Welcome to the third in a 4-part series extolling the virtues of Autodesk Sheets. In this episode you’ll learn how to define your first set of sheets.

[Click here for episode 1.]
[Click here for episode 2.]

Define the Sheets

Collection

Create a Collection if you’ll be using them.

Select the PDF

Launch the wizard and select your printed PDF(s). There will be several more pages of setup.

Collection and Version Sets

Select the Collection, name the version set, and choose the version date. The version date is used when multiple versions of the same sheet are uploaded to determine which version is the most current.

Page Numbers

The Sheets tool will process the PDF and allow you to select the area of the title block where the page number is identified. OCR is used to convert this to text.

Titles

The Sheets tool will process the PDF and allow you to select the area of the title block where the page title is identified. OCR is used to convert this to text.

Tags

Tags are metadata, and they are optional but adding some can make searching for specific types of sheets easier.

Public

The sheet creation process is over! They can be viewed, filtered, and searched. The Discipline is added automatically depending on the sheet naming prefix. In the example below, since the sheets were numbered C-xx, the Civil discipline was assigned. If the sheets were numbered A-xx, the Architectural discipline would have been assigned. Discipline definitions are editable.

Sheet Links

Once the sheets are published, Autodesk Docs will continue to process them in the background looking for text in any of the sheets that match any sheet number. For example, if “FOR DETAILS SEE SHEET C-22” is found anywhere on any sheet, that C-22 will have a link placed on it automatically. Clicking it will open sheet C-22.

Addendums

If a sheet must be replaced for any reason such as an addendum, the process is simply repeated, except:

• Only the sheets requiring replacement are selected.

• A new version set and date are specified.

  

• The sheet numbers, titles, and tags should remain the same.

• The version number will increase, and it can be compared with previous versions. The new version set is identified.

  

Future Submissions

The steps above are repeated for subsequent submissions. After an Issued for Tender submission may come an Issued for Construction submission. The difference would be:

• A new starting PDF

• A new Collection

• A new Version Set and date

There’s nothing else for today’s episode. The next and final episode will cover how these sheets are used by field crews.

So long.