Scales, viewports, millimetres, m, plottinc confusion.

[Miniver]

PS. Is there a really good book you could reccomend? I have Essentials vol 1 and 2 Training manual which is all exercises and bought Cad for dummies [which i find a bit annoying].

[ReMark]

If you text is already in model space then you should be using annotative scaling.

[Miniver]

Thanks.

 

Please tell me it gets easier with time

[ReMark]

How does using Imperial make that any easier or less confusing though?

As metric is not confusing to you, imperial (ex. - architectural units: feet/inches) is not confusing to me. I know that once I've set my units to architectural that I'll be drawing in feet and inches. When it comes time to switch to my layout I also know what the two most widely used scales are for architectural drawings here in the U.S. (1/8"=1' and 1/4"=1'). That's pretty much a given. All I really have to worry about are my details and the scale(s) I'll want to be using. Besides, having been board trained (manual drafting) scales are a way of life for me. It's like breathing.

 

I have benefited from working in other disciplines and have used both engineering and decimal units as well. To date however I can admit to only ever having done one drawing in metric units (a long time ago).

[eldon]

Judging by the number of threads regarding working in metric units I would think the answer to your question would be obvious.

 

Perhaps it is a reflection on how AutoCAD writes the help files.

 

Given that I can work in feet/inches, decimal feet/inches or engineering units at least I have three clearly defined choices. Eat your heart out.

 

Does there have to be such a variety? Hardly a case for pride, more of one for pity. Metric, in one, covers all your applications.

[ReMark]

Thanks.

 

Please tell me it gets easier with time

 

It gets easier with time and practice.

[Miniver]

..I have annotation switced on [the propellor symbol hovering over the text, right?] and the text is visible in model space at .2 but I cant see it in paper space when I check, which I guess means it's really small in there.

 

Sorry to keep asking such basic questions.

[Miniver]

..even if the text is huge in model space it vanishes in paper.

[ReMark]

The annotative scale of your text should match the scale you have assigned to your viewport.

[Miniver]

Thanks, Mark.

 

I undersdtand what you mean about time & practice but as I'm not in a group situation [like an office] where there are colleagues to ask, when I hit a glitch which I cant otherwise find an answer to, then these forums are invaluable.

 

Thanks again

[designerstuart]

when I hit a glitch which I cant otherwise find an answer to, then these forums are invaluable

that's what we're here for

[Miniver]

Grrr...

 

Ok. same sheet, new drawing.[ the first drawing is Ok, dimensions, text ok], but when i come to put dimenisons on the new one they are tiny again [the text notes are fine, however]. I've looked at the formatting on old and new dimenions and they seem the same, Bm standard, Bm20...any ideas? it feels like it must be linked to formating the text?

[ReMark]

Double-check the annotative scales of your text and viewport. Both must agree.

[Miniver]

yup. both 1:10.

 

the old dimensions havent shrunk. just the new ones are tiny.

 

btw [and this is prob for another day] someone just mentioned they thought you should label in paper space...is that instaed of annotative notes, cos they are print-size linked

[Miniver]

i was going to uplaod the dwg but i cant even work out how to do that....

[Miniver]

as it seems too large

[Miniver]

for the sake of clarity- the new dimensions are tiny both in model andpaper space- but the same sort of tiny

[ReMark]

Yes, you can put both dimensions and text in your paper space layout. That's how I do it. As far as the dimensions are concerned they just have to be "associative" (which is different than annotative).

 

The new text is tiny in both model space and paper space? Sounds like a scale issue.

 

Re: posting drawing. You can zip it or you can pare the size of the file way down by limiting the drawing (saved under a new name) just to the few entities in question. There is no need to post the entire drawing.

[Miniver]

May be i should just shift the notes etc to paper space- at least i can see what'll print that way? I think zipping and paring are beyond me. I just tried cutting and pasting to a new doc and its still tiny, and the old dimensions are tiny too now.

[Miniver]

grr even that doesnt work as i cant work out how to make the dimensions a legible size like the text