Docuplanes are display planes used to position annotations. They can also be used to imply the measure direction of 3D dimensions. Whenever you create an annotation, you have the option to attach its label to a docuplane, or otherwise leave it free.
Docuplanes are conceptually similar to workplanes:
• Docuplanes are virtual planes in 3D space.
• Only one docuplane can be active at any time, and this is the target for all annotation actions involving docuplanes. Note also that either one docuplane or one workplane can be active, not both at the same time.
However, there are important differences between docuplanes and workplanes:
• Whereas workplanes can exist on their own or in workplane sets, docuplanes must belong to "docuplane sets", which are listed in the browser along with their associated docuplanes.
• Docuplanes cannot be saved individually; they are saved along with their owning part or assembly.
To attach an annotation to a docuplane, there must exist a common ultimate owner for the annotation references and the docuplane. In addition, for dimensions, the docuplane must be a valid display plane in that it is parallel to the measure direction of the dimension. As long as these conditions are satisfied, you have a degree of freedom to specify the position of the docuplane.
If the docuplane or annotation references change position or orientation such that the docuplane is no longer a valid display plane, the annotation is dissociated from the docuplane and becomes free.
Annotations attached to a docuplane have the following properties:
• They lie wholly within that plane, except for any auxiliary lines connecting extension lines to the references.
• These auxiliary lines are dimmed.
• They are not shown when the docuplane is not in the drawlist.
• The docuplane's scaling information causes the text size of its annotations to be adapted, so that:
displayed text size = real text size / scale
Annotations can be viewed from either side of a docuplane. The labels remain readable because they flip as you rotate the view.
Note that you can use the normal Create 2D Geometry commands to create geometry on the active docuplane. You can also load and save profiles (MI) to and from the active docuplane. This can be useful to create drawing frames, for example. However, the Creo Elements/Direct Machining commands do not work on geometry on docuplanes.
While creating annotations, a "best" target docuplane is selected automatically by the system. The order of checking is first the active docuplane and then any other docuplane with a common owner to the selected references. You can always select a different docuplane, or not attach the anno to a docuplane and instead create a free annotation.
When creating or modifying docuplanes, you may refine your view by specifying a Rot Angle (rotation angle) or an Up Direction. The two settings are interdependent: If you set the Rot Angle, Creo Elements/Direct Modeling will recalculate the Up Direction, if you adjust the Up Direction, Creo Elements/Direct Modeling will recalculate the Rot Angle (rotation angle). The orientation settings you specify will transfer to 2D drawings in the Creo Elements/Direct Annotation Module.
You can preselect docuplanes by simply left-clicking the appropriate docuplane, and then right-clicking to display the command menu.
