel to format bearing and distance values so they were compatible with MicroStation key-in entries. Then exporting…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT Tip: Multiple Application Windows In MicroStation CONNECT Edition you probably already know that you can open up to four separate application windows. What you may not know is that if you only…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT Tip: Managing User level configuration settings To the chagrin of CAD Managers everywhere MicroStation CONNECT Edition stores the User Preference files along with the user’s Personal.ucf file in the…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT Tip: Place Line tool hidden Starting with MicroStation CONNECT Update 11, the Place Line tool is now hidden by default in the ribbon groups. The Place SmartLine tool can replace the…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Use viewing tools during placement Did you know that you can use tools from the View Control Toolbox while in the middle of an element placement tool, such as Place Smartline, without losing…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Design Script lineweight remapping Starting with MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 3) you may use IPlot design scripts in addition to MicroStation pen tables to resymbolize you drawings during…
Tip OpenRoads Designer CONNECT Edition Tip: Windows Update Causing Crash with Corridors Windows 10 Spring Creator Update (1803) There is a known issue with the Windows 10 Spring Creator Update, 1803 with numerous Bentley CONNECT Edition software.…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Save Settings on Exit I see a lot of users who have the Save Settings on Exit option toggled on in their User Preference settings. While this can be a great benefit to have… Read…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Apply pen table action to all references In some cases you want your Pen Table actions to get applied to all reference attachments when printing. An easy way to ensure this is to define a large…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT: Display Rules Display Rules are one of the many new features in MicroStation CONNECT Edition. These are a set of criteria that can be applied to a Display Style to change…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT Tip: Place Label The new Place Label tool is similar to Place Note. Instead of a text note the user places a cell with, or without, a leader line. Using the tool…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Printing Problem Quick Fix MicroStation printing problems; we’ve all had them, and they always seem to happen at the most inopportune time. You check and recheck your print…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT: Multiple Application Windows MicroStation has always had the ability to manage windows independently on dual monitor workstations. To support the expanded monitor capabilities in Windows 8…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Finding a Tool Key-in At EnvisionCAD we provide training for CAD administrators and advanced users. As part of this instruction we cover building custom function key menus, tool…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Element Selection Element selection is a very widely used tool with many options available to the user. I remembered one tip that is very handy and easy. When selecting your…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT Tip: Drop Element The Drop Element tool icon in MicroStation CONNECT ribbon (Drawing -> Home -> Groups) has been expanded to offer specific drop tools without having to…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT Tip: Place Note There are two significant changes to the Place Note tool in MicroStation CONNECT. The first change is that the option to select a Text Style setting in the…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT Tip: Drawing Scale Written by Rod Wing The Annotation Scale drop-down list allows you to change the active Annotation Scale. This list is available via a number of dialogs in…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT: Pen Table Macros Written by Rod Wing Support for the legacy MicroStation Basic macros has been removed in MicroStation CONNECT. This also means these macros can no longer be…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT: Print to InterPlot Server Written by Rod Wing MicroStation CONNECT Edition allows for printing directly to a ProjectWise InterPlot Server plotter without the need for installing…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT: UCF and PCF files Written by Rod Wing MicroStation CONNECT Edition has a User Configuration level just as previous versions. The big change in CONNECT is that there is no way…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT: Organizing DGNLibs Written by Rod Wing Using DGNLibrary files to store various standards and resources is easy and convenient in MicroStation. This ease and convenience can also…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT: