Working with Morpholio Trace

Vectorworks' bidirectional integration with the Morpholio® Trace® app allows designers to seamlessly move hand sketches created in Trace into Vectorworks for modeling, and Vectorworks drawings or models into Trace, for sketching. Combining sketches with CAD/BIM workflows supports the entire design process, from earliest concepts through documentation and delivery. Projects that begin in either environment are imported/exported into the other using a dedicated folder in Vectorworks Cloud Services.

Morpholio Trace is currently available for use with an Apple iPad and Apple Pencil. See the Morpholio Trace User Guide for information on using Trace and for initiating an import to or export from Vectorworks in Trace.

For more information about using Vectorworks Cloud services, see Vectorworks Cloud Services and the online help for Vectorworks Cloud Services at cloud.vectorworks.net/portal/help/.

Exporting to Morpholio Trace

Command	Path
Export to Morpholio Trace	Cloud

You can export sheet layers, viewports, or a 3D model (models are exported in OBJ format) to Morpholio Trace for use in sketching. While you can export multiple sheet layers or multiple viewports at the same time, you can't export a combination of sheet layers, viewports, and a model; only one of these source types can be exported at a time.

To export drawings or a model to Morpholio Trace:

Select the command.

The Export to Morpholio Trace dialog box opens.

Select the Sheet Layers, Viewports, or 3D Model tab to indicate what to export. Only the selections on the active tab are exported.

Select what to export by doing one of the following:

On the Sheet Layers tab, all sheet layers in the file are listed. Click in the first column to place a check mark beside the name of the sheet layers to export; click the box at the top of the column to select/deselect all items in the list.

On the Viewports tab, all viewports in the file are listed, grouped by layer. Click in the first column to place a check mark beside the name of the viewports to export; click the box at the top of the column to select/deselect all items in the list.

On the 3D Model tab, set the options as described in Exporting OBJ.

Click Next.

If there's not already a Morpholio Trace folder under My files in your Vectorworks Cloud Services folder, one is automatically created. If needed, click the new folder icon  to create a new subfolder, or navigate to and select an existing folder for the export. Right-click on an existing folder to delete it, or on a file to rename or delete it.

Name the file to export, or click on an existing file to replace it with the exported file, and click Save.

The sheet layers or viewports or 3D model indicated on the active tab of the Export to Morpholio Trace dialog box are exported to the cloud, where you can access them directly from Morpholio Trace. If multiple sheet layers or viewports were exported, they export as multiple pages of a single PDF file.

Importing from Morpholio Trace

Command	Path
Import from Morpholio Trace	Cloud

Import sketches from Morpholio Trace as a bitmap, one or more PDF page objects (each page of a multiple-page PDF is imported as a separate PDF page object), or vector geometry (from a DXF file) on the active layer of the Vectorworks file. See morpholioapps.com/userguide/trace/?how-to-export-to-vectorworks and other Morpholio Trace help pages for how to prepare a file in Trace before you import.

To import sketches from Morpholio Trace:

Select the command.

The Import from Morpholio Trace folder opens and shows the Morpholio Trace folder under My files in your Vectorworks Cloud Services folder. Only image files, PDFs, and vector DXF files are available for import.

Navigate to and select the file to import. If a DXF file is selected, the DXF/DWG Import Options dialog box opens for you to complete the import; see DXF/DWG and DWF import options.

Depending on the file type, the selected file is imported as a bitmap, one or more PDF page objects, or vector geometry on the active sheet layer or design layer. The imported images/PDFs can be edited as described in Importing images and Editing imported PDF objects.