scale in layout

[ali888]

Hi,

I wonder if anyone here might be able to help me. I'd like to put two different drawings onto a layout (paper space). I managed to get that to work by creating a new namespace (use define window to select the wanted part of the drawing)and new viewport. Then, i set viewport to two - horizontal. And i could insert my own titleblock in that layout too. So it works fine.

My question now is how to do it if one of the two drawings need to be scaled to 1:200 or 1:50 or both. Because at the moment, what i have got to work is only for the scale 1:1. I need your guidance.

Thank you in advance

[fuccaro]

Bring the two drawings in the same file, in model space. Click the Layout 1 button at the bottom of the screen. If you started from a template the layout can have a differrent name. Probable you have a rectangle (viewport) showing all the drawings from the model space. If you can't see it just create one with the MVIEW command. Click *once* the rectangle to select it -I mean click the rectangle itself, the border, not the inside. Once it is selected you should see blue rectangles (grips) at its corners. Click a grip to activate it and click a new position for that grip. In this way you can reshape the viewport. While the viewport is selected go to the properties window (CTRL+1) and adjust the scale. Now double click *inside* of the viewport and pane until it shows exactly what you wish. After that you may wish to change the "Display Locked" field to "Yes" -also in the properties window- to prevent the accidental changes.
Now define the second viewport using the MVIEW command. The rest is simple; arrange it as you did the first one.
Create a layer called say Viewports and set it to don't plot. Move the viewports on it. This way you can edit them at any time but they will not appear when you plot the layout.
Good luck!

[iain9876]

Nicely put fuccaro, couldnt have said better myself.

[ali888]

Hi Fuccaro,

Thank you for your reply.

I tried to do as you told me to. I can bring two diff. drawings into the same file but i got confused later on. Do you not have to define or create the viewport for each diff. drawings? I mean when you put two drawings in the model space and then select the layout1 (created by default). I see the two drawings in there but i want to be able to have one drawing show on the top and the other drawing on the bottom. Hence i can see two diff. drawings on one page. Do i have to double click on the inside of the rectangle so that i can select which drawing i like to show?

The other question is that when you said adjust the scale when the viewport is selected thru Ctrl +1, is it linetype scale you were talking about? because i have tried to change the linetype scale to 200 and nothing changed.

Sorry for being so slow to catch what you meant.

Thank you in advance

[Steamineagle]

Hi! ali888,

Think CAMERA! Think VIEWPORTS!
Every Viewport is like the viewfinder on a camera, or as in a Digital camera, it is the preview screen.
Every viewport can be zoomed & panned to suit what you want to see in it.
If you have a digital camera see how your screen contents move about when you move from side to side ( panning) & when you move closer or farther away from an object (zooming).
Zooming in & out produces the scaling effect.
AutoCAD does all the mathematics.
You can shape your viewports to suit what you you’ve drawn.
Think of each viewport as a separate camera. You can have lots of ‘cameras’ on a sheet layout, virtually any size & any shape.
N.B.
Each viewport can be controlled independently from another, hence the importance of using layers.

You can bring in or draw as many entities, groups of entities, plans etc. as you like in model space.
Your layout tabs are for setting out what you would expect to see on a sheet of paper using the selected contents of viewports to fill the sheet and arranged to your liking.
Your viewport boundary should have it’s own layer so that it can be ‘frozen’ when printing, leaving only the contents therin.
The viewport boundary has it’s own set of properties specific to viewport entities.
There are lots of 'threads' on this & related topics but go see the thread in the 'Beginners Area' titled Paper Space Border(Dodge) for some further tips.
Anything inside a viewport will print, unless that viewport is switched off.
How do you switch it off?
Highlight the viewport boundary & right click. This brings up the properties dialog box. Have a look.

Keep on askin'



Stephen

[ali888]

Hi Stephen

Thank you for your reply.

Your info is very clear. I'm getting somewhere now. However, i need to ask you about the scale. When you said "Zooming in & out produces the scaling effect.", I'm aware of that but is there a way to set the scale we want rather than using the mousewheel to zoom in & out because i don't know what scale i'd be. I know that we can put more than one viewport on a paper sheet and put the drawings on each of those viewports. But i don't want to stuff up the scale by zooming in & out.

Thank you in advance

[fuccaro]

You may use the ZOOM command: activate the viewport (double click inside) and enter in the command line
Z<enter>2x<enter>
this will set the zoom factor to 2.
Myself I used to use the properties window as I wrote in the first message.

[ali888]

Thank you Fuccaro for your reply.

Fuccaro, I still don't get the scale to work. i must admit i'm very slow to catch what you're saying there. Maybe i missed a few steps there. Sorry for being so dumb.

