metric scaling viewport

[jacktopus]

I have been looking through a ton of threads and can only find half an answer to what I'm looking for: When I draw in mm, I have to set the scale of the viewport to 1:30 or somewhere in that range. But in reality, the object that Im drawing isn't 1/30th of the size that it prints. How do I get the scale right to print the object at its actual size? cad 2013

 

sorry if its a noob question

[eldon]

When you go to print, what units is your paper size?

 

The factor of about 30 suggests to me that you might be plotting on an inch sized sheet, and there are 25.4 mm in one inch.

[jacktopus]

When you go to print, what units is your paper size?

 

The factor of about 30 suggests to me that you might be plotting on an inch sized sheet, and there are 25.4 mm in one inch.

 

thanks for the speedy response

 

I set it to mm and that may be the fix for the print size, but what about the scaling? its still set to 1:30 when in reality the drawing is about 1/2 the size of the part. is that just going to have to be based off a chart? Im new to the annotation and standard scaling too btw, but I dont think that affects it.

[ReMark]

Did you draw everything in model at FULL size (recommended) or did you "scale" it like one would do on a drafting board (not recommended)?

[jacktopus]

I drew everything at full size in millimeters, the units are set to mm, the scale factor is set to 1, but at 1:1 in the viewport, the part looks gigantic and only part of it will fit in the window.

[ReMark]

And what size paper will you be printing to?

 

You do realize if the physical size of what you drew is larger than the paper it will be printed on the viewport it appears in would have to be assigned a scale of something other than 1:1 do you not? Can't print a life size representation of the QE2 on a A4 piece of paper. LoL

 

Just for the heck of it can we verify something? Type the following at the command line followed by pressing Enter:

 

-dwgunits

 

What number (1 thru 6) is returned on the command line?

[jacktopus]

dont have access again till tuesday, but Ill update then, 99.9 percent sure its set to A paper and the printer is set to 8.5x11

[ReMark]

It appears like you may have mixed apples (imperial) with oranges (metric).

 

Did you know that AutoCAD will automatically default to using the acad.dwt (imperial style template) unless you choose otherwise (ex. - acadiso.dwt)? It sounds to me like you thought you were drawing in metric units (mm) when in fact you were drawing in decimal inches.

[jacktopus]

how do you draw in metric then? even using an acadiso layout it comes out wrong. the only solution that even seems close is to scale it down by 25.4 and scale down the dimensions too, then it will print out correctly, or what looks close to correct.

[jacktopus]

it seems that if i use the properties menu to scale the viewport as .039370078 (1/25.4) then it comes out 1:1, so I guess I can just use variations to get half of that 1:2 etc. THIS IS A SOLUTION BUT DOESNT SEEM LIKE THE EASIEST WAY

[rkent]

Measured in mm what are the dimensions of your titleblock you are using? Do you have a titleblock in MS or PS?

 

You must use a metric titleblock or the viewport scaling won't work right.

[jacktopus]

my title block is in PS (paper space) and what do you mean by metric title block? isnt a title block just a title block?

[ReMark]

Yes, a title block is just a title block. However, drawings can be done in either metric or imperial units.

[feargt]

If you are setting the scale by selecting a predfined scale of 1:30 then this scale setting may not be correctly set for mm.

 

I draw in meter. if I were to use 1:30 scale it would appear in this list as 1 paper milimeter = 0.03 drawing Meter

 

so for you drawing in mm this should be 1 paper milimeter = 30 drawing Meter

 

command: scalelistedit

 

check the value and if incorrect edit it

[jacktopus]

I set the units to mm, but the only fix for the drawing printing the wrong size seems to come from making the viewport's standard scale 1/25.4 or .0394 for 1:1

[ReMark]

Did you copy the drawing into the acadiso template?

[jacktopus]

scalelistedit might work, Have to go back and edit my drawings, Thanks

[feargt]

scalelistedit might work, Have to go back and edit my drawings, Thanks

 

you can edit the scale list in options/ User settings so that you have a list that you require for all drawings. Then in your drawings where you need it you can select the option to reset the scalelist

[rkent]

A metric title block would be much larger than an imperial title block

Edited May 29, 2013 by rkent

[ReMark]

Where did the "scalelistedit" idea come from?