Flash drawings may be viewed using the Macromedia Flash player or plug-in. This plug-in is included with the latest versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator web browsers. If your system does not already have this plug-in installed you download the plug-in at: http://www.macromedia.com/software/flashplayer/

PRINTING Flash Drawings: To print a Flash drawing, do not use the print function available from the File Menu or toolbar (Browser print function). Instead, right-click on the drawing and select Print from the menu that appears.

Flash drawings are primarily used on the site for standard drawings and illustrations. These types of drawings are displayed within your browser window. You can zoom, pan and print Flash drawings by clicking your right mouse button while your mouse pointer is over a Flash drawing.

DXF drawings may be viewed and edited using AutoCad (Release 14 or higher) or some other DXF compatible drawing program. AutoDesk provides a free drawing viewer in their VoloView Express product. VoloView Express allows you to view, print and even annotate the DXF drawings that you download from the site. You may download VoloView Express here.

TIPS for using VoloView:

• Black & White vs. Color viewing: U.S.F. Fabrication drawings will appear in color when loaded into VoloView. The colored layers are useful to engineers when working within AutoCad. However, for visibility you may want to view the drawings in monochrome or black & white mode. You can view drawings in black & white by right clicking on the drawing and selecting black & white from the pop-up menu, or by selecting black & white from the View menu.
• Page Setup: When printing drawings you may want to adjust page setup so that drawings fill the width of the page. This is done by selecting Page Setup from the File menu. Under Orientation select landscape. NOTE: The settings you choose in the Page Setup dialog window remain in effect for future sessions with VoloView.

Please refer to the online help and documentation included with VoloView Express for additional setup information, additional features and usage details.

NOTE: U.S.F. Fabrication does not officially endorse the use of VoloView Express as there are numerous viewing and drawing applications available for free or for purchase. A link to the VoloView Express software is provided for convenience and because it has been shown to work well with the DXF drawings on the site.

Downloading Drawings (top of page)

When clicking on a Download Drawing link, the following window will appear:

This provides you with the following options:

1. Open: selecting this option will download the file and open it using the application on your system that is currently configured to handle .dxf files (See below for details on assigning file types). If you have AutoCad or VoloView Express installed, the drawing will be opened using either program.
    
2. Save: selecting this option lets you specify a location on your computer to save the drawing file for later use.
    

Troubleshooting VoloView Express (top of page)

If you are using VoloView Express to view the DXF drawings on the site, please refer to the following notes for assistance:

System Requirements:

• Intel Pentium-based PC
• Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows 98 SE, Windows Me, Windows XP Professional and Home Edition,or Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 5
• 64MB RAM recommended, 32MB RAM minimum
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 or later.

1. When running the VoloView Express setup, make sure that no other applications are running.
    
2. There is a known problem when trying to install VoloView Express on a Windows 2000 system with Service Pack 3. If possible, install VoloView Express prior to installing Service Pack 3, or uninstall Service Pack 3 if you are experiencing problems with the VoloView installation. You may reinstall Service Pack 3 after VoloView has been successfully installed.
    
3. Some systems may encounter problems during installation due to older versions of the Windows Installer. A compatible Windows installer setup file is available by clicking here. After clicking on the link, you will be prompted to open or save the INSTMSIW.EXE file. Click open to download and run the setup program on your system. After the setup is successfully completed, run the VoloView Express setup again.

Assigning file types so that DXF drawings are opened with the correct application: (top of page)

1. Open Windows Explorer (You can right click on My Computer or the Start button and select Explore)
2. Select Folder Options... from the Tools menu.
3. Click the File Types tab.
4. In the list of registered file types, locate and click on the entry for DXF extension.
5. The Details for 'DXF' extension should reveal what DXF files currently open with:
6. For example, If you have VoloView Express installed, it should read: open with: voloview Application.
7. If necessary, click the Change button to locate the program you want to assign DXF files to.