Beyond Out-Of-The-Box Customization For AutoCAD P&ID

OG10910
Beyond out of the box customization for AutoCAD P&ID

Quentin Contreras
Autodesk
Learning Objectives
 Navigate successfully through project setup
 Know how to create custom engineering items
 Know how to create unique tagging
 Know how to create custom off page connectors
Description
In this class I will share some useful steps to customize content to use in your AutoCAD P&ID software
projects. You will be lead through accessing the project setup and learn what can be edited. We will
primarily focus on accessing Engineering Items. This will involve creating custom equipment, inline
assets, and instrumentation. In addition I will show how to create unique tagging and custom off page
connectors.
Your AU Experts
Quentin Contreras joined Autodesk in 2012 working with Frontline Customer Support and is currently a
Premium Support Specialist working with Enterprise Priority Support focusing on customers with
AutoCAD Plant Design software. Quentin has been involved with Autodesk technology for over 25 years
(starting with release 10). Prior to joining Autodesk he worked with various companies as a CAD
Manager and Designer with focus in the oil and gas industry and ammonia refrigeration. Prior to joining
Autodesk he primarily worked using AutoCAD P&ID to develop as-built drafting services for various
industries. This required various levels of customization due to following set guidelines set up with each
customer he worked with. He is also a contributor to the In the Pipes blog that provides helpful tips and
tricks to AutoCAD Plant 3D and P&ID users.
Navigating the Project Setup

When creating P&ID diagrams you might find the need to create custom content not provided in the out
of the box items of AutoCAD P&ID. At this point you should develop a plan for exactly what is going to
be required in generating P&ID’s per your business standards. Having a good plan helps make sure that
you have an organized method for creating content and avoid having to come back once P&ID’s have
been created.
Before you dive into starting a project you will want to create the custom content to use in your
AutoCAD P&ID drawings. I would suggest working on a template project first so that you can test as you
create. I would also suggest you identify a user or users who will be creating custom content. Having a
key user or users who are responsible for the custom content will help in knowing what new content or
changes have been done in the project. I have seen companies create content as they go and that can
lead to different variations of single items if users are not aware of changes made to the custom content
within a project.
Creating the Template Project

You will need to open AutoCAD P&ID and create a project that you will use as your template project.
From the Project Manager you can select New Project to create this new Project.
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Then go through the rest of the Project Setup Wizard adjusting general settings, unit settings, P&ID
settings, Plant 3D directory settings and database settings.
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Before you select Finish to complete the Project Setup Wizard, check box for Edit additional project
settings after creating project in the finish window.
The focal area we will be working in the Project Setup is the P&ID Class Definitions. The sub parts
Engineering Items and Non Engineering Items is where we will setup our custom equipment, inline
assets, instrumentation, lines, off page connectors and all associated tagging.
Creating Custom Engineering Items

AutoCAD P&ID comes with P&ID symbols used from the PIP, ISO, ISA, DIN and JIS-ISO standards. This
does not necessarily mean that every P&ID symbol ever created is included. What I have encountered is
that not all P&ID’s are created the same way. P&ID symbols can vary depending on system applications,
internal company standards, and user creativity. Luckily AutoCAD P&ID comes with powerful
customization tools found inside the Project Setup. For a novice user, navigating through the Project
Setup can seem like finding a needle in a haystack. However, having a planned and organized workflow
can make custom symbol creation a manageable task.
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Custom Symbol Storage and Location

