WeldTrace's weld mapping tool lets you mark up a drawing to produce a pictorial weld map and create the welds in one process. You place a bubble on each weld joint and enter the weld's details, and WeldTrace creates the welds when you save the weld map. Weld mapping is optional, but marking the exact location of each weld on the drawing is important for traceability.

This article covers manual weld mapping, where you place every weld yourself. If you extracted the drawing with AI, WeldTrace places the welds for you and you review them before they are created. Please read the article "Automatic weld mapping with AI" for that workflow.

Weld mapping is the process of assigning information to a weld joint for the purposes of production as well as traceability. A pictorial weld map should show the location of the weld on the fabrication drawing.

Step 1 - Open the weld mapping interface

Open the Drawings list page. The weld mapping buttons are in the Info column of the drawings list. They are shown only after a drawing file has been uploaded.

1. Click the draw icon to open the weld mapping interface;
2. Click the eye icon to view the weld map and navigate to the welds.

Note: when the AI welds of a drawing are in review, the Info column shows the review status instead. The weld map opens for mapping after those welds are created.

Step 2 - Weld mapping interface

The weld mapping interface with a set of annotations is shown in the screenshot above. Follow these steps to make annotations and create a weld map:

1. The drawing number, revision, title and tags are shown here for reference. Each weld you place is created for every tag of the drawing. In this example the drawing is in two tags (L101 and L102), so the 6 bubbles will create 12 welds. The count of welds that will be created at Save is shown next to the tags. A drawing must have at least one tag before you can place welds;
2. Select "Weld" to place welds. Press where the weld is on the drawing, drag to where the bubble should go and let go. A single click places the bubble next to the weld. The weld card opens so you can enter the weld details (see Step 4);
3. "Seq." numbers the welds in a sequence. When it is on, each new weld gets the next number after the previous weld, for example W-01, W-02, W-03. Numbers already used on the project are skipped. You can change the number of any weld in its card;
4. Select "Note" to place notes. Press where the note should point, drag to where the note should go, type the text and press Enter. Notes are kept on the weld map but do not create welds;
5. Use "Select" to pick a bubble and see its details. You can drag the bubble's label, the point of its arrow or the bend of the arrow to move them. Drag the arrow line to move the whole annotation, and drag the square on its corner to resize it (see Step 3);
6. Use "Multi-select" and draw a box around a group of bubbles to move them together. You can also change the shape, colour, line, bubble size and text size of all the picked bubbles in one go;
7. Use the line and dot buttons to draw a line or place a dot on the drawing;
8. "Undo" reverses your last change (Ctrl+Z). The delete button deletes the picked bubble (or press the Delete key);
9. "Renumber" changes the numbers of the new welds in one go, for example from 1 to 6 to W11 to W16. Set the prefix, start number, step, digits and suffix, and apply it;
10. Use the - and + buttons to zoom out and in (or Ctrl + mouse wheel), and drag the page to move around it. "Fit" fits the drawing to the screen and the last button switches to full view;
11. Use the left and right arrows to move through the pages of the drawing (a drawing can have up to 5 pages). These arrows are shown only when the drawing has more than one page;
12. "Back" returns to the Drawings list;
13. "Cancel" removes every change you made since the last save;
14. Click "Save" to save the weld map and proceed to creating the welds (see Step 6);
15. The "Weld annotation" toolbar holds the joint type, category, size and planned date that new welds will take. When you pick a bubble, the toolbar shows that bubble's details instead. Drag the toolbar by its title to move it out of the way, and fold it with the arrow;
16. Three shapes are available for the bubbles: rectangle, circle and hexagon. Pick a bubble and click a different shape to change its shape;
17. Use the colour palette to select a colour for the bubbles. The line, arrow, bubble size and text size options below the colours are explained in Step 3;
18. A weld bubble with its weld number and an arrow pointing to the weld. The green "+" shows that this is a new weld that will be created when you save;
19. A note on the weld map.

These are the joint types available in the Joint type list:

• BW - Butt Weld;
• FW - Fillet Weld;
• SW - Socket Weld;
• PW - Plug Weld;
• O-LET - Olet (branch connection) Weld;
• STUD - Stud Weld;
• RSW - Resistance Spot Weld;
• HW (HDPE) - HDPE Fusion Weld;
• EF (HDPE) - HDPE Electro-Fusion Weld;
• EW (HDPE) - Extrusion Weld (HDPE);
• HFOL - Hardfacing Overlay;
• CROL - Corrosion-resistant Overlay.

Category: Shop, Field or Field-fit.

The previous weld mapping interface is still available for a limited time with the "Legacy editor" button at the top right. Click "New editor" there to come back.

Step 3 - Style and size of annotations

The lower part of the "Weld annotation" toolbar sets how the annotations look. Pick a bubble or note with "Select" to change it. With nothing picked, your choices apply to the bubbles and notes you place next. With "Multi-select", they change every picked bubble.

