Remember the AutoCAD days of yore? It took days to set up a plotter and hours to plot out a complex drawing. Pens ran out of ink minutes before the end of a job. Plotters seemed to think for themselves when determining the location of the end of a sheet.
Happily, those days are gone. Plotting these days causes far fewer headaches, and in more and more cases you can skip the process altogether. Many designs from AutoCAD exist to communicate directly with a machine that makes parts—from microchips to logs for log homes. As a result, more and more users are distributing only electronic versions of their drawings, often as DWF or PDF files, and using them effectively without ever touching a sheet of paper. We'll always need to lay out our designs—for presentation purposes, at the very least—even if the drawings themselves aren't destined for paper use.
Although Paper Space had been around for several releases, layouts first showed up in AutoCAD 2000. They're the best thing since sliced bread, and you should use them. Well, I think you should use them, but I know some companies still plot directly from Model Space. In this chapter, I'll discuss some common elements that apply to plotting from either Model Space or from a layout in Paper Space, and I'll even give you some advice on Model Space plotting. But the bulk of this chapter is devoted to creating output from layouts in Paper Space—plotted sheets and raster images.
Model Space, Paper Space, and Layouts
What to Put Where
Plotting a Layout
AutoCAD Graphics in Other Applications
Years ago, Model Space was a lot like plotting by hand. We did everything on a single sheet of paper. We created our geometry, inserted a border at a scale that made sense for plotting, calculated the correct text height, set a proper DIMSCALE, and plotted our drawing. Then came Paper Space, which allowed us to separate the design process from the plotting process. Now, we design in Model Space and plot from a layout in Paper Space. Life is simple.
Life is simple, that is, for those of us who made the switch from plotting in Model Space to plotting in Paper Space. If you didn't make the switch—or you just prefer a more complicated life—then I feel duty-bound to warn you of the severe limitations of plotting from Model Space. Here we go:
You can't plot more than one view of a 3D object on a single sheet.
You can't plot a detail at a different scale without copying it and making it larger.
You have to move your geometry if you decide to plot on a different sheet size or at a different scale.
You have some calculating to do when you set a text height, a dimension scale, a hatch scale, a block scale, or a linetype scale, all of which have to be changed if the plot scale changes.
The advantages of plotting from layouts in Paper Space, on the other hand, are huge. However, whether you're plotting from Model Space (see the sidebar "Lost in Paper Space") or from a layout in Paper Space, two practices are common to both: geometry creation and block design.
No matter how you plot a drawing, the geometry should be created at its actual size. If you're drawing a machine part that's 12 inches long, you draw it 12 inches long in AutoCAD. If you're doing a civil plot plan with a boundary line that represents 2,500 feet, you draw it 2,500 feet in AutoCAD. If you're designing microchip architecture with traces that are .01mm long, you draw them .01mm long.
In the late 1980s, AutoCAD shipped with a sample drawing named solar.dwg. It was an eye-opener back then because it was drawn full size. I remember wondering how that was possible, but of course it is. Large numbers are simple enough in AutoCAD. That's what scientific units are for. Once I understood that the solar system, including Pluto, could be drawn full size I realized that anything could be. And should be. Scaling is for layouts.
Whether you're plotting from Model Space or Paper Space, define your blocks full size. Symbols representing real-world objects that have a fixed size should be the actual size of the objects. Symbols that represent a range of possible sizes in the real world should be created at the size you want them to plot onto a sheet. These are symbols like a valve in a piping drawing, a resistor on an electrical schematic, or a duplex outlet on a floor plan that are always the same size no matter how large the actual object they represent. Blocks that are used for annotation on a drawing sheet, like borders, title blocks, and section callouts, should be drawn at the size they will be when plotted onto a sheet. You need only one of those for each sheet size. When you plot from a layout, you plot at a scale of 1:1 because a layout represents a full-size sheet of paper—and you're plotting the sheet, not the geometry. You insert the border and the title block at a scale factor of 1.
See Table 6.1 for some examples.
Now that we've got the basics covered, let's move on to the questions I hear most often. What is the difference between Model Space and Paper Space? What does TILEMODE do? How do layouts fit in, and why does it seem as though there are two different places called Model Space? Let's begin sorting it out by defining our terms.
Table 6.1. Examples of Sizes for Block Definitions
TYPE OF BLOCK | SIZE TO DRAW | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
Bathtub | 60″×30″ | Actual size in a house. |
50mm fastener | 50mm long | Actual size in an assembly. |
Resistor symbol | 6mm | Actual size on paper for use as a schematic. Resistors vary in size. |
B-size border | 16″×10″ | Actual size on the paper. You need only one if you plot from a layout. |
Duplex receptacle symbol | 6mm or .25″ | Actual size on a sheet of paper. Scale it when it's inserted onto a floor plan. |
When you're in Model Space, you can use the VPORTS command to create separate viewports, but you're limited in how those viewports can be laid out. No matter how many viewports you create, they must completely fill the drawing editor, be rectangular, and not overlap, and they can't have any gaps between them. It's like having multiple monitors that you can use to view your drawing in many different ways but that you can't move around.
For some users, the confusion comes when they switch to a Layout tab. It turns out that Model Space lurks there as well. When a layout contains viewports, each one can provide a window to Model Space. Make a viewport active, and you can reach through that window into Model Space. So it's not that there are two Model Spaces, it's that there are two ways to access Model Space—either by selecting its tab, or by making a floating viewport active in a layout.
The TILEMODE system variable switches between the Model Space tab and a Layout tab. Although it's an important variable if you're writing AutoLISP programs that manage layouts, you don't ever have to deal with it directly when using AutoCAD. The TILEMODE setting changes automatically when you select any Layout tab or the Model tab. A setting of 0 turns off TILEMODE, making a layout active, and a setting of 1 turns it on, making the Model Space tab active. The viewports in Model Space (see Figure 6.1) are always placed together like tiles, whereas floating viewports in a layout can be separated, overlapped, and irregularly shaped. They don't have to be tiled together. That's why the variable is named TILEMODE. If it's turned on, viewports must be tiled together, which only happens in the Model Space tab. When it's off, viewports don't have to be tiled together, which can only happen in a layout.
If you haven't ever used viewports in Model Space, you may want to try them. They're critical to me for producing 3D models, because they allow me to view a model from a variety of positions, making it much easier to edit the model. Even with 2D geometry, you can draw from one viewport to another, making it easier to connect two widely separated areas.
The term viewports can confuse people because it has two different meanings. A viewport in the Model Space tab isn't an entity that you can grab or modify. It's a fixed display area. You can turn it off and on, but that's it. A viewport in a layout is sometimes called a floating viewport, because it's an entity that you can grab and modify. It's similar to entities like polylines and circles in that it can be moved, erased, and stretched. But there are limits—it can't be rotated, for example, at least not with the results you may want.
While you're in a layout, you can switch to Model Space within a floating viewport and stay in the layout. You don't have to change to the Model Space tab to work on objects in Model Space. There are some advantages to working in Model Space through a floating viewport. The most important is that when you add dimensions through a floating view-port, they're scaled automatically to match the plot scale of the viewport.
Note
Many trainers have tried to come up with a single, crystal-clear explanation of floating viewports. One trainer I know refers to them as "floating Model Spaces." Another calls them "holes in the paper that you can look through to see your model." I use the term floating viewports throughout this chapter, but if either of those images works better for you, keep it in mind.