Every time you create a new AutoCAD P&ID project various files and folders are created that are
associated with that project. Within the root structure of the P&ID project is a drawing file called
projSymbolStyle.dwg.
The projSymbolStyle drawing contains P&ID blocks that are used in coordination with the project setup.
Essentially when you select a symbol from a palette, AutoCAD P&ID knows through the configuration in
the Project Setup to pull that symbol from the projSymbolStyle.dwg. In order to get your custom
symbols to work from a palette you will first need to create a block of your symbol inside the
projSymbolStyle.dwg. This is how we will start with creating the custom symbols to use in our template
project. You are going to create a custom symbol in the Engineering Items for Equipment and Inline
Assets, Instrumentation.
For the Equipment you will be creating this Evaporative Condenser.
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For the Inline Asset, Hand Valves you will be creating this Hand Expansion Valve.
For the Instrumentation, Inline Instruments you will create this Inline Flow Indicator.
You will need to open the projSymbolStyle.dwg and create the custom symbols you want to use or you
can insert the custom symbols from another drawing location. Once you have the symbols placed in the
drawing you will need to block the symbols. When creating the blocks you will want to name the blocks
matching to what symbol is being created. The other important part of the block creation is picking the
base point. For example the Expansion Valve and the Flow Indicator, you have to remember that this is
going to be placed on a process line in your P&ID drawings. So, the base point should be located
according to how the process line will pass through the symbol.
For these three symbols that are converted to blocks you can name them Evaporative_Condenser,
Hand_Expansion and Flow_Indicator. Once you have created the blocks you will notice the symbols are
still shown in the projSymbolStyle.dwg. At this point you may go ahead and erase them from the
drawing. The symbols are now blocks residing inside the drawing and there is no need to keep them
shown in the drawing. You will need to Save the drawing and close the drawing.
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Custom Symbol Blocks to Project Setup

