Why a gCADPlus Template Is So Valuable
1. Consistency Across All Projects
A template locks in your preferred:
- Drawing units
- Text styles and sizes
- Dimension styles
- Lineweights and linetypes
- Title blocks and logos
- Standard layers (plants, hardscape, irrigation, construction, etc.)
This means every new drawing starts with the same professional foundation — no more reinventing the wheel.
2. Huge Time Savings
Once your template is set up, you avoid repetitive setup tasks such as:
- Creating layers
- Importing symbols
- Adjusting scales
- Setting up page layouts
You simply open the template and start designing. Over dozens of projects, this saves hours.
3. Fewer Mistakes
Templates reduce the risk of:
- Wrong units
- Inconsistent text sizes
- Missing layers
- Misaligned title blocks
- Incorrect plot scales
By standardising the environment, you eliminate many common drafting errors before they happen.
4. A Stronger Brand Identity
For someone who values visual harmony and polished presentation, a template ensures:
- Your logo is always placed correctly
- Your fonts and lineweights match your brand
- Your title block communicates professionalism
- Your drawings look cohesive across your portfolio
A gCADPlus Template Typically Includes
| Component | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Layer structure | Keeps drawings organized and readable |
| Title block + logo | Branding and professionalism |
| Standard text + dimension styles | Legibility and consistency |
| Preloaded symbols | Faster planting and hardscape drafting |
| Scale bars + north points | Ready-to-use annotation tools |
| Page layouts | Quick transition to plotting |
Landscape designers can improve productivity by building a template drawing with commonly used tools. Here we create a template for a designer based in Florida. We populate modelspace with plant symbols, assign those symbols to entries in a plant database file to create plant schedules, and add several drawing sheets, each with a title block containing the company logo. Finally, gCADPlus is configured such that each new drawing uses that template.
This movie focuses on helping landscape designers use gCADPlus to improve their drafting efficiency. We create a template for a team of designers based in Western Australia. The template includes a collection of symbols commonly used in everyday drafting. The template drawing was saved to a directory outside the regular gCADPlus folder, and the path to templates was altered to reflect that change. We also altered the path to the MySymbols folder to create space for storing any new symbols the team creates. New designs could be created with a minimum of fuss.