Lines and previewing and adjusting the line thickness

I am having an awful problem with setting lines to the way I want them to look in preview.

When I preview them in PDF( I dont have the printer to hand and have to send out for prints + I might have asked this before and sorry I have a short memory as I have lots of other work to do too)

I did some drawings for some one a while ago (upto planning) but returning to the job after a break and doing some other autocad drawings (to continue with the building regs) all my lines when previeedw are no longer in 'black' but in the colours. Okay I got them to black by tweaking the plot style editor and telling it to print in black where it says 'color'

....Then I noticed, in addition, the lines had all pinged out of the line thickness. I was able to change some and now I am stuck on one ( if not more): Whilst I can adjust the thickness by going to the column 'lineweight' in the 'Layers property manager'and overiding the default of .25 to whatever thickness I like, this one layer I called 'walls' won't budge. I have tried altering it and and the preview in PDF format does not change. I tried altering it in 'plot style' by giving a thickness in the plot style editor table and still nothing changes. ( I have spent 3 hrs this afternoon playing with this and going mad) Why wont that line change. I then went and changed other lines such as my 'stair' layer and could adjust the thickness and see it change in my preview.(Ie there is no consistancy and I cannot trace back to the errors)

If I could master lines. I would be the most fantastic person in the world- but alas.

Continous lines are fine. These are good for simple drawings but... illustrating beams and things like hidden things like drains need a good selection of different dotted and dashed lines with their spaces(well controlled), and then with different thicknesses too as there are only so many dots and dashes to indicate differences. It's just totally boggling my mind and this can't be right). I need too many line types and then forget which one is which. Not to mention if I want to change the scale of them( ie from 1:50 scale to a 1:100 or to a 1:20). This changes everything. Not to mention as i have said before that I cant check the actual printing , I am relying on my PDF preview or the preview of the printer of the company where I am going to purchase the prints).

It would also seem that I cant seem to control or save somewhere the lines types I have spent hours creating.

I think I must be missing some fundamentals. It should be so simple!! I need more linetypes as the drawing progresses but I give up and start working in one layer and one colour and end up paint brushing everything after (just as I would thicken lines at the end of a job manually on a drawing board to get definition and clarity)) to get the linetypes and thickness. I am so intent on finishing the drawing.l Too much to think about.

Please some one help.Before I go completely mental.! (thanks).

(Dont tell anyone -some people think I am good at autocad)

That's way too much reading for my tired eyes tonight.

You have a line with a "thickness" that cannot be changed in the Layer Properties Manager nor in the plot style editor. OK. Could it be a polyline that someone asigned a width to?

Linetypes out of control? How? Are you using just the linetypes AutoCAD provides or do you have some custom linetypes too?

How to get linetypes back under control? Hint (please keep this secret). PENCIL AND PAPER!

Yeah, I know it seems old school but you got to start somewhere. Make a list of the lines you need (ex. - water, gas, sanitary sewer, electrical, hydraulic, steam, pneumatic, fences, etc., etc., etc.). What discipline are you working in anyway? Then after each entry make a brief sketch of what the line needs to look like.

With me so far? Good.

Well dont think its a polyline. Sorry to write so much, but I think I should be going back to a tutorial on the basics (2007). but thanks for the quick reply . ... its almost midnight here, if it makes you feel better.

To be quite honest I have done that before, gone back to basics and set it all up in the past but somehow. as I continue, it all becomes hashed up.

I have drawn the lines and decided what I needed on paper and gone through the programme looking at all the line types and picked out the ones I needed and named them and printed them out, allocated them and I thought I had it sorted... But no...it was not to be.. perhaps its the way I am saving them?

I also have to use Ltscale. .315 and 300 so I can see the lines and which are dotted in model space.(In fact I have a feeling that my original template is not set up correctly at all) I have sort of run before I could walk.

And it never occured to you to set up a template (dwt) file with all the linetypes you need already loaded in?

Do you use custom linetypes?

