Concept: Types of viewports
Viewports can display entire, as well as cropped, views of a drawing, with specified layer and class visibility settings, projection, render mode, and orientation parameters (complete with details, annotations, dimensions, and title block borders). Viewports can show other parts of the active document, or even portions of other documents. If the drawing changes, update the viewports to reflect the changes.
There are several different types of viewports, depending on whether you have the Vectorworks Fundamentals product or one or more Vectorworks Design Suite products.
Sheet layer viewports
In both the Vectorworks Fundamentals and Vectorworks Design Suite products, you can create one or more viewports on a sheet layer, and each viewport can show one or more design layers from this document. Sheet layers retain their own print settings, including print area, resolution, and printer setup parameters. A sheet layer viewport can also be created from a clip cube or be linked to a Renderworks camera.
Design layer viewports (Vectorworks Design Suite product required)
Vectorworks Design Suite products allow you to create one or more viewports on a design layer, and the design layers shown in the viewports can be either from the current document, or referenced from another document. Like a sheet layer viewport, a design layer viewport can display design layers from the current file in a full or cropped view; unlike a sheet layer viewport, it can include one or more design layers that are referenced from another file.
Section viewports (Vectorworks Design Suite product required)
A vertical or horizontal section viewport creates a cross section view of a model at a defined cut plane. A section viewport can be created from a design layer, another non-sectioned vertical viewport, a clip cube on a design layer, or (for vertical section viewports only) a horizontal viewport. Additionally, a vertical section viewport can be created from a section-elevation line in the drawing. A section viewport can be placed on a design layer or sheet layer. Section viewports let you choose whether to view objects before and beyond the cut plane or above and below the cut plane, and to set different display options and attributes for 3D objects by class or individually.
Interior elevation viewports (Vectorworks Architect required)
Interior elevation viewports are section viewports that allow you to simultaneously create as many as four interior elevation viewports from a selected room or area of the model. The interior elevation marker automatically placed on the design layer allows you to edit which views you display and maintains coordination between the drawing and the viewports. These viewports can be placed on either a design layer or a sheet layer.
Detail viewports (Vectorworks Design Suite product required)
A detail viewport is a cropped sheet layer viewport that shows a detail view of any part of a drawing. A detail viewport can be created using either a simple 2D crop object or a detail callout object, on a design layer, a sheet layer viewport, or a section viewport.
The Viewports tab of the Organization dialog box differentiates among the various types of viewports.