1. Line: draw the outline and arrow of the annotation, or a line drawn with the line button, as a solid, dashed or dotted line. The line style is shown on the printed weld map;
2. Arrow: show or remove the arrow line and arrowhead. Use the "No arrow" button for general notes without an arrow;
3. Bubble size: click XS, S, M, L or XL to set the size of the annotation. The text is sized with it;
4. Text size: click A− or A+ to make the text smaller or larger. The text cannot be made larger than fits in the annotation;
5. "All same size" gives every bubble and note on the drawing the bubble size and text size shown;
6. Drag the square on the corner of the picked annotation to resize it. A weld bubble keeps its shape and snaps to the bubble sizes, or to the size of another bubble on the drawing; the size it snaps to is shown beside the square. Hold the Alt key for any size. A note can be made any width and height, down to the size of its text;
7. Drag the arrow line to move the whole annotation: its label, arrow and arrowhead together. The pointer changes to a hand over the arrow line.

Step 4 - Place a weld or annotate a weld joint

The weld card opens when you place a weld bubble. It takes the details from the "Weld annotation" toolbar, so you need to change only what is different for this weld.

1. The new weld's bubble and its arrow pointing to the weld on the drawing;
2. Weld number. With "Seq." on, the next number in the sequence is filled in. You can type a different number;
3. Planned date. Today's date is filled in. Click to select a different date;
4. Joint type;
5. Category (Shop, Field or Field-fit);
6. Size: enter the weld size in inches;
7. "Create for" is shown when the drawing is in more than one tag. The weld is created for each ticked tag. Clear a tag's tick box if the weld should not be created for that tag;
8. Click "Save" or press Enter to keep the weld. "Cancel" or Esc removes it. A click elsewhere on the drawing also keeps the weld, so you can map quickly from one weld to the next.

When WPSs have been set up for the project's welds, the card also has a WPS list so you can select the WPS for the weld.

Step 5 - Welds on the Map

The legend and the list of every bubble on the weld map are shown below the drawing.

1. The hint tells you how to use the button you have selected;
2. "New": a green + on a bubble shows a weld that will be created when you save;
3. "Number already used": a red ! on a bubble shows that its weld number is already used on this drawing for the same tag, or by another new bubble. Hover over the bubble to see which. Change the number before you save;
4. "Weld placed again": an existing weld that you have placed on the map again;
5. Show all bubbles, only new welds, only saved welds or only notes;
6. Type a weld number to find it in the list;
7. Click a weld number in the list to pick that bubble on the drawing and open its card;
8. The tags each weld will be created for;
9. The State column shows whether each bubble is a new weld, a saved weld or a note.

Welds of the drawing that do not have a bubble on the map are listed under "Welds without a bubble". Click one, then press where it is on the drawing and drag to where its bubble goes.

Step 6 - Create Welds

This window opens when you click "Save". It lists every weld that will be created from the weld map.

1. The number of welds that will be created, by tag. In this example 6 bubbles on a drawing in two tags create 12 welds: 6 for L101 and 6 for L102;
2. The weld number;
3. The tag the weld will be created for. Each bubble is listed once for each tag. The weld number must be unique for each tag and drawing-revision combination;
4. The page of the drawing the weld is on;
5. The next columns show the joint type, category, size and WPS;
6. The planned date of the weld;
7. Click "Remove" if a weld should not be created;
8. Click "Back to the map" to return to the weld map and make changes;
9. Click "Save and create" to save the weld map and create all the welds in the table.

If a weld number is already used, the row is marked and the window tells you what to change. Close the window, edit the bubble's number and save again, or remove the row.

You cannot edit the welds in this table. After you save, you can edit the weld details in the weld log. You can generate high-quality PDF files of the weld maps through the render & print function. You can also navigate to the welds created through this method by viewing the weld map. Please check out the next article on this subject.

Step 7 - Edit the weld map

You can open a saved weld map again with the draw icon and change it at any time. The look and position of every bubble and note can be changed here. The details of a saved weld (its number, joint type, category, size and planned date) are changed in the weld log.

1. Click "Select" and click a bubble to pick it;
2. The card of a saved weld shows its number, joint type, category and size for reference;
3. The "Weld annotation" toolbar shows the picked bubble's details. They are greyed out for a saved weld;
4. Click a shape to change the picked bubble's shape: rectangle, circle or hexagon;
5. Click a colour to change the picked bubble's colour. The line, arrow, bubble size and text size are changed with the options below the colours (see Step 3);
6. Drag the bubble's label, the point of its arrow or the bend of the arrow to move them. Drag the arrow line to move the whole annotation, or the square on its corner to resize it;
7. Click "Save" to keep your changes. When there are no new welds on the map, the weld map is saved straight away.

To edit a note, click "Select" and click the note. Change the text in the note's card and click "Keep", or click "Delete" to remove the note. A note keeps the size you gave it when you change its text; it grows only when the new text does not fit. The look and size of a note are changed in the same way as a weld bubble.

To change the number of a saved weld:

1. Change the weld number in the weld log. The bubble on the weld map still shows the old number;
2. Open the weld map, pick the weld's bubble and press the delete button. The weld stays in the weld log; only its bubble is taken off the map;
3. The weld is now listed under "Welds without a bubble" with its new number. Click it, then press where the weld is on the drawing and drag to where its bubble goes;
4. Change the look and size of the new bubble if needed, and click "Save".

Until you save the weld map, the card of a new weld stays open for changes. Click its bubble to change its number or details.