Except for the Model Space tab, every tab at the bottom of the AutoCAD window is a layout. There is no practical limit to how many layouts you can have in a drawing, and every one of them is in Paper Space. Paper Space is so called because each layout represents a sheet of paper on which you organize or "lay out" the views you want to plot. Those views are contained in floating viewports that can display any part of your geometry at any scale. Each floating viewport can display layers in different states than other viewports, and floating viewports can be any shape.
Note
If your Model Space and Layout tabs disappear, and you're working with AutoCAD 2007, you may have accidentally hidden them. If so, three new icons will appear in the status bar: one representing Model Space, one representing the current layout, and one with two small triangles. To turn tabs back on, right-click any of those icons and select Display Layout And Model Tabs. Oh, and if you do want to hide them, right-click any of these tabs—there's the culprit, in the right-click menu.
A layout is like a paste-up area that allows you to arrange multiple views of the objects you create in Model Space. It's like taping a large sheet of paper to a drafting table and then pasting smaller sheets of paper, each containing different images, on the larger sheet. When the smaller sheets are in place, you can draw on the larger sheet—a title block, perhaps—and add any necessary text or lines. If you don't like the location of some of the smaller sheets, you can move them around. If you don't want to see one of them anymore, you can remove it.
The UCS icon changes to a triangle.
A white sheet of paper is displayed floating above a gray background.
The last button on the status bar at the bottom of the screen displays the word PAPER.
As you can see, each of the details is at a different scale from the ¼″=1′ scale used for the main viewport, and each is a different shape. I'll go through the steps you follow to set up a sheet like this later in the chapter. By default, a single viewport is created whenever you select a Layout tab for the first time. You can add more viewports with the MVIEW (MV) or VPORTS command, which can also be found on the Viewports toolbar.
In a few situations, plotting from layouts in Paper Space may cause you problems. Before I go into all the reasons in favor of using layouts, let's look at two possible drawbacks.
Although Paper Space follows a clear logic, it isn't always intuitive, and some complexity is involved. That complexity gives you control over plotting, so it's a good thing. However, it isn't a good idea for an office to suddenly start plotting from layouts and hope that every-one figures it out. If you're a CAD manager hoping to make the switch while maintaining consistency, you should develop office standards and provide training to ensure that everybody knows the ropes. This is one case where a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing—dangerous to your stress level, at least.
If you aren't currently using layouts for plotting, then you aren't likely to be able to convert your Model Space plotting strategy. You need to make some settings changes, as noted later. You may also need to change the order in which you do certain things to take advantage of the power here.
You can't select objects in both Model Space and Paper Space at the same time. In fact, you can't select a Model Space entity while Paper Space is active—you must make a floating viewport active to do that, and once a floating viewport is active, you can't select objects that are in Paper Space. Most of the time, that's a good thing, but once in a while it can get in the way.
This doesn't mean you can't use objects in Model Space from Paper Space. Object snaps work on Model Space objects even with Paper Space active. Dimensions placed in Paper Space are even indirectly associated with entities in Model Space if you snap to or select Model Space objects for dimensions. Let's look at several situations where this lack of connection may be a problem.
Let's say you want to define a block using objects from both Model Space and Paper Space. To define a block, everything you want to include in the block definition must be in the same space. If you have objects in both spaces that you want to include in a single block definition, do this:
Move the entities from Paper Space into Model Space using the CHSPACE command.
Define the block.
Move the entities back where they came from.
The CHSPACE command appeared in AutoCAD 2007. Before that, it was an Express Tool. If Express Tools aren't installed, you should install them, because CHSPACE is nearly essential in dealing with Paper Space and Model Space. Note that before AutoCAD 2007, some Architectural Desktop (ADT) entities couldn't be relocated using CHSPACE.
Note
If you use a release prior to AutoCAD 2007, and you don't have Express Tools loaded, you can still move or copy entities from one space to another by using the Windows clipboard. Select the entities, right-click, and pick either Copy With Base Point or Cut from the menu. Change to the space where you want the entities, open the Edit menu and pick Paste As Block, and select a location. If you paste the entities as a block, a block is defined with a name assigned by AutoCAD. If you copy objects from Paper Space into a floating viewport that has a plot scale other than 1:1, you must scale the entities; the same is true if you go from Model Space to Paper Space. Once you're done locating the entities, you may want to explode the results.
If you want a single drawing with just the Sheet 1 layout shown in Figure 6.3, you can't select the objects in both places. Note that Paper Space entities are selected, including the floating viewport, but not the Model Space entities displayed in that viewport. This isn't a major drawback, because you can use the WBLOCK command to create a new drawing file from those selected Model Space entities and then add the original layout to the new drawing.
Note
If the entities shown in the floating viewport are the only entities in the drawing, the problem is easier to solve. Use the Entire Drawing option of the WBLOCK command while the Sheet 1 layout is active.
Follow these steps to do that:
Save your current drawing.
Use WBLOCK to create a new drawing by selecting the entities in the active floating viewport, as shown in Figure 6.4. Make sure the Retain radio button is selected in the Write Block dialog box so you don't erase the entities you select.
Open AutoCAD DesignCenter (ADC), and browse to the original drawing as shown in Figure 6.5.
It looks like the Sheet 1 layout was saved with the Model Space entities. Don't be fooled! The only thing saved was the page setup.
To get the entities, including the floating viewports, right-click the layout you want and select Add Layout(s), as shown in Figure 6.5. You get the page setup, the view-ports, and all entities in the layout.
Note
Here's another way to copy layouts. Right-click a Layout tab in the new drawing, and select From Template from the menu. Change the Files Of Type option from the default Drawing Template (*.dwt) to Drawing (*.dwg), and locate the original drawing file. Finally, select the layout from that drawing.
Enough about drawbacks. As you can see, there aren't many, and there are ways to work around them. Let's look at the advantages of using Paper Space, which are considerable. The most significant is that using layouts for plotting makes it far more likely that office standards will be applied consistently. The process of document layout and plotting is also much more efficient and logical when using Paper Space. Here's why.
Paper Space is essential for any office creating 3D geometry with AutoCAD. I started working with 3D models long before Paper Space was added to AutoCAD. This process had many limitations in early versions, but one of the most frustrating was not being able to create standard orthographic views from the models—at least, not easily. Either you carefully plotted the object several times on the same sheet with the views in different places, or you copied the model two or three times and rotated it into the various positions needed for the multiple views, thus dramatically increasing an already large file size.
Paper Space addresses that problem by allowing the user to place any view of a model—front, top, side, isometric, and so on—on one sheet of paper. The standard views can even be automated using the MVSETUP command. You can then use SOLPROF to create projected 2D drawings of each view. It's quick and it's easy. Or, use the SOLVIEW command to create views individually, including auxiliary views, and then use SOLDRAW to create the drawings.
Plotting details at different scales without Paper Space creates a problem. If the details are part of something you've already drawn, you have to copy the geometry to a different location and then scale it up to the proper size. Even if the details are drawn separately, you have to decide after creating them how much larger they should be so you can ultimately plot to a standard scale and label the details correctly. Once the details are scaled up, you have to change the dimensions so they give the correct values, because a DIMLFAC of 1 (the default) gives results that are too large. With geometry that's scaled two times larger than actual size, you have to set DIMLFAC to .5 and then remember to set it back or to change to a different dimension style. There's too much to go wrong.
