layout print scale

Hello. I've been trying to find out the connection of paper space units and model space units in the command MVSETUP when choosing scale. Usually when making a new layout I get prompted to the page setup manager but rarely do I get the right drawing scale. How do I calculate the accordance between model and paper space units?

P.S.I'm using autocad2010

Thank you.

Units are defined the same in model and paper space. If your drawing is set up to have 1 drawing unit = 1mm then that is exactly what you get if you draw objects in either.

I think what you need is to familiarise yourself with viewports, and how they are used, in a layout, to create a "window" through to model space to view whatever you have drawn (All objects in model space should be drawn at a scale of 1:1). You then assign a "zoom factor" to a viewport to achieve the scale desired.

When plotting, your layout should be set to your paper size and plotted at 1:1.

Have a read through this tutorial:

http://www.cadtutor.net/tutorials/autocad/paper-space-exercise.php

The relationship of model to paper units...

Model objects should be full size whether they're houses or yo-yos. Draw a house 50 feet wide, if that is how big it is. Draw a yo-yo 2" wide.

Paper objects are also drawn full size, borders, title blocks, text, etc., but NOT objects in the viewport. They are in model space.

What you want to remember is, in paperspace, your sheet of paper is the real full size object, so don't use feet or meters for paper units. Use inches or milimeters.

For typical imperial scales:

A 50 foot house will not fit on a 24" x 36" sheet of paper, so it has to be scaled. The scale ratio is 1 paper unit to n drawing units. Most residential floor plans, per standards and practices, are drawn at 1/4" = 1'- 0" or 1:48 (1" = 48"). If the model units were feet, then the ratio would be 1:4, or 1" = 4'- 0". The first and second floor plans should fit side by side on a 36" wide sheet of paper with plenty of room for dimensions.

I draw a lot of houses, so I don't bother trying to zoom the viewport, already knowing what the scale should be. I select the viewport itself and open Properties. I then change the "Standard Scale" field to 1:48, and I am done other than panning to center up the plan view.

I did a 24 acre survey drawing which was HUGE in model space. My model units were feet, and my paper units were inches. The final drawing scale had to be 1 inch = 100 feet so my viewport Standard Scale was 1:100. PLOT SCALE IS 1:1 since you are printing the PAPER, not the house.

in order to have proper viewport scalling your title block dimension units should match your model...

if you are drawing in inches then your ArchD title block should be drawin in inches, ie 24units x 36 units...if model is 1 unit = 1 feet then your titleblock should be 2x3...

by keeping the same units in both space the viewport can now be scaled easily because you're using the same unit ratio...so at 1/4"=1'-0" the vieport can be scaled 1:48 (1/48 xps)...

i've seen ratio issues usually with site plans as surveyor like to use 1 unit = 1 meter while the title block is in millimeter...so instead of using 1:100 as a zoom factor for the viewport for 1:100 you then have to compensate for the ratio difference in units so the viewport would have to be (1:100)/1000 = 1:0.1 because, technically, the title block is 1000x bigger then normal as AutoCAD would interpret the ArchD as 609.6m x 914.4m (when it should be .6096 m x .9144m) ...

eek, hope the above can clear things up for you...