How to Draw a Column Center

1.   Right click in open space and select Standard Detail, Column Center.

2.   Choose the column center image that best suits your situation. Suppose you choose graphic No. 975, as highlighted below.

You can use the arrow keys and the shift keys to reposition and resize the graphic.

You can dimension to most standard details. It is often useful to dimension from a column center to indicate the location of a spool. If you need to dimension to somewhere but you don’t want to show a column center, choose one of the Dim Points instead. You can even shrink the dim point until it is invisible, but you can still dimension to it.

To dimension to or between column centers, select Dimension, Miscellaneous or press F8. Right click to change the dimension direction, then left click to accept.

Gussets are another distinct type of standard detail. They can include welds. See article K0073 for more information about gussets.

You can combine standard details with DYO details to create a more complex graphic as per the example shown, which combines a column center with several lines. As described in article K0027, you can then save your graphic to a library and make it available for pasting into any drawing. <cf>

Convert Standard Detail to Miscellaneous Item

You can convert any standard detail to a miscellaneous item that will appear in the BOM. You start as usual by clicking in open space, then select Standard Detail. Resize and reposition using the arrow keys and shift keys, but instead of just pressing Enter to accept the standard detail, hold down the control key and press Enter. You then get to enter the description for a miscellaneous item using the dialog shown below.

Consider Using a Note to Represent an Item

For example, if you need to show a pump as part of a piping line, you can simply create a note “PUMP” that has a single or double box and orient it to suit the direction of drawing, as in the example below.