AutoCAD 2005 for Dummies

you’re using and the drawing scale factor, plus any other information you think useful.

Figure 3-8: Surveying your drawing’s properties.

Plot Layouts for Any Palate

As I describe in Chapter 2, paper space is a separate space in each drawing for composing a printed version of that drawing. You create the drawing itself, called the model, in model space. You then can create one or more plottable views, complete with title block. Each of these plottable views is called a layout. AutoCAD saves separate plot settings with each layout — and with the Model tab — so that you can plot each tab differently. In practice, you’ll need to use only one of the paper space layout tabs, especially when you’re getting started with AutoCAD.

A screen image is worth a thousand paper space explanations. If you haven’t yet seen an example out in the wild, refer to Figures 2-7 and 2-8 in Chapter 2. You also may want to open a few of the AutoCAD 2004 sample drawings and click the Model and layout tabs to witness the variety of ways in which paper space is used. A good place to start is Program FilesAutoCAD 2005SampleWilhome.dwg.

After you complete model space setup, you should create a layout for plotting. You don’t need to create the plotting layout right after you create the drawing and do model space setup; you can wait until after you’ve drawn some geometry. You should set up a layout sooner, not later, however. If any scale or sheet size problems exist, it’s better to discover them early.

  In AutoCAD 2005, it’s still possible to ignore paper space layouts entirely and do all your drawing and plotting in model space. But you owe it to yourself to give layouts a try. You’ll probably find that they make plotting more consistent and predictable. They’ll certainly give you more plotting flexibility when you need it. And you’ll certainly encounter drawings from other people that make extensive use of paper space, so you need to understand it if you plan to exchange drawings with anyone else.

Creating a layout

Creating a simple paper space layout is straightforward, thanks to the AutoCAD 2005 Create Layout Wizard, shown in Figure 3-9. (Yes! Finally, a useful AutoCAD wizard.) The command name is LAYOUTWIZARD, which is not to be confused with the WAYOUTLIZARD command for drawing geckos and iguanas! In any event, you can avoid a lot of typing by choosing Tools>Wizards>Create Layout.

Figure 3-9: The Create Layout Wizard.

  Although the Create Layout Wizard guides you step by step through the process of creating a paper space layout from scratch, it doesn’t eliminate the necessity of coming up with a sensible set of layout parameters. The sheet size and plot scale that you choose provide a certain amount of space for showing your model (see the information earlier in this chapter), and wizards aren’t allowed to bend the laws of arithmetic to escape that fact. For example, a map of Texas at a scale of 1 inch=1 foot won’t fit on an -?11-inch sheet, no way, no how. In other words, garbage in, garbage (lay)out. Fortunately the Create Layout Wizard lends itself to experimentation, and you can easily delete layouts that don’t work. Follow these steps to create a layout:

1. Choose Tools>Wizards>Create Layout, or type LAYOUTWIZARD and press Enter.

2. Give the new layout a name and then click Next.

In place of the default name, Layout3, I recommend something more descriptive — for example, D Size Sheet.

3. Choose a printer or plotter to use when plotting this layout, and then click Next.

Think of your choice as the default plotter for this layout. You can change to a different plotter later, or create page setups that plot the same layout on different plotters.

  Many of the names in the configured plotter list should look familiar because they’re your Windows printers (system printers in AutoCAD lingo). Names with a PC3 extension represent nonsystem printer drivers. See Chapter 12 for details. 

4. Choose a paper size and specify whether to use inches or millimeters to represent paper units, and then click Next.

The available paper sizes depend on the printer or plotter that you selected in Step 3. 

5. Specify the orientation of the drawing on the paper, and then click Next.

The icon showing the letter A on the piece of paper shows you which orientation is which. 

6. Select a title block, or None (see Figure 3-10).

If you choose a title block, specify whether AutoCAD should insert it as a Block — which is preferable in this case — or attach it as an xref. Then click Next.

Figure 3-10: Title block options in the Create Layout Wizard.

Attaching a title block as an xref is a good practice if your title block DWG file is in the same folder as the drawing that you’re working on. The Create Layout Wizard’s title blocks live in the Template folder that’s stored with the AutoCAD Application Data files under your Windows user profile, which isn’t — or shouldn’t be — where you keep your project files. Thus, in this case Block is a safer choice.

  Choose a title block that fits your paper size. If the title block is larger than the paper, the Create Layout Wizard simply lets it run off the paper.

If you don’t like any of the supplied title blocks, choose None. You can always draw, insert, or xref a title block later. See Chapter 13 for information about inserting or xrefing a title block.

  The list of available title blocks comes from all the DWG files in your AutoCAD Template folder. You can add custom title block drawings to this directory (and delete ones that you never use). If you want to know where to put them, see “Cooking Up Terrific Templates,” later in this chapter. 

7. Define the arrangement of viewports that AutoCAD should create, and the paper space to model space scale for all viewports. Then click Next.

A paper space layout viewport is a window into model space. You must create at least one viewport to display the model in your new layout. For most 2D drawings, a single viewport is all you need. 3D models often benefit from multiple viewports, each showing the 3D model from a different perspective.

  The default Viewport scale, Scaled to Fit, ensures that all of your model drawing displays in the viewport but results in an arbitrary scale factor. Most technical drawings require a specific scale, such as 1=10 or ?”=1’–0”. 

8. Specify the location of the viewport(s) on the paper by picking its corners. Then click Next.

After you click the Select Location button, the Create Layout Wizard displays the preliminary layout with any title block that you’ve chosen. Pick two points to define a rectangle that falls within the drawing area of your title block (or within the plottable area of the sheet, if you chose no title block in Step 6).

AutoCAD represents the plottable area of the sheet with a dashed rectangle near the edge of the sheet. If you don’t select a location for the viewport(s), the Create Layout Wizard creates a viewport that fills the plottable area of the sheet. 

9. Click Finish.

AutoCAD creates the new layout.

  If your projects require lots of drawings, you can parlay layouts