With the custom symbol blocks now created, you can incorporate them into the project setup.
To show how this is done we will start with the Evaporative Condenser block previously created.
You will need to access the Project Setup and navigate to the Engineering Items. Then you will
select Equipment to expand the equipment list to show all the out of the box equipment items.
If you right click over Equipment a pop-up list will appear giving you the option to create a New
equipment item.
When you select New, the Create Class window will display. This is where you will name the
equipment class to be displayed in the Project Setup. Enter Evaporative_Condenser for the Class
Name and Evaporative Condenser for the Display Name of that Class. Select OK to close the
Create Class window.
*Note: The Class Name does not allow for spaces to be part of the name. Only the Display Name
of the Class allows spaces.
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The Evaporative equipment class will now be displayed with the rest of the equipment classes.
Within the class settings you will now be able to add the Evaporative Condenser block to the
class. At the top of the Project Setup window select the Add Symbols button. The Add Symbols –
Select Symbols window will display.
In the Add Symbol – Select Symbols window select “ “ button to be able to browse and
find the projSymbolStyle.dwg. When you navigate to the projSymbolStyle.dwg select it and
select Open to close the window.
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When the projSymbolStyle.dwg is selected this will populate the Available Block area of the Add
Symbols – Select Symbols window. At this point you can scroll through the blocks and find the
Evaporative_Condenser.
When the Evaporative_Condenser block is located, select it and then click on the Add>> button.
This will add the block to the Selected Blocks area of the Add Symbols – Selected Symbols
window. Then you can select the Next>> button to close the Add Symbols – Select Symbols
window.
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The Add Symbols – Edit Symbol Settings window now appears. This window is sectioned into
three different areas: Symbol Properties, General Style Properties and Other Properties. For the
Symbol Property section you will need to add a Symbol Name. In the blank area enter
Evaporative Condenser. In the General Style Properties area you will set the Layer to Equipment
layer and set Color to ByLayer. The remaining items in the General Style Properties leave them
as they are assigned. Finally, in the Other Properties change Tagging prompt to Prompt for tag
during component creation and Join type to Endline. The Join Type is important to set because it
impacts what a P&ID line will do when it comes to the Evaporative Condenser. For this
Evaporative Condenser we want P&ID lines to either come from it or leave from it. So, for this
reason you set the Join Type to Endline. The remaining items in the Other Properties leave them
as they are assigned. You can select Finish to close the Add Symbols – Edit Symbol Settings
window.
You will now be returned to the Project Setup window. You can see that the symbol name and a
symbol preview have been added. At this point you should click Apply or OK in the Project Setup
window to save the work that has just been completed.
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The next steps would be to add any additional properties desired to the Evaporative Condenser,
assign a tag or annotation to be used and to add the symbol to a tool palette. However, there
are still two other symbols left to create. So, you will want to create the two remaining symbols
first and then come back to apply tagging and add the symbol to the tool palette.
Once again access the project setup so that the Hand Expansion Valve can be configured in the
project setup. In the Project Setup you will navigate to the Engineering Items. Then you will
select Inline Assets, then Hand Valves to expand the Hand Valves list to show all the out of the
box Hand Valve items. If you right click over Hand Valves a pop-up list will appear giving you the
option to create a New Hand Valve class.
When you select New the Create Class window will display. This is where you will name the
equipment class to be displayed in the Project Setup. Enter Hand_Expansion for the Class Name
and Hand Expansion for the Display Name of that Class. Select OK to close the Create Class
window.
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The Hand Expansion class will now be displayed with the rest of the Hand Valves items. Within
the class settings you will now be able to add the Hand Expansion valve block to the class. At the
top of the Project Setup window select the Add Symbols button. The Add Symbols – Select
Symbols window will display.
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Symbols – Select Symbols window. Now you can scroll through the blocks and find the
Hand_Expansion.
When the Hand_Expansion block is located, select it and then click on the Add>> button. This
will add the block to the Selected Blocks area of the Add Symbols – Selected Symbols window.
Then you can select the Next>> button to close the Add Symbols – Select Symbols window.
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The Add Symbols – Edit Symbol Settings window appears, in the Symbol Properties area for
Symbol Name enter. In the General Style Properties area you will set the Layer to Hand Valves
layer and set Color to ByLayer. The remaining items in the General Style Properties leave them
as they are assigned. Finally, in the Other Properties change Tagging prompt to Prompt for tag
during component creation and Join type to Inline. The Join Type is set to Inline because it
impacts what a P&ID line will do when it comes to the Hand Expansion valve. For the Hand
Expansion valve we want P&ID lines not to display when they pass through the valve. For this
reason you set the Join Type to Inline. The remaining items in the Other Properties leave them
as they are assigned. You can select Finish to close the Add Symbols – Edit Symbol Settings
window.
symbol preview have been added. You should click Apply or OK in the Project Setup window to
save the work that has just been completed.
The next steps would be to add any additional properties desired to the Hand Expansion valve,
assign a tag or annotation to be used and to add the symbol to a tool palette. However, there is
still one remaining symbol to create.
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Once again access the project setup so that the Flow Indicator can be configured in the project
setup. In the Project Setup you will navigate to the Engineering Items. Then select
Instrumentation and then Inline Instruments to expand the Inline Instruments list to show all
the out of the box Inline Instruments items. If you right click over Inline Instruments a pop-up
list will appear giving you the option to create a New Inline Instrument class.
When you select New the Create Class window will display. This is where you will name the
inline instrument class to be displayed in the Project Setup. Enter Flow_Indicator for the Class
Name and Flow Indicator for the Display Name of that Class. Select OK to close the Create Class
window.
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The Flow Indicator class will now be displayed with the rest of the Inline Instruments items.
Within the class settings you will now be able to add the Flow Indicator block to the class. At the
top of the Project Setup window select the Add Symbols button. The Add Symbols – Select
Symbols window will display.
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Symbols – Select Symbols window. Now you can scroll through the blocks and find the
Flow_Indicator.
When the Flow_Indicator block is located, select it and then click on the Add>> button. This will
add the block to the Selected Blocks area of the Add Symbols – Selected Symbols window. Then
you can select the Next>> button to close the Add Symbols – Select Symbols window.
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The Add Symbols – Edit Symbol Settings window appears, in the Symbol Properties area for
Symbol Name enter Flow Indicator. In the General Style Properties area you will set the Layer to
Inline Instrument layer and set Color to ByLayer. The remaining items in the General Style
Properties leave them as they are assigned. Finally, in the Other Properties change Tagging
prompt to Prompt for tag during component creation and Join type to Inline. The Join Type is set
to Inline because it impacts what a P&ID line will do when it comes to the Flow Indicator. For the
Flow Indicator we want P&ID lines not to display as they pass through the flow indicator. It is for
this reason you set the Join Type to Inline. The remaining items in the Other Properties leave
them as they are assigned. You can select Finish to close the Add Symbols – Edit Symbol Settings
window.
symbol preview have been added. Now you should click Apply or OK in the Project Setup
window to save the work that has just been completed.
With all the custom P&ID symbols added the project setup you can now go setup any custom
tagging.
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Creating Unique Tagging

