Plotting Layout with viewports at 1:1

I made a 90 meter box in model, created a titleblock and added a viewport in layout. The viewport scale is 1:1. Plotting scale is 1:1. It just dawned on me that because everything is 1:1.... I should have a peice of paper 90 meters long. My thick head has managed to confuse me, Does Cad apply a scale to the viewports even though its set 1:1 and plotted 1:1?

The sketch is 90 units (meters) or 90.000 (millimeters)?

For the first case I have to presume that there is nothing wrong with the drawing; the smallest sheet available for metric drawings is A4 which measure 210 x 297mm, so will fit a 90 units sketch zoomed at 1:1 in Layout.

For the second one maybe you are missing something. Can you upload the drawing here?

I thought Cad dosent know the difference between 90 meters or 90 mm,

Drawing a box 90 x 90 is universal is it not?

As-Built 2012 forum.dwg

You are true; you decide what represent the units of the drawing, meters, or millimeters or inches or whatever.

In your attached drawing you have a sheet of 431 x 279 units that, as said above, fit without problems at 1:1 the 90 units sketch from Model. But, if you say that those 90 units are meters, then the scale of the printed drawing will be 1:1000, not 1:1.

You should notify the distinction between scale of viewport and scale of the printed drawings which is reported to millimeters for metric system.

Please also pay attention that some viewports from your example drawing doesn't have the scale locked.

Well now I'm ******ed right up. 279 x 431 = 11 x 17. Im not sure what you mean by the distinction between scale of viewports and the scale of the print. The scale of the viewport says 1:1.... It should say 1:1000 correct?

Keeping the plot scale at 1:1?

******ed is a curse?

Guess so! Bug.gered

Sorry, don’t know how to explain this better.

You want to print a 90m element drawn as a 90 units sketch on a 11 x 17 (equivalent in mm) sheet – if the sheet have a note saying that drawing units are meters, then the scale is 1:1; if the note say millimeters, the scale is 1:1000.

Still not understanding what is going on with the scales. I drew a 90 x 90 box at 1:1.... Which is the correct way to draw. I created a viewport with a scale of 1:1 to show the true size of the dwg, I plotted at 1:1. I am not understanding why this plot isnt 90 x 90. Somewhere along the way there has been a scale 1:1000 introduced that I am not aware of. When I check the print against a scale bar it is 90m long. this tells me the viewport is 1:1000 and not really 1:1. Correct?

I dont understand how it could possibly be 1:1. There needs to be a scale applied either through the viewport or when plotting. 1:1 is real and no one has 90 square meters of paper to plot on.

Have I managed to confuse you as well?

Have I managed to confuse you as well?

Not at all. Is clear that you didn't understood yet how AutoCAD units and the Paper Space works - and unfortunately I'm not able to explain this in a better way. I just hope that someone will provide you soon with a comprehensible explanation. Sorry!

Thanks for your time!

I think I have my head around this a little bit now. Because I am drawing in model space using meters, and because layout view is in millimetres. Therefore 1 drawing unit = 1 mm. This is were the 1000 scale comes into play. I wasn't applying a scale to any of my work because cad has already applied it by 1 unit = 1mm.

Got it! Now to learn to tie my shoes.

Glad you got it and just to make sure you understand autocad a bit more, you draw in units so if the line needs to be 2500 long you click line then type 2500 and return, you now have a line thats 2500 units long, now I always have mm set in my model space so in my case the line is 2.5mts long, so when I go to paper space depending on the paper size i scale to fit my whole drawing in, it might be a scale 1:50 or 1:100 that scale covers most of my drawings.