Need help resizing (scaling)

I just landed a part time job doing some CAD work (Just finished my CAD degree) and I am using Draft Sight, very similar to AutoCAD. I was given two .dwg files, one is a floor plan and the other is a template of sorts with part drawings on it. I was given the task to take the part drawings and place them onto the floor plan to scale in specific locations. When I copy/paste the parts to the floor plan, the parts are HUGE and not to scale whatsoever. My question is, how do I resize these parts so that they are to scale with the floor plan? I know this is probably not the best way of doing this, but it is the only way I can think of because I do not have 3D models of the parts I need to place on the floor plan. Any and all help is appreciated!

What units do you use?

What units is the source, what units is the target?

(command : units)

It has honestly been a while since I have used a program like this. I am more proficient with 3D programs such as Solidworks. But it appears to be in inches for the floor plan, but the parts file is in metric and the words are all spanish. If I copy and paste the parts to the floor plan, they convert to inches. I just need to know how to shrink down the parts so they're to scale with the floor plan.

I am sure draftsight has a "Scale" command. After copying one part in, Scale the Spanish parts by a scale factor of 0.03937 and see if it fits. If so, rinse and repeat.

The Spanish drawings are most likely in millimeters. It is not the software that is the issue, it's math.

One millimeter is 0.03937007874 of an inch. Inversely, one inch is 25.4 millimeters.

Dana W,

I tried what you suggested, even went to a tutorial on how to scale objects and it won't allow me to enter that constant you provided. It just says "unrecognized command".

The steps I used were:

1. Type "Scale" and hit enter

2. Specify entities - I selected the entire object

3. Specify base points - I wasn't sure what base points to choose so I chose the corners diagonal from each other.

4. Specify Scale Factor - typed in your constant, and nothing happened except for getting an error saying unrecognized command.

Be careful as well when converting mm parts to inches and the opposite a part can come in two variations, 1 foot = 12" = 304mm but a metric supplier may have made it 300mm so a 4mm error.

If I click on base two base points, it makes the object even larger, probably 100 times bigger than original. This is frustrating

YES!!! I figured it out! I had an error on my end, I was clicking on 2 base points instead of 1 before entering the scale factor. Thank you guys for the help! Now I just need to figure out how to manipulate the size of the parts so they're correct

When you know an length is correct you can also use the 'align' commend to scale things and put them at the right spot. Hen units is set correct it is easier to insert of xref a drawing. Much easier than using copy from the clipboard..

If you finally figured out how scaling works why do you ask "how to manipulate the size of the parts"? Seems redundant.

If you finally figured out how scaling works why do you ask "how to manipulate the size of the parts"? Seems redundant.

He means he figured out how to apply the scale to the part over all, now he needs to stretch the part to fit in the area it was meant to go in.

You are correct.

Ok, so I have come to the conclusion that Draft Sight is a garbage design program. The program doesn't have any constraints!! How am I supposed to do anything to scale or uniformly without the use of constraints? Was the CAD industry a headache for everyone when they started their first jobs??

You can also go to the original spanish drawing to find out what their units actually are, then you can determine the scale factor quicker than math by googling up any one of thousands of convert "their units" to inches app. They usually display the scale factor.

But first look in Draftsight's Help for Drawing Units. In AutoCad, the command is

-DWGUNITS but I have no idea what it is in Draftsight.

You can also go to the original spanish drawing to find out what their units actually are, then you can determine the scale factor quicker than math by googling up any one of thousands of convert "their units" to inches app. They usually display the scale factor.

 

But first look in Draftsight's Help for Drawing Units. In AutoCad, the command is

-DWGUNITS but I have no idea what it is in Draftsight.

I have figured out how to scale the parts, I am not having issues with that anymore. I just can't set any lines to "horizontal" or "perpendicular" or ANYTHING with constraints. I am having to manually draw lines then snapping the parts to the end points so that they are to the certain lengths I need them to be.

Ok, so I have come to the conclusion that Draft Sight is a garbage design program. The program doesn't have any constraints!! How am I supposed to do anything to scale or uniformly without the use of constraints? Was the CAD industry a headache for everyone when they started their first jobs??

Your preliminary research should have keyed you into the fact that Draftsight is a 2D AutoCAD-like clone that is missing several AutoCAD features one of which is parametric constraints. However, that should not prevent a user from drawing anything uniformly and it should be noted that just like AutoCAD the user is supposed to be drawing everything FULL size no matter if they are drawing something as small as a paperclip or as large as the world's tallest building...FULL size! There is no drawing "to scale" as one might do manually on a drafting board. Your geometry goes in model space and you a utilize paper space layout along with viewports to handle scaling. Scale is assigned to the viewport(s) one creates in paper space. Then when it comes time to print AutoCAD will apply the scale assigned to the viewport(s) so that everything comes out just as you expected.

BTW...Draftsight was not conceived as a design program per se. It is a basic 2D CAD program given away for free from Dassault Systemes in hopes that users would ultimately migrate to their MCAD program Solidworks.

I have figured out how to scale the parts, I am not having issues with that anymore. I just can't set any lines to "horizontal" or "perpendicular" or ANYTHING with constraints. I am having to manually draw lines then snapping the parts to the end points so that they are to the certain lengths I need them to be.

Re: horizontal and perpendicular lines. You are using orthomode and esnaps are you not? You do realize you can draw a line a set length and at a set angle via the command line don't you?

If buying a fully functional (i.e. - both 2D and 3D) CAD or MCAD program was beyond your financial means why didn't you look into renting a program that suits your needs (i.e. - has parametric constraints, etc.) on an as needed basis?

Just curious. Have you looked at Bricscad (another AutoCAD clone but way better than Draftsight)? There are three different versions (Classic, Pro and Platinum) and the cost of even the most expensive version is on par with what one would pay for AutoCAD LT. And I believe 2D dimensional constraints are available in at least two if not all three versions. 3D constraints are only available in the Platinum version. Check it out.

https://www.bricsys.com/en_US/bricscad/editions/

Please do us all a favor and attach a copy of the drawing(s) you are currently working on to your next post so we can have a look at them. Thank you.

I have figured out how to scale the parts, I am not having issues with that anymore. I just can't set any lines to "horizontal" or "perpendicular" or ANYTHING with constraints. I am having to manually draw lines then snapping the parts to the end points so that they are to the certain lengths I need them to be.