Topo section import

I am very new to Acad and still trying to get my feet wet.

My question is this, I have a topo map in a dwg file. I want to take a portion of that map and bring it into a new blank setup so that I can do some landscape design work on it. Using Cad2008 and work in Metric (if that at all helps )

Secondly i have setup a new work space and have specified my limits to be 0,0 and 420,594. My question here is that with the grid on I see the dots that specify the work space but it is portrait. How do I change it to landscape orientation and how do I determine what the "distance in real-time" is between each dot on the grid?

Forgive my jargon here. Please feel free to correct it as needed

Thanks,

Joffy

Secondly i have setup a new work space and have specified my limits to be 0,0 and 420,594. My question here is that with the grid on I see the dots that specify the work space but it is portrait. How do I change it to landscape orientation and how do I determine what the "distance in real-time" is between each dot on the grid?

One thing you will have to get used to in AutoCad is that coordinates are read as x before y. Because your limits have a larger y value than x, that is portrait mode. Set your limits 0,0 and 594,420 and you will have landscape orientation. The distance between the dots can be set to whatever you want, and if you right click on the GRID tab at the bottom of the screen, you can see what they are now set to and alter that if you want.

yup, just discovered that literally 2 mins ago. The grid spacing is set to 10 for both X and Y. Now the Unit setup that I have done is set for meters and precision is set at 0,00. Supposing I left the Grid spacing at 10, what would that mean in meters or will it at this point in time be meaningless until a scale is initialised?

Update: Whats the difference between Linetype Scale and Dimension Scale?

feet is getting wet

AutoCad draws in drawing units, so you determine what the unit can represent. But keep to one unit only when drawing. Do not go mixing millimetres with metres! The units setting is used if you are going to import blocks etc, but for merely drawing, it doesn't need to be set, but whilst you have found it, set it to metres.

Linetype scaling is the appearance of any linetype that is not continuous, and Dimension scale is to do with the size of the dimension elements. Both of these are to do with the appearance of the drawing when it is plotted.

You do have a help section to your AutoCAD, and whilst it is nice to get information on the forum, you can find out in much greater depth from your help file.

You do have a help section to your AutoCAD, and whilst it is nice to get information on the forum, you can find out in much greater depth from your help file.

lol.... true true, but there is just something so "comaderadie" about forums. help files - although helpful are so...inanimate