Locked Viewports

Hi all! This site is so amazingly useful, and I can't believe I'm finally just registering. First post!

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Okay, so there are two parts to my question:

1. I know I've seen this answered before, but is there a way to pan within a locked viewport? Everything I've tried has led me to believe that this is not possible. Could someone please confirm?

2. Is it possible to limit a viewport's scale to one specific value? In my case I need all of my viewports, on multiple sheets, to show my model space in 1:100. That said I don't want to be able to zoom in this viewport, just a straight up "pan-only" space--hence my first question.

Edit#1: So to further explain my situation, this particular drawing set that I'm putting together is only used to focus and display what is in my modelspace --nothing more. It seems as though I'll need to continue unlocking, panning, zooming, scaling, and re-locking my work for now.

In the end the final goal was to send this drawing template to a client to allow them to adjust what areas of the drawing the wanted to display without them needing to play with the scale.

If you try to pan inside a locked viewport AutoCAD will remind you that it is locked at the command line.

A viewport can only have one scale assigned to it at a time. You can have up to a maximum of 64 viewports in a layout and each one could have the same scale or all 64 could have a different scale.

You can maximize the viewport which will allow you to work anywhere in modelspace through a viewport. When you minimize the viewport you will still be in a locked viewport. Hopefully that will help with your needs. Maximize the VP with the icon in the lower right part of your screen or double click on the VP itself. Minimize the same way to get back to your layout.

You can maximize the viewport which will allow you to work anywhere in modelspace through a viewport. When you minimize the viewport you will still be in a locked viewport. Hopefully that will help with your needs. Maximize the VP with the icon in the lower right part of your screen or double click on the VP itself. Minimize the same way to get back to your layout.

rkent, You just answered something I've always wondered about. I've, accidentally, double-clicked my VP and everything, except my viewport and it's contents, disappears. I've only known that UNDO will get me out of this situation. Now I know what's going on and I'm more dangerous than ever! LOL Thanks.

You can grip edit the viewport effectively panning without unlocking it.

RobDraw: May I include your advice in my recent post regarding Viewports as I completely overlooked it.

No need to ask.

Done. Thanks.

rkent, You just answered something I've always wondered about. I've, accidentally, double-clicked my VP and everything, except my viewport and it's contents, disappears. I've only known that UNDO will get me out of this situation. Now I know what's going on and I'm more dangerous than ever! LOL Thanks.

It's good to be more dangerous!

Thanks RobDraw. Unfortunately I'm not looking to edit the actual viewport, but to pan the contents within it.

Thanks, rkent. Unfortunately this doesn't answer my initial questions, although this looks like it'd be useful down the road. I still need to manipulate what appears in the paperspace at the same time.

Thanks RobDraw. Unfortunately I'm not looking to edit the actual viewport, but to pan the contents within it.

RobDraw's advice is not for editing the viewport. It's for being able to see model space objects that may be to the left, right, above or below the one the viewport is displaying. I think you just misunderstood what his comment was alluding to.

But that requires that the viewport is altered, something that I don't want to do. Unless there's something else about grip editing that I'm missing here?

I think you are nit-picking now. Altered? Yes, it can be stretched one way or the other to view the geometry that you could not see previously. You can always return the viewport to its original shape/size. This procedure is termed grip editing but it does not imply that you are making changes to anything other than the size/location of the boundaries of your viewport. Nothing in model space gets edited.

"Edit#1: So to further explain my situation, this particular drawing set that I'm putting together is only used to focus and display what is in my modelspace --nothing more. It seems as though I'll need to continue unlocking, panning, zooming, scaling, and re-locking my work for now."

I do not agree with the second sentence at all. I believe you do not understand the purpose of moving the grips of a locked viewport to show a different portion of a drawing and since you don't understand it you can't explain it to your client.

Here is one possible solution. Send the drawing to the client. Have them open it in model space. Have them use the Zoom > Window command to find the part of the drawing they want to bring to your attention. Ask them to create a JPG or PNG file using a print screen program or the Alt+PrintScreen combo to capture the image. The image can be brought into MS Paint, cropped, and saved out in JP or PNG file format then sent to you.

You can maximize the viewport which will allow you to work anywhere in modelspace through a viewport. When you minimize the viewport you will still be in a locked viewport. Hopefully that will help with your needs. Maximize the VP with the icon in the lower right part of your screen or double click on the VP itself. Minimize the same way to get back to your layout.

I think a lot of people have missed that functionality, this is the first reference to it, I have ever come across on the forum.

If you are using SOLPROF, which can only be started from an active viewport, this qualifies, yet it feels like being in modelspace, best of both worlds.

You can have up to a maximum of 64 viewports in a layout and each one could have the same scale or all 64 could have a different scale.

You can have more than 64 viewports. But only 64 viewports contents are displayed at maximum.

Alright I'll bite. What is the benefit of having more than the maximum number of viewports if they all can't be displayed? The most viewports I've had in a single "D" size drawing has been 20. I could not imagine a situation where I would need 64 let alone more than 64. LoL

Maybe this will help explain my procedure a little better.

Although grip editting a locked viewport isn't panning with a little thought, it gives the same result. Notice the position of detail #3 in the images below.

What I did was grip edit the viewport to stretch the view to the left. Then shortened it from the right side. Then moved the viewport back to the original position.