With Paper Space, you can add any detail of an existing full-size object to the layout sheet as a view, and the view can be scaled instead of the geometry. You don't need to copy or redraw a detail, so when you make a change, it's reflected in both the view of the whole object and the detail. Even if you have to draw a detail in a separate location—a section elevation detail on a foundation plan, for example—you can still draw it actual size and then scale just the view to whatever scale you desire. As a result, there's seldom a reason to scale the geometry. It's far less likely that you'll find dimensions on a drawing that give the wrong values.
Note
To scale a floating viewport for plotting, use the Scale control window on the viewports toolbar. Or, use the XP option of the ZOOM command. To scale a viewport for plotting at a 1:10 scale, type .1XP after issuing the ZOOM command.
When plotting from Model Space, you have to calculate certain values to get the desired results. You must decide at what scale you plan to plot the drawing and then use the reciprocal of that scale factor to identify appropriate text heights, linetype scales, dimension scales, hatch-pattern scales, and block-insertion scales. If you have details, you need to determine an appropriate linear scale factor for dimension values (DIMLFAC).
With layouts, much of that work is eliminated or simplified:
Text, if placed in Paper Space, can be created at the actual size you want on the plotted sheet.
Text and blocks placed in Model Space can be scaled using the SPACETRANS command. Create an alias for this useful command, or you'll get tired of making typos. Both the alias and the command can be used transparently.
Dimension style settings, like text height and arrow size, can be set to actual plotted size.
You don't need separate dimension styles for each plot scale.
LTSCALE and PSLTSCALE can be set to 1, and the linetypes can be scaled automatically in the layouts.
Title blocks and borders can be inserted into Paper Space at actual size.
Hatch patterns in a floating viewport can be scaled automatically.
MTEXT, when placed with a leader, can scale automatically.
CHSPACE can take care of any problems of misplacing entities and automatically scales objects when moving them from Paper Space to Model Space.
TYPING CLUNKY COMMANDS
Although most commands are intuitive, some are hard to type or difficult to remember. AutoCAD has a couple of aids for those situations that you may not have noticed.
Arrow keys If you press the Down and Up Arrows on your keyboard, you can cycle through the text you typed at the command line. When you get to the text you want, press
Tab key If you can't quite remember the name of a command or variable, but you know it starts with DYN, for example, type the first few letters you know and then start pressing the Tab key on your keyboard. All the system variables and commands beginning with those letters scroll past until you find the one you want—DYNPICOORDS, for example.
Offices that plot from layouts get more consistent results from the many different users who plot drawings. Template drawings can include preinserted title blocks and borders with all text at actual size. Various layouts can be set up in the template drawing for each sheet size and plotter in the office, allowing a change in plotting with a simple selection of a Layout tab. Layers for both detail and full-size dimensions and hatch patterns can be created and displayed selectively in different viewports.
Because reorganizing the floating viewports in a layout requires only that they be moved, there's no reason to relocate geometry to change the way a drawing plots. You can eliminate the danger of changing critical information by moving objects. If two views on the sheet are too close together, you can move them without changing the coordinates being used for station points or as origins for baseline dimensions. You can even rotate views, using the DVIEW or PLAN command, without changing the geometry or the UCS.
Note
Moving geometry once it's located can cause all kinds of problems. If you need to relocate the geometry you've created, don't forget to thaw, unlock, and turn on all the layers that may have entities that should be included. If you've placed ordinate dimensions, you may get incorrect values when you update.
Most offices have more than one plotter, each of which uses more than one sheet size. With the layouts available in AutoCAD, a single file can have a different layout for plotting to different sheet sizes, or have layouts of entirely different views of the same object. A complete set of drawings can be contained in a single file, eliminating the possibility of drawing files getting separated. Sheet sets, new in AutoCAD 2005, can be created from individual Layout tabs across multiple drawings to give you even more flexibility.
In residential architectural drawings, it's common practice to place geometry representing the different floors in the same location so that features can be lined up properly. You do this by either placing all the floors in one drawing file or using individual drawings as external references. The layers containing those different floors can be frozen when you don't want them to be displayed.
Using VPLAYER or the Current VP Freeze property in the Layer dialog box, you can have a single file with a layout for the foundation, first floor, second floor, roof-framing plan, and so on, and display each floor in its own layout. Each of the layouts can be consistently laid out with the same border and title block.
Layouts use page setups based on specific plotters and specific sheet sizes. As long as the plotter-configuration files and plot-style tables exist and are in the path, you can always plot the drawing, because information about the plotter, the particular line characteristics, and the particular sheet sizes stays with the drawing. If you've ever used early releases of AutoCAD, you know why this is a huge bonus.
A user can create a viewport of any shape with the MVIEW command. If a viewport already exists, it can be reshaped using the VPCLIP command. This permits you to be selective about what objects in a drawing will plot. If an object happens to be an XRef or a block reference, that object can also be clipped with the XCLIP command. VPLAYER allows you to be selective about which layers are displayed. Combining XCLIP, VPLAYER, and VPCLIP gives the user nearly unlimited flexibility in presenting geometry and in making plotting changes. You can even use conventional breaks on long objects without breaking the objects.
Once you've created a layout that works well in one drawing, you can duplicate it within the current drawing, or within any other drawing, using ADC or the right-click menu of a layout. The right-click process isn't as obvious as it should be. To make a copy of an existing layout, right-click its tab, and select Move Or Copy. The dialog box that opens is used for both moving and copying the layout. To copy it, check Create A Copy as shown in Figure 6.6. To select a location, pick the name of an existing layout or (Move To End).
Few things are more frustrating than plotting out a drawing only to discover that the final product is missing an essential feature. Here are some steps you should take to prepare a drawing to be plotted from a layout. Make these changes part of your template drawings:
Title blocks. Define a block containing full-size borders and title blocks for each sheet size you use in your office. If you use the same sheet size with more than one plotter, make sure your full-size border fits all plotters, because some plotters require a larger paper-gripper margin than others. I recommend adding attributes to title blocks. You don't have to have multiple border blocks for different plot scales, because you'll almost always plot from Paper Space at a 1:1 scale.
Note
If you use a separate DWG file as a title block and use either INSERT or XREF to bring it into the drawing, make sure all the geometry in that drawing is in Model Space. You can't insert or externally reference entities from a drawing if they're in Paper Space.
Text style. Create an appropriate text style (using a name other than Standard) with the height set to 0 so it can be used for dimensions and for text at different sizes. The text height for dimensions should be set in your dimension styles at the height you want it to plot. It will automatically scale properly if you follow the advice in step 3.
Dimension style. Create your dimension styles (again, using a name other than Standard) with the DIMSCALE set to 0. You can do this through the Dimension Style Manager by clicking the Modify button and then going to the Fit tab and selecting the Scale Dimensions To Layout radio button. Don't forget to create child styles for types of dimensions that require different properties from your parent style. I always create a child style for radius and diameter dimensions, and sometimes for linear dimensions, angles, and leaders. See Chapter 4, "Applying Graphics Standards," for detailed instruction on creating dimension styles.
