How to Make Your Vectorworks Workspace More Effective
A workspace is the layout of tools and commands in Vectorworks, along with their associated shortcuts. The program comes with default workspaces, but these can be customized to better suit your personal workflows. Many of the default shortcuts are less than ideal, so taking a moment to make handier shortcuts for common tools will allow you to work more efficiently.
Below is a list of simple changes that I recommend making. (Note that a workspace doesn’t control anything within your actual files - that would be done with a template.)
Editing a Workspace
To change a workspace, open the “Tools” menu and go down to the “Workspaces” section. There you’ll see the current workspace along with any other defaults available to you (depends on which package you pay for).
Click the “Edit Current Workspace” option to open the workspace editor, and if you’re starting with a default workspace, immediately rename it so it’s clear that this is now YOURS and not a default one.
Recommended Changes
Because the snapping palette buttons exist, I’ve found that I never use the 8 default keyboard shortcuts to turn snaps on and off (Q, W, E, R, A, S, D, F). So if we eliminate those, we immediately have 8 keys available to assign to tools. [Note that these snap keys were removed as defaults in 2022.]
I prefer common tools to have a single key shortcut and not a complicated combination of modifiers. For example, I use the Attribute Mapping Tool all the time in order to map hatches, gradients, and textures, so I made that “A” - handy, right?
As you make changes, you may get warnings that the shortcut is already in use. Click “Yes” to reassign (unless you feel strongly about keeping the existing shortcut).
Feel free to use the suggestions below, or mix and match with what you think is best for YOU. My personal workspace has additional changes beyond those listed, so take a moment to think about what changes could improve your own unique workflows.
Click to enlarge
Quick Search
An awesome new feature was added to Vectorworks 2021 called Quick Search, which is a handy search bar which searches ALL tools and commands in your workspace. Simply hit ‘F’ then start typing. Click on a result or hit ‘Enter’ to quickly activate the tool or command.
This is incredibly handy if you don’t remember exactly where a tool or command is located. It can also be faster than moving your mouse to manually select a command, so I’ve found myself using Quick Search all the time. In fact, I’ve chosen to hide the tool palettes entirely to save real estate on my screen, since I can simply activate those tools with Quick Search or with keyboard shortcuts.
Note the keyboard shortcut ‘F’ can be customized in your workspace. You can also access Quick Search by clicking the magnifying glass in the upper righthand corner of the application.
Questions?
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please feel free to contact me with the button above. I’m curious what changes you found most helpful, or if there are other modifications that you made and liked. My personal workspace constantly evolves over time as I refine my shortcuts and workflows, and I encourage you to do the same!