Wrong unit or wrong scale?

[annie26789]

I got a drawing from a client using decimal unit. Usually I'm more comfortable with architectural so I went Units->Architectural. After that, I also change the Dimension Primary Unit to Architectural, and Update Dimensions.

 

Then the measurements seem to be all off (For example: a door width is 73', or 876 inches)

 

Does the Unit of the drawing has anything to do with it? Or it's all about the scale that maybe different than 1:1? And if so, what is the fastest way to find out a scale of a drawing sent from someone else?

 

I know it's a little bit of information, but anyone has experienced the same thing?

[dbroada]

it could be there is a dim scale set up. Have you used the DIST command or relied on a dimension to get to the 876" door?

 

Can you revert to the as supplied drawing to verify the size of the door?

[bass_mark00]

Annie, drawings that are created in metric units and drawn in millimeters are 25.4 times larger than Imperial drawings (the decimal place obviously moves if the drawing is in centimeters or metres). For example when I receive drawings from the US set up with architectural units in Imperial, I change the units to Decimal and then select everything in the drawing and scale it up 25.4 times using the SCALE command. You'll need to do the opposite and scale down by 25.4 to get the drawing to the right size.

 

Also, make sure all the layers are on when you do it.

[jbird68]

What if you draw something in Inches and then decide to dimension it in MM? If I scale my drawing by 25.4 then it is way too small. The part size doesn't change so why should I have to scale it by 25.4? All I want to do is have my original part converted to MM.

[dbroada]

What if you draw something in Inches and then decide to dimension it in MM? If I scale my drawing by 25.4 then it is way too small. The part size doesn't change so why should I have to scale it by 25.4? All I want to do is have my original part converted to MM.

This is because AutoCAD draws in UNITS. If you draw a 1" cube it will be 1x1x1. If you now want to dimension in metric you need to make your item 25,4x25,4x25,4 before dimensioning.

 

Alternatively you can add a multiplication factor in to your DimStyle.

[jbird68]

but I don't want to make my cube larger than the border I will be using. A 25.4 x 25.4 x 25.4 cube will not fit in to an "A" size border.

[dbroada]

then change the dimension style

[annie26789]

it could be there is a dim scale set up. Have you used the DIST command or relied on a dimension to get to the 876" door?

 

Can you revert to the as supplied drawing to verify the size of the door?

 

Actually, I both used the DIST command and rely on the dimension to get the 876" door. I think that's because the UNITS of the drawing and the Dimension Primary Units are consistent.

 

But have you noticed, 876" (inches) equals to 73'(feet). But let's put 876 in mm, that equals to 2.87 feet, which actually make sense. Oh well Autocad measures everything in Unit.

[annie26789]

Annie, drawings that are created in metric units and drawn in millimeters are 25.4 times larger than Imperial drawings (the decimal place obviously moves if the drawing is in centimeters or metres). For example when I receive drawings from the US set up with architectural units in Imperial, I change the units to Decimal and then select everything in the drawing and scale it up 25.4 times using the SCALE command. You'll need to do the opposite and scale down by 25.4 to get the drawing to the right size.

 

Also, make sure all the layers are on when you do it.

 

Thank you, I scale the entire drawing up to 0.397 (which is the opposite of 25.4) and it works like a charm.

 

Anyways though, what if there is layers that are turned off or frozen, will they be scaled up too or I have to active all of them before scaling? Sorry if I confuse you at any points...

[bass_mark00]

You'll need to make sure all the layer are visible or they won't be included in the scaling. If it's a complex drawing with lots of layers, save a Layer State so that you can easily return back to it once the scaling is done.

[toberino]

I got a drawing from a client using decimal unit. Usually I'm more comfortable with architectural so I went Units->Architectural. After that, I also change the Dimension Primary Unit to Architectural, and Update Dimensions.

 

Then the measurements seem to be all off (For example: a door width is 73', or 876 inches)

 

Does the Unit of the drawing has anything to do with it? Or it's all about the scale that maybe different than 1:1? And if so, what is the fastest way to find out a scale of a drawing sent from someone else?

 

I know it's a little bit of information, but anyone has experienced the same thing?

 

I actually deal with this all the time.

Here is my solution:

Draw a line that is 100 in length while still in decimal units. Then, change the units to architectual and scale the entire drawing including the line and reference the line to 100". This has worked for me every time and avoids having to do the math.