Have you ever created a custom linetype?

i am doing architectural drawings. So i need foundation lines, (Walls ok easy) Engineer's beams over- with their edges. Kitchen wall units over. Light sockets shown under the counter. Drainage- Soil water, rain water, water, gas, Stairs above. Walls removed. the lines over connwecting the circuit for light fitting over. fences too.

then visibility lines, Lines of walls below roofs in roof plans, etc.

not sure.....ehmmm.? do you mean my template for the drawing layout?- so no I dont think so.

If you are using a standard template then someone (you?) should have ALL the linetypes you're going to need preloaded and saved with the template. Otherwise you're left recreating the wheel, as you are doing now, with each and every new drawing. That's just a waste of time, energy and your company's money.

Don't you have company issued standards for things like linetypes to follow? Who is responsible for CAD management?

I work alone and am self employed. I bought the package in 2007Autocad lt and i am not willing to buy a new 2010 until I have mastered this one! I did a year long course 2 times ( each course being one year and attending one evening a week) before I became self employed but obviously they dont tell you everything!! I got the template from a friend and he gave me a typical drawing and I used his lines which someone had set up for him- but as I have gone on realised he doesn't know either and he is asking me too now as he thinks I am better than him. So I don't think I am alone in my ignorance.

For a start I think I am going to make the template drawing all over again and fix it so that I have more control on viewing what my lines will look like. We work in metric here - millimetres. Yes we are working very much on an Adhoc basis. I spend hours checking and checking my drawings- it is shattering and tiring.

Even if I had had the day course from Autocad which I didnt as I couldnt afford the course with the package-I am pretty sure they could not have answered my questions that I am asking you as they only have an over all view. ( I know it because I quizzed the person I would have had the course with)

Self-employed and working alone. Then you fill ALL the positions. I know that is a tough job having been self-employed for two years while attending school.

It looks like we need to get you squared away and working more efficiently.

I do not work in the architectural field although I have studied architectural drafting and design. I don't recall having many linetypes only a handful. I've also worked in the civil field where we had all the usual linetypes for utilities. I currently work in a chemical manufacturing plant where we have linetypes for process lines and ancilliary lines (pneumatic, electrical, cooling water, etc.) in our schematics. Our site utility plans are considered civil drawings so the usual linetypes apply.

Maybe you should compile that list of linetypes and post it so we may comment on it. Once we have had a shot at it my suggestion would be to do two things. The first would be to make a cad drawing of the linetypes with the appropriate labels, print it, then post it somewhere near your computer for reference. The second would be to create a brand new template or templates with the appropriate linetypes already loaded in along with any text and dimension styles you normally use.

LT 2007...right. Do you use layouts?

Let's stop here for now.

dear Mark or ReMark

Thank you very much for your fast response.

There may not be as many lines to think about as I think but it having control over them and being able to manipulate them to the way I want them to appear. I suppose that is the real issue. Being able to tweak back to a reference point is a good place to be.

Please be aware that I will donate this time, though it may not be a lot as I dont make so much at the moment.( I wondered why but it is becoming apparently clear)

The linetypes would be in the drawing template? Ie phyically drawn somehow. ( Ill try to figure it out)

Ps I am back on a planning drawing today and only need 4 or 5 lines whihc quite easy to control. But after today I am abck on the building regulations which needs more control so i am going to spend time during weekend sorting out template and linetypes ( I have been through this process before)

Try to keep the linetypes to the minimum required. Sometimes we tend to get carried away because it is CAD and there are so, so many possibilities. Go with what is standard for the field you are working in.

Donate? You mean to CADTutor? That's great but a person does not necessarily have to donate each and every time they use CT as a resource. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure any and all donations would be appreciated as often as possible.

The linetypes can be the standard ones AutoCAD comes with or custom linetypes you create on your own and get from another source. The point is the linetypes you use on a day-in and day-out basis should be loaded into the template you create. Everytime this template is used the linetypes will be instantly available. There will be no need to load the linetypes for each new drawing you start.

Linetype appearance. This can be controlled using system variables and/or scale. I'm sure you must be aware of this.