Linetypes. Set LTSCALE and CELTSCALE to 1 so that linetypes are scaled with the same line-segment length with which they were created. This results in linetypes that may not appear correctly in Model Space. Don't worry; they'll look fine in the layout if you make sure PSLTSCALE is also set to 1. Figure 6.7 shows what hidden lines look like in Model Space. Figure 6.8 shows the same geometry as it's displayed in a floating viewport in a layout. With PSLTSCALE set to 1, linetypes are scaled so they have the same appearance when plotted, no matter what scale is used in a floating viewport. You can also set PSLTSCLAE by checking the Use Paper Space Units For Scaling option in the Details area of the Linetype Manager dialog box.
Layers. You should create a few specialized layers in addition to your typical layers. You should have a special layer just for detail dimensions and hatch patterns if you have multiple details with features that show in more than one floating viewport. Your floating viewports should be on their own nonplot layer. Don't place then on the Defpoints layer. If you do, you won't be able to select them if layer 0 happens to be frozen.
Create separate layers for the following entities.
General dimensions
Detail dimensions
General hatch patterns
Detail hatch patterns
Floating viewports (make this a non-plot layer)
Preset layouts. Set up a layout for each sheet size you use in your office or for the specific layouts you're most likely to use. If your office uses consistent layouts that have floating viewports with the same scales for most drawings, your template drawing should include those. You can even have borders and title blocks preinserted.
Let's begin again, as simply as possible, with two lists—one for Model Space, one for Paper Space—and my advice for what should go into each space. You may have good reasons to vary from the following recommendations, but they work well for most applications. Some of my recommendations here may be controversial. There is some disagreement, for instance, about whether dimensions should be in Model Space or in Paper Space. I'm going to make a case in the next section for having them end up in Model Space. I recommend adding them to Model Space through a floating viewport, but if you forget and place them in Paper Space, you can move them to Model Space using the CHSPACE command. Some people do that on purpose. Make sure the display is locked in that viewport before you place your dimensions. These recommendations are illustrated in Figure 6.9. Now, to the lists.
As you know, Model Space is where you do your designing, as opposed to where you lay out a drawing sheet. The following types of entities should be created in, or at least end up in, Model Space:
3D models
All visible lines that describe 2D geometry
All annotation lines that locate features
Center lines
Phantom lines
Symmetry lines
Dimensions
Hatch patterns
Text that's associated directly with the geometry, including any text attached to a leader, or text that would be meaningless if it was separated from the geometry.
Once you're ready to annotate and present your design, you need to create a layout in Paper Space. That layout should contain the following kinds of objects:
Sheet border
Title block
Title block text
Bill of materials
Viewports at specified plot scales
Titles of views
Text used for general annotation (any text that would not be affected if it was moved away from the geometry)
As I mentioned earlier, some users disagree with me when it comes to placing dimensions in Model Space. With the addition of the DIMASSOC variable, dimensions can now be placed in Paper Space and be indirectly associated with the entities in Model Space that they represent. Even though they're in a different space, they usually move when the geometry moves, they usually display the correct dimension, and they usually stay that way. But usually doesn't mean always—and that's the problem. You shouldn't have to worry about dimensions misbehaving some day down the road because the connection between Model Space and Paper Space isn't perfect. This is especially true when you're dimensioning complex geometry.
Whether or not you agree, if your office standard is to put dimensions in Paper Space, you have to be consistent about it. But for what it's worth, here are the reasons I come down on the side of Model Space in this discussion. (Remember, you can always move dimensions between spaces now that CHSPACE is an actual command.)
Can't use entities in XRefs and blocks If you place one drawing in another as either an inserted block or an external reference, you get only the objects in Model Space. Dimensions placed in Paper Space aren't part of the reference.
QDIM won't work I'm a big fan of the QDIM command, but it can't be used to place dimensions in Paper Space. Because QDIM requires you to select the objects themselves, rather than snap to locations on the objects, it can currently be used only in Model Space—either through a floating viewport or in the Model Space tab. QDIM provides an enormous advantage, particularly when creating ordinate dimensions, but I also use it for placing continuous dimensions on floor plans.
Note
If you want dimensions in Paper Space, you can use QDIM to place dimensions in Model Space; then, use CHSPACE to move them into Paper Space.
Associativity sometimes breaks If you place dimensions in Paper Space and later move the objects in Model Space, the dimensions may not move with them. I know they're supposed to be associated, but that connection sometimes breaks down.
Dimensions can be too associative If you move entities outside the limits of a floating viewport, their dimensions in Paper Space may move well off the sheet of paper to retain their associative relationship, even though the objects they dimension aren't displayed.
Dimensions don't copy with entities If you want to copy an entity with its dimensions, you can't select the dimensions if they're in Paper Space.
Leaders get corrupted Leaders can pose problems if you place them in Paper Space. Generally, a leader is in a specific location in reference to an object. If you move the object (or objects) the leader refers to, you should also move the leader and text. If you place a leader in Paper Space, only the arrowhead moves with its associated object, and then only if you snapped to the object at the time the leader was placed. In Figure 6.10, the leader was placed in Paper Space. When the arc it's attached to was moved, the leader was distorted.
Wrong dimension values are displayed Dimensions placed in Paper Space sometimes display a value that's based on the distance in the layout, not the distance on the model. If the floating viewport has a scale other than 1:1, the value shown is incorrect. Model Space always reflects the actual dimension of the geometry and updates when you edit the geometry.
Can't define detail blocks You can create blocks or use the WBLOCK command to create new drawings that include both geometry and dimensions if they're all in Model Space.
Have to dimension to an entity In order for dimensions in Paper Space to be associated with a Model Space object, you must select the object. If you're dimensioning near the object (to the middle of walls, for example), dimensions may have a Paper Space value and not an actual value, as shown in Figure 6.11.
Most users expect dimensions to be in Model Space Because of the long legacy of placing dimensions in Model Space in earlier releases, people with prior experience are more likely to understand how your drawings are put together.
DIMASSOC may have the wrong setting Before AutoCAD 2002, dimensions were controlled by the variable DIMASO, which had two settings: 0 and 1. If it was set to 0, dimensions were exploded when they were created. If it was set to 1, dimensions were anonymous blocks. If you open a drawing created before AutoCAD 2002, its DIMASO setting is used as the setting for DIMASSOC. However, DIMASSOC has three settings: 0, 1, and 2. If it isn't set to 2, dimensions in Paper Space don't reflect Model Space distances—they reflect Paper Space distances.
If you open a drawing done in an early release of AutoCAD and want to add dimensions in Paper Space, you must remember to set DIMASSOC to 2 after you open it and before you add dimensions.
Scroll wheels cause problems When you zoom or pan in a floating viewport using your mouse's scroll wheel, you may find that Paper Space dimensions float free from the Model Space entities they're supposedly associated with. The DIMREGEN command is designed for this situation. When you use it, things get back together—almost always. However, if you don't notice the problem, the dimensions don't plot in the correct location—a fact you may overlook on a complex drawing.
DIMCENTER doesn't work right A Paper Space center mark applied to a circle in Model Space using DIMCENTER doesn't scale correctly unless the floating viewport plot scale is 1:1. DIMREGEN has no effect on center marks placed this way, so they can't be reconnected to an entity after a pan or zoom of any kind. See Figure 6.12.
A dimension can have an origin in each space It's possible, particularly when you're dimensioning something with some complexity or under time pressure, to snap to a location in Model Space for one dimension origin and to a location in Paper Space for the other. The resulting dimension value is meaningless.
