• Archicad 10
• Feature Comparison
• Documentation Features

Feature Comparison between ArchiCAD 9 to ArchiCAD 10

Integrated Design and Documentation Workflow

Powerful Documentation Features

1. Imported textual data in ArchiCAD/PlotMaker

In PlotMaker 9, OLE automation is available so you can import large bodies of texts from Word or Excel into a PlotMaker Layout. These files may be included Construction Specifications, Legends etc. There are limitations to the amount of data that can be imported this way.
In ArchiCAD 10, it is possible to import industry-standard PDF format files. Any page of a PDF file, be it textual or vectorial drawing, may be imported into the Floor Plan, any Section/Elevation Window, Detail Drawing or Layout. There is not size limitation about these placed PDF files. They are placed as Drawings and remain fully scalable.

2. Teamworking

With the integration of PlotMaker into ArchiCAD 10, the Teamworking mechanism is extended to the Documentation process.
You can reserve Layouts while Signing Into a TeamWork Project. You can also use the Organizer to place Drawings from TeamWork Projects onto Layouts within the active Project.
In the Organizer the handling of Public Views and your own Views (called My Views) is done separately for better distinction.

3. Pen Sets

In ArchiCAD 9, the whole Project has one Pen Set. Changing it affects the whole Project. You can load a different Pen Set from other files using the Attribute Manager. In PlotMaker 9, the Layout Book has its own Pen Set. All placed Drawings can have their own Pen Sets defined for them.
In ArchiCAD 10, you can define as many Pen Sets as you wish. All Model Views share the same Pen Set. All Layouts share another Pen Set (might be the same Pen Set). In addition to that, all placed Drawings will retain their Pen Set, or may be assigned a Pen Set of ArchiCAD 10.

4. Size of Bitmaps

In ArchiCAD 9, the largest bitmap the program can handle is 4048x4048 pixels. This applies to Figures, PhotoRendering Size or any other bitmap the program handles.
In ArchiCAD 10, this limit was considerably raised so now you can handle and create images as large as 32767x32767 pixels in size.

5. Usage of Autotext

In PlotMaker 9, Autotext entries can be used only in a Text Block on PlotMaker Layouts. You start to create a Text Block, and you can insert Autotext codes into it. In ArchiCAD 10, Autotext entries may be placed into any Text Block placed in any Model View or Layout. The Project Info of ArchiCAD and the Book Info of PlotMaker are integrated into one set of values, all of which can be inserted as an Autotext. Also, an unlimited number of custom Autotext entries may be created in the Project Info Dialog for use in your Project. These can be given their own descriptive name, and the program will refer to them by that name when you try to insert them.

6. Display Options

In ArchiCAD 9, all Display Options are saved as part of Display Options Combinations.
In ArchiCAD 10, they are divided into two separate groups:

• On-Screen View Options are global in their effect for all ArchiCAD Views. They are not saved as part of a View. They are all available as individual commands, and you can create custom shortcuts for them for easier access.

• Model View Options are stored as part of Views just as Display Options were stored in ArchiCAD 9. They contain settings about how construction elements should be displayed. Model View Options now all have preview windows so you will immediately see the effect of that option on that element type.
  These Model View Options are not displayed in the form of a drop-down list. Instead, a set of radio buttons and checkboxes are used, where certain options are even greyed when they are not available at the given combination of other options.

7. Display Options for Windows and Doors

In ArchiCAD 9, Windows and Doors are using the same Display Options. It is not possible to set them separately (e.g. show Doors with Marker, but show Windows without Markers).
In ArchiCAD 10, Windows and Doors have their separate set of options for display in Model Views. The exact same options are available for both.

8. Gradient Fills

In ArchiCAD 9, there are no Gradient Fills. You can create a Linear of Radial Gradient Fill in an image editing program and import the result into ArchiCAD as a Figure, (an bitmap image), but it can have resolution difficulties, or the file will be huge and might slow the program down.
In ArchiCAD 10, Linear Gradient Fills and Radial Gradient Fills are default Fill Types, and the creation of this vectorial Fill types has become effortless and their display fully accurate at all times.

9. Distorted Fills

In ArchiCAD 9, Distorted Fills can be created as Symbol Fills. E.g. you can create a Fill the two main axes of which are at a 60 degrees angle. But if you need another Distorted Fill the main axes of which are at a 55 degrees angle, or you want a Fill type the length of the main axes of which are not 1 meters or their ratio is not 1 to 1, you again have to create a new Symbol Fill by drawing it on the Floor Plan, and copy-pasting it into the Fill types Dialog.
In ArchiCAD 10, any Fill can be turned into a Distorted Fill. The two main axes of a Fill may be at any angle, plus both main angles can be any distance in length. So one Fill type may have an unlimited number of distorted instances.

10. Layouting

Layouting is done in PlotMaker 9. PlotMaker has a much smaller features set than ArchiCAD, which limits how well you can work on Layouts. Element creation and editing on Layouts is not as easy as in ArchiCAD.
In ArchiCAD 10, the Layout Book is part of a Project File. The Layout Book is an integrated part of the Navigator. All ArchiCAD Tools, selection, editing and element creation methods are available while working on Layouts, bringing this part of the documentation phase of working in ArchiCAD into the same level of efficiency as experienced in ArchiCAD Model Views.

11. Multi-Paper Layouts

In ArchiCAD 9, Layouts can be made to be composed of a multiple number of papers. This was never a good solution and was started as a solution in earlier versions of PlotMaker, where one PlotMaker file could contain only one Layout (versions prior to PlotMaker 3). With the advent of Layout Books this became more of a legacy feature with less and less practical use, since a Layout Book can contain an unlimited number of Layouts, so there is no need to create a huge Layout made of several pieces of paper. Printing/Plotting is also problematic: it is not possible to print a certain “page” of a MultiPaper Layout. You have to save it as PDF, and you can print the desired page from there.

This feature is no longer available in ArchiCAD 10 for the above mentioned reasons. You should define all separate pieces of papers as separate Layouts.

CategoryLayouting, CategoryInputOutput, CategoryTeamWork, CategoryRendering, Category2dDrawing, CategoryPrintingPlotting