When you double click on a unit type from the unit menu, the unit screen pops up. Here is where you set the various elements of the cabinet you are designing. A typical unit screen is shown below, unit screens may vary slightly depending on the type of cabinet.
Name and Code
At the very top of the screen you will see buttons labeled Name and Code. Here you can show the cabinets name, ie: (Top Cabinet, Base Cabinet, Walloven, etc) or you can show the cabinet code, ie: (W30 37, B30, OV3090).
Locate From
The next section is the Locate From and Next to sections. These are two very powerful commands that can make locating cabinets very easy.
Locate From:
You will notice there are six choices here. The default is L to L. What this means is the whatever value you put in the location box it will measure from the left of the cabinet to the left of the wall. Some examples: If you type in 0 at location and you have L to L checked, then the left of the cabinet will be zero inches from the left end of the wall. If you typed in 30 in the location box, and you selected L to L, then the left of the cabinet will be 30 inches from the left end of the wall. Another example, say you type in 15 for the location and you check R to C. This will put the center of the cabinet, 15 inches from the right end of the wall. This makes positioning your cabinets very easy, but there is one other very powerful positioning tool. The Next To command.
Keyboard Shortcuts:
To make one of the 6 selections using your keyboard try this.
With the Unit Screen open.
type L and then L again for L to L
type L and then C for L to C
type L and then R for L to R
type R and then R again for R to R
type R and then C for R to C
type R and then L for R to L
Next to:
Next To:
Here you will notice 3 choices and a unit selector box. This makes it very easy to position a cabinet in relation to another cabinet. In the unit selector box you can either use the arrows or just type in the number of the unit you want to be next to, then select left of, center on or right of. Some examples: Say you want to have your sink base centered on a window. You would type in the unit number for the window in the unit selector box and then click center on, your cabinet would then be centered on the window. This is also useful for centering top cabinets on refrigerators and stoves. Using the left of and right of is also very easy. Just select the unit number of the unit you want to be next to and then click left of or right of and you are all set.
Width and Location
The next two items on the unit screen are the Width and Location boxes. Here you will decide the width of your cabinet and its location. The location works in conjunction with the Locate from selection and it will locate your cabinet based on which method you have selected.
Questions
The next section has questions specific to the cabinet. Below are examples of some of the parameters that can be set on cabinets.
| Height: | Height of the cabinet box |
| Depth: | Front to back width |
| Left Stile: | Width vertical stile on left (for frame construction) |
| Right Stile: | Width vertical stile on right (for frame construction) |
| Mid Stile: | Width vertical stile in the middle (for frame construction) |
| Top Rail: | Width of horizontal rail at the top (for frame construction) |
| Mid Rail: | Width of horizontal rail in the middle(for frame construction) |
| Bottom Rail: | Width of horizontal rail at the bottom(for frame construction) |
| Left Side: | Thickness of the left side ie: 3/4 or 5/8 (for frameless construction) |
| Right Side: | Thickness of the right side (for frameless construction) |
| Middle Divider: | Thickness of the middle divider (for frameless construction) |
| Mid Spanner | Thickness of the mid spanner (for frameless construction) |
| Top: | Thickness of the top (for frameless construction) |
| Bottom: | Thickness of the bottom (for frameless construction) |
| Kick: | Height of base unit kick space not including amount hidden by faceframe. |
Floor to top of top cabinet: Height from the floor to the top of the cabinet. (For top cabinets)
| Off Floor: | The height off the floor to the bottom of the cabinet. (For base and tall cabinets) |
| From wall: | Distance in inches item is away from wall. |
| Angle: | Angle of rotation on wall. +45 degrees turns cabinet left. -45 degrees turn cabinet right. |
| Left cutback: | Amount left side is angled out or in. As using the back as a standard. For example, a negative amount would make the front of the cabinet smaller than the back by the amount typed in. This causes and angled side or cutback. If you typed in a positive amount, the front of the cabinet would be larger than the back of the cabinet by the amount typed in. If you are not sure of the amount you need to type in but you know the degrees of the angle type in the letter 'a' and then the amount of the angle, for example. Type in a-22.5 to make left side angle at 45 degrees (remember you need two cabinets to complete the 45 degree angle). The minus sign (-) would make (from floorplan view) the side angle out so width of unit at back was greater than width at front. a22.5 would be the same but side would angle in on the cabinet, width measured at the front of cabinet would be greater than if measured from the back. It then translates this into inches after you enter cutback amount. Use this to angle the side of a cabinet. |
Right cutback: Amount right side is angled out or in. As using the back as a standard. For example, a negative amount would make the front of the cabinet smaller than the back by the amount typed in. This causes and angled side or cutback. If you typed in a positive amount, the front of the cabinet would be larger than the back of the cabinet by the amount typed in. If you are not sure of the amount you need to type in but you know the degrees of the angle type in the letter 'a' and then the amount of the angle, for example. Type in a-22.5 to make right side angle at 45 degrees (remember you need two cabinets to complete the 45 degree angle). The minus sign (-) would make (from floorplan view) the side angle out so width of unit at back was greater than width at front. a22.5 would be the same but side would angle in on the cabinet, width measured at the front of cabinet would be greater than if measured from the back. It then translates this into inches after you enter cutback amount. Use this to angle the side of a cabinet.
