# Merge Panels

The function 'Unite panels - plates' merges two plates at a time. The method used produces a plate with a shape as if an elastic band had been placed around the view of the two original plates; concave corners are thus lost, but the plates may be at any distance from each other (e.g., air). The edges of the plates (narrow faces) are afterwards perpendicular to the wall view.

Preconditions for uniting are: same plane, identical number, thickness, and geometric position in the Y-direction of the wall.

Since version V20.01, a new method based on the new function 'Combine plates' has been incorporated into the 'Unite plates' function in wall construction and ceiling construction:

* If the program finds parallel edges among the selected plates that can be slid together by extending the plate area, the new method is applied.
* The restriction of a minimum overlap of 90% from the automatic combine does not apply here.
* Machine operations are thus preserved and transferred to the united plate. Only at the edges where the plates are joined is the shape changed. Other shapes, recesses, and openings in the plates also remain preserved.
* If the program does not find suitable edges for the new method, the previous method using the surrounding elastic band is applied. In that case other operations are lost, but the plates can still be united in those situations.
* Further description of the method is in the chapter on the new function 'Combine plates'.