Opening the Snap Mode toolbox (button bar) Written by: Rod Wing In previous editions of MicroStation a common user preference was to open the Snap Mode tool box by selecting the Snap icon on the…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT: Change Workspace and/or WorkSet from the File Open dialog Written by: Rod Wing One big complaint in previous editions of MicroStation was that when selecting File > Open while in MicroStation you could not change…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT: Advanced Explorer search options Written by: Rod Wing Project Explorer has been renamed Explorer in MicroStation CONNECT Edition. Along with the renaming comes a lot of new features. One of…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT: Enhanced Configuration Variables dialog Written by Rod Wing The Configuration Variable dialog in MicroStation CONNECT Edition has been updated to allow for a more customized display and easier…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT: Select Model to Open Written by: Rod Wing In the MicroStation CONNECT start screen if a file in the Recent Files listing has multiple models you can select the specific model to…
Tip OpenRoads Tip: Playing By the (Civil) Rules Bentley’s OpenRoads Technology has brought with it brand new ways of creating and editing geometry. Built into the geometry elements themselves is the…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT: Element Properties Written by Rod Wing In MicroStation CONNECT the Element Information dialog has been renamed to Properties. The dialog functions the same way as in previous…
Tip AutoCAD Civil 3D Tip: Model and Layout Tabs in Civil 3D 2016 Written by: Ben Johnson There is a new feature in Civil 3D 2016 wherein the model and layout tabs are placed in-line with the status bar. I believe this…
Tip OpenRoads Tip: Exit Dynamic Cross Section View Written by Darren Waschow Once you have set a view window to display dynamic cross sections, it might not be obvious how to get it back to a normal view.…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT: Shorter Trial Mode In previous versions of MicroStation you only needed to communicate with the license server once every 30 days. This meant that if you were working remotely…
Tip MicroStation Tip: XYZ Text Delivered with MicroStation is a toolbar that will label coordinates in the file and import/export coordinates. From the MicroStation pulldown menu select…
Tip AutoCAD Civil 3D Tip: Automate Sheet Naming/Numbering from Layout Tab Names Written by Ben Johnson When creating sheets in Civil 3D, such as plan & profile sheets, the sheet creation wizard offers a layout naming template which…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT: Cell Library Dialog Written by Rod Wing MicroStation CONNECT has a new look – Cell Library Dialog. The Active Cells buttons for setting Placement, Point, Terminator,…
Tip AutoCAD Civil 3D Tip: Convert a Single DWG to DGN 1. In AutoCAD Civil 3D, open a DWG drawing file to convert to MicroStation DGN. 2. From the Application Menu select Export > Export Civil 3D Drawing …
Tip InRoads Tip: AccuSnap in InRoads If you have been using MicroStation AccuSnap you probably have noticed that it does not work when using an InRoads command. Hold down the ‘Ctrl’…
Tip OpenRoads Tip: Black and Blue Manipulator Preference Written by Bob Mecham After working in OpenRoads for a while you may notice that the size and color of the Manipulator is rather hard to read. Maybe I am…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT: Add Custom Tools to the Ribbon Written by Rod Wing The Menu Bar pull downs are no longer supported in MicroStation CONNECT. Many organizations created custom pull downs for organizing…
Tip AutoCAD Civil 3D Tip: Civil 3D 2016 Data Shortcut Manager Written by Ben Johnson A new feature introduced in Civil 3D 2016 is the Manage Data Shortcuts command. This command gives the user a really nice dialog for…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT: Bring back the Tasks Dialog Written by: Rod Wing As you probably know MicroStation CONNECT employs a ribbon style interface similar to Microsoft Office and AutoCAD. We recommend that…
Tip AutoCAD Civil 3D Tip: To Copy, or Not To Copy Written by: Bryan Sullivan A Civil 3D user can become more productive by reproducing existing design elements within a drawing rather than creating them from…
Tip MicroStation CONNECT: Associating Files to a WorkSet Written by: Rod Wing One of the many changes in the MicroStation CONNECT Workspace is that the former Project setting has been replaced by WorkSet. This is…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Rendering Material Assignments in Google Earth Written by: Bob Mecham Credit to: Margaret Valletta – McFarland Johnson I was providing professional guidance to Margaret on a 3D rendering project.…
Tip AutoCAD Civil 3D Tip: Converting Civil 3D Parcels to GIS Shapefiles Written by: Bryan Sullivan Here is a workflow for translating parcels with associated attributes, such as parcel number and parcel area; into shapefiles for…