Note:For more information on cutbacks, check out the topic, How do I fit a cabinet in a corner.
| Door lip: | This is the amount faceframe cabinets overlap the faceframe on one side. 1/4" door lip would make the door 1/2" larger for width and height. (For Frame Construction) |
| Top Reveal: | The amount of the top front of the cabinet shown (revealed) by the door or drawer (Frameless and Overlay Frame Construction only) |
Bottom Reveal:The amount of the bottom front of the cabinet shown (revealed) by the door or drawer (Frameless and Overlay Frame Construction only)
Left Side Reveal:The amount of the left side front of the cabinet shown (revealed) by the door or drawer (Frameless and Overlay Frame Construction only)
Right Side Reveal:The amount of the right side front of the cabinet shown (revealed) by the door or drawer (Frameless and Overlay Frame Construction only)
Gap Door & Drawer:The space (gap) between the drawer front and the door (Frameless and Overlay Frame Construction only)
Gap Between Doors:The space (gap) between a pair of doors (Frameless and Overlay Frame Construction only)
Lower Middle Rail Width:Width of the faceframe rail or European divider found between the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th drawer openings if applicable to that type of cabinet.
1st Drawer Opening Height: Height of the top or upper drawer opening on an all drawer cabinet.
2nd Drawer Opening Height: Height of the 2nd drawer opening on an all drawer cabinet.
3rd Drawer Opening Height: Height of the 3rd drawer opening on an all drawer cabinet.
4th Drawer Opening Height: Height of the 4th drawer opening on an all drawer cabinet.
5th Drawer Opening Height: Height of the 5th drawer opening on an all drawer cabinet.
6th Drawer Opening Height: Height of the 6th drawer opening on an all drawer cabinet.
Top Opening Height: Height of the top or upper drawer opening height on a base unit other than all drawer.
*Bottom Opening height*: Opening height on a tall unit that is automatically set by the leftover amount. Any standard that has stars (*) around it do not need to be changed.
# of Top Shelves: In a multiple opening tall cabinet the number of shelves in the top or upper opening.
# of Bottom Shelves: In a multiple opening tall cabinet the number of shelves in the bottom or lower opening.
# of Door Openings: This is used similar to the opening question and size amount on the unit window. Commonly found on a vanity or utility unit.
# of Dr Openings: This is used similar to # Door Openings but is used for drawers. Commonly found on a vanity or utility unit.
Number of shelves: Quantity of shelves inside this top unit.
Drawer Opening Height: Top drawer opening height on a base unit.
Ctop thickness:Thickness of the counter top on a base unit.
Ctop front overhang: Amount the counter top overhangs the front of the base unit.
Ctop back overhang: Amount the counter top overhangs the back of the base unit.
Ctop left overhang: Amount the counter top overhangs the left of the base unit.
Ctop right overhang: Amount the counter top overhangs the right of the base unit.
# of pullouts: Quantity of pullout shelves in a base unit.
Molding distance over cabinets: Distance above cabinet molding is placed.
| Molding front: | Include molding on the front of the cabinet (1=yes)(0=no). |
| Molding left: | Include molding on the left of the cabinet (1=yes)(0=no). |
| Molding right: | Include molding on the right of the cabinet (1=yes)(0=no). |
Molding back: Include molding on the back of the cabinet (1=yes)(0=no).
Openings
The next section allows you to specify the number of openings and whether the doors will be singles or pairs.
At the very bottom you will see 4 buttons labeled OK, Cancel, Erase Unit and More. The OK button will accept the changes you have made to the cabinet, the Cancel button will not make the changes you made to the cabinet. The Erase Unit button will remove the unit from the design. The More button will allow you to change the number of the unit, the wall number it is on and the quantity of units figured when the parts list is created.
To change the number of the unit, just type in a new number under unit#, if that number already exists, the program will swap unit numbers with the existing cabinet.
To change the quantity, just type in a new number. When the parts list is created it will multiply the parts by the number you typed in.
To move a cabinet to a new wall, just type in that wall number and the cabinet will be moved based on the location information you have already selected.
There are 3 more buttons that you may choose off of the more menu. You can click on help which will bring up the KCDw help. You can click on colors which will allow you to change the cabinet colors, or you can click options which will allow you to add an option to the cabinet. If the option you are looking for isn't located on that list, you can go to the Edit Options menu to add it.
Example:
If you wanted to add a pullout soap tray to a cabinet and you notice when you click the options button on the unit screen there is no option item for that yet, that is because you need to click on change on the main menu bar and click on edit system and then on the right, edit options. Edit options is where all permanent option list changes take place, only after can you attach those options to a particular cabinet.