Cartoon Set overview

Plan a drawing set before the drawings exist: the sheet register, its numbering, issue tracks and revisions, and a diagram of the set.

Alpha tool. It's early and still changing: expect things to break, and keep your own copy of anything you can't lose. What alpha means

Cartoon Set lays out a project's drawing set before the drawings exist, the early mock-up architects call a cartoon set. It answers three questions: what sheets are in the set, how they're numbered, and what went out in which issue at which revision.

Each scheme is one drawing set. Sheets sit in sections (disciplines, like A Architectural) and series (numbered blocks, like A-100 Plans). Issue tracks (like Permit or Construction) record each issue and every sheet's revision in it.

The main screen #

From top to bottom:

The top bar. Undo and Redo, the project the set is in, and the save status.
The header. Project ▾, the drawing set's name (click it to rename), and the view switch: Register, Split and Diagram. On the right: New, Import ▾, Export ▾ and Share / Snapshots. Short status notes show here too, then fade.
The register toolbar. Track filters (All sheets, then one chip per track) and Tracks & issues… on the left. Generate sheets… and + Section on the right.
The register. One row per sheet, grouped by section and series. See Sheets and the register.
The diagram. The set drawn as a tree, from sections to sheets to tracks. See The diagram.

Split shows the register and the diagram side by side. Drag the divider to size them. Click Split again to stack them instead.

Start a new drawing set #

From inside the tool #

The tool opens on its home page. Under Start fresh, pick one:

+ Blank: an empty register. Add your own sections and series.
New Build — Demo Set: a worked example with Architectural and Structural sections, a few sheets, and Permit and Construction tracks.
Small Renovation Set: one discipline with a cover, demolition and proposed plans, and schedules.

You can also click New in the header to start a blank set. A blank set offers Load the demo template in the middle of the screen.

To start from a sheet list you already have, use Import ▾ → From a spreadsheet…. See Import a sheet list.

Save it to a project #

Cartoon Set isn't on a project page's + New menu yet. New work starts on this computer only. To file the set with a project, open Project ▾ and click Push to a project…. See Projects and schemes.

Open existing work #

From the tool's home page. Click Tools in the top bar to get there. Your drawing sets lists the set you were last working on and the drawing sets saved in your projects.
From Project ▾. The menu lists the drawing sets in your projects. Click one to open it.
From a file. Click Import ▾ → Cartoon Set file (.sheets.json). It replaces the set on this computer.

Opening a project's set while you have local work asks first, because it replaces what's on screen.

Who can see it #

A drawing set in a project is shared with that project's people. Viewers can open it and look, but can't change it. See People and roles. Several people can work on the same set at once: a teammate's newer save is merged in, not overwritten.

To share it with someone outside the project, use Share / Snapshots. See View-only links.

An AI assistant connected through the AI connector can read, create and edit Cartoon Sets, for example turning your Excel sheet list into a new set.