With an out of the box project tag formats for Equipment, Hand Valves, and Inline Instruments are
already created in the project. However, your workflow will mostly likely require you to create unique
tagging in your P&ID drawings. With the custom symbols that were previously created you will now go
through the process of setting up unique tagging for the Evaporative Condenser and Hand Expansion
valve.
Custom tagging formats

The first tag format you will be creating will be for the Evaporative Condenser. This tag will insert two
lines of text. The first line of text will have an equipment type abbreviation and equipment number. The
second line of text will be a description of the piece of equipment.
The second tag format you will be creating will be for the Hand Expansion valve. This tag will consist of
three subparts, those parts being size, valve type and valve number.
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Tag format creation in the Project Setup

The first tag you will create is for the Evaporative Condenser. Access the Project Setup and
navigate to the Evaporative Condenser. In the properties for the Evaporative Condenser find and
select the Type so that it becomes highlighted. With this equipment tag you want the type “EC”
to automatically apply when the symbol is placed in the drawing. With the Type still highlighted
select the Edit.. button on the right side of the Project Setup window.
When the Edit.. button is select the Selection List Property window will be diplayed. You are able
to create your own selection list in this window and edit the existing list. Selection lists are
already listed when this P&ID project was created. For the equipment tag you are creating you
will be editing the Equipment_Types selection list. Select the Equipment_Lists list so that it
becomes highlighted. When you select the list the values and descriptions for the equipment
type are listed. You will need to add the “EC” to this list for the Evaporative Condenser. To do
this select the Add Row… button.
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When you select the Add Row… button the Add Row window will prompt you for a Value and
Desciption. For the Value enter EC, for the Description enter Evaporative Condenser and then
select OK.
You will now be able to see that the EC value was added the the Equipment_Types selection list.
Go ahead and select OK to close the Selection List Property window.
In the Project Setup select the drop down list for the equipment types. Find the EC, selecting it
will make sure that EC is automatically applied to the equipment tag.
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Now that the tag has been setup, the Tag Format will need to be updated. At the bottom of the
Project Setup window find the Tag Formats. You will be editing the Equipment Tag [Type-
Number]. Select this tag and select the Modify… button.
The Tag Format Setup window is displayed. From this window you can apply property
information for this piece of equipment to the tag format. The tag of the Evaporative Condesner
there is no need to make any changes as both fields are pulling the correct property
information. Go ahead and select OK to close the Tag Format Setup.
At this point it would be a good idea to select Apply in the Project Setup window to save
changes.
Now that the tag format is configured you can now setup the Annotation. The Annotation is the
tag that will be inserted when the Evpaorative Condenser is inserted into the P&ID drawing. At
the bottom of the Project Setup window locate the Annotation area. Select the annotation for
the Equipment Tag and then select the Add Annotation… button.
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The Symbol Settings window will appear so that you can setup the properties for this equipment
tag. EC Equipment Tag will need to be typed in for the Symbol Name and Auto Insert set to Auto
Insert with Prompt. Select OK to save and close the Symbol setting window.
With the EC Equipment Tag set for the annotation select the Edit Block… button.
In the block editor you will see the format name setup for the Equipment.Tag. For the tag you
are creating you will need to copy this tag and place it below the exisiting Equipment.Tag. Once
the tag has been copied, click on the Assign Format button and select the copied
Equipment.Tag.
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The Assign Annotation Format window will display. Select the Select Class Property button that
will display the window to select the properties to use for the tag. In the class list find the
Evaporative Condenser and select it. This will populate the properties list for the Evaporative
Condenser to use. In the property list find Description and select it and then select OK to close
the Select Class Property window. Select OK in in the Assign Annotation Format window to close
and save.
The field should update to show, Evaporative Condenser.Description in the Assign Annotation
Format window. Select OK to close the Assign Annoation Format window.
In the block editor you will see the the Equipment.Tag that was copied has updated. Select the
updated tag to highlight it and right click on it to display the properties. In the properties
window find the Text section and located the Tag. You are going to edit the tag so that it will
show up underlined when the tag is inserted into the drawing. Place “%%u” at the beginning of
the tag so that tag is as follows: %%u#(Evapoartive_Condenser.Description)
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You can now select Close Block Editor on the Block Editor ribbon to close out of the block editor
and to save.
With the Project Setup displayed the description for the Evaporative Condenser will need to be