Tip MicroStation Tip – Aligning Patterns Written by Bob Mecham When patterning or hatching a detail it is beneficial to be sure the patterns align between adjacent elements. This can be done by…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Keyin to Toggle between AccuDraw and Civil AccuDraw Written by Mark Templeman – Senior Transportation Designer at JEO Consulting Group, Inc. At last months Nebraska User Group 2015 spring conference Mark…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Working with Linestyles – Scale, Shift, Direction Written by Bob Mecham Scale Here is a key-in I had to dig up for a project I was working on. All of my existing custom linestyles were placed in… Read more »
Tip AutoCAD Civil 3D Tip: Problem Adding Image Through Map Task Pane Written by Ben Johnson AutoCAD Map 3D is model-based GIS and mapping software from Autodesk. The Map 3D functions are available for use in Civil 3D through the…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Set Reference Presentation – View Flags Written by: Bob Mecham You are probably aware of using View Attributes in MicroStation. The View Attributes dialog allows you to affect whether and how…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Selecting your DWG Version Written by Rod Wing When you install MicroStation the AutoCAD Real DWG library is also installed. The Real DWG library allows MicroStation to work with…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Raster Manager Cache Manager To facilitate quicker raster image display, Raster Manager will create temporary cache files of certain image types. The cached image files will be subsets, or…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Apply Elevation to Shapefile Attachments Attached shapefile graphics by default are attached with a Z coordinate (Elevation) value of 0. Starting in MicroStation v8i (SELECTseries 3) elevations can be…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Automate Coordinate Entries Written by Rod Wing For those of you who have had to do a lot of coordinate entry in MicroStation, either through the key-in browser or using AccuDraw, you…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Modify Dimension Text Editing text in a dimension can be done the same as editing any other text in the file. Text Toolbar Open the Text toolbar from the pulldown menu: Tools…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Editing Cells Quickly Hopefully by now you have been using MicroStation V8 and have realized how nice Cell Library management has become. Here is one more tip that should help you…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Coordinate Input Written by Bob Mecham. Placing elements in MicroStation is usually done one of two ways: absolute coordinates or relative to an existing point.…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) Written by Bob Mecham. MicroStation can import files from external application such as Microsoft Word and Excel. Link an Excel Sheet to MicroStation: 1. Open…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Keypoint Snap Written by Bob Mecham. The Keypoint snap mode is often the most useful snap mode for drafting operations. This is because the Keypoint snap mode snaps to…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Multi-snap and Setting Priority Written by Bob Mecham. Multi-snap is an extension of AccuSnap allowing the user to use more than one snap at a time. For example, Keypoint, Nearest, and…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Send to Back Written by Bob Mecham. When conducting MicroStation V8 user training we cover the Edit > Bring to Front command. During the course of the demonstration of…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Useful Keyboard Shortcuts Written by Bob Mecham. Text Editor When int he Text Editor Dialog box there are some useful keyboard shortcuts to help you get around. – Ctrl+C (Copy…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Moving Elements to Elevation Written by Bob Mecham. MicroStation has the ability to use relative values with a “#”. When using the XY=key-in you can type # and the value will…
Tip AutoCAD Civil 3D Tip: How To Create New Parts for Pressure Pipe Catalogs Written by Ben Johnson. In the last tip, I outlined how to add pipe materials/sizes to Pressure Pipe Catalogs in Civil 3D. This is a follow-up to that…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Dimension Audit Utility Written by Bob Mecham. This utility is used to verify dimensioning in the active model. All the dimensioning is located and any errors are reported. Open the…
Tip MicroStation Tip: V8i SS3 with Google Earth and Map Written by Bob Mecham. In this tutorial we will assign a coordinate system to a MicroStation DGN file and then export the file to a Google Earth KML file.…
