Autocad Paper Space

[Margurite Vizarro]

Ive researched it and found there is a debate over drawing & finishing in model space vs drawing in MS and finishing in PS, but I have not found anything about not using model space at all... It's starting to make me think I am crazy.

I'm not sure it's really a matter of "how it is supposed to work..." Paper Space has most of the same power and capabilities as Model Space, so if someone has a particular preference on which space to use for certain end-of-drawing tasks, that's kind of up to them. And sometimes it's easier to do things the "wrong" way than to switch practices. Nevertheless...

Paper Space mainly exists for plotting or prepping your file for completion. It's meant for setting up different layouts, adding title blocks and notes, setting visual scaling, and things of that nature. If you're adding schematics, it seems more logical, productive, and efficient to simply create layers for this purpose and use Model Space.

If you're looking to make a convincing argument as to why Model Space is "better" for your situation, I'd try and prove why there are problems with the current practice. Are you losing time by switching between Paper/Model Space? Are CADers making scaling mistakes by adding drafting features while in Paper Space? Those are some of the issues I sometimes see with drafting in Paper Space.

The only downside to doing schematics in paper space is some plug-ins/utilities assume the work is being done in model space, either because AutoCAD was once only modelspace or because that's the way its always been done. P&ID (piping and instrument diagram) software is a good example of this - most of the ones I'm aware of won't work properly in paper space.

For now... they may find something really useful, or something that solves an ongoing problem, which only works in modelspace and therefore wouldn't be immediately useable. Not an immediate problem but something to be aware of.

Our garbage third party viewer dictates the space that we request everything to be in. This garbage viewer was a decision made by corporate without engineering input. Sometimes the pros and cons are not a consideration

The main difference I can see in doing schematics in paperspace is that the pspace objects will never appear in you insert or xref any of the files into a new layout. Sometimes that's a good thing, other situations -- maybe not so much.

One reason to not draw or note in paper space that I have encountered in the past 20 years of Autocad is. If your drawing becomes corrupt for some reason, you will likely need to try to insert the corrupt drawing into a new drawing. Everything in paper space will be lost. This might not be as common in the current releases, but that is the main reason we still don't draw in paper space.

It was also common once upon a time to issue changes on 8 1/2" x 11" and full size drawings. If we noted in Model space, we could have two viewports that showed the same changes without risking errors noting them twice in paper space.

I apologize for bringing up this topic again years after the last reply but I am having an issue and none of the forums posts seem to address it. Whenever there is a "text not visible in paperspace" issue, it always has to do with someone who is placing their dimensions in model space and those dimensions not showing up in paperspace. This is a slightly different issue, I would like to dimension my 3D model in paperspace (since dimensions in model space would clutter the actual working model) but the dimensions are not visible when placed in paperspace and do not print. Here is a synopsis of my actions:

Something interesting that I notice is that If I move the viewport away from the dimension, the dimension shows up as if the "Hidden Visual Style Viewport" blocks the visibility of the dimension. Also, If I change the visual style of the viewport to the undesirable looking 2D wireframe, then the dimensions show fine. What could be the issue? I need the dimensions to show like they do in the 2D Wireframe visual style but with the HIDDEN visual style of the viewport instead. AutoCAD 2015. "Bring to Front" and "Send to Back" commands have no effect on either the viewport nor the dimensions.

I thought I had replied to this maybe it was a different thread but the solution is PLOT PAPERSPACE LAST. It is a checkbox inside of the page setup properties for the drawings itself (Right Click the LAYOUT Tab and it's in there) Also you can force this option on a per print basis via the PLOT dialogue box, the option is on the right hand side of the PLOT box. If you cannot see it then there is a tiny arrow in the lower right hand corner of the PLOT box that will expand the options. PLOT PAPERSPACE LAST does it.

I am currently working on a section cut for part of my final CAD project in version 2011, but I am having problems with the annotative dimensions appearing in the paper space. I tried copying and pasting a viewport where the dimensions appare, creating a new viewport, etc. No matter what, the dimensions will not appear. Also, I've tried putting the dimensions on various text layers, and it STILL will not appear. The layers are not frozen in either the viewport or model space; I made sure to check both. However, in the same viewport - other dimensions show up. I just don't get it. Please help, as I have a deadline.

I selected the dimensions, and typed in "allannovisible" and set the value to 1. Still, the dimensions won't appear in that viewport. I have several viewports on the same sheet, yet the dimensions appear in those. However, whenever I create a new viewport, or copy and paste an existing one with dimensions that DO appear, the new dimensions that I need won't show up (even though they are on the same layer). At a complete loss here, and this final is due Thursday. Maybe I did the allannovisible command wrong; not sure. I don't know what to do!

What are the annotation scales (not dimscale) of the dimensions that are going missing vs the scale of the viewport you are dragging on to the sheet. If these are different they won't show because AutoCAD recognizes you are placing a different scale drawing than those annotations were placed for. Even if it's off by a little bit the dimensions will go away. (i.e. the annoscale is 1/4" and the viewport is scaled to .487 instead of .48, something that's easy to do if scaling viewports manually vs dragging and dropping named modelspace views)

You don't need to select the dimesnions, because Annoallvisible is a system variable. You should be in the paperspace mode of the layout or sheet that you're having problems seeing the dimensions in when setting this, not the drawing where the dimensions were created. My apologies for not being clearer.

What you said is correct - it was a problem with the scale. I was able to meet with my TA last minute, and she was able to get the dimensions to show up. What worked was: Under the annotate tab, I had not specified what type of annotation it was. Selecting "Lettering" allowed it to work, and THEN changing the scale like you suggested. I needed my section cut at 1" = 1'-0", and adjusted the annotations accordingly. Thanks for your help!

Well this might happen, depending on complexity of Your Layout. Different things like multiple viewports, complex clipping shapes , different shade plots used in viewports. When i was working with complex drawings i used to "Disable" the viewports to increase performance (By changing the "On" property to "No" at the properties window).

Another thing that might influence overall Layout performance is setting for "Layout Regen options", perhaps You might take a look if by any chance You have the option "Cache model tab and all layouts" checked. You can experiment with that.

The "Layout Regen Option" checkboxes are available in Options (OP Command ), at System tab. This setting is actually responsible for faster switching between different Layouts and/or Model space, but I also thought it could be useful if You have some reasonable amount of data within Your drawing.

Well I tried both these suggestions and many others but still no improvement. It doesn't matter whether the drawing is large or small. The moment you go into paperspace the whole thing just bogs down and becomes almost impossible to work with.

The visualstyles is set to "3d Hidden Visual Style" on each vport in your layout. But the 3d Hidden Visual Style setting has been modified. Your drawing will be fine when you reset the setting of "3d Hidden Visual Style" to default.

I also have the same problem where model space is running fine but paperspace is slow when panning and zooming. I have a new PC that should be more than adequate to run the software graphically. I am also running the LT version of AutoCAD so the 3d fixes would not apply to me. I am wondering if it has to do with an old template file I have been using with items in old drawings that are not updated. Something else I should point out is that in order to keep my files small I also purge everything on a drawing once I have completed it.

I'm having the same issue as you. I'm using AutoCAD LT 2020 with a new machine and my model is running very slow in paper space, especially when switching btwn sheets. I have not found the solution yet.

Thanks for your answer. I obvsiously tried saving my file after changing the setting in the visual styles window. I tried to find an IT capable of answering me regarding the installation settings, unfortunately, nobody here seems to know what I'm talking about and they claim that there is no different way among users to install C3D. Will try and speak with other departments regarding my issue to which I seem to be the only one to experience.

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