Some users place dimensions for 2D geometry in Model Space and dimensions for 3D models in Paper Space. Your own decision rests on the kind of 3D dimensioning you're doing. You have two ways to add dimensions to 3D objects: directly to the model itself, or on 2D projections of a 3D model.
Suppose you use a floating viewport to display an isometric view of a model in a layout. If you put the dimensions in Paper Space, they're incorrect because of the foreshortening that happens when a view is isometric. If you add dimensions this way, be prepared to override each value. Place them in Model Space instead, and you get the correct value.
If you project standard orthographic views of a model using SOLPROF or SOLDRAW, you may choose to dimension the views in Paper Space to avoid using multiple layers for dimensions. If so, make sure that DIMASSOC is set to 2. If you're using a release prior to AutoCAD 2002, set DIMLFAC equal to the reciprocal of your intended plot-scale factor.
Note
Whenever you set the scale of a floating viewport, lock the display immediately. Right-click the viewport, or use the MVIEW command, but do it before you try to place dimensions or hatch patterns, or start any editing.
Hatch patterns really have to be placed in Model Space, so there's no controversy here; but I'd like to make the same recommendation for hatch patterns that I've made for dimensions. Don't place any hatch patterns until you set up your layout and scale and lock your views. Only then will a hatch scale automatically in a floating viewport.
You may have to hatch the same area more than once if it shows up in different view-ports at different scales. Note that in Figure 6.13, the two hatch patterns shown have the same boundary. Even though their floating viewports use different scales, the hatch-pattern spacing is the same because each pattern was placed separately in its own viewport and scaled automatically so it looks right in that viewport.
Before placing each hatch pattern, do the following:
Create a separate hatch layer for each viewport that has a different scale where the hatch pattern will be displayed.
Create, scale, and lock each floating viewport.
Create the hatch pattern through the floating viewport on its corresponding layer.
Check the Relative To Paper Space option in the Hatch And Gradient dialog box.
Check the Associative box so that hatch patterns update with changes to the boundary.
Select the appropriate Hatch Origin and Create Separate Hatches options (added in AutoCAD 2006).
Note
Note that you can use the Inherit Properties button to select an existing hatch pattern to set the characteristics.
Where you place your text depends on the kind of text you have. My advice is to place text in Paper Space at the size you want it to plot (.125″, 3mm, and so on), if it falls into the following categories:
A general note
Title-block information
Bill of materials information
Other text that isn't associated directly with the geometry
Put text in Model Space, however, if it falls into one of three categories:
Associated directly with the geometry
Attached to a leader
A note that must have a fixed location (room tags, balloon tags, local notes)
Text doesn't do anyone much good if they can't read it. When your drawing is large enough to require a plotting scale less than 1:1, you have to make sure the text that must be placed in Model Space is scaled up accordingly. Several aids are available for creating text at the correct size in Model Space:
Use 'SPACETRANS to transparently scale MTEXT or DTEXT:
DTEXT—Activate a floating viewport from a layout. Issue DTEXT, and select a starting point. When prompted for the text height (you're prompted only if you set the height to 0 when you defined the Text Style), type 'SPACETRANS. (Don't forget the apostrophe. Assign this command to a shortcut key if you use it a lot.) Now, enter the height at which you want the text to plot, and AutoCAD will do a conversion based on the zoom scale of the viewport.
MTEXT—Do the same as for DTEXT; but when you're prompted for the opposite corner type,
Hto select the Height options and then use the 'SPACETRANS command the same way as for DTEXT.
Calculate the text height manually based on the plot scale in each viewport. Make a table or poster with the common sizes you use at each plot scale. Hang it up, or put it in a notebook for reference.
Use CHSPACE. Place text in Paper Space at the size you want it to plot (.10 inch, for example), and then use the CHSPACE command to move the text into Model Space. It's automatically scaled to match the plot scale of that viewport. I repeat: CHSPACE was not a command until AutoCAD 2007. Before that, it was an Express Tool, so it's possible it wasn't loaded on your particular workstation.
Note
You can use SPACETRANS with schematic blocks and treat them like text when you place them in Model Space. As with text, you can also place schematic blocks in Paper Space and use CHSPACE to move them into Model Space.
In case you're still fuzzy on using layouts in Paper Space to set up and plot drawings, here is a step-by-step explanation, starting with the big picture. If you think of using AutoCAD as a process that involves three stages, it may help you to keep track of what to do when. I'll start you off with a three-step overview and then provide a more detailed version. The steps should be done in sequence, but once you understand this process, you can easily mix things up.
You can avoid most problems people have with plotting if you just follow this simple sequence when working with AutoCAD.
Create your geometry full-size in Model Space with no dimensions or hatches.
Set up your layout with a title block and scaled viewports in Paper Space.
Add dimensions and hatch patterns, in Model Space, through a Paper Space viewport.
Simple, isn't it?
Those are the three big steps, but of course, the devil's in the details. So here are the details; 23 of them.
Create appropriate blocks, text styles, dimension styles, and layers as indicated in earlier chapters of this book.
Create your geometry in Model Space with no dimensions or hatch patterns. Include object lines, hidden lines, phantom lines, and center lines.
Switch to Paper Space using the Layout tabs or the LAYOUT command.
Set up the page using the Page Setup Manager (right-click the Layout tab). Either create a new page setup or modify the existing one, as shown in Figure 6.14.
Select a plotter.
Select a plot-style table.
Select a paper size.
Make sure you're plotting the layout at a 1:1 scale unless you're plotting a metric drawing. AutoCAD automatically plots at a 1:25.4 scale as of AutoCAD 2005 if you're in a metric drawing and the paper size used is measured in inches. In prior releases, you must select the Metric option to get this relationship straight.
Note
This notion of plotting the sheet 1:1 sometimes causes confusion, but it's logical. You aren't plotting geometry—you're plotting the layout. That layout is the same size as the sheet of paper. If they're the same size, that's a 1:1 plot scale. Each floating viewport may display geometry at any number of scales, but those scales have nothing to do with what you select for a plot scale.
If they aren't already part of your template, insert a full-size border and title block so you can see how much area you have to set up your views.
Modify the existing floating viewport or create a new one of any desired shape and size, and place it on a Viewports layer. Set the Viewports layer to nonplot, or freeze it before plotting. I like to have the edges of the viewports visible while I'm working so I can modify their properties, but others like to work with a sheet as it will look when plotted.
Add other floating viewports for drawing details using the MVIEW command. Place them on the same nonplot Viewports layer. You can move or edit the floating view-ports after the fact using any of the standard AutoCAD commands, but try using grip editing.
Create an appropriate plot scale for each view using the Viewports toolbar. Select the edge of a floating viewport, and then select a scale. If the Viewports toolbar isn't showing, turn it on. The window on that toolbar is the Scale control window. See Chapter 3, "Customizing AutoCAD's Interface" if you'd like to add the control window to a different toolbar.
Note
You can set a scale in an active floating viewport using the XP option of the ZOOM command. However, if you inadvertently change the zoom magnification while in that floating viewport, the scale displayed in the Viewports toolbar doesn't immediately update. If that happens, you can lock a viewport with the wrong scale. Avoid this problem by selecting the edge of the viewport to set the scale.
