Change color of Dim Architectural Tick ACA2012

[kruzcad]

I recently upgraded to ACA 2012, and although I’ve worked with AutoCAD for ten years I’ve never encountered the need (until now – new client) to isolate the color for the (Arrowheads) Ticks.

I’m trying to print the dimensions in a color (which I know how to do via the Layer Property Mgr and Plot Styles); but as always, changing the pen color of the dim lines and extension lines - also changes the tick mark to the same color. As far as construction drawings go , that wouldn't be an issue because you're usually printing in black or grayscale; but in this case, I need to have the tick remain black with the lines colored.

I assume there is a more "current" way to do this… most of the forum blogs I've seen regarding this topic are very outdated (some more than 12 years old.)

Any thoughts or directions would be helpful.

[Kent1Cooper]

How about using a User-defined Block for the arrowheads, even if it duplicates an AutoCAD standard arrowhead shape, and using an override color on whatever that Block is made of?

[kruzcad]

Wow, thanks, I wasn't aware of that.  

I read Help>User's Guide and saw how easy it is to use your own arrowhead symbol; so that's straight forward.

But where do the Arrow blocks reside?  In other words, after creating the WBLOCK what library or file path should it be saved in?

I can't seem to find where the other Arrow Blocks are stored.

Also, I saw where the topic says "...setting to arrowhead size overall scale..." But I'm still trying to figure out how do I go about establishing the block's scale? How big do I draw it? etc.

[Kent1Cooper · Accepted solution]

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@kruzcad wrote:

Wow, thanks, I wasn't aware of that.  

I read Help>User's Guide and saw how easy it is to use your own arrowhead symbol; so that's straight forward.

But where do the Arrow blocks reside?  In other words, after creating the WBLOCK what library or file path should it be saved in?

I can't seem to find where the other Arrow Blocks are stored.

Also, I saw where the topic says "...setting to arrowhead size overall scale..." But I'm still trying to figure out how do I go about establishing the block's scale? How big do I draw it? etc.

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Put it in any filepath location that's in the Support File Search Path list in Options.  [I think AutoCAD's standard ones are embedded somehow and not accessible as drawing files.]

Draw it with its tip [or middle for a tick-mark -- its insertion point] at the right, pointing to the right, and with its overall left-right extent being one drawing unit.  If you're in its own drawing file, use the BASE command to define that tip as the insertion point; if you're drawing it in some other drawing and using WBLOCK to send it out, that command [or Block if you define it as one in the drawing before sending it out as an already-defined Block name with Wblock] will ask for an insertion point.

[kruzcad · Accepted solution]

Hi Kent,

I first tried saving the drawing in one of the folders from the "Support File Search Path", but after not seeing it available in the Dimension Style Manager, I began to think there wasn't a folder it needed to be in, as much as somehow needing to be part of the drawing.

So what I realized is that the custom, or a user defined tick, is a block which resides on the drawing you are working on.

I probably could have made the block in the drawing, but I basically copied it (with a basepoint) and pasted the drawing in as a block.  In the Dimension Style Manager it appeared in the list of available User Arrows as an Alpha/Numeric item code; in this case, "A$C19E87278".  There were two more of those in there, so I had to figure out (trial and error) which one was which.  

The dimensions now had the customized tick, but for some reason the dimension line fell short of the tick, leaving a gap around the tick; yet the extension lines still continued through the tick and extended past it - as they should.  

So, I edited the block; drew a horizontal line through it, questimating the scaled extension, and... It worked.

I had to go back in again (a second time) and change the color of that line to match the color of the dim lines and extension lines I wanted, and... It worked.

I don't know if this is how it's supposed to be done, but it does the trick at this point.

I am assuming too, that I don't really have to keep that tick drawing in a special support path folder; just in a folder that relates to that job or client. 

So thank you for leading me in the right direction.

If you have any other suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

[Kent1Cooper]

You're welcome -- it took me a while to get used to how those things work, too.

I would still recommend keeping it as a drawing file in a Support File Search Path.  That way, it will be available in any drawing, without your needing to bring it in before you can use it.  I believe [I'm not where I can open up AutoCAD and confirm right now] that if you just type in the name rather than pick from a list of Blocks, if it's in a universally available place like that, it will find it.

For renaming it in drawings where you already have it and it's got a wacky name from pasting it in as a Block, check out this routine.  You pick on any Block [not just those with wacky names, but that's where it's most helpful], and it asks for a new name, and you don't need to know the name it currently has, as you do with the Rename command.  However, in this case, you would need to have an independent insertion of the Block -- you couldn't pick on it as used in a Dimension entity.

If it's a tick mark rather than an arrowhead, then in the basic Block definition, the middle of the tick part should be the insertion point, the Line that yes, you need to draw into it, should extend leftward from there by one drawing unit to meet the end of the dimension line [it can also extend rightward, by whatever distance you think looks good], the tick part should be in the override color you want, and the Line should be in the color of your dimension lines [presumably Bylayer].  The whole thing should be drawn at plotted size as if used in a full-size drawing, and the DIMSCALE System Variable will take care of sizing for the scale of a particular drawing.

[Kent1Cooper · Accepted solution]

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@Kent1Cooper wrote:

....I believe [I'm not where I can open up AutoCAD and confirm right now] that if you just type in the name rather than pick from a list of Blocks, if it's in a universally available place like that, it will find it.

....The whole thing should be drawn at plotted size as if used in a full-size drawing, and the DIMSCALE System Variable will take care of sizing for the scale of a particular drawing.

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CORRECTIONS:  It appears the Block does need to be in the drawing.  [I have our custom arrowhead Block in all my drawing Template files, which means I never need to load it, so I'd forgotten.]  And the size is controlled by a combination of the DIMSCALE and DIMASZ [Arrow SiZe] System Variables, so the base size needs to be appropriate to your arrow size setting.

[kruzcad]

Kent,

Thanks for the follow-up.  I was about to pursue your previous directions, but nonetheless this whole exercise definitely helped in setting up the standards for this client; and I learned something.

Thanks again for all your help!

[SURYAKANTJOSHI]

open the block editor and open "ArchTick" block

change the color what you want 

close block editor with save 

done

[jeff.h]

I spent the weekend going through that same exercise and I will save you hours of time and tell you that the best solution is Surya's.  To make this a bit easier to understand the block you want to edit is called _ArchTick The underