Room Arranger, version 3.26
Copyright © 2002-2003 Jan Adamec
This program is intended for designing room interiors.
It allows you to place furniture, items and other objects.
You can additionally move and rotate objects, change their
colors and dimensions. But you can also plan your entire
flat, one floor of the house or a new garden.
This file serves as a help for the program and we recommend
you to print it and eventually read it. Pressing F1 anywhere in the
program will show this help focused on the appropriate chapter.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- License Agreement
- Guide
- Install And Uninstall
- Improve Your Drawings From Older Versions
- Getting Started, Creating the Room
- Adding Objects
- Layers
- User library
- Adding Labels
- Saving Into File, Printing And Export
- Explore in 3D
- Dialog windows overview
- Room Properties
- Room Walls
- Library
- Object Properties
- Label Properties
- Object Listing
- Explore in 3D - Setup
- Local Coordinates
- Print
- Options
- Localization
LICENSE AGREEMENT
The program is freeware and it can be distributed only free of charge.
Using of the program is free of charge as well.
The program is provided "as-is", and no warranties of any kind
(including implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular
purpose), express or implied, are made as to it or any medium it may be on.
Under no circumstances will we provide any other remedy for direct, indirect,
special, consequential, punitive, incidental or other damages arising from it,
including such from negligence, strict liability, or breach of warranty
or contract, even after notice of the possibility of such damages.
Installing and using the program signifies acceptance and agreement
to the terms and conditions of this license.
If you do not agree with the terms of this license you must cease to use the
program and remove the program from your storage devices.
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INSTALL AND UNINSTALL
The program is distributed with an installation program.
Leave "Additional Languages" checked if you want to install
other languages (not only English) and then select the
directory to install in. You can launch the program from
the Start menu. If you already have an older version, you
should not uninstall it.
In order to uninstall the program you must launch the
Uninstall command from the Start menu
(Start-Programs-Room Arranger) or select the corresponding
item in Start-Settings-Control panel-Add/Remove Programs.
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IMPROVE YOUR DRAWINGS FROM OLDER VERSIONS
Every new version brings new features that can markedly improve
drawings created by previous program version. You should
adjust the catalogue as well; the installation program does not do
it automatically. You can find the list of all new features
in the file "What's new" accessible from the Start menu.
Rooms up to version 2.20
- If you want to see the room in 3D, you will have to change height and z-position of the objects.
Rooms up to version 2.10
- There is a new object library in the program. And you only have a great deal of rectangles :-).
- Floating text captions created as rectangles turn into Labels.
Rooms up to version 1.11
- Increase the wall thickness to 10 and set up the space around the room
at least to 35. Both from menu Room->Change Size.
- Change the type (in object properties) of the rectangles serving
as windows to the new type Window.
- Check Snap to Wall in properties of all doors near walls.
Catalogue up to version 2.10
- It's now called "User library" and you will probably rebuild it.
Catalogue up to version 1.11
- Change the type of all windows to Window and we recommend switching
off displaying of its caption.
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GETTING STARTED, CREATING THE ROOM
At first, you should look at the example. Open it
using the menu command Room->Open and select
the file Sample.mst (distributed with the program). Shortcuts to the
samples are also located in the Start menu.
Try to study it and play with objects. Then you can create your own room
using the menu command Room->New.
At the beginning, you should define the dimensions of the room.
You can do it in the window Room->Change Size.
All numbers in the program are in centimeters, but you can change it
and, when planning airfield or the layout of new houses, the unit can
be meter, inch, etc...
See Room Properties window.
Walls
If you don't have a rectangular room or if you want to draw the plan of
the entire flat, you must click Edit walls button in the dialog window
mentioned above. Next window will appear in which you can adjust current walls
or add new. Choose the wall in the listing (new wall as a last blank record),
fill in the coordinates and press Save to confirm changes for every wall.
Alignment of the wall stands for the position of the wall in respect to the
coordinates - it can be above them, going through them or bellow them.
See Room Walls window.
Measurement
The room dimensions are displayed on the status bar. You can find
there also the mouse position relative to the upper left corner
of the room and used zoom factor (see menu View).
You can measure the distances in the room using the mouse after pressing
button on the toolbar or hitting M key. Holding Shift during Measurement
measures line with rotation in 45 degrees multiples. If you don't wish to
see the result after the end of the measuring, fix the second point
of the line with the right mouse button.
Local Coordinates
You can temporary change the origin of the coordinates in the room
(View->Local Coordinates).
Position relative to this new point is then displayed on the status bar
and it is used also for setting object position. It can be useful if you
know the distances for example from the upper right corner of the room.
See Local Coordinates window.
Windows and doors are the first objects to be added to the room.
You should place them very precisely.
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ADDING OBJECTS
Objects are added in two possible ways: either from menu
Objects->Add Object or right-clicking
on the free space in the room. Try to find required object in the library.
If you have found it or there is an object only with different size
(you can change it afterwards), add it to the room with double-click or
selecting it and pressing Enter.
See Library window.
If you can't find the object in the library, button
Add basic object will bring the dialog where you can select
the shape and other properties of the new object.
If you place the mouse cursor over the object in the room
and wait a moment, a brief info about it will appear. And using a right-click,
you can select one of the following commands from the pop-up menu:
- Properties - edit the object properties
- Duplicate Object - create a copy of the object
- Remove Object - delete the object
- Place to Layer - move object to the different layer (see next chapter)
- Bring to Front ...
- Send to Back - these functions are good for placing
the objects on the top of another object (for example put TV on the cupboard,
push a chest under the table,...). In that case, you must sort them
with these two commands. These commands do not affect z-position.
- Rotate 90 Degrees Right ...
- Rotate 90 Degrees Left ...
- Rotate 180 Degrees - quickly change the rotation
See Object Properties and
Label Properties windows.
Object Selection
If you click on the object, it becomes selected and small rectangle corners are drawn around it.
Then you can use keyboard shortcuts to
manipulate with the object. Pressing one of the arrow keys will move the object one unit in
the given direction, holding Shift increases 5x the speed of the movement. This can
be useful for precise object placement.
Delete key is for removing the selected object, Alt+Enter shows its properties,
Ctrl+R and Ctrl+L rotates the object. You can select other objects with Page Up
and Page Down keys. If you want to deselect the object, you can click anywhere on the free
space in the room or press Esc. However, it is still possible to select only one object at one time,
multi selection will be added soon.
Last performed change of position or properties of objects and the room
can be undone by the command Room->Undo
or using a toolbar button.
Menu command Objects->Listing is dedicated
to displaying the list of all objects in the room. You can remove
objects or change their properties by clicking the right mouse button.
See Object Listing window.
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LAYERS
If you have large amount of objects in the room and some of them are placed
on the top of others, you can split them to two (or more) layers. For example, if you have
small cabinets under the long table and you want to see them and arrange them,
the best thing is to have those cabinets in the separate layer and move this
layer under the layer with the table. Another example is to dedicate one layer
to the energy or water distribution. The last tricky example: the lowest layer contains
carpeting, etc. - basic rectangles one unit high. You can hide it in order
to see the grid.
At first, you will have to show layers window (View->Show Layers Window)
and create a new layer. There is always at least one layer in the room and one
of them is active (it is selected in the Layers window). New objects are added
to this active layer. You can move the object to the different layer with
the command Place to Layer in its context menu.
Layer order also affects the z-order (not z-position) of the objects in the room.
All object from the higher layer are drawn on the top of the objects from the lower
layers (change this order using buttons on the Layers window). To see the objects
from the lower layer, you can hide higher layers unchecking the checkbox.
Removing the layer will also remove all objects placed in it. It is better to
merge layers. If you want to remove only one layer out of three, hide the third one
and Merge visible layers. All layer operations are undoable.
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USER LIBRARY
There are many objects in the main library, but you would like to
add your own objects and remember their definition for later use.
The User library is here just for this purpose. You can find it as a first
library page when adding new object and you've certainly spotted it on the
right side of the Object properties window, which serves for creating
of the user library as well.
If you select some predefined object on the right side
and press Load button, its properties
will be transferred into the object from the room that you
are currently modifying.
Similarly, pressing Save button will add (or update) the object
to the library. Object is saved with some name, so try to input something
reasonable, accurate and general at the same time.
The User library is stored in the file named Catalog.msk in the program directory.
You should not edit it manually. It is much better to use menu command
Objects->Browse User Library.
Then you can:
- add new objects: fill in something on the left side and insert it using Save
button to the library. You can transcribe some real paper
catalogue this way.
- edit existing: select the object on the right side, press
Load, edit it on the left and press Save.
- delete or rename existing: right-click on the object and select appropriate option.
It is still not possible to add your own complex objects to the library.
See Object Properties window.
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ADDING LABELS
There is a special object, which can be added to the drawing. It's
Label. You can create new label similarly to any other object either from menu
or using right mouse button. Unlike object captions, label can
stay anywhere in the room. It can also carry more lines of text and,
especially, you can select its font, which size is changed according
to the zoom level in the room.
See Label Properties window.
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SAVING INTO FILE, PRINTING AND EXPORT
It is strongly recommended to save your drawing into the file
from time to time. There are several commands in the Room menu for
this purpose. You can open the files also using a double click in Explorer
or any other file manager, or dragging the file into the program window.
You can also print your work (Room->Print).
Select the paper orientation in your printer setup. In the bottom side
of the window there is a schematic view on the paper and you can
select (and edit) what shall be printed along the image.
See Print window.
Furthermore, you can save the result as an image (Export submenu,
don't hesitate to use PNG format, everyone can open it and the image very small)
or copy it into the clipboard and subsequently insert it into a text editor
(like MS Word), add some comments and then print it.
As a default, 100% zoom is always used for printing and export (the most
accurate drawing). You can change it in Options.
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EXPLORE IN 3D
In order to make any use of 3D view, you should set height and z-position
for all objects in their properties. Furthermore, you will need some external
VRML viewer; it is not part of the installation program. Two of them are described
below, both of them use Internet browser's window for the viewing.
Please, study their help, navigation in virtual worlds is quite difficult
(before you get accustomed to it). All moves are performed with mouse
(press left mouse button and drag). There are three exploring modes:
Walk, Slide (including panning and flying), Tilt
(rotating the view), you can switch among them using the buttons in the viewer
(see images). If you switch off gravity you can fly.
Room Arranger generates several sights of the room for you. They are
accessible in the Viewpoint list and you can go through all of them
(in case of Cosmo Player) using keys Page Down and Page Up (recommended).
The first viewpoint is the start position you choose in the program.
See Explore in 3D - Setup window.
Cosmo Player
Strengths: easy navigation utilizing all three mouse buttons
(left button: Walk, middle: Tilt, right: Slide)
Preferences (differences to the default setup): on the Graphics page
select OpenGL Renderer. Direct3D sometimes jams the computer while you can
achieve much higher speed and smoothness with OpenGL in this viewer.
Link: www.cai.com/cosmo
Cortona
Strengths: better image quality (antialiasing in particular). It is
possible that you already have this viewer, it can be installed together
with MSIE 6
Preferences (differences to the default setup): on the Navigation page
select Always for Animate viewpoints, and on Renderer page check Idle-time at AntiAliasing.
Link: www.parallelgraphics.com
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ROOM PROPERTIES
Menu: Room->Change Size.
- Width, Height
- Room dimensions. Width is the dimension along the x axis,
height along the y axis.
- Edit Walls
- Shows window for advanced wall adjustment
- if your room is not rectangular.
- Space around the room
- Free space around the room, including space occupied by walls.
Small button next to Top space will copy the Top value to all other values.
- Grid
- Properties of the grid that can be displayed under the room, it helps you to
conceive of distances.
- Wall thickness
- Default wall thickness. All walls in the room has this thickness,
but you can change them separately in Edit Walls.
- Wall height (3D)
- Height of the walls in 3D.
- Unit name
- Unit. Important when adding objects from the library.
See also: Getting started, creating the room
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ROOM WALLS
- Walls listing
- Properties of the selected wall are displayed on the right.
The last item is blank record prepared for adding a new wall.
- From, To
- Position of the start and end point in the room. Width
and height of the room are automatically changed to fit the walls; it means
that you don't have to keep walls in the room dimensions entered before.
- Alignment
- Position of the wall in respect to the
coordinates - it can be above them, going through them or bellow them.
- Thickness
- Wall thickness.
- Height
- Wall height in 3D.
- Save
- Confirm and save changes for selected wall.
- Remove
- Remove selected wall.
- Preview
- Selected wall has red color. You can also select the wall by
clicking on it in this image.
See also: Getting started, creating the room,
Room properties
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LIBRARY
You can add the object to the room with double-click or select it and press Enter.
- Library selection
- The library is divided into several pages; this is their listing.
The first page is User library.
- Add basic object
- Leaves this window and shows the window
for adding object having basic shape (rectangle/block, circle/cylinder, etc..).
See also: Adding Objects
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OBJECT PROPERTIES
- Type
- Change the shape of the object. It is disabled for complex objects.
- Caption
- Text that appears on the object or the name of the object in the User library.
- Width, Length (Depth), Height
- Dimensions along x, y and z axis. They can be decimal numbers.
- Position x, y, z
- Position in the room. L next to it indicates
you have local coordinates turned on.
- Rotation
- Rotation in degrees. You can adjust the rotation using the helper
beside it and if you hold Shift key, the rotation will change in 45 degrees multiples.
- Colors
- Various colors. If you uncheck them, appropriate part of the object
becomes invisible.
- Style
- Line style, dashed lines can be used for objects on the top of something else.
- Snap to wall
- Object must stay in/at the wall. This is valid for windows and door by now.
- User library
- See User library chapter for details.
See also: Adding Objects, User library
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LABEL PROPERTIES
- Position
- Position in the room. L next to it indicates
you have local coordinates turned on.
- Alignment
- Text alignment.
- Font
- Select label font.
- Colors
- Various colors. If you uncheck them, appropriate part of the object
becomes invisible.
- Text
- Text, can have multiple lines.
See also: Adding Objects, Object properties
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OBJECT LISTING
Menu: Objects->Listing.
Displays the list of all objects in the room, but only from the visible layers.
You can remove objects or change their properties by clicking the right mouse button.
It is possible to copy the entire listing to the clipboard and paste it in some text editor.
See also: Layers
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EXPLORE IN 3D - SETUP
Menu: View->Explore in 3D.
- Start position
- Position of the first (initial) viewpoint.
It can be saved into to the room file.
- Select in the drawing
- You can select the start position with the mouse.
- Rotation
- Rotation in degrees. You can adjust the rotation using the helper
beside it and if you hold Shift key, the rotation will change in 45 degrees multiples.
- Walls transparency
- Select if you want to see the walls. [default: solid]
- Zoom
- Zoom level of the virtual world. 200% means that 1 cm in the room will
be 2 cm in the virtual reality. [default: 100%]
See also: Explore in 3D
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LOCAL COORDINATES
Menu: View->Local Coordinates.
- Origin
- New position of the origin of the coordinates in the room.
The x-axis is still growing from left to right and y-axis from top to bottom
of the image. Z-axis is not affected
- Select in the drawing
- You can select the origin with the mouse.
- Use local coordinates
- Switch on/off local coordinates.
See also: Getting started, creating the room,
Room properties
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PRINT
Menu: Room->Print.
- Printer
- Name of the selected printer.
- Setup
- Select the printer, paper orientation, print quality...
- Maximize
- Room drawing will be as large as possible according to
the paper size and the presence of additional texts.
- Scale
- Print room in certain scale, i.e. 1:50 means 1 cm on the
paper is 50 cm in reality. The highest possible scale is shown next to it.
- Print in color
- Print in color or only in gray scale. [default: on]
- Page border
- Free space on the paper. [default: 1.5 cm]
- Title
- Check it if you want to print some big caption above the image.
- Draw scale
- Check it if you want to print scale under the image.
- Note 1, Note 2
- Check it if you want to print some additional information
using smaller font under the image. The room dimensions are filled to the Note 1
if it is set in Options.
Tip: if you want to print in scale 1:50 and the image doesn't
fit the page, try to reduce the page border, switch off all
texts or rotate the paper in Printer setup.
See also: Saving Into File, Printing And Export
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OPTIONS
Menu: Configure->Options.
- Default unit name
- Unit used for new rooms. [default: cm]
- Auto-size window to fit
- Change the main window size according
to the size of the room and zoom factor. [default: on]
- Open files in best fit
- Start with the zoom in which the whole
room can be shown. [default: on]
- Can move objects without selection
- If unchecked, you must first
click on the object to select it, release the mouse button and then you
can move it. [default: on]
- Export always in 100% zoom
- Use 100% zoom when Saving as an image
and printing. This image can be very large and maybe won't fit in the
computer memory. In that case uncheck this option. [default: on]
- Add text with room dimensions
- Draw text with room dimensions on the bottom left
part on the image file or into the Note 1 when printing. [default: on]
- Default object colors
- Initial colors of the new object.
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LOCALIZATION
Since version 1.11, the program is distributed also in other language
mutations, not only in Czech. Translations are provided by normal people (like you)
who find this program useful and they want to support it.
If you want to join them and help with the translation into some
non-translated language, you already saw any program in that language, contact us using e-mail
jadamec@bigfoot.com.
You will have to translate only one text file (all translations are in the Language directory)
and insert correct constant into the LanguageID line (I will provide it).
Just keep the same sense, the rest is fully up to you. Conversion of this help file is optional
and not recommended.
Detailed instructions:
- Before you start translating, always check
the website if somebody else has not already done it! Download the latest version.
We will gladly answer any your e-mail questions.
- Look into the installation directory with the languages (typically C:\Program Files\Room Arranger\Language)
at the existing translations using a simple text editor (Notepad, TextPad, UltraEdit...)
and find the language closest to you, preferably English - i.e. file arr_en.lng.
Create a copy of this file with the name derived from the new language name
(i.e. arr_de.lng for German).
- In that new file, translate all strings after ItemN=, change the language name
on the top of the file and write any other number in LanguageID (we'll change or
send you (if you want) the correct constant for your language).
- Start the program and choose your now language. Go through all dialog windows,
check the accuracy and see if all texts fit in the space dedicated to them.
If not, try to use another phrase or abbreviation. When editing the language file
with program running, you must reselect the language in the configurations
or restart program to apply changes.
- Send us your product; we are looking forward to it!
- When working on newer versions of the program, you will have to
translate about 30 new clearly marked items every time.
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Export to PNG uses TPNGImage by Gustavo Huffenbacher Daud.
Thanks.