edited. When the description was initially setup an underscrore was automatically applied. For
this tag description we do not want the underscore to appear. Find the Description in the
Project Setup and simply remove the underscore that is between the Evaporative Condenser.
Finally, the only remaining step is to assign this tag as the default. In the Project Setup find the
AnnotationStyleName property, using the pulldown list select the EC Equipment Tag.
Select Apply in the Project Setup window to save.
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The first tag created you can move to creating the tag for the Hand Expansion valve. Access the
Project Setup and navigate to the Hand Expansion valve. In the properties for the Hand
Expansion valve you will need to create a new property. This property will be used in the tag for
an abbreviated code for the type of valve. On the right side of the Project Setup window select
the Add... button. The Add Property window will appear, for the Property Name type Valve Type
and for Display Name type Valve Type. Also, set the type to Selection List. Select OK in the Add
Property window to close and save.
The Selection List Property window will appear prompting you to select a list to use. However,
you will need to create a new list for the valve types. Select the New Selection List… button and
type in Valve_Types for the new selection list name. Select OK in the Add Selection List window
to close and save.
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The Selection List Property window will be updated with the Valve_Types. When you select the
Valve_Types there will be no values or descriptons listed. Those will have to be manually
entered by selecting the Add Row button.
In the Add Row window type in HE for Value and for Hand Expansion for the Description. Select
OK to close and save.
In the Project Setup window you will see that the Valve_Type is added and HE is set to default.
You want the HE set to default so that when the valve is created the tag automatically assigns
the HE in the tag when the valve is placed in the P&ID drawing.
At this point it would be a good idea to select Apply in the Project Setup window to save
changes.
Now a new Tag Format will need to be created for Hand Expansion valve. At the bottom of the
Project Setup window find the Tag Formats. You will be creating new tag with using the Hand
Valve Tag [Code-Number]. Select this tag and select the New… button.
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The Tag Format Setup window is displayed. The Format Name will need to be changed to Hand
Expansion Tag [Size-ValveType-Number]. Having a descriptive format name helps you to
remember exactly how the tag is configured. The other item that will need to be changed are
the Number of Subparts. Change the number of Subparts to 3, the three Subparts used in the
tag will be size, valve type and valve number.
You will need to edit each of the 3 subparts so that the correct information is populated in the
tag when it is inserted in the P&ID drawing. Select the first field Select Class Properties button.
This will display the Select Class Properties window. Select the Hand Expansion valve and select
the Size property for the valve. Select OK in the Select Class Properties window to close and
save.
Move to the next field and repeat the process above. This time you will want to select the Hand
Expansion property Valve Type.
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Move to the last field and repeat the process above. This time you will want to select the Hand
Expansion property Number.
With the valve number field you will need to select the Define Expression button. This will allow
you to define how the valve numbers are generated when the valve is inserted into the drawing.
When the Define Expression button is selected the Define Expression window appears. In this
window first make sure and uncheck No Expression. Next, change Expressions to Numbers,
check as Fixed Length and set fixed length to 4. Then check Autogenerate expression, set to
Project Field and select the Project Field button. A Select Project Autogeneration Property
window will be displayed. Select the Last Valve Number property. If needed at this point you can
reset the last used valve to 0 and change the increments if needed.
Once you have complete all the changes for the valve number,you can go ahead and select OK
on all open windows until you get back to the project setup.
At this point select Apply in the Project Setup window to save changes.
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Now that the tag format is configured you will need to set this tag to be the default tag used
when the Hand Expansion valve is inserted into the P&ID drawing. In the Project Setup find the
TagFormatName property and change it to Hand Expansion Tag [Size-ValveType-Number].
The final step is that we want our tag automatically inserted when the valve is placed in the
drawing. To do this you will need to find the Annotation area in the Project Setup and edit the
Tag.
In the Symbol Settings window in the Other Properties section find Auto Insert. Using the
pulldown list select Auto Insert. By choosing Auto Insert this will force the tag to be inserted
when the valve is placed in the P&ID drawing. You may also need to adjust the Offset X or Y
depending on where the Tag insertion point was located when the Tag block was created. For
this example I am going to change the Offset Y to -0.2500. Select OK in the Symbol Settings
window to close and save changes.
Select Apply in the Project Setup window to save.
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Creating Unique Off Page Connectors

