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Drawing

The Drawing tab produces a dimensioned drawing set from the built design: a lettered cover, a sheet per section, and the extra sheets the design earns. It is generated from the configuration, so it follows the design rather than being drawn by hand.

The tool is the Drawing tab, reachable from the tab bar (Ctrl+9) or from Tools → Drawing. It requires a built model. The sheets of the set are listed down the left; click one to go to it.

The set covers the shaft only. There is no hub or handle, and every sheet is stamped not for regulatory submission.

Sheets​

  • Cover: The whole catheter as a side view over a longitudinal section, each section lettered and listed with its length and sheet number. On a steerable design the pull wires carry on past the proximal end, drawn broken and dimensioned with the free length the build needs.
  • Section sheets: One per section. A full longitudinal section and an end view at the same scale, with that section's bill of materials, every layer ballooned, and the wall thicknesses as a column. A braid or coil line gives the total wire paid out, so it can be ordered from; other lengths are marked REF, since the shop buys to its own allowance.
  • Marker band sheet: When the design has bands. The distal end to scale, positions as ordinate dimensions from the tip, and identical bands sharing one item and one balloon number, quantity on that line.
  • Core sheet: When the design is built on a multi-lumen core.

A single-section design is drawn on one sheet.

Sheet... sets the page:

  • Size: Letter, A4, ANSI B (the default) or A3.
  • Style: Color, or Black and white for a monochrome print.
  • Cover table width, Show end views and Show half-section adjust the layout.

Editing​

Double click what you want to change. Everything is stored with the design.

  • A dimension: Sets its tolerance, or marks it critical or reference. A legend explains whichever the sheet uses.
  • The pull-wire free length: Text rather than a measurement. Reads MIN 6 IN FREE LENGTH or MIN 150 MM FREE LENGTH by the sheet's units; type whatever the build calls for.
  • The notes block: Opens as one piece of text, numbering included. Once edited, the block is yours and is no longer rewritten.
  • A part number or vendor: On any bill of materials row.
  • The title block: Company, part name, drawing number, job number, revision.

Your edits are kept​

Every change is saved on its own, a moment after you make it, with the build it was made on. Nothing asks you to save. Reopen that build from File > Open Recent or the History tab, or start VirtuCath again, and the drawing is the way you left it. Save Config writes the same edits into the design file.

Change the design and build again, and the edits move to the new build. Each one stays with the section and layer it was made on, however you rename, move or reorder sections, so a tolerance never lands on another dimension. An edit VirtuCath cannot place with certainty is left out rather than guessed, and a vendor and part number are dropped when that item's material changes. The earlier build keeps its own copy.

When edits are left out, a notice appears above the sheet. Show lists each one in words (for example Length of Mid (section 2): ±0.5 mm) so you can apply the ones you still want; Dismiss removes the notice. The list is kept with the build until you dismiss it.

The Drawing tab always shows the built model. A design you load stays in Catheter Setup until you press Build; its drawing arrives with that build. If the file is older than edits already kept for the same design, the newer edits are used and the status bar says so.

Clear All Edits puts the drawing back the way VirtuCath generated it: tolerances, notes, title block fields and sheet choices. It asks once, and the button then reads Undo Clear until your next edit. Your remembered company, drawn-by, sheet size and style stay. The catheter design is not affected.

Exporting​

Export PDF writes the set as vector pages. The drawing is also a section of the unified report, and the CLI can write it without opening the application.