Exercise | Create and Manipulate Viewports

In this exercise, you change the scale factor of a viewport, move a viewport, freeze a layer in an active viewport, and create a new viewport.

The completed exercise

1. Open M_Create-and-Manipulate-Viewports.dwg.
2. In the Layout1 tab, click to select the green
3. To set the viewport scale:
   • On the status bar, click the Viewport Scale list and select 1:30.

     

4. The floor plan should now appear smaller on the layout and you should be able to see all of the dimensions as shown.

   

5. Click the Layout2 tab.
6. To move a viewport:
   • Start the Move command.
   • Select the green rectangular viewport that displays the circular staircase. Press ENTER.
   • Move it to the upper-right corner of the border, as shown.

     

7. To activate model space in the layout:
   • Position the cursor inside the green rectangular viewport on the left side of the sheet.
   • Double-click to activate the model space environment through that viewport.
   • When the viewport is active, the crosshairs and UCS icon should appear as shown.

     

8. To freeze a layer in the current viewport:
   • Open the Layer Properties Manager.
   • Click the icon in the VP Freeze column for the layer Internal Wall to freeze that layer in the current viewport.
   • Click OK.

     Notice how the staircase is no longer displayed in the viewport on the left but it is in the viewport on the right.

     

9. To change the color of a layer in the current viewport:
   • Open the Layer Properties Manager.
   • Click the icon in the VP Color column for the layer Furniture.
   • Set the color to magenta.
   • Click OK.

     

10. To verify that the Furniture color only changed in Layout2:
    • Click the Model tab. Confirm that the furniture color remained brown.
    • Click the Layout1 tab. Notice that the furniture color remained brown.
    • Click the Layout2 tab. Confirm that the furniture color is still magenta in this layout.
11. To activate the layout environment:
    • Position your cursor in the gray background outside the paper.
    • Double-click to change the focus back to the layout environment.
12. To create a viewport:
    • Type -vports on the command line
    • Click and draw a rectangular viewport in the open area of the paper layout as shown.

      

13. To set the viewport scale:
    • Double-dick inside the new viewport to make it active.
    • On the status bar, click the Viewport Scale list and click 1:30.
14. Pan the view in the viewport so you are viewing the bay walls and couch as shown.

    

15. Double-click in the gray area outside the paper.
16. Grip edit the viewport from the upper-right corner to crop the display as shown.

    

17. The green viewport borders are on the Viewports layer. To set that layer so it does not plot:
    • Open the Layer Properties Manager.
    • Click the printer icon in the Viewports layer row.

      With this setting, the viewport borders are not plotted when you output the drawing.

      

18. On the command line, enter VPROTATEASSOC. Enter 1.
19. Select the viewport you created and then start the Rotate command on the command line:
    • Select a corner of the viewport as the base point for the rotation.
    • For the rotation angle, enter 90 and press ENTER.

      Note that when the rotation is complete, the view of the drawing rotates with the viewport. If the VPROTATEASSOC variable is set to zero the Rotate command only rotates the viewport and not the view within it.

20. Close all files without saving.