Scales, viewports, millimetres, m, plottinc confusion.

[designerstuart]

the file i gave had some special dimstyles in which i use - they may not work with annotative (we don't use that feature here) so maybe create your own or use standard autocad styles.

[SLW210]

..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.

 

Make sure _ANNOALLVISIBLE=1

[ReMark]

When dimensioning or adding text in a layout one uses the exact size required. If your text or dimensions need to be 4mm that's what you use. If your arrowheads must be 7mm that's what you set them to be in your dimension style.

 

To pare a drawing down to a more manageable size one would only have to erase enough of the entities that have no bearing on the problem then save the file under a new name. The original file does not get changed. This is a very common practice amongst knowledgeable CAD users. The procedure is called "save as". Perhaps you have encountered something similar when working in Microsoft Office on a Word document or an Excel file.

[Miniver]

Ok. Thought Id fixed it by just flicking back and forth to Starts layout. It Seems I either get dimensions to work or text- not both together.

 

A lot of what people have suggested literally means nothing to me. Sorry.

 

I've tried stripping the drawing down by removing all the hatching and stuff but it seems to make little difference to the file size. I cant see what's making it so big. it's about 500Kb and the linit is 250.

[Miniver]

[i meant Stuart's layout]

 

Why is it so difficult to label a drawing?

[ReMark]

Did you try purging the drawing?

 

Did you erase the title block and border?

 

Did you remove all but a small sampling of the text and dimensions that are causing you grief?

[ReMark]

[i meant Stuart's layout]

 

Why is it so difficult to label a drawing?

 

It isn't. You have two (maybe three methods).

 

1. Put all your text and dimensions in model space and use annotative scaling.

 

2. Put all your text and dimensions in your layout and avoid annotative scaling.

 

3. The old (pre-paper space) method of drawing everything to scale in model space much like one would have done on a drafting board. No longer a useful method nor is it taught to my knowledge.

[Miniver]

Ok.

 

When I look at purge it gives me a list of options- I have no idea what I can safely erase?

there is no border ot title.

 

I am now down to pretty much too small boxes with some text and labels. And its still opver 500KB

[Miniver]

every time i take away more of the drawing the file size doesnt seem to reduce at all?

[Miniver]

It isn't. You have two (maybe three methods).

 

And I suspect that I have been given various bits of advice from various methods.

What would literally be a ten minute job with a pen has taken me all day.

[Miniver]

There seem to be about half a dozen places you can change scales and text sizes and I have no idea which ones are the ones I need.

[ReMark]

The Purge command will get rid of unreferenced objects (ex. - a linetype or text style that was NOT used in the drawing). Purge once, then purge one more time. You are not deleting objects that are being used/referenced in the drawing.

 

The advice you have been given centers mostly around Annotative Scaling because that is the most commonly taught method of dealing with text and dimensions in an AutoCAD drawing. We are not purposely trying to confuse. I came up through the world of board drafting so I can certainly see where you are coming from re: "ten minute job with a pen".

[ReMark]

There seem to be about half a dozen places you can change scales and text sizes and I have no idea which ones are the ones I need.

Sometimes too much of a good thing can be a headache.

[Miniver]

Well. After more stripping the totally blank sheet is still over 350KB...I have no idea what is going on

[Miniver]

should i be saving as a.dwg?

[ReMark]

Another option would be to WBLOCK out a couple examples of your problematic text and dimensions. AutoCAD will write these to your hard drive as a new DWG file. You'll be prompted for a name. That should significantly reduce the file size.

[Miniver]

stripped.dwgOk. WBlock worked at last...

[Miniver]

I have been on this for several days and the whole process is being halted by the labelling process. I have to hand this work in on Friday and take it to the printers tomorrow, and I appreciate your continued help.

[Miniver]

:(Just to pre-empt any problems that may happen later... I was going to draw various things on model space, label them there (or not if we cant get the hang of labelling- in which case maybe label them in paper space) then to get them at different scales on the same sheet cut different viewports with different scales which I'll freeze as i go.

 

So...when I do that will the text/labels still be ok?

 

I cant bear the thought of still be doing this at 4 am again

[ReMark]

Model space labeling and dimension will have to be in the form of annotative scaling. Do you have any idea of the scales you'll be using for your viewports?