Tip AutoCAD Civil 3D Tip: How to Add New Pipes to Pressure Pipe Catalogs Written by Ben Johnson. Pressure Pipe Networks are fairly new to Civil 3D, and anyone who has worked with them has noticed that Civil 3D only comes loaded…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Manage Font Utilities Credit goes to Kae Calloway at Dominion. To add a font to a Resource file (*.rsc),: 1. Open the Keyin dialog box – Utilities > Key-in 2. Mdl…
Tip MicroStation Tip: 3D Civil Content for MicroStation Visualization Written by Bob Mecham. I am often asked, “Where do you get 3D MicroStation Cells and other 3D content?” There are a number of free and pay…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Apply Element Template to Shapefile Attachment Written by Rod Wing. ArcView Shapefiles contain the graphics of individual GIS layers, but the graphics have no color, weight, or line style symbology.…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Mouse Mechanics Written by Bob Mecham. Mouse functionality has been greatly expanded by the inclusion of useful tools assigned to the typical two button mouse with wheel. The…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Align Tool Written by Bob Mecham. From the Manipulate toolbox, the Align tool will help you align elements and text to an edge of an existing element. Align 1) Open the…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Backup and Undo Written by Bob Mecham Ever make a mistake? Who hasn’t, save yourself some grief. Backup Keyin: backup By keying in the word ‘backup’…
Tip MicroStation Tip: Activate Reference for Editing Written by Bob Mecham. A new powerful enhancement to V8i MicroStation is the ability to edit reference files with in the active design file. By simply right…
Tip Opening a Web Browser to a Specific Page Written by Bob Mecham. Does your company have their own internal standards or project standards on a particular web page? By customizing MicroStation pull…
Tip Controlling the Origin of a Copy/Paste Written by Bob Mecham Using the Windows Clipboard you can easily copy design elements from one design file to the next. Prior to copying the elements to the…
Tip Move Part of a Cell Written by Bob Mecham. Do you find yourself needing to move only a part of a cell and your CAD Manager tells you not to drop any cells? Well… Read…
Tip Placing a North Arrow in a Rotated View Written by Bob Mecham. Placing a North Arrow in a rotated view such as a plan and profile sheet can be done right the first time if you use AccuDraw… Read…
Tip Change AccuDraw Display Written by Bob Mecham. There is a handy little key-in that will change the rectangular display of AccuDraw. Using the below key-in you can change the X Y…
Tip Customizing Values in AccuDraw Popup Calculator Written by Bob Mecham. To take the AccuDraw with Popup Calculator another step further than Complex Expressions. Popup Calculator has an added feature…
Tip AccuDraw Popup Calculator and the use of Complex Expressions Written by Bob Mecham. To take the AccuDraw with Popup Calculator one step further I will show some of the uses of “=” function. The popup calculator…
Tip AccuDraw with Popup Calculator Written by Bob Mecham. You can keep your calculator turned off when you need to perform math functions in MicroStation. Using the popup calculator math…
Tip AccuDraw & Bearing KeyIns Written by Bob Mecham. Need to key-in bearings? Here is a little known trick that makes this easier. First, set your AccuDraw settings to read-out in…
Tip Reference AutoCAD to MicroStation and coordinates do not match Written by Bob Mecham. We have taken this support call twice in the last month so I thought I would share a solution with everyone in case you have the… Read…
Tip Saved Views now store Reference Display States Written by Bob Mecham. Recreating plots in MicroStation has never been easier With the release of MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 3) we now have the ability to…
Tip Google Map Integration with MicroStation Locate your project in Google Maps With the release of MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 3) we now have the ability to integrate Google Maps with MicroStation. …
Tip Customizing Sheet Models in MicroStation The default sheet sizes are referenced from the sheetsizes.def file. To create your own custom definitions copy this file to your corporate workspace folder.…
Tip Bentley DGN reader for Windows 7 Save time finding the right files using Bentley DGN reader for Windows 7 With the release of MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 3) we now have the ability to…
Tip Terrain Models in MicroStation SELECTseries 3 MicroStation SS3 Terrain Models With the release of MicroStation V8i SELECTseries 3 we now have the ability to import a LandXML surface file into a DGN file. A…
Tip MicroStation Commands – Did you know? MicroStation Gems – Screen Capture – 1 of 12 It’s all about productivity and profitability right? To stay competitive, stay in business, and…
Tip New Reference Attachment Options In this tutorial we will demonstrate how to attach a reference file using different methods. ; First we will begin with Coincident and Coincident – World…
Tip MicroStation Debug Sometimes you need to know what configuration variables are being set, and when they are being set. It could be that you are creating a new workspace, editing…
