Simonsoft Nordic - Product Information Solutions

Summer is getting closer by the minute. In Sweden we've already experienced some nice summer feeling at our conference in Båstad two weeks ago.

But there is not only sunshine and holidays to expect. We have some new versions of our favorite products coming too.

Arbortext 6.0 M050 is coming the 27th of June. This is probably not going to be an update as big as M040 turned out to be, but still. There will be some nice updates of course.

IsoDraw 7.3 is a major update of course. But there is not much information out there about what we should expect. We will not have to wait that long though. The release schedule says that Arbortext IsoDraw 7.3 is due in May. So we will probably see IsoDraw 7.3 next week or so.

Then we will investigate what news there are in IsoDraw CADProcess 7.3. Til then, have a great weekend!

We are preparing for our User Event dedicated to Arbortext and Simonsoft CMS scheduled for 7th and 8th of May. The registration is open and you are all welcome. 

This year we have limited the amount of seats to 40. This is to be able to spend more time with every attendee. Also the event will be a little bit more luxurious since we are located at the brand new Clarion Hotel Post in Gothenburg for the actual event. For those who are keen on knowledge we have a workshops at the Simonsoft office on the 7th and the event the following day.

The event costs 700 SEK and the workshops costs 1100 SEK per person and that includes all meals. Use this form to register or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

The workshops deals with Creo Illustrate and IsoDraw, XML and Arbortext Editor and of course Simonsoft CMS.

You can read more about the event (in Swedish) here. 

We are inviting to a training event in late April. From the 23rd and 25th of April Maria is teaching IsoDraw CAD Process. 

Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you whish to attend the IsoDraw event. 

We are planning training events in other Arbortext fields such as Arbortext Editor and XML. And since we are releasing Simonsoft CMS 2.0 there will be dates released for some CMS training soon as well.

The IsoDraw training is three days where day one and two is training and the third day is a workshop.

The M020 release of IsoDraw 7.2 in February is getting closer and has an important bugfix that we've mentioned before. The bug has to do with linked structures disappearing when going from 3D to 2D mode. 

Once you become familiar with an application you have most likely customized some preferences to meet your needs and prefered look and feel. This is something that you really just want to do once.

On the 21st of March PTC will be hosting one of their Tech Forums in Gothenburg Sweden at the Clarion Hotel Post. This is a great opportunity to recieve some information about the future and also to get some know how and network.

According to PTC attendees will:

• Gain insight into PTC's corporate strategy and technology vision
• Get the latest information on the breakthrough technologies of Creo
• Learn how to "Do More, Know More and Get More" with Windchill 10
• Learn best practices from peer companies leveraging PTC solutions
• Discover solutions for day-to-day challenges

And some of the following is on the agenda:

• PTC's corporate strategy & technology roadmap
• Product roadmaps & best practice sessions delivered by PTC experts
• Real world examples delivered by industry leading companies
• PTC University training
• Networking opportunities with both peers and product experts

There are a lot of Creo related stuff on the agenda but not much about IsoDraw or Arbortext. Not even Creo Illustrate is mentioned. But, there will of course be a chance to speak to PTC officials and network with all the great people in the PTC business. 

The venue, Clarion Hotel Post, is a brand new Hotel located in the heart of Gothenburg next door to the central railway station. The grand opening will take place on the 26th of January so you can be sure that the conference rooms are tidy and fresh.

In other news Arbortext 6.0 M040 has a release date now. Or sort of at least. Arbortext 6.0 M040 will be out in March of 2012. Possibly it will be out around the date of PTC Tech Forum.

Still feeling that special christmas feeling? We are still here at Simonsoft. We believe in sharing tips and trix and hope that our website can connect users of Arbortext and Isodraw. Here is something useful for you who like to create thicker outer contours and still wants thin and thick lines within the objects. There is a new feature in IsoDraw 7.2 that does most of that job for you. Maybee you have noticed that when you click the camera to create a 2D illustration in IsoDraw you have got an extra check box "fill contour". This little option create a path around every free object on your illustration and bind them together to create a fill. You can use this nice "no pen" paths to create thicker outer contours.  I have created a video to show this step by step, check it out on our web.

We've had a great Christmas weekend in Sweden. The weather has not been to terrific though. The storm "Dagmar" has been all over the news this past days. Trains have been stopped, a lot of people ara without power and it's been windy to say the least. 

Well, "Dagmar" has gone now and at Simonsoft we are looking forwards into the new year. With less than a week to go on 2011 we've set some training dates for 2012. 

In February we will have a basic training course in IsoDraw. This course consist of 2 days of basic training and one day of workshop. The workshop is a great way to get to ask questions about your day to day work in IsoDraw. The training is held between the 21st and through the 23d of February. If you are interested in attending our IsoDraw training or if you wish to train something more specific contact us and we will sort that out.

Also we put in some basic Creo Illustrate training in February. It is a one day training held on the 28th of February and as with our IsoDraw training if you wish to have some additional training just contact us.

Probably in the beginning of Mars there will be another round of XML-training too. The dates are however not all agreed upon yet so we will update them as soon as they are decided.

So, if you want to attend the IsoDraw or Creo Illustrate training, give us a call or email us today!

We've been testing Arbortext 6.0 M030 Styler and Publishing Engine quite a lot since yesterday. The biggest improvement part from all the usual maintenance issues being solved is the speed. In most every way we feel that 6.0 M030 is speeadier than M020.

In fact, there has been a problem with 64-bit versions of Arbortext that for some reason have made it slower than on 32-bit. Now, the 64-bit version is significantly faster. Though we have not been measuring we do keep our days in front of the Styler or Editor. So even if we are not accurate in our assumptions, it is still faster.

Talking about a different beast all together we've have had some interesting discussions what we think the future has in store for IsoDraw. There are some rumours (that I will not spread here) about certain very interesting stuff that I think most people will agree is logical. But since I'm not going to kiss and tell about what we think about the future of IsoDraw, I'll wish you a very merry Christmas instead!

Merry Christams to you all from us all at Simonsoft!

Christmas time at the office is a time for chores. It is at Christmas that you plan for cleaning up on your desktop, to write that process chart you promised to finish before summer and make plans for the new year. May we propose another chore? Create smart templates for Isodraw!

The great advantage using templates is that you can assure that all team members on your company uses the same settings. Another is to create different sets of properties if you have more than one illustration type (spare parts illustration may differ from user manual illustrations for example)

Templates in Isodraw is an ordinary Isodraw file to what you are setting your preferences (pens, callout style, drawing size, and more). For more information and tips and trix on what to put in a template, check out our Knowledge base.

The Isodraw file becomes a template when you save it to a folder on the Isodraw installation directory.
Standard directory on windows 7 is:

 C:\program files (x86)\PTC\Arbortext Isodraw 7.2\Program\Templates.

Once you created and saved your IsoDraw template you can use it after a restart of Isodraw. Start with a new page based on a templates choosing:

 File/New/Your created template...

In between all this sometimes boring chores remember to take those extra long "fika paus" and eat some skumtomtar.

Merry christmas!

Simonsoft