Linetype and Linetype Scale!

[Penfold]

Just wondering if there is a proper approach to linetypes and linetype scales!In my office they seem to be a general problem,ie, not printing correctly, printing to big/small.Is there standard linetype settings for drawings at different scales?I want to try and fix this problem and any help or suggestions would be great!

Thanks in advance!

[Hedgehog]

Linetype scale should be set around the scale that you want you drawing to print out at while you're working on your model... if the end product is gonna be 1:50 then set it to around 50 to get a feel for how it's gonna look... but it's not important at this stage. I use the ****2 versions of the ISO linetypes (eg. Hidden2) 'cos they tend to be a bit closer in. Then when you flip to PS/MS put PSLTSCALE on & set LTSCALE to 1... all of your viewports (at any scale) & any lines in PS (in legends etc) should all be similarly scaled.

[rustysilo]

If you set up your drawings using only modelspace you would set your ltscale to the scale of each respective .dwg, but if you are utilizing paperspace "properly" you would set your ltscale to 1. This way the linetypes adjust depending on your viewport scale. Be sure to set your psltscale to 1 as well in this situation as hedgehog suggests. To me this is the best way because if you end up using multiple viewports at different scales within one layout tab your linetypes will be correct and hence, much easier to deal with.

[beammeup]

this is one of the most asked questions here in our office.
LTSCALE and PSLTSCALE are tied together.

PSLTSCALE is used so you can have multiple viewports with different scales so the linetypes look identical in the different viewports.

LTSCALE controls the spacing in your linetypes

if you have one (or mulitple) viewport with the same scale:
set your PSLTSCALE = 0
set your LTSCALE to the viewport scale
ie 1" = 50' LTSCALE = 50
1/2" = 1'-0" LTSCALE = 24 (2 x 12 = 24)
1/4" = 1'-0" LTSCALE = 48 (4 x 12 = 4
etc...

if you have mulitple viewports with different scales:
set your PSLTSCALE = 1
set your LTSCALE = 1 (or .5 if you want more dashes, etc..) for plotting in paperspace


now, when you are in model space if your PSLTSCALE = 1 and your LTSCALE=1 you won't be able to see your linetypes so you have to change your LTSCALE to the drawing scale. you just have to remember to change it when you go back to paperspace to plot.

Most drawings have one viewport with only one drawing scale so you can leave your PSLTSCALE=0 and your LTSCALE set to the drawing scale (so you don't have to change LTSCALE while back in model space) using this you can also do plots in modelspace without changing the ltscale.

[beammeup]

this is one of the most asked questions here in our office.
LTSCALE and PSLTSCALE are tied together.

PSLTSCALE is used so you can have multiple viewports with different scales so the linetypes look identical in the different viewports.

LTSCALE controls the spacing in your linetypes

if you have one (or multiple) viewport with the same scale:
set your PSLTSCALE = 0
set your LTSCALE to the viewport scale
ie 1" = 50' LTSCALE = 50
1/2" = 1'-0" LTSCALE = 24 (2 x 12 = 24)
1/4" = 1'-0" LTSCALE = 48 (4 x 12 = 4
etc...

if you have mulitple viewports with different scales:
set your PSLTSCALE = 1
set your LTSCALE = 1 (or .5 if you want more dashes, etc..) for plotting in paperspace


now, when you are in model space if your PSLTSCALE = 1 and your LTSCALE=1 you won't be able to see your linetypes so you have to change your LTSCALE to the drawing scale. you just have to remember to change it when you go back to paperspace to plot.

Most drawings have one viewport with only one drawing scale so you can leave your PSLTSCALE=0 and your LTSCALE set to the drawing scale, that way you can see your linetypes in model space. by using this setting you can also do plots in modelspace without changing the ltscale.

[beammeup]

oops!!!! sorry for the double post, didn't think the first went through

[dumfatnhappy]

I just started with a company and they set their LTscale at .5 or half of the scale of the drawing. I asked and the reason is so the lines are "tighter". Personally I would have gone in and edited the acad.lin (where you can create your own linetypes) file to my liking so the LTscale would always be 1. This of course was in 2004 before the CUI stuff. Not sure about the .lin file in 2006 and forward.

[riga]

Linetype still defined in .lin files even in Autocad 2006 - 2007 - 2008

[halfcracked]

Much eisier to tell the office to standardise LTscale at .5 than it is to constantly edit/upgrade/maintain a custom ACAD.LIN file.

You'd have to mess around with it every time you upgrade/install a seat. Just one more file to forget to copy.

[riga]

Much eisier to tell the office to standardise LTscale at .5 than it is to constantly edit/upgrade/maintain a custom ACAD.LIN file.

You'd have to mess around with it every time you upgrade/install a seat. Just one more file to forget to copy.

That's easy to do:
in notepad write the string:
(setvar "LTSCALE" 0.5) or value of your choice
and save it in the X:\Program files\Autocad 200X\Support\ folder with .lsp extension (i.e. LTSCALE.lsp)
Then in Autocad _appload and add it to the start up suite, so your LTSCALE will be set at that value each time you start up Autocad