Once you have the floating viewport display the way you want it, lock the display so you don't change your plot scale accidentally. Otherwise, your dimensions could all have different sizes. You can lock a viewport in Paper Space by selecting the edge of the viewport and right-clicking. (See Figure 6.15.) You can also lock one or more viewports using the Lock option of the MVIEW command.
Create a dimension layer for each view. When you show two views of the same geometry at different scales, you may end up showing the dimensions intended for one view in another view. The dimensions appear to be different sizes in the floating viewports, because you have them zoomed to a different magnification in each floating viewport. In Figure 6.16, the dimensions in the viewport on the right don't appear in the active viewport on the left because the layer they're on, fl1-dim-det, is frozen in the current layer.
Freeze layers by viewport to control their display in each floating viewport:
Make the viewport active where you don't want the dimensions to show.
While this viewport is active, use the Layer Control window in the Object Properties toolbar to select the Freeze Or Thaw In Current Viewport icon. You can do this in the Layer Manager dialog box too, but the Layer Control window is quicker.
Note
The command VPLAYER is even faster. Use it at the command line, in a script, or in a Lisp program.
Make a separate dimension layer for detail dimensions, and freeze that layer in the main viewport and any others where you don't want it to be displayed.
Add your dimensions in each viewport. If you set up your dimension style as suggested in Chapter 4, the dimensions are automatically scaled based on the zoom magnification in each viewport. As a result, all heights plot the same in each view.
You can add hatch patterns to the same dimension layers or create similar layers just for hatch patterns. Add your hatch patterns in the proper views, scaling them to Paper Space as shown earlier. Remember, this works only if they're added to a floating viewport.
Add your notes in Paper Space using full-size text.
You can use MVIEW to control how 3D models display or plot. They can be displayed as Wireframe, Hidden, 3D Hidden, 3D Wireframe, Conceptual, Realistic, or Rendered. The options are a little different prior to AutoCAD 2007, but nothing that would confuse you.
Place all viewports on a nonplot layer before plotting, unless you want them to plot. The edges of viewports always plot as thin lines. If you want to see them, trace a pline over them.
Use VPLAYER or the drop-down list in the Object Properties toolbar if you need to manage the visibility of layers in existing viewports. VPLAYER allows you to control the visibility of multiple viewports using wildcards. Figure 6.17 shows the VPLAYER being used to freeze all layers except those starting with the characters FL2 in the active floating viewport. Figure 6.18 shows the immediate results.
Do a plot preview, check that linetypes and lineweights are correct, and send the plot off to the plotter, which you've already set up using appropriate plot-style tables as shown later.
To add more layouts, right-click any layout, select New, and go through these steps again.
Note
Now that you understand layouts, look at the Layout Wizard. Although it can simplify the process of using layouts, it can also complicate your day if you want to change something and don't understand what the wizard has already done. Why didn't I tell you sooner? Hey, it's in the Help system.
You can use two general strategies to organize geometry in Model Space. The first is what I call a true position strategy. Imagine a building plan created by externally referencing a drawing representing each floor into the same host drawing. The floors are placed in their proper locations on top of each other. This makes it difficult to decipher the drawing in the Model Space tab but lets you check alignments from floor to floor. You then separate the floors by creating a layout for each one and freezing all the layers that aren't part of that XRef in each viewport on that layout. All the layers are thawed globally and then controlled within floating viewports. That strategy is illustrated in Figure 6.19. You can see from the clutter that it would be impossible to work in the model space tab without freezing groups of layers. But you don't have to edit in the model space tab. You eliminate the confusion by creating layouts and then you do your editing in floating viewports in each layout.
I call the second strategy the warehouse floor strategy. This time, imagine individual parts that will be combined into an assembly drawing. If you want to create a different sheet of each part, you can think of Model Space as a large warehouse floor. Put anything you want anywhere on the floor. Completely unrelated drawings can be inserted or externally referenced into one drawing and placed on the floor. Or, you can draw all the parts in different locations in Model Space. Then, a floating viewport can be created for each of the areas you used, and you can create as many layouts as you like. That strategy is illustrated in Figure 6.20. Each Layout tab represents a single sheet in a set of drawings of the parts and the final assembly.
You may think there's nothing left to say about layouts. Well, there are a few things I haven't covered. Here's a collection of final tips for plotting from layouts that I hope you'll find handy.
Sometimes layouts can be too flexible. It's possible to make them any shape and place them in any arrangement, including overlapping each other, but occasionally I run into someone who has created a layout that's completely inside another layout. Once they make the larger viewport active, they can no longer activate the smaller one by clicking in it. See Figure 6.21.
The Ctrl+R key combination cycles through all your floating viewports in a layout. You can also activate a particular viewport with the CVPORT variable, but you must know what number has been assigned each viewport. This option is most likely to be used in a Lisp program.
Well, VPMAX looked good, but it doesn't do the one thing that would make it more useful: Inexplicably, it doesn't honor the scale factor when you place dimensions. Even with DIMSCALE set to 0 and the viewport locked, any dimensions you place using this feature are scaled to the zoom factor at the time the dimension is placed. I can't call that a glitch, because it may be a feature, but I hope it changes.
A workshop participant once asked me if there was a way to create a floating viewport with an island. At the time, I hadn't thought about it, but she wanted a blank area within a viewport where she could place text in Paper Space. Wipeouts were Express Tools at the time, and she didn't have them loaded. The results of using the DRAWORDER command couldn't be locked anyway then, so she couldn't guarantee that the text would always be readable, and she didn't want to trim out any of the geometry in the viewport. She just wanted to block it from view. We came up with something that did what she wanted, using the REGION command.
Regions are 2D shapes, but they behave like 3D models with a zero thickness. This isn't the real world, so you can have zero-thickness objects. Regions can be modified like 3D models. They can be combined using the UNION command, and subtracted from each other using the SUBTRACT command, and the results can be extruded into 3D solids that do have a thickness. But you can also use regions to create floating viewports, as follows:
Draw rectangles, circles, or closed polylines that represent the size, shape, and location of the viewport and the islands.
Use the REGION command to turn them all into regions.
Use the SUBTRACT command to remove the smaller shapes from the larger one. These become the islands, and you have a single region.
Use the MVIEW command or the proper button on the Viewports toolbar to convert the region object into a floating viewport. See Figure 6.22.
When you select a floating viewport that was created from another object, you're picking two entities: a viewport and the original object. The viewport is rectangular, but part of it is masked by the other entity. If you select the viewport and check its properties, you'll see that you have two objects. You can list the properties of each object independent of the other.
Two possible problems may result:
If you freeze the layer the viewports are on, the viewports become rectangular.
If you turn off the layer the viewports are on, the first time you pan or zoom in Paper Space with the middle wheel, it appears as though the Model Space objects stay fixed as the layout moves over them. You may even lose the visibility of your Model Space entities. Use REGEN to get the display back on track.
Traditionally, in mechanical design, if you wanted to show detail on the ends of a long part, you drew just the ends with a conventional break symbol and added the overall length as a broken dimension. There was no reason to draw the entire length, because that required a scale so small that the detail wouldn't show. Now that you're using a CAD system, though, why not draw the whole part and use a layout to create the impression of a conventional break?
Here's how:
Draw the long part in the Model Space tab.
Create a layout for the sheet size you use.
Create a single floating viewport to represent one end of the part, and place it in an appropriate location. Make sure it's on a nonplot layer.
