You may wish to first place the symbol you wish to use into your map at a scale of 1.0 so you can measure it and calculate the appropriate values to use for the symbols along command. If this is less than the total width of the symbol, the symbols will overlap. This is the distance between the origin points of the symbols used. Note that the symbol will be placed on the current sheet, it ignores default sheet selection behavior for symbols. Also note that the command can only handle a single symbol, you cannot select multiple symbols and have it alternate between them. It is worth noting that you can acually load in your current map here instead of another symbol catalog, to get access to symbols defined/used in the current map (save the map first, then browse for it).
Do note that it has to be a symbol, this command cannot use simple drawing entities, you need to turn them into a symbol first.
You can of course also create your own symbols to use with this command. The symbols placed in your map will be regular symbols, and can be manipulated individually after running the command if you need to tweak things. Simply hit the browse button and load your favorite catalog. The default symbol catalog may not be very inspiring for most map, but you can load in any symbol catalog for use with this command. Let us have a look at the individual parts of this dialog The origin of the symbol is where the crosshairs is placed on the symbol when holding it on your cursor). (You can see the origin of a symbol easily by selecting it in the symbol catalog and moving the mouse over into the drawing window. Your symbols will be placed along this line, with their origin at the center of the line. This line can be straight or smooth, circles, arcs or most other types of lines in CC3+, but it won't work with lines drawn with the freehand tool.
How to use it?First of all, draw a guideline which you want your symbols to follow. Where to find it? Menu: Draw -> Symbols Along. Everything in this description is still valid, but the dialog looks a little different, and includes a few additional options not described here.
Note:This tutorial was written before CC3+ Update 12, which introduced an improved version of this command. However, as described above, the command can do so much more, which is why it is now more commonly known as the Symbols Along command. Internally, this command is known as the Escarpment command, and was designed to draw escarpments on overland maps. It can be used to draw weather patterns, or escarpments. For example, you could use it to arrange pillars in a circle in battle maps, you can use it to draw railroad sleepers along the line. All of this provides many different usages for this command. They can also vary in scale, and you can define a random chance for them to appear at all. Symbols can be rotated to follow the turning of the line, or they could keep their orientation regardless of the line. Part of the flexibility for this command is due to the options for how symbols can be arranged along this line. While the premise is reasonably simple, it is a very helpful tool for many different types of maps. Week 2 - Symbols AlongThe Symbols Along command, also know as Escarpment, helps you distribute symbols evenly along a line.
It is up to you to use it creatively in your maps. The explanations will tend to explain the technical parts of the command, and is intended to highlight the basics (and complexities) of the command, and information about how to use it, but won't be a detailed tutorial.
This series is called the command of the week, but it could also explain a feature.
Feel free to use this topic to discuss the command presented. There won't be any special progression to this series, and the command will be selected from the entire range, from the simple basic commands, to more advanced features intended for the more advanced users. This series highlights a number of these.