Autocad 2000 Plotting to scale

[btblindfield]

Can anyone out there tell me how I can plot a drawing to a scale say 1:50 and actually print it off at that size so that I can use a scale rule to measure dimensions off?

[robfowler]

You haven't said what version of AutoCAD you are using!

Have you used a Layout before (paper space)?

I'm going to assume you are using Acad2000 or newer.

Here's a quick rundown for you:

Your model or 2D drawing should be drawn at a scale of 1:1 in model space.

Click on a white Layout tab (at the bottom of the screen) and you'll get a page setup window -click on the Plotting Device tab and select the plotting device afrom the drop-downlist then click on the Layout Settings tab and select your paper size and adjust any other settings you need - close the window using the OK button. You should now have a view of your page with the print border showing. AutoCAD will also normally create a floating viewport (using the current layer) for you on the page and you should see your model/drawing inside this viewport.

You can resize this viewport by clicking on the edge of it and then using the corner grips to drag to the size you need on the layout.

Right-click on any toolbar and call up the Viewports toolbar.

If you double-click inside the viewport to make it active (you are now in model space of the floating viewport) then you will see the scale of the drawing shown on the Viewports toolbar editable window.

You can now click on the down arrow next to this window on the toolbar and select the 1:1 scale.

If you now go to File > Plot > the drawing should plot at a true scale of 1:1.

This is all rather involved and I have some good student notes on Layouts in Word format (approx 210KB when Zipped) and if you want this I can email it to you if you send me a private message with your email address.

There's also some help on this on this site in the tutorials section.

Hope this helps,

Rob.

[Mr T]

Can anyone out there tell me how I can plot a drawing to a scale say 1:50 and actually print it off at that size so that I can use a scale rule to measure dimensions off?

It would be more appropriate (accurate) to dimension it before plotting.
Anything can be plotted at any scale, it's a question of wether it'll fit on yer paper or not.

Nick