linetype changed after xref

[ali888]

Hi,

 

Wonder if anyone might be able to help me understand this. I was trying to xref drawing-A onto a new drawing-B. Everything else is the same (exactly the same as what's in drawing-A) except that the linetype is different in terms of scale. This linetype that i created appears a lot bigger in drawing-B compared to drawing-A. My question is whether this is one of the limitations that xref function has. Wonder if there is a way of getting around this.

 

I use AutoCAD 2005 LT.

 

Any helps would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you in advance

[spittle]

Maybe one of your drawings is using a different Global Linetype Scale, otherwise, each drawing is using a different .lin file. So one is using the imperial one, and the other is using the metric one. Just change one of them to get your desired result.

[ali888]

Thank you Spittle for your reply.

 

However, i am still confused as to why the linetype is not the same as that in the other drawing. My understanding is that when doing XREF from a drawing, it takes an exact image of the source drawing and drop it onto another drawing and that image is referenced to the source. Any changes on the master copy will reflect on the xref drawing, am i right? please correct me if i am wrong.

 

Do not understand why i need to check for the global linetype scale between two drawings, though. Is that not the purpose of XREF?

 

Thank you in advance

[brawleyman]

ali888,

 

Linetype scale is your percieved view of a drawing in a file, it does not actually change the scale of the linetypes. Autocad files store their own LTS, so although the LTS in your sourcefile is set to, let's say 96 (1/8"), it will not look so in the file you imported it into. You will have to set your LTS to 96 to match the source xref.

 

Xref's import into drawings as they are, not how they are viewed.

 

I frequently change the LTS of my drawings because I use several different scales and switch between model space and paper space. I created a quick toolbar that allows me to change the LTS on the fly to whatever I need, however, it is only set for architectural units.

 

Hope that helps!

[ali888]

Thank you Brawleyman for your help.

 

Yes, it really helps me see what's going on here. But I do not quite get my head around on how this 96 (1/8") works. I read some related-info from the Internet but have to admit that it appears very ambiguity to me. Is there any way you could possibly simplify this for me? By default, are all the linetype set to 96 (which is equivalent to 1 inch, am i right?)?

 

Thank you in advance

[brawleyman]

Thank you Brawleyman for your help.

 

Yes, it really helps me see what's going on here. But I do not quite get my head around on how this 96 (1/8") works. I read some related-info from the Internet but have to admit that it appears very ambiguity to me. Is there any way you could possibly simplify this for me? By default, are all the linetype set to 96 (which is equivalent to 1 inch, am i right?)?

 

Thank you in advance

 

By default, Autocad is set to 1=1, which means, that when you draw, you draw it in real distances or units. Linetypes are also 1=1, so when you scale a viewport to view a house in a 1/8"=1'-0" scale, the linetype will match.

 

When you are in paperspace, your LTS should be 1=1, but when in model space, in order to get the lines to look the same, you have to scale your "view" of them.

 

I am home now, so I don't have access to my CUI file to get you all the numbers, but when you set your LTS to 96, it is the equivalent of 1/8" scale. LTS of 48 is 1/4". It is something that is hard to explain, but once you start using it a little, it all comes together and you understand how to use it, similar to the difference between model space and paper space.

 

When I get back to work tomorrow, let me know if you would like me to help you set up a custom macro button that will allow you to adjust the LTS on the fly without having to type it and try to remember the number for the proper scale

[spittle]

Thank you Spittle for your reply.

 

However, i am still confused as to why the linetype is not the same as that in the other drawing. My understanding is that when doing XREF from a drawing, it takes an exact image of the source drawing and drop it onto another drawing and that image is referenced to the source. Any changes on the master copy will reflect on the xref drawing, am i right? please correct me if i am wrong.

 

Do not understand why i need to check for the global linetype scale between two drawings, though. Is that not the purpose of XREF?

 

Thank you in advance

 

Come to think of it, if they were using the wrong .lin file AutoCAD would import the different .lin file. so in your Layer Properties manager, it would say for example XREFblahblahCENTRE2 for linetype.

 

I wrote this a while ago - I've yet to get any feedback from it yet at work or in places on the web I've posted it, I think people can't be bothered to work through it - if you try it, let me know if it works for you.