Set the proper scale for the viewport, and frame the geometry for one end as shown in Figure 6.24.
Copy the viewport by tracking horizontally, and place the copy beside the first with a small gap between them (see Figure 6.25).
Activate the second viewport, and pan to the other end of the part, as shown in Figure 6.26.
Note
Don't use the scroll wheel or the standard PAN command to set up the second viewport. Use the -PAN command instead. This command-line version isn't free floating; it requires you to select a base point and a displacement point. Do so using tracking, and the two views will line up perfectly at exactly the same scale.
Create a block for a conventional break symbol, and make it the right size for a 1 unit diameter shaft. Now you can scale for any size shaft. In this case, the shaft has a diameter of 2.25, and its viewport is scaled at 1:2. So, you add the conventional break symbol at a scale of 1.25 in Paper Space, as shown in Figure 6.27.
Note
Have you ever tried to snap directly to the intersection of a line in Model Space and the edge of a viewport in a layout? You can't do it. But you can accomplish the same thing by acquiring an object snap on the part and tracking to the intersection with the edge of the viewport. You may be surprised how often you'll use this technique.
Add dimensions to the part. To add any dimension that spans the two floating viewports, activate one, start the dimension, and then click inside the other to finish it. If a dimension spans both viewports (as two of them do in Figure 6.28), connect it between the two viewports by drawing a short line segment in Paper Space, and then move the dimension text so it's displayed in one of the viewports.
If you change the overall length of the part, its dimensions update. When plotted, the object appears as in Figure 6.29.
This variable comes in handy for controlling the scale used to display Model Space entities when you create a new floating viewport. Because you probably use one plot scale most of the time, you may as well set PSVPSCALE to that plot scale (actually, to the reciprocal of that plot scale). Table 6.2 shows several examples in different disciplines.
You may want to rotate a floating viewport sometime, expecting the display of Model Space to rotate as well. That won't happen. However, you can use DVIEW (an often-overlooked command) to rotate a view within a viewport without changing the orientation of the entities. Its purpose is to set up views of 3D models, but now that AutoCAD has camera objects, it isn't used as much as it once was.
A drawing whose orientation is fixed may not fit well on a sheet of paper. Figure 6.30 shows a campus plan with the North arrow showing a north-up orientation. To fit it onto the sheet more efficiently, you may want to rotate the view without rotating the entities.
Here's how you can use DVIEW to do that:
Make the viewport active.
Determine the angle at which you want the view rotated. Select a line that represents a feature you want to display horizontally, and use DIST to determine its absolute angle from 0 in the X-Y plane. In this case, that angle is 57.00°, so you rotate the view −57° to make it rotate clockwise.
Select the objects you want to use to determine the orientation, or press
You're now in DVIEW, which is its own little universe with the following command-line prompt:
[CAmera/TArget/Distance/POints/PAn/Zoom/TWist/CLip/Hide/Off/Undo]. I won't go into all of these here. The option you want isTWist.You're prompted to
Specify view twist angle <0>. Enter−57to twist the view clock-wise, unless you've changed the default angle direction.Type
X
The PUBLISH command is used to plot multiple sheets from saved drawings, using either the Model Space tab or the Layout tabs in the drawings. It's a replacement for the Batch Plotting utility that shipped with AutoCAD prior to AutoCAD 2004, and it can still use the older BP3 files created for batch plotting. However, you're more likely to use a drawing set description file (DSD) than a BP3 file.
Plotting can be done to either a physical plotter or a DWF file, including what is known as a multisheet DWF, using the PUBLISH command. The DWF file is electronic and designed to be shared with others who don't have AutoCAD. The process of using PUBLISH is straightforward for both kinds of output. Here, I'll deal with plotting to a sheet of paper.
Note
If you're using the PUBLISH command to plot sheets from any open drawings, make sure each layout has a page setup defined and that the drawings have been saved before you use the PUBLISH command.
The Publish dialog box is shown in Figure 6.32. As you can see, it contains a list of sheet names. Those sheet names are composed from the drawing name and the layout name of the sheet, although Model Space sheets can also be shown. I don't recommend plotting the Model Space tab, but it's there. The buttons circled in Figure 6.32 are used to organize the sheets you plan to publish.
The buttons shown are used for the following actions, starting on the left and moving to the right:
Preview
Add Sheets
Remove Sheets
Move Sheet Up
Move Sheet Down
Load Sheet List
Save Sheet List
Plot Stamp Settings
Note
If you haven't activated a Layout tab for a listed sheet, you get the Layout not initialized error when you try to select it in the PUBLISH command.
Once you've established a list of sheets, click the Publish button, and they're plotted using the settings in the Page Setup dialog box for that sheet. This happens in the background as of AutoCAD 2005, allowing you to continue working.
Note
If you use the command-line version of the PUBLISH command, plotting isn't done in the background.
If you want to quickly plot all the layouts in a drawing, you can do so without using the Publish dialog box. Right-click any Layout tab, pick the Select All Layouts option, right-click again, and then select Publish Selected Layouts. Plotting is done in the background, although you may find that your computer's performance is affected. In Figure 6.33, I selected all 24 layouts; each one plotted with its page setup with no further input from me.
Sheet sets can be composed of layouts from a variety of saved drawings. Once a sheet set is created, you can manage it with the Sheet Set Manager palette. You can also use it as the basis for the PUBLISH command to create a DWF file consisting of the entire sheet set, with an index and a table of contents. This can be helpful in plotting groups of drawings for transmittal to a client.
You can organize sheet sets as projects and give them tracking numbers, project names, phase-completion data, cross sheet call-outs, and additional custom properties. As with other file-management tools, be careful not to change drawing names or locations within projects once you've identified layouts as part of a sheet set.
Note
Sheet sets haven't caught on as quickly as I expected, probably because they have so many options. Don't be intimidated. Despite the large number of new commands and the potential complexity associated with this feature, the New Sheet Set Wizard makes sheet sets easy to use.
AutoCAD includes some sample sheet sets, but I don't think you'll find them useful as a starting point. Instead, select Existing Drawings when you create a sheet set. Use the Browse button on the Sheet Set Wizard to display the panel where you can select layouts to add to the set. (See Figure 6.34.) You must save the drawings first.
Sheet Sets aren't that difficult, so jump in and try using them. Once you see how easy it is to get started, you'll want a much more thorough discussion of their complexities: Look at the extensive PDF file on Heidi Hewett's AutoCAD Insider website: http://heidihewett.blogs.com/. It's a great site.
AutoCAD uses plot-style tables to control the appearance of lines when you plot. There are two kinds of tables: color dependent and named. They're saved in files with either a .ctb or an .stb file extension.
Each individual drawing can use only one kind of plot-style table. For historical reasons, most offices use color-dependent tables. The color-dependent tables have 255 pens, one for each standard AutoCAD index color. If you're using True Color colors, or one of the Color Books, color tables can't map a plot style to them, so I recommend using only style tables if possible.
Two commands convert a drawing from one type of table to the other:
CONVERTPSTYLES converts a style-dependent drawing into a color-dependent drawing. It also converts a color-dependent drawing into a style-dependent drawing, but you must first use the CONVERTCTB command.
CONVERTCTB converts an existing color-dependent table into a style-dependent table. This should be done prior to using CONVERTPSTYLES.
