Import HMI symbols into Rockwell FactoryTalk View
FactoryTalk View Studio handles both ME (PanelView Plus) and SE (Distributed) projects, but the import path is the same: drop bitmaps or vectors into the project image library, then drive a Multi-state Indicator from a PLC INT tag. The images come from the Symbol Builder (your own equipment), the community library (what other engineers drew, CC BY 4.0) or the icon library (badges, arrows, navigation icons).
Step-by-step
Export your symbols
SVG is preferred for SE and ME 11+; transparent PNG for older runtimes and PanelView Plus 6.
- Draw it: in the Symbol Builder, compose the motor / valve / pump on a 512 × 512 canvas (or 256 × 128 for the wide footprint), then
↓ SVG— or set BG → Transparent and↓ PNG(rendered at 2–4× the canvas size, downsizes cleanly on PanelView). - Reuse it: pick a symbol from community motors, valves, pumps or conveyors, open its page and click Download SVG or Download PNG. Credit the author in your project documentation; Open in builder if you need to adapt it.
- Badges and icons: P1 / P2 alarm badges, state badges, arrows and navigation icons come from the icon library.
The Multi-state Indicator wants one image per state. Build the base symbol, Save it as a template, recolor the body fill per state (gray stopped, white or green running, yellow no-feedback, blue manual, dark gray disabled), stamp the P1 / P2 badge for the alarm variants and export each as {kind}_{state} — e.g. motor_3ph_running.svg. If you have many equipment kinds, the lighter alternative is six colour variants plus a second, smaller indicator on top that shows the alarm badge.
Composing in the Builder needs no account. Downloading does: a free account gives 5 downloads a month, Starter 50, Studio unlimited. Symbols you publish yourself are always free to download.
Open the project Image library
In FactoryTalk View Studio, expand your application → Graphics → Images. Right-click Images → Add Component Into Application.
Browse to your motor/ folder and select all SVG (or PNG) files. They appear under the Images node. Repeat per equipment kind.
Place a Multi-state Indicator
Open or create a Display. From the toolbox: Objects → Indicators → Multi-state Indicator. Drop on the canvas.
Right-click → Properties. Under States:
- Set Number of states to 9.
- For each state (0..8), set Image to the matching PNG/SVG you imported: 0 stopped, 1 starting, 2 running, 3 no feedback, 4 manual, 5 disabled, 6 running + P1, 7 running + P2, 8 fault.
- Optionally set Caption for screen-reader / accessibility text.
Bind to a PLC tag
In the Multi-state Indicator Connections tab:
- Indicator: bind to your PLC state INT tag (e.g.
{::[CLX]Equipment.M101.State}). - Optimization: leave Read at default (state changes are infrequent enough).
(Optional) Wrap as a Global Object / AOI faceplate
For the same equipment used many times, create a Global Object in Graphics → Global Objects. Place the Multi-state Indicator inside, expose State and Tag as parameters, and reference it from any display. Keep the tag text out of the image and show it with a Text object inside the Global Object, so renaming equipment never means re-exporting a picture.
If your PLC uses Add-On Instructions (AOI) like P_Motor from the PlantPAx library, the AOI's Sts_Motor output already encodes state — map it directly to the indicator value.
Recommended PLC encoding (Logix 5000 SCL/Structured Text)
Single INT per equipment, in a controller-scoped UDT or AOI:
PanelView Plus sizing
| Display | Recommended size | Format |
|---|---|---|
| PanelView Plus 7 Performance 19" | 320×160 | SVG |
| PanelView Plus 7 Standard 12"–15" | 256×128 | SVG |
| PanelView Plus 7 Standard 7"–10" | 192×96 to 256×128 | PNG (transparent) |
| PanelView Plus Compact / PVP6 | 128×64 to 192×96 | PNG (transparent) |
SVG scales with the indicator frame. For PNG, export from the Builder at the canvas closest to the on-screen size (256 × 128 for the wide footprint) — the file is already 2× or more, so the runtime only ever downscales.
Common pitfalls
- "Image cannot be loaded" on runtime: verify the image was imported into the project (not just linked from disk). Right-click image → Properties → ensure Embedded is checked.
- State 0 always shown: the Multi-state Indicator defaults to state 0 when the tag is null. Initialise the PLC state register on power-up.
- SVG renders pixelated on PanelView Plus 6: SVG support is partial on older runtimes. Export PNG for PVP6.
- Colours drifting between states: when you recolor variants by hand, keep the palette:
#9E9E9Estopped,#2E7D32running,#FBC02Dno feedback,#1976D2manual,#616161disabled,#D32F2FP1,#F57C00P2. The Builder's fill swatches are exactly these. - Slow display load with 30+ indicators: use Global Objects so the same image is shared across instances rather than embedded N times.
What's next
- The 9 motor states encoding explained
- ISA-101 reference for the design philosophy
- Want the badges and indicators closer to the PlantPAx palette? The icon library sidebar has a Rockwell style preset that recolors them before download. In the Builder you choose the fills yourself.
- PlantPAx faceplate questions, ME vs SE quirks? Ask in the forum — FactoryTalk topics go in the vendor-tooling category.
Build the symbol, then bind it
The Symbol Builder needs no account to compose. A free account gives you 5 downloads a month; publish your own symbols under CC BY 4.0 and download them free. Or start from what other engineers already drew.