help with plotting

[ShiraCM]

I have a floor plan, approx 90 meters, that i want to convert to a pdf and then print onto an A4.

1. what is the best scale to use?

2. how on earth do i set this up??? Ive played around with layouts and viewports and i just cant seem to get it to work out.

 

(Im a real newbie.......)

[ReMark]

Is your model space floor plan drawn to full size? Yes/No?

 

Do you know how to create a viewport in a layout? Yes/No?

 

Do you know how to assign a scale to a viewport? Yes/No?

 

Is the floor plan dimensioned and did you add any text (ex. - room name)? Yes/No?

[ReMark]

Maybe this will help. Source: AutoCAD Everything, Author: Kyle Reese

 

"You'll have to utilize a paper space layout and at least one viewport.

 

Think of a viewport much as you would a window through which you can see the objects you created back in model space.

 

Viewports should go on their own layer.

The viewport layer should be set to "no print" in the Layer Properties Manager.

Viewports can be resized using their grips.

Viewports can be moved, stretched, rotated, copied and deleted.

Viewports are assigned a scale that is why we draw our model space objects full size.

Once a viewport's display is set up it should be locked to avoid inadvertently changing it.

Plot from your layout at a scale of 1:1 (1 unit = 1 mm). AutoCAD will handle scaling the contents of your viewport(s) automatically.

 

Your title block and border and any notes should be placed in your layout.

 

Text and dimensioning associated with your model space objects can go in either model space or in your layout. There are a few different ways this can be handled. Investigate each and choose the one that works best for you."

[eldon]

I reckon a scale of 1 to 500 would be a good starting point.

[ReMark]

1:500? Wouldn't that be more fitting for a site plan? I was thinking 1:50 but since I don't work in metric units I could be mistaken.

 

1:50 is pretty close to the imperial scale I would use for a floor plan of 1/4"=1'-0". If the building were too large I might go with 1/8"=1'-0" which would be closer to a metric scale of 1:100 right?

[eldon]

1 to 500 is a more fitting scale for a site plan, but 90 metres is nearly 300 feet, so it must be a very large building.

 

Here is a picture of an A4 @ 1 to 500 with a 90m square in it.

[ReMark]

Clear as a bell now. Thanks eldon.

[ShiraCM]

Sorry - let me clarify - its 90 square meters (ie: 9 meters by 10 meters)

 

Is your model space floor plan drawn to full size? Yes/No? yes

 

Do you know how to create a viewport in a layout? Yes/No? yes

 

Do you know how to assign a scale to a viewport? Yes/No? I think thats where my problem is

 

Is the floor plan dimensioned and did you add any text (ex. - room name)? Yes/No?

Dims, yes, text, no

[eldon]

I have a floor plan, approx 90 meters, that .....

 

Sorry - let me clarify - its 90 square meters (ie: 9 meters by 10 meters)

 

It helps to be succinct.

 

The scale you need is 1 to 50. Again here is a picture

[ShiraCM]

so there must be something wrong with my settings somewhere because when i scale the viewport to 1:50, it doesnt fit.......where should i check? also, there are alot of iso a4 options - which one do i choose? thanks so much for this help!

[ReMark]

1:50? Lucky guess on my part eh? LOL

 

Did you draw your floor plan to full size in model space? Yes/No/I don't know?

[ShiraCM]

:oops:full size means 1:1, right? if so, i think so....how do i know for sure?

[ReMark]

"I think so?"

 

Have you ever drawn anything manually, on a drafting board, "to scale"?

 

Yes, full size means 1:1.

[ShiraCM]

yes. i meant where can i check my settings to know that im drawing in autocad @ full size?

[eldon]

Another question to be clarified - are you drawing in metre units or millimetre units?

[ReMark]

You should know if you drew it full size or not. If you don't recall using the SCALE command or doing some math to figure out what length to draw a line we can assume you drew at full size.

 

You do know that AutoCAD draws in units right? One unit can equal whatever we want it to be. Therefore, in metric drawings, a unit can represent a millimeter, a centimeter, a meter, a kilometer and so on. Given you were drawing a floor plan I would think you were drawing with one unit equal to one meter in mind. Yes/No/too confused to know?

 

How did you enter your distances?

[ShiraCM]

This is it.....yeah, i have no clue what im doing......

draft2-Model.pdf

[eldon]

Those look like centimetre units to me.

[ShiraCM]

thats what i thought but then i got all confused when i went to plot and my options are inches or mm.......

[eldon]

Back to fundamentals.

 

AutoCAD only plots in inches or millimetres. For those who work in the metric system, there must be clarity of thought as to how your chosen units compare with millimetres. In your case, there are 10 millimetres to the centimetre, so all sheet sizes have to be mentally divided by 10 to give consistent units for your working, and also your scales have to be multiplied by 10.

 

I think I have got that right, but you have to play around a bit dividing and/or multiplying by 10, and get to know exactly what figures suit your chosen units.

 

This is why using metric in any other units except millimetres proves troublesome. Also, as has been shown in this thread, folk are lazy in their language, and do not describe units precisely.