 

I need to ammend a few things on it but it should help.

 

Linetypes & Scales

 

The guide describes a tried and tested method of producing CAD drawings so that all Linetypes are scaled correctly and in proportion to each other and also ways to ensure you will be able to use Viewport Overrides to get your entities to display how you desire. It also includes the use of External References (XREFs) and also a description of how to fix drawings that have already Linetype Scale issues.

 

If you follow this guide you will not have Linetype Scale issues.

 

1 - Getting Started:

 

Things to ensure when producing a drawing:

 

- All Linetype Scales should be set to 1 and not manually overridden.

- The Linetype you wish to use should be chosen via the Layer Properties Manager and not manually overridden.

- A Linetype’s Colour should be chosen in the Layers Property Manager and not manually overridden.

 

It may be quicker to just override the settings in your drawing as you go rather than creating new layers for different entities but the entities within a drawing that have overridden settings will not be affected by Viewport Overrides (selected in the Layers Property Manager), so this makes customising the look of individual viewports very difficult and sometimes impossible without redoing the layering of the drawing. The same applies to XREFs and for the creation of Blocks.

 

2 - Linetype Selection

 

All Linetypes need to look in the correct proportion to each other, to do this we need to make sure the right linetypes are chosen to start with. We should be using the ones designed to be used together.

 

For example this set of linetypes:

 

CENTER2

HIDDEN2

DASHED2

DASHDOT2

BORDER2

Etc…

 

We shouldn’t use this set of linetypes:

 

CENTER

HIDDEN

DASHED

DASHDOT

BORDER

Etc…

 

because the these will look far too big in proportion to our Linetypes that contain text, eg the GAS_LINE linetype etc.

 

Important information regarding Pipe Fittings Toolbar used by .

When these pipe fittings were created, a mixture of the CENTER Linetype Set as well as some from the ‘CENTER2’ Linetype set were used. For this reason, if you use these in your drawing, you won’t get all the Linetypes to look in proportion to each other unless you fix this within the Layers Property Manager.

 

 

 

- Now with all the linetypes in proportion to each other, if needed, their scales can be adjusted ‘globally’ to achieve the desired result within the drawing. You can adjust this by going:

 

Format>Linetype and then change the Global Scale Factor.

 

Note: For drawings that will be used as XREFs, the Global Scale Factor selected in the XREF won’t effect the linetype scales in the main drawing.

 

 

 

 

Fixing Older Drawings

 

-Select All (Ctrl+A)

-Open Properties, Change all Linetype Scales to 1

-Change all Linetypes to be ‘By Layer’

-Change Colour to be ‘By Layer’

-Then go in Layer Properties Manager, and check the appropriate linetypes are being used together as described above.

-Next, go Format/Linetype… and reload all linetypes.

-Then adjust the Global scale factor if needed.

-You can now purge out the unnecessary Linetypes.

 

One important thing to bear in mind – if you’re working on a drawing that contains a Linetype that isn’t in your standard Linetype File then sometimes it won’t display correctly even though all of the other Linetypes look fine. It will either appear too big, too small, or even as a continuous line. Don’t be tempted to manually override this Linetype’s scale in Properties. Instead, load all of either your Metric, or Imperial Linetypes from ‘acadiso.lin’ or ‘acad.lin’ (load which ever one you haven’t been using). Now all of your Linetype Scales should change. They should in proportion to each other and you can just change the Global Scale Factor so they appear correct on your drawing. You can now run PURGE to get rid of unused Linetypes.

 

 

Information regarding layers brought into a drawing from an XREF.

 

If the Linetype file used in an XREF (either acadiso.lin or acad.lin) is different to the one used in your main drawing then the XREF’s Linetypes will be brought into your main drawing. If this is the case then in the Layers Property Manager, you will see that the XREFs Linetypes begin with the XREFs name. Eg:

xref12345CENTER2 instead of CENTER2

 

The easiest solution is to make sure you’re consistent with the Linetypes you use. Or go into your main drawing’s Layer Properties Manager and change all of your XREFs Linetypes to the correct ones eg: change xref12345CENTER2” to “CENTER2 etc.