ACAD.STB and ACAD.CTB control color by plotting the same color as on the screen because they're set to Use Object Color by default. If you plot to a monochrome plotter using a style that plots in color, each color plots as a shade of gray. To force plotting with black lines, use the MONOCHROME.STB or MONOCHROME.CTB table.
Note
If you use Pantone or one of the Color Books for any entities in your drawing, they always plot that color even if the plot-style table indicates that they will plot black. Only the standard index colors plot black when you use the monochrome plot-style table.
To open a table for editing, select the plot-style table you want from the Plot dialog box, and click the Edit button that appears beside the window. You can then modify the plot style contained by that table. However, if you've converted an existing drawing from color-dependent to style-dependent after converting a CTB to an STB file, there's a significant limitation on editing the resulting table: You can't add new styles.
If style-dependent tables are used, you can define as many styles as you want for an individual drawing. In most cases, one style is sufficient if you assign lineweights and linetypes ByLayer, because lineweight is the characteristic that's most likely to be controlled by a plot style.
To use a style-dependent system, do the following:
Create a template that's based on named plot styles. You have to start a drawing using a template that's already based on a named plot style, such as
acad -Named Plot Styles.dwt. If you already have a template, you can convert it into a style-dependent drawing using CONVERTPSTYLES.If you start a drawing without a template, set Use Named Plot Styles as the default in the Plot Style Table Settings dialog box, accessed through the Plot tab of the Options dialog box.
Change the default for QNEW in the Files tab of the Options dialog box (as of AutoCAD 2006) to your style-dependent template.
Create (or edit) a plot-style table using the Plot Style Manager found in the File pull-down menu. Select Add-A-Plot Style Table Wizard from the folder, and follow the instructions given by the wizard. You can also access the wizard by choosing Tools → Wizards → Add Named Plot Style Table.
Figure 6.35 is a sample taken from the website of the Natural Resources Conservation Services of New York. It's the most extensive collection of plot styles that I've found by searching the web. Any entity or layer that has the highlighted style named As Built applied to it plots in red with a lineweight of .0150″.
Computers use two kinds of graphic images: vector and raster. CAD programs produce vector images. Entities are defined mathematically and can be redisplayed as the magnification of the view changes. No matter how far you zoom in to a vector image, it looks good. AutoCAD DWG and DWF files are vector-based, as is the Windows Metafile (WMF) format.
Raster images are based on pixels. When you zoom in on a raster image, it looks increasingly worse, the higher the magnification, because the pixels are displayed as increasingly large. Because a computer monitor displays images in raster format, even vector-based graphics images don't always look good on the screen. You've noticed, I'm sure, that AutoCAD lines drawn at an angle are displayed with a staircase effect. That's because the rectangular shape of the pixels used for monitors are always displayed in a fixed orientation. Their edges are horizontal and vertical, so lines drawn at an angle appear jagged because you can see the corners of the pixels. Figure 6.36 demonstrates this with two images: a raster image above, and a vector image below.
Let's say you want to illustrate a document created with a word processor, or add a high-quality image to a presentation, or provide an AutoCAD drawing to someone who doesn't have access to AutoCAD. In other words, you want to share an AutoCAD drawing with another application. I do this in one of four ways, depending on the image quality I'm looking for.
This is the easiest method. You press the Print Screen key on your keyboard, and an image of your screen is stored on the Windows clipboard. You can paste it into many other Windows applications by pressing Ctrl+V or right-clicking and choosing Paste. This is a low-resolution process, but if you want to display the whole screen, it's great. Many of the graphics in this book were created that way. It works best when you want to show a dialog box, or the entire screen including the AutoCAD interface, but AutoCAD entities won't show much detail.
To capture just an active dialog box, use the Alt+Print Screen combination. Unfortunately, this doesn't work with some of AutoCAD's tool palettes, but it works with most of them and is a great way to document a process for other users.
You can set up a plotter that creates one of several raster-based files. Autodesk added a PDF plotter to AutoCAD 2007. It works great for plotting vector-based entities, but I've had problems using it with drawings that contain images. To use it, select the DWG To PDF.pc3 plotter in the Page Setup dialog box.
If you need a TIFF file, you can add a plotter definition using the following steps, starting with the AutoCAD File pull down menu: Plotter Manager → Add-A-Plotter Wizard → My Computer → Raster File Formats → Plot To File → Assign A Name → Finish.
When you plot with this plotter setup, select the highest possible resolution if you want to use the images for anything critical. The highest listed resolution is 1600×1280 pixels. If you need something higher, create a larger custom paper size. Those pixels are units, so your sheet size will seem huge. You may not even notice the tiny 10×8 viewport in the lower-left corner of the sheet. To determine how that translates into an actual size, divide the numbers by the dots per inch (DPI) required for your application. If you need to print the result at 300dpi, for example, an image that's 160×1280 pixels will measure 5.3×4.3 inches when it's printed. Double the resolution to 600dpi, and you cut the printed size in half.
I generally use this system to convert an AutoCAD drawing into the highest-quality image for use by someone who doesn't have AutoCAD and doesn't want to download one of Autodesk's viewers. Because WMF is vector-based, when a WMF file is inserted into Microsoft Word and plotted out, it looks just as good as the original AutoCAD drawing. If you use this method, here are some things to keep in mind.
Since AutoCAD 2006, the WMFOUT command always adds a white background. Prior to that, the background took on the color used at the time a WMF file was created. Using white lines on a black background is a lousy combination for a graphic that will be printed in a report, a magazine, or a book (although I've seen it done). Change the Uniform background to white in the Options dialog box for releases prior to AutoCAD 2006. I used to have a special WMF profile for that reason.
WMFOUT isn't a plotting function, so your plot style isn't used. Make sure the entities you're going to select are displayed correctly before using WMFOUT. If you want to use an illustration that has different lineweights, set them, and turn on Lineweight Display. If you're using a 3D model, use the HIDE command before exporting the WMF file as shown in Figure 6.37.
Note
You must select entities when using WMFOUT. If you want to include both layout and Model Space entities, you must temporarily move one group to the other space.
To use the WMF file in another Windows application, such as Microsoft Word or PowerPoint, use the pull-down menu in that application, as follows: Insert → Picture → From File → select the WMF file.
You can place it where you want it. Word can be frustrating to work with when adding graphics. Sometimes they seem to fly around on their own or move unexpectedly when you add material. It may help you to control them if you don't allow graphics to overlap in Word.
This method works great, of course; just select the DWF plotter in the Page Setup dialog box.
Someone without AutoCAD can't view your DWF file without a viewer or other software capable of reading and plotting DWF files. Most people don't have such software, so they have to get it from Autodesk—either by downloading a free version or by purchasing a version now known as Autodesk Design Review (once known as DWF Composer), which has markup, measurement, and other functions that go beyond simple viewing and plotting.
Autodesk hopes this format will become the default vector-based format for viewing CAD files. It hasn't happened yet, but Autodesk is putting a lot of emphasis on DWF in an effort to counter Adobe's efforts to get people to use the PDF format instead. At this point, DWF is clearly a better format, but most people don't have a means of working with DWF files. In contrast, most people have Adobe Reader.
A summary of the possible viewers is available at www.Autodesk.com (as of August, 2006). Some of these may be free or trial versions, but check the site for more information:
Autodesk Design Review
Autodesk DWF Viewer
DWG TrueView