Change line thickness

[TheRobster]

Hi all,

Does anyone know how I would change both the model and paper space thickness of a line in AutoCAD 2004? I've tried changing "line thickness" and "line weight" in the properties dialog box but it doesn't seem to matter whether it's 0 or 9,999,999 or any number, it just looks the same, in both the model space and paper space views.

I have a drawing someone else did that uses polylines of different thickness so I have tried to figure out how they did it. Again, looking at the properties dialog box it seems to make no difference what I set the "line thickness" or "line weight" properties to...the line just stays the same size regardless.

I want to change line thicknesses because I'm designing a surface water pipe layout...I want the pipes to be a lot thicker than the lines that represent the actual building so that they will stand out when I plot the drawing.

Any ideas?

Thanks
-Rob

[Cad64]

Go to your Format pull down menu and select Lineweight. This will open the Lineweight Settings dialog. Check the box that says "Display Lineweight". Once you hit Ok, you should see all your line thicknesses.

[TheRobster]

Ahhhh I see. Simple when you know how.

Many thanks for that.

-Rob

[StykFacE]

i still say use Polylines and use widths. makes the "thickness" stay constant.

[TheRobster]

Mmm, got another issue now. Got the line thickness sorted out but I have given my drainage pipes (lines) a dashed linetype to further distinguish them from the other on-site infrastructure.

Problem is when I go to Paper Space, the lines are just continuous....what happened to my dashed settings??? I can see them in model space but they do not seem to apply to paper space?

Thanks
-Rob

[StykFacE]

change your LTSCALE.

[lpseifert]

Ltscale=1
Psltscale=1

[Steamineagle]

To further clarify.

Fat lines are achieved by setting the line weights in the Layer Properties Manager, for printing purposes or adjusting wot you see on screen by ticking the Lineweight Settings dialog box as explained previously.
Personaly I don’t switch this on as I like to see sharp corners and fat lines get in the way of other close objects on screen. I know where my fat lines are!
(all round my waist unfortunately)LOL LOL

However, the thickness refered to in the properties dialog box is a 3D value where the line is given a vertically extruded height value.
Not to be confused with a width which is horizontal!

To get really broad lines use a polyline with a width value as StykeFace suggests.
See ‘Pedit’ and the various options (w).


Stephen

[Boro Nut]

As we tend to work almost exclusively in 2D model space (scaling up text/ dims/drawing frames) I've always used plot configuration files to control plotted line thicknesses related to the line's screen colour, using ratioed thicknesses (based on the old Rotring pen sizes) for differing plotted drawing sizes. That way the line thicknesses always look right in proportion to the size of the printed drawing, in the same way as enlarging or reducing on a photocopier. We also get our logos to print in colour so it's easy to differentiate the master from a print.

After a while you can visualise the plotted thickness from the colour, though it usually takes at least one plot and adjustments to get the finished drawing just right.

The trouble with polylines is I've never discovered how to draw circles, arcs, elipses etc easilly. and to avoid objectionable end connections looking like a draughtsman who couldn't quite be bothered.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using plot configuration files to control thickness in this way?

Boro Nut

[TheRobster]

Thanks for the replies. Much appreciated.

-Rob