The workspace & ribbon — MEP Tools

A tour of the ribbon command bar, sidebars, status bar, and view switch.

The Plant Room Studio workspace has four parts: the ribbon across the top, a left sidebar (equipment library and panels), a right sidebar (the inspector for the selected item), and a status bar along the bottom.

The ribbon (2D)

The ribbon is a row of verbs — each one puts the canvas into a mode or opens a tool. Verbs are grouped left to right:

Group	Verb	What it does
Select	Select	The neutral state — pick, move, and edit existing items.
CAD	CAD	Import a DXF background to trace, or export the layout to CAD.
Build	Room	Draw the room outline, draw columns, and place doors.
	Equipment	Open the equipment library and place items.
	Group	Create and edit equipment groups.
	Validate	Run clearance validation now and review the issue list.
Annotate	Dimension	Add and manage dimensions.
	Annotate	Add annotation notes with leaders.
	Section	Draw section lines to generate section views.
Auto	AutoFit	Generate an equipment layout automatically.

For AutoFit's own setup, methods, and results, see AutoFit.

Room gating. Everything except Select, CAD, and Room is disabled until a room exists — you can't place equipment, dimensions, or run AutoFit without a room to put them in. Draw the room first.

Most verbs show a prompt in the status area while active (for example "Draw the room outline — click to add corners… [Esc] to cancel"). Press Esc to leave a mode and return to Select.

The 3D ribbon

Switching to the 3D view swaps in a 3D ribbon: Select, Measure, and left-panel switches for Tree, Section, and Viewpoint, plus display toggles (Labels, Edges, Shading, Ghost, Projection). See Working in 3D.

Sidebars

• Left sidebar — the equipment library (grouped by category) and, in some modes, panels such as Groups.
• Right sidebar (inspector) — properties of the current selection: room dimensions, equipment size/origin/rotation/clearances/mounting, door and column properties, and so on. Edit values here for exact input.

Status bar

The status bar shows live counts — items, selected, errors, and warnings — and hosts quick toggles:

• Snap to grid (G) and Show grid (Shift+G).
• CAD bg and Snap CAD when a CAD background is loaded (see CAD backgrounds).
• The view switch: 2D, 3D, and Split (V cycles 2D/3D).

For the full key list, see Keyboard shortcuts.