Dimensions not showing in paper space

[Michelle E]

I added a lot of dimensions to my drawing(in model space) and none of them are visible in paper space. I tried turning the layer off and on, but it still doesn't show them. This has never happened to me before. Any ideas?

[Dana W]

Sorry in advance for wording my answer like I think you are a noobie. I must assume so, going by the way your question was worded. I interpreted your post as though you may not know what the layer controls all do. I am not sure of all of them either, though.

 

First thing is to verify that your dimensions are on the layer that you intended them to be on.

 

Look at the printer icon in the layer manager for your particular layer. Does it have a red slash through it. If so, click it. If the freeze icon (snowflake) is greyed out ckick that one to turn it back on. Th Freeze is one I am not completely sure about. It seems kind of redundant. I will have to F1 it in a bit. I don't make much use of that one.

 

Turning the layer off (lightbulb) fully removes all objects on that layer from both model and paper space as if they do not exist until the layer is turned back on, but there are other ways to keep the objects from plotting without turning the layer off. For instance, the printer/plotter (printer icon) switch mentioned above will stop the objects on the layer from printing, but they will still be visible in modelspace. They will also be visible in paperspace unless you have the "Display Plotstyles" checkbox selected. If you do have that box selected, then objects on a layer set to not plot will not display in paperspace. The "Display Plotstyles" switch merely makes your paperspace look exactly like the output is going to.

Edited January 21, 2012 by Dana W

[Dadgad]

You should also check to make sure that your dimension layer is not viewport frozen, in your paperspace viewport. You can check that in your LAYER PROPERTIES MANAGER, or in you layer toolbar dropdown menu.

[Dana W]

Hey, that reminds me. Make sure your dimensions, if you want them to be black in paperspace, are set to the color "white" which is index color 7, rather than index color 255.

 

Color 7 is the one that will show as white on a black background, and black on a white background. Most people use a black background in modelspace and a white background in paperspace. The color 7 simply shows up in either as the total opposite intensity as the background color.

 

At any rate, objects set to color 255 will always be white, thus invisible in paperspace with the default white background.

[Dadgad]

A very good thought there Dana, and a good tip too. I always use color BY BLOCK, which will do the same thing.

[Michelle E]

Thank you for the tips but that is not the problem. I haven't had a lot of experience with AutoCad. I learned it 5 plus years ago but haven't had to use it until now. Now I'm using it on the Mac version - so things are slightly different in how they work. But the layer my dimensions are on is not frozen, not turned off (what used to be the lightbulb) and it is on a layer that is set to print - just like all my other layers I want to print. I can't find a difference between it and my other layers (that I want to print) expect that it doesn't show up in paper space. Any other thoughts?

[Dadgad]

Did you also check as per Post #3, that it is not VIEWPORT frozen, as shown in the graphic? Sorry to ask, but you failed to mention that in your previous post.

[Dadgad]

Have you got your ANNOTATION VISIBILITY turned off?

 

or might this be relevant?

[Michelle E]

No it is not viewport frozen. It took me a bit to find that (the Mac version doesn't have the layer properties manager setup the same - different icons, no dialog box - more like a drop down menu of sorts).

[Dadgad]

Are you able to post the drawing here? Or if need be a stripped down version of it, with any proprietary bits removed, so I can look at it?

[Michelle E]

How do I know if the annotation visibility is turned off? Annotation is not something I learned about. When I used the command ANNOTATIVEDWG it says it is at 0.

[Dadgad]

Have you PURGED and AUDITED your drawing?

REGENERATED it?

REDRAWNALL?

SAVED and CLOSED your drawing, then reopened it?

just grasping at straws here, trying to help.

 

Last but not least, have you read all of the similar threads at the bottom of your post?

Tried an AUTOCAD for MAC user group?

[Dadgad]

How do I know if the annotation visibility is turned off? Annotation is not something I learned about. When I used the command ANNOTATIVEDWG it says it is at 0.

 

That is telling you that it is currently set at 0.

There is only one other value, which is 1, no harm in trying it.

Set it to 1, do a REGENERATE, and if it doesn't fix anything then you can set it back to 0, in the same way at the commandline.

[Michelle E]

well I tried all those things (I haven't had much luck finding a good AutoCAD for Mac forum). For some reason I keep getting error messages when I try to upload a copy for you to look at. Thanks for all your ideas. I wonder if there is something wrong with the file or the software - I've had problems starting a month ago. Things used to work smoothly and now they don't. If you come up with any other thoughts that would be nice, but it seems like having someone actually look at the file might be most helpful.

[Dadgad]

Have you made any changes to your CUI which might have started this problem?

 

If the answer is maybe, then take a look at a post by ReMark in the tips and tricks forum today, dealing with restoring it to an earlier setting.

good luck, going out for a bit, hope you are able to get it sorted.

Once again, if you can get it to upload I will be happy to take a look at it.

[Michelle E]

Thank you for all your help. Like I said I haven't worked with annotation at all (until now). It was you bringing up ANNOTATIVEDWG that made me start going through the ANNO based commands. It may be simple but it was that ANNOALLVISIBLE was set to 0 in paper space. (But it worked the first time around - not sure how it changed. Thankfully now I know what to look for.) Thank you.

[Dadgad]

Excellent!

You are entirely welcome, glad to be able to help.

I have never used annotative text or dimensions, so I was just trying to come up with some different approaches to isolate the problem.

As you seemed to be unfamiliar with using VIEWPORT frozen, there may well be times when there are objects in a viewport which are obstructing that

which you are trying to clarify. Rather than deleting them from the drawing, turning them off, or freezing that layer, you can freeze a layer or layers in a particular viewport.

In that way they still show up in your modelspace and in any other viewports where they might be desirable or important.

 

I find it very hard to believe that if you enter LAYERMANAGER in your command line it doesn't open your layer manager.

Seems like that would not be a platform specific desire, but a universal need.

Good luck, glad you are back in the game.

[ReMark]

I would suggest that you stop using annotative scaling for your dimensions and text, take them out of model space and put them in your paper space layout. A lot less hassle and few if any system variables to deal with.

[Dadgad]

I would suggest that you stop using annotative scaling for your dimensions and text, take them out of model space and put them in your paper space layout. A lot less hassle and few if any system variables to deal with.

 

I gladly second that suggestion!

[Dana W]

A very good thought there Dana, and a good tip too. I always use color BY BLOCK, which will do the same thing.

 

Not if your block default color is 255. (Maybe?)