See Changes With Ease: Zwcad's Unique Drawing Compare Feature

By Author: Charlie Amrich
Total Articles: 4
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When collaborating on projects, I sometimes need to find the differences between two similar-looking drawings, such as an original and a revised one. A computerized drawing comparetool would do a much better job than my naked eye. To my delight,a drawing compare feature is built into ZWCAD since release 2010. Anditworkspretty well.

Let's have a look at how the ZWCAD drawing compare function works. Go to the Express menu, and then choose Tools - File Compare, and here it comes:

In the dialog box, click both of the Browse buttons to select the two DWG drawing files to compare.

In the Setting section, we can determinethekind of propertiesto be compared by checking their boxesin the Compare Filter area.

The Drawing Compare function identifies objects that have been modified, added, or removed in the "old" and "new" drawings being reviewed. Based on the status of the object, colors are assigned, which you can customize.

After ...
... clicking the Compare button, the two DWG drawings are displayed, andcolor-coded changes are displayed, based on the types of changes.

We see that the differences between two drawings are marked with special colors, while the uniform parts areshown in gray. This visual representation makes it easily to distinguishbetween objects thatare removed, changed, or added. We can save images of the two drawingsto record their differences.

An update to ZWCAD 2011 (namelyZWCAD2011.6.30) improves the drawing compare performance. In addition, it adds support for comparisons of nested blocks, attribute text, and MLeader text.

Here is a video I found that shows how easy it is to use, and how simply it works: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kAS-Sf0wEk

ZWCAD's drawing compare makes it easy to detect changes. The feature is built-in; it is not an add-on, not an extension, and no extra payment is required.You should give it a try!