Working with drawing of a different scale.

[dahabit]

Hello everyone,

 

My question (confusion) is about scaling. I know all drawings are suppose to be drawn 1:1 in model space. But what if I run into drawing that is not drawn 1:1? What should I do then?

For example if a drawing is done say 1/4"-1'0" how do I check it or how do I change it to 1/8"-1'0"

 

I am using auto cad '12 Architecture.

[Dadgad]

Just use SCALE and change it to 1:1. Problem solved.

[tzframpton]

Hello everyone,

 

My question (confusion) is about scaling. I know all drawings are suppose to be drawn 1:1 in model space. But what if I run into drawing that is not drawn 1:1? What should I do then?

For example if a drawing is done say 1/4"-1'0" how do I check it or how do I change it to 1/8"-1'0"

 

I am using auto cad '12 Architecture.

A couple of things come to mind first.

 

• See if there's a dimension on the plan (in Modelspace, not Paperspace). Use the DIST command to see if they in fact match. If so, it's drawn to 1:1 scale. Or check the distance on something you know the dimension of, such as a door, which is usually 36".
  
• If something's 1/4"=1'-0", that may mean it was simply plotted to that scale, not drawn in that scale. There are many methods to output to scale using AutoCAD.
  
• If you are referring to the Annotative Scaling in the lower right corner of the drawing bar, this is the Current Annotation Scaling bar. This is a setting to control how annotative objects are displayed, and calculates representative objects if they were plotted to that scale. This doesn't in any way change the "scale" of the physically drawn objects.
  
• Could be a metric drawing. You can scale this with a factor of 25.4 or 1/254 depending on if you need to scale down or up. This would be the least common thing to check but you never know.
  
• Be careful as the dimension style could have a scaling factor to it. I've seen some exports from other brand CAD software applications do this and boy can that really throw you for a loop.
  

Just thought I'd run by the scenarios that automatically pop up in my head when something seems out of whack with the scale. I might be missing a couple of steps but these might swindle the possibilities down some. Hope this helps.

 

 

 

[Dadgad]

As StykFace rightly suggests, due diligence, better to err on the side of caution. Save a copy of the original, in case you do get into trouble.

[tzframpton]

Save a copy of the original, in case you do get into trouble.

I wish everyone in my office had this same mindset. Ugh, man I tell ya....

[dahabit]

Thanks for the tips guys.

 

The problem I was running into was I had this one old drawing with no dimensions. So I copied and pasted that old drawing into my new drawing and it is so much bigger than than my new drawing. So what is the appropriate way to scale it down? Is there a list I can look at so I know what factor to scale it?

 

Thanks

[rkent]

StykFacE said

Or check the distance on something you know the dimension of, such as a door, which is usually 36".

 

Find something on the old drawing that you know the size of, door, columns, etc. Use the scale command or the align command.

[tzframpton]

You'll have to find the scale manually. For instance, if you measure a door opening and it's 72", then you need to scale it down by 0.5 so the door opening is 36".

 

*EDIT* Beat me to it rkent.

[ScribbleJ]

Is this a matter of the difference between architectural units and decimal units possibly? If it is architectural then it will be 12 times larger than it would be if it were drawn in decimal units. If this is indeed the case then scale it down by a factor of 1/12 (or 0.0833).

[dahabit]

I have one last question regarding scales.

I just opened an old floor plan and on the bottom bar it say Annotation scale 1'8"-1'0". Does that mean the drawing is also done at the same scale or is it 1'0"-1'0"? If it is drawn in 1/8"-1'0" how do I change it to 1:1?

[ScribbleJ]

If you are using annotative text then that will set your text to the proper size according to that scale. This will also affect any blocks and other objects that are annotative as well and how line types are viewed. However line types are also affected but will only be show correct if the variables MSLTSCALE AND PSLTSCALE are set to a value of 1.

[tzframpton]

I have one last question regarding scales.

I just opened an old floor plan and on the bottom bar it say Annotation scale 1'8"-1'0". Does that mean the drawing is also done at the same scale or is it 1'0"-1'0"? If it is drawn in 1/8"-1'0" how do I change it to 1:1?

Okay, I already went over this in my 3rd bullet in my first post. You are letting the Current Annotative Scale confuse you. What you are seeing is for Annotative Scaling only, and has nothing to do with the drawn object's scaling. Annotate refers to notes or comments. In the land of AutoCAD you use Viewports in Paperspace to plot drawings to whatever scale you want. Annotative items (which can be text or blocks, among other things) need to be scaled up or down so that it plots at a consistent size when you have different scaled Viewports for plotting purposes. So, the Annotative Scaling displayed on the bottom bar is simply a reference for when you are using some text or a symbol block that has the annotative feature turned on.

 

Don't look at that bottom bar, don't even think about that bottom bar as it in no way is associated to scaling of the objects that are drawn.

[dahabit]

Thank you very much. Wonderful help for us newbies.