Is there a tutorial on this sesssion in particular, scaling in the paperspace?

I think i need a bit of visual aid to understand it or pictures that show a step by step procedure.

Thank you once again for all your help.

[Steamineagle]

Hi! ali888,

Firstly...What version of AutoCAD are you using?
Update your User Profile to show what you are using.
I'm quite new to 2006.
Right click on any existing toolbar or any part of the grey surround area and access the ACAD toolbar menu selection.
This should give you a long dropdown list of available toolbars to choose from.
Any named toolbar that has a tick against it is already on screen. Go down towards the lower portion and you will see one called Viewports. Tick it to activate it & dock it horizontally.
When you go to a layout tab (paper space) you will be able to select a ready made scale from 30 or so already set up by AutoCAD.
Firstly, double click inside a chosen viewport (model space), this then activates the right side portion of this viewport toolbar where you can pick a scale.
It is always a good idea, and as a backup safeguard, to save the view you set up inside a viewport.
Go to VIEW-NAMED VIEWS….etc. If you change the proportions of a viewport or it’s shape you may need to resave the view again.( the mathematics alter the scaling).
You can also lock the view inside a viewport. Move to paper space and highlight the viewport boundary & right click. Select Properties. Then select Display Locked. It will be either Yes or No.
If the scale you want is not on the list you can type in your own.

For example, to get a scale of say 1:2500 you would do the following:-

Z, return, 1/2500xp, return. Where 2500 is the scale you want.
Do not forget the xp , otherwise funny things happen.

The paper space scale should always read 1:1 by the way.

Another tip when inside a viewport is to pan the piece of drawing you want to see, roughly to the center of the viewport before you scale it.

It’s always good to know how to do something more than one way & there usually is in AutoCAD.
Somebody somewhere knows a different way.
Reading through different AutoCAD books is infinity better than reading through only one.
Every author has a different way of explaining things.
That’s why this thread and others, are jumping with answers!
Plus you get a good laugh along the way to lighten the load.


Stephen

P.S. Ah! I nearly forgot.... If you are using 2006 you can update the scaling list in the viewports toolbar by accessing:-

TOOLS-OPTIONS-USER PREFERENCES-EDIT SCALE LIST-etc. and have your own scales set up.

Steve

[ali888]

Hi Steve,

Thank you for your reply.

Sorry that i didn't tell you the version of my autocad earlier. It's AutoCAD 2005 LT.

Yes, i have got it right this time. I can get the scale to work in the viewport. I printed it out and measured it with the scaling measurement ruler. and it's correct. :)

But this is another question i'd like to ask of you. For example, i have a drawing of a country map and i want only a small part of the country to be printed out. So i went to draw a rectangle around the part and then created a named view to capture all that's in the rectangle, not everything else. I used the defined windows in the view and saved it. Then, i went to layout and put the viewport there. Strangely, i still get all those bits of drawings that fall outside of the rectangle in the viewport. I just want the drawing only in the rectangle, not outside of it. Then i can scale that drawing. I need help on this.

Thank you in advance

[Steamineagle]

Hi! Ali888,

Please accept my apologies for not answering sooner.
It’s office life. Every so often I have to have a work break in between tea & coffee breaks & darts games.
Seriously though..You did all the right things..Yes!… but you did them in the wrong place, in the wrong order! And because of this you got confused. Hey! I can play the piano, but getting all the notes in the right order…that’s something else! I can make noise. Music…no!

Scaling in a viewport in the layout tab does not work in the same way, or at all, in the model space tab.

I suspect that what you have done is zoomed in, in model tab/model space, on the piece of map you you thought you wanted to print and drawn a border line/ boundary around it and then saved this portion as a view. Then you went into a layout tab and viewport and called up the named view you had just made. You will get what you saw in model space,approximately, but it will not be to scale.
When you do go to scale it inside that viewport, the view will change.

Firstly, draw the rectangle around the portion of map you want. Then draw a diagonal line across the recangle.
Go to the layout tab and access model space.
Roughly, by eye, centre the bit of map you want.
Type in Z, return, C, return, MID, return, pick the middle of the diagonal line, return.
The view within the viewport will reposition exactly.
Select a scale.
The view within the viewport will zoom in or out to the scale.
Now go to paper space and resize your viewport to match that of your rectangle boundary.
Highlight & grab one of the corresponding corner grips of the viewport and drag it onto one of the corners of your rectangle. Do this for the other 3 corners. The scaling in the viewport has not changed, just the size!
Enter the viewport again and save THIS view. Erase the rectangle & line.
That way, you will only get what you want to see when you print.
Reposition your viewport on the sheet to suit and select PRINT or PLOT.

All the Geordie Best from Norn Iron.


Stephen