About Us

What others are saying

When I started using Vectorworks some 16 years ago I was fortunate to come across the Field Template SoftSymbol range not long after. They are the absolute benchmark for high quality, detailed and most of all clearly drawn symbols. They are the first ones I reach for when starting a new design and as a side by side comparison with the stock supplied VW symbols…well there is no comparison.

Max Conwell
Lighting Designer, Naked Eye Lighting Ltd., www.nakedeyelighting.com

Some [lighting designers] have always drawn their own symbols. If that’s the path you choose, that’s fine. For everyone else, there’s Steve Shelley and his SoftSymbols™. The range of products covered is remarkable. The price, given the amount of work that must be involved, remarkably low. Which is perhaps why they’re so widely used, particularly by lighting designers and their associates in America - a country that really does care about beautiful light plots. If you do too, check them out: this is a working classic, still in use daily...

Rob Halliday
Lighting Designer and Author for Light and Sound International, February 2020

What makes SoftSymbols so useful is that they are thoroughly researched, well made and above all, stick to some rigorous drafting standards that are maintained across the whole catalog.

Mark Doubleday
Lighting Designer, UK

Soft Symbols are my Vectorworks symbol library of choice, and have been since my tenure as Hubbard Street’s Lighting Director. Steve has created a product that is incredibly thorough, thoughtful, and well-organized. It looks great at any scale, is appropriate for every type of lighting gig, and could only have come from someone with his level of experience and attention to detail. It is an invaluable resource to me and will continue to be my go to library for the foreseeable future.

Matt Miller, Freelance Lighting Designer/Director
Chicago, IL

SoftSymbols are the symbol library of choice for the Lincoln Center Festival, and for all my other professional activities. They are cleanly built, graphically sophisticated, and the libraries are by far the most complete. There’s no other choice as far as I’m concerned.

Aaron Copp, Lighting Coordinator, Lincoln Center Festival, and freelance lighting designer
New York, NY

I did the Lab Rep Plot revisions with SoftSymbols. LOVE IT! So does the crew and the union House Elec. We also think the twenty-or-so production teams coming into the Lab this spring (who’ll receive print copies of this drawing) will love it too. I cannot tell you how happy I am to have SoftSymbols™ - I trust my layouts again, since your symbols are the same size as the objects they represent (DUH!), and my drawings look more like my drawings again. Woo hoo!

Martha Mountain, Freelance Lighting Designer
Washington DC

Credits and Acknowledgements

This Website

Thanks to Bill Kirby and his team of coders for the make-over of this website.
Many thanks to Ms. Lorraine Ross Hall, who organized and designed the initial structure for these pages in 2000.
Thanks to John McKernon, Ms. Lori Rubinstein, and Scott Longberry for their assistance with the Field Template home page in 1992.

SoftSymbols™

Thanks to Vectorworks®, by Nemetschek. Without this application, no SoftSymbols™ would exist.
Thanks to Sam Jones, Kevin Linzey, Robert Books, David KH Elliott, and John McKernon for VectorWorks® explanations, solutions, and SoftSymbol™ suggestions.
Thanks to Ms. Lee Draminski and Brandon Eckstrom, for their assistance in Vectorworks Partnership planning.

The Field Template™

Many thanks to these fine folks for their suggestions, contributions, and advice in the initial creation of the Field Template: Fred Allen, James Allen, Ken Billington, Howell Binkley, Ginger Blake, Judi Daitsman, Stuart Duke, Michael Eddy, David KH Elliott, Tom Furgeson, Bill Groener, Sabrina Hamilton, Tom Hase, Lee Magadini, Mark Malamud, Craig Miller, Todd Randall, Terry Richardson, Ken Romaine, Yolanda Santa Cruz, Tony Sclaru, The Shelley Family, Dave Spence, Patrice Sutton, and Jennifer Tipton.

Copyrights & Such

This page, the directions, and the Family of Field Templates are designed by, and owned by, Steve Shelley using USA Patent #5,031,333.
©1992-2022 Steve Shelley
All aspects of the Field Template are copyrighted, with all rights reserved. Under the copyright laws, this page, guide, or the templates may not be copied, in whole or in part, without written consent from Steve Shelley.
Field Template (and all derivations thereof), Reference Manuals in Plastic, The Lean Green Drafting Machine, Pro*Trak 50 System, SoftSymbols, Rosetta Stone of Theatrical Lighting Symbols, Apple, Post-it, and Limeade are all trademarks.

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