Working with blocks and groups is an integral part of CAD design. We've prepared an addon that makes it easy to conveniently manage both of these functions

I've written about the ZWToolbox addon for ZWCAD before, so I encourage you to take a look. At the request of our customers, we've been developing the ZWToolbox application for years with features that are useful to them. As of version 2025, we've added other applications to the addon, namely ZWBlocks, Block Manager and Group Manager.

It's these newly added functionalities that I'll focus on today. I'll show you how to use ZWToolbox, where to look for the tools discussed, and why they are so useful. Feel free to come along.

To begin with, the installation of ZWToolbox

It's worth mentioning at the beginning that each of our applications is exclusively for ZWCAD Professional, and the features I'll be discussing in this article are only available from version 2025 onwards.

After going through the installation process, our application will be added to ZWCAD. In order to speed up work on the programme, when our addons are not in use, they aren't loaded by the programme. In order to use ZWToolbox, it needs to be launched via a dedicated icon on the desktop or from within the programme via the Load function. This will load the application into the programme so that its functionality can be used.

After launching the programme, there should be three tabs on our CAD ribbon: ZWToolbox, Block Manager and ZWBlocks. If this is not the case, I recommend launching the application via the MENULOAD command and loading the application manually.

Now let's take a look at the main application panel, which will accompany us throughout if we want to use it, of course.

ZWToolbox panel in ZWCAD

The ZWToolbox button, located next to the function that loads applications, is used to launch the panel with blocks and groups.

On the left side, you can see a panel that can be positioned, pinned, or relocated in any way. ZWCAD 2025 has significantly extended the customisation of this panel so that it can be dynamically relocated.

The buttons at the top of the blocks tab refer to the functions that can be used on these blocks. The same functions are available in a second tab on the ribbon, the Block Manager.

The panel itself has three tabs, the second refers to the attributes of the blocks, and the third to the groups.

The example project you see in the picture has signs inserted with another of our applications, ZWTraffic. It inserts blocks of traffic sign boards with descriptions, references, and bases. This is all further grouped together to make them easier to manage. Let's take a look at how such signs are displayed in our ZWToolbox application:

Here, you can see how easy it is to search for blocks in a drawing. There is a list of all those in the project, together with their attributes and groups, if any.

You can use the fields next to it to change the scale of the blocks, or use the commands above to edit them.

Example of block edition

Here you can see a simple example of adding an element to a block and changing its base point directly from the panel. Block Manager gives you many more options to search for blocks, merge objects into a block, clean up unused ones, or use two different ways to break blocks. One breaks elements in the traditional way, and the other creates a new layer named after the block where it breaks objects. 

There are a lot of functions, so I recommend taking a look at the manual that comes with the programme, accessible from the ZWToolbox tab.

On the ribbon of our CAD programme, there is a Blocks tab, where there are also several handy functions for editing blocks, such as quickly creating them or removing parts from them. We can also easily make a list of blocks in a drawing, which will be displayed in the command line.

Command: 
Command: _BLOCKSUM
Enter an option [Layer/Selection set/All] <All>: 
42 blocks in this drawing.
Command: _BCOUNT
Press <ENTER> for all blocks or...
Select objects: 
Block..............................Count
------------------------------------------------
gear..........................1
Arrow.........................5
P_Opis_Pionowe................13
D-4a..........................1
Słupek........................10
B-36..........................1
B-2...........................1
D-3...........................1
D-6...........................1
D-1...........................2
A-7...........................3
C-12..........................3

The same applies to groups. The functions also allow you to manage groups and add, delete, or break them up.

ZWBlocks

This tab contains a convenient panel of blocks with an in-built library of health and safety signs in accordance with EN-ISO-7010:2012, an international standard that is intended to sort out all issues related to the appearance and colouring of safety signs and positively influence fire safety standards.

Let's take a look at this panel:

It offers 4 tools:

1. Block menu.
2. Adding a sign with the position of the sign reader.
3. Evacuation arrows.
4. Block report.

Using the functions in this panel, it is possible to insert such simple markings, for example:

The block menu has a built-in library of health and safety signs, but you can easily add your own blocks there to use them in various CAD projects.

Here, you can either add your own blocks or use the ones already in the database. Inserting blocks themselves is also very simple. After clicking on the Insert button, indicate where to insert the block. You can specify them repeatedly and use the Escape key to return to the block selection menu.

To summarise

ZWToolbox has a lot of tools that will make working in ZWCAD and during CAD designing easier. I've only highlighted a few of the features in this article, but for those who use blocks or groups they will certainly prove useful.

I encourage you to test the addon yourself, it's available together with ZWCAD for 30 days in a trial version. Simply download and install.

As ZWToolbox was created from features that were needed by our users, I'm sure every CAD designer will find something for themselves there.