Printing via layouts (aka Paper Space) | ||||||||||||||
Note about the terminology in this Lesson: What is a Layout? The floor plan and dimensions (above) were created in MODEL SPACE at a 1:1 scale. The walls were drawn to be 30' or more long. The title block and viewport were created in a LAYOUT TAB / PAPER SPACE at a 1:1 scale. The title block is 8-1/2 x 11 inches. The viewport is a window into "model space". In the image below, the the viewport is the black rectangle and the contents of the viewport are displayed inside it. The contents of the viewport are scaled to either fit the viewport or (preferably) to conform to a specific drafting scale (ie: 1"=1') Below is a visual representation of a layout for a print to be plotted from a Layout tab.
This conceptual image shows the relationship between model space and a Layout. Think of paper space as being 'above' model space. To see through 'into' model space, you have to create a viewport (Make Viewport MVcommand). Think of a viewport as a window. As soon as you create the viewport, the window is closed and the extents of your drawing are displayed. You can see through it, but you can not 'touch' anything in model space. To have access to your objects in model space from paper space, you have to enter the viewport by typing MS <ENTER>. This 'opens the window' for access. Type in PS <ENTER> to 'close the window'. You may be wondering why you shouldn't just plot from model space. You can and many people do, but the advantage of plotting from paper space is that you can have many layouts from one drawing. You can even add detail views without having to copy and scale your geometry. This feature was radically changed in AutoCAD 2000 and is much more versatile. You now have multiple tabs to organize your plots (or 'sheets'). As a rule, unless you're working for a behind-the-times company with a confused CAD Manager, use Layouts. To toggle between the two spaces, you can pick on one of the layout tabs and back to the Model tab. You can also enter the commandTILEMODE and set it to 0 for paper space and 1 for model space. When you do this, you will notice that the UCS icon in the bottom left corner changed to a triangular icon. This new icon confirms that you are paper space.
When you are in paper space you can draw or insert a title block. In paper space you are still drawing at a 1:1 scale. Start this exercise by drawing a simple title block like the one above in the tab called Layout 1. Make sure you draw it at 1:1 scale. Start with an 8-1/2"x11" rectangle and offset it 1/4" inside (erase the outer one). Make a couple of small rectangles for the text and add some text as shown in the sample above. As soon as your viewport is created, you will see all that you have drawn in model space appear to the extents of the viewport. The next thing you need to do is to scale your viewport for accurate plotting. To do this, you have to 'enter' your viewport. Do this by either typing MS (for model space) or clicking on the square labeled PAPER (it will switch to Model) on the status bar. In newer versions of AutoCAD like 2005 you can also double-click in the viewport. You will notice that the familiar WCS icon appears in the bottom left corner of the viewport. If you have more than one viewport on the screen, left-click in the one that you want to scale or type CTRL+R to toggle through them to the one you want. To scale a viewport, you just use theZOOM command. Type in Z <ENTER> At the command prompt, you must tell AutoCAD what scale you want the viewport to be. This coincides with the scale that you will plot at.
The table above gives you some sample scales. Take ¼" = 1' for example. First remember that 1'=12". If you cross-multiply the 12 by the 4, you get 48. Therefore this scale will be at a 1:48 scale (ratio), or in other terms, your model will be 1/48th the size of real life on paper. To get AutoCAD to scale the viewport, you must type in Z <ENTER>, 1/48XP <ENTER>. This means 1/48th times (X) in relation to paper space (P). Figuring out what scale you require takes some calculation (unless you are told which scale to use). You can see what your extents in model space are and then see what your viewport size is. You can also use trial and error to see what fits in your viewport. This can sometimes be quicker than calculating. To sum this up, here are the basic steps required for using paper space layouts:
One thing that is very important to remember is that you should use paper space only for plotting. Do not modify your model in paper space. One reason for this is that you could have layers turned off in your viewport that are related to the objects you are modifying in the viewport. Return to true model space for any editing that you need to do. Also, do not draw objects on the Layout screen that are part of the drawing. To practice this concept, open up one of the drawings you did in Lesson 2-1. Change to paper space. Draw or insert a title block. Alternately, when you have a viewport active, you will see a list of scale options at the bottom of the screen to define the scale. Select the viewport, and then select the scale from menu: Top 10 Viewport Tips:
To turn layers off in a viewport, you need to be on a Layout Tab and in Model Space of a viewport. In the viewport, then move your cursor to the layer droplist and select the layer you want off and hit the "Freeze in Viewport" icon (in red box) for that layer, then click on the drawing area. You can also do this directly from the Layers Dialog.
|