Key functions are the viewing, editing, printing/plotting of CAD plot-data (HP-GL/2, HP-RTL, HP-GL), as well as the precise exportation of this data into Windows, Macintosh and Internet compatible files.

Data generated with Normica can be integrated into all standard word processing, DTP and Internet applications. You receive an exact rendering of your technical drawings in any media. What you see is what you get!

NORMICA View and NORMICA^V2000 saves on resources.

Drawings can be checked and corrected before they are printed or exported. Changeable pen widths, line color, orientation and drawing order greatly simplify the adaption of drawings for any purpose. NORMICA^V2000 is based on the HP-GL/2 (HP-RTL, HP-GL) format, the industry standard for printing and plotting.
Every CAD software supports plotter systems and can therefore write HP-GL/2 files. HP-GL/2 is an exact representation of the printout, and can process vector and raster information using very little memory. NORMICA^V2000 easily reads and writes HP-GL/2. When exchanging data between CAD and DTP, NORMICA^V2000 uses only files which exactly replicate the paper print. Without NORMICA^V2000 this conversion process requires the generation of many different file formats, as well as different software systems. A large number of newly generated files in different formats makes a clear overview a problem. Drawing storage can also be difficult and expensive . Furthermore, the copies, as an additional result of these long conversion processes, often no longer correspond to the original CAD drawings. With NORMICA^V2000 these extra steps and additional costs are a thing of the past. Only data which exactly corresponds to the original drawing, will be converted.

Viewing CAD plot-data before they are printed

On of the major benefits of NORMICA is the ability to show CAD plot-data perfectly on screen, which in turn enables the user to check the drawing before printing.
A lot of CAD-systems do not offer the possibility of a correct printing-preview. Without NORMICA the drawing has to be plotted/printed to be checked for mistakes. With NORMICA you can spot mistakes and correct them before you print.

Using NORMICA on a Laptop

Excellent zoom features, and the precise on-screen display of CAD plot-data, make the presentation of technical drawings on a laptop possible. You can open as many plot-files within NORMICA as needed.
The definition of up to four different viewports within a window and the possibility to open another window in the same file, help to maintain a clear overview.
The automatic display of object definitions (via Tooltip), the crosshair option, the display of absolute and relative coordinates, angles, and distances, all greatly facilitate presentation and analysis of drawings.

Processing CAD plot-data

The features of NORMICA focus on typical CAD-plot characteristics, such as line width, line color, line join, end cap, draw order and others. Bitmap importation of (BMP; TIFF; JPEG; TGA), and the editing of raster size, -contrast, -transparency, -position etc., are all made easy with NORMICA.

These tasks are not usually part of a CAD operator's job. They are a combination of layout tasks and plot management, which, with a little training, can be performed by almost anyone. You don't need to study architecture or technical engineering to be able to work with CAD plot-data. What you need is some basic knowledge of technical drawing, in addition to design and marketing skills.

To create drawings for estimating purposes, for example, you need to decide how many photographs should be placed in the drawing, how big they should be, and what colors are to be used in the drawing. The typical CAD operator isn't trained to deal with these kinds of questions. With NORMICA^V2000, these tasks can easily be handled by someone with a more appropriate background.

For the best results in the shortest time possible, NORMICA^V2000 has been created as a processing-center for CAD plot-data.
NORMICA^V2000 is not intended for construction use. That is what CAD is for.

Everything but the crucial construction-data should be processed with NORMICA^V2000.

Typical plot- and layout-mistakes should not be corrected or edited with a CAD-system, but with a workplace and user much cheaper and more suited to such tasks.
There are at least two reasons for delegating plotting tasks:
First, many typical plotting mistakes cannot be corrected with CAD-systems which i.e. do not support bitmaps. When plotting within CAD, a plotter will sometimes "overflow", causing the plotter-driver to change object order, or even system failure. Second, final plot design is better left to a layout professional with the proper training, than to an expensive CAD operator with a more technical background.

NORMICA^V2000 is designed to be a processing-center for CAD plot-data. NORMICA^V2000 is not intended for CAD-construction, but offers powerful features for editing typical plotting and layout characteristics, which don't directly influence the construction data.

Apart from these powerful editing features, with NORMICA^V2000 bitmaps (such as photographs, drawings or renderings) can also be put into HP-GL/2 files or technical drawings, which can then be positioned and processed (brightness, contrast, transparency, etc.).

Converting CAD plot-data 
For exportation of CAD-plot data NORMICA uses only the most important standard formats.
NORMICA offers the best formats for the most common applications; for Microsoft products, QuarkXPress/Pagemaker, the internet and more.
No matter which format is used, NORMICA^V2000 only exports what you see on the screen, or what has been chosen for export.
With NORMICA^V2000, one can also export the whole drawing, any selected parts thereof, or extract specific raster images from a HP-GL/2 file.

Printing and Plotting

NORMICA^V2000 will support any standard system printer. Drawings can be plotted using corresponding plot-drivers, these plot-drivers can also be used to create new HP-GL/2 files. The image to be printed can be seen beforehand with "print preview".

To fit a drawing to a page using a Windows-system printer, it must be adjusted to fit the maximum print-area of your printer. The drawing can be adjusted to any size through DTP-Scaling.

In other words, if objects to be printed are to fill a page, they must correspond to, or be smaller than the maximum print-area of your printer.

Besides printing the whole drawing, it is also possible to print user-defined rectangular sections. With the "define print- & export window" command, one can define the area to be printed simply by creating a window using the "shift and drag" method (left mouse button).