Off Page Connectors (OPC’s) aid in threading P&ID drawings together with each other. Generally a
connector gives a reference to where the P&ID line is going to and coming from. For your P&ID drawings
you may choose to create your own OPC’s rather than use the OPC’s that are included with AutoCAD
P&ID.
Custom OPC creation

For this example we simply want to create an Off Page Connector that references the drawing number it
is coming from or going to. This is what the OPC’s will look like.
OPC format creation in the Project Setup

There are various ways to create an OPC in the Project Setup. You could go through a similar
process like creating a new block as you did previously with the equipment, valve and inline
asset. However, since we are not using the existing out of the box OPC, you will instead modify
that one to match the OPC above.
Access the Project Setup and navigate to the Non Engineering Items in the P&ID Class
Definitions. Select Connectors and then select Off Page Connector. Once the Off Page Connector
is selected you will want to select the Edit Block button for the connector.
Inside the block editor you will see various attribute definitions and parameters associate with
this OPC. For your OPC you are not going to need some of these items. Remove everything
except the AttachmentPoint1, AttachmentPoint2 and the attribute definition
#(=Drawing.General.PnID).
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Next you will need to change the appearance of the actual body of the connector. The
important part to of this connector is where AttachmentPoint1 and AttachmentPoint2 are
located. The AttachementPoint1 is located at 0,0,0 and AttachmentPoint2 is located at the point
of the OPC. The attachment points are where they will attach to the P&ID line and also know
which way they need to be pointed depending on flow direction of the line. Here is how the
finished revised off page connector should look like.
Select Close Block Editor in the ribbon once you have finished modifying the OPC to save your
changes. Then select Apply in the Project Setup window to save and then OK to exit out of the
Project Setup.
Testing the Customization
At this point all items have been created in the project and are now ready to use in your P&ID drawings.
Before the symbols can be inserted into a P&ID drawing you will need to make the symbols accessible in
the palettes. In the palette window you may wish to add the symbols to an existing palette or create a
new palette. To create a new palette you can simply right click over an existing tab in the palette
window and select New Palette. Then you will be prompted to enter a name for the palette.
Once the palette is created make sure the new palette tab is selected as the active palette. Now you will
want to access the Project Setup. Access the Evaporative Condenser that was previously created in the
Project Setup. Once it is selected you will need to select the Add to Tool Palette button. This will add
item to the palette you just created. Repeat the process for the Hand Expansion valve, the Flow
Indicator and the Off Page Connector.
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You will need to test all the items that were created. You will need to create at least two new drawings
so you can test to see if the OPC’s connect as expected. With the customization you just performed your
results should look something like this.
Drawing XXX-001
Drawing XXX-002
Conclusion
There are numerous possibilities when you are tasked with incorporating customization to your P&ID
projects. Just remember to allow time to have a plan and block out each task in a methodical order.
Having a good plan will help in making sure all your customization works correctly and you are able to
complete the task in a timely manner.
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Beyond Out-Of-The-Box Customization For AutoCAD P&ID

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OG10910

Beyond out of the box customization for AutoCAD P&ID

Navigating the Project Setup

Creating the Template Project

Creating Custom Engineering Items

Custom Symbol Storage and Location

For the Equipment you will be creating this Evaporative Condenser.

Custom Symbol Blocks to Project Setup

Creating Unique Tagging

Custom tagging formats

Tag format creation in the Project Setup

Select Apply in the Project Setup window to save.

Select Apply in the Project Setup window to save.

Creating Unique Off Page Connectors

Custom OPC creation

OPC format creation in the Project Setup

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