Tip Element Display Order in 3D Design Files In this tutorial we will show you the new procedure in MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries) to control the display order of elements in a 3D design file. The…
Tip Change Font Size in Word Processor Dialog If the text in the word processor dialog is too small or jagged try increasing the display size with this key-in. “wordprocessor displayfontsize x”…
Tip Geographic Keyins In MicroStation V8i and later releases that support geographic coordinate systems there are key-in commands available to manage coordinate system definitions.…
Tip Longitude, Latitude Coordinate Readout In MicroStation V8i and later releases that support geographic coordinate systems it is possible to obtain Longitude, Latitude coordinates from a design file.…
Tip Array Along Path In the newer releases of MicroStation an option was added to the Construct Array tool. The older options included Rectangular and Polar now there is a new…
Tip Reference Orientation New in MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 1) is the ability for an existing attachment to have its attachment method changed without having to detach and then…
Tip Open, Import, or Attach Shapefiles without Bentley Map In MicroStation V8i Select Series 1 the ability open ArcView Shapefiles (.shp) and MapInfo files (.mif, .tab) has been included without the need for Bentley…
Tip Color Preferences finally stored as a Preference In MicroStation V8i the ability to store color preferences for drawing background colors and element selection and highlight colors can finally be stored under…
Tip Georeferenced Reference Attachments In MicroStation V8i two geographic transformations have been added to the Orientation options that will perform on-the-fly reprojection of attachments with…
Tip Collections and Arrays Collections in VBA are objects that can store groups of related items, much like an array. Unlike arrays, a single collection can store items of different…
Tip Change Case MicroStation V8i has added a Change Case selection to the right click menu in the Text Editor – Word Processor dialog. Simply right click in the text…
Video InRoads Tip: GEOPAK Corridor Modeling – Cross Section Annotation Written by Ronald Brys. Overview on how to annotate cross sections generated using Corridor Modeler in GEOPAK SELECTseries 2. See all of our InRoads tips on…
Video Using Point Cells in a Visualization – Tree Example In this tutorial we will show a workflow for placing a number of trees into a MicroStation Visualization utilizing Point Cells. There are two properties of a…
Video Visualization Example – Trees, People, and Signs In this tutorial we will show you a workflow for placing Trees People and Signs into your 3D rendered images with MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries). See all of…
Video Print Organizer Overview In this tutorial we will give you an overview of the MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries) Print Organizer dialog and settings. See all of our MicroStation tips on…
Video What’s new with Fences In this tutorial we will show you whats new with fences in MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries). The new tools include Copy Move Fence Contents, AccuSnap with…
Video Applying Link Sets to Elements In MicroStation V8i the ability to link elements to files, folders, keyins, and websites is handled through the Project Explorer dialog. By linking supporting…
Video MicroStation 3D Solids Tutorial In this tutorial we will look at some simple 3d tools for creating a flange. See all of our MicroStation tips on this YouTube playlist.
Video Use Annotation Scale with References MicroStation V8i has the added functionality to apply Annotation scale to reference file attachments. When you change the Annotation scale of the current model…
Video Connect MicroStation V8i to a Web Map Server MicroStation V8i has the added functionality to connect to a live Web Map Server (WMS). WMS is a standard for serving georeferenced map images over the…
Video Colors Colors are no longer limited to only one color table with 256 colors. Colors can be selected from True Color, Industry Standard and User defined Color Books.…
Video Gradient Fills When placing closed elements gradient fills can be applied from the tool settings dialog. Options for gradient fills include one, two or multiple color…
Video Match Element Symbology with the ALT Key Pressing the Alt key then left clicking on an element will change the active symbology to the element selected. This works in the XM and V8i releases of…
Video MicroStation Tip – Drag and Drop Attributes For both MicroStation XM and V8i you have the ability to drag and drop an element from the design file to the Attributes toolbox to quickly change the current…
Video MicroStation XM Tip – Pentable Level Wild Cards In the XM and V8i release of MicroStation Pentables can use level wildcards to resymbolize elements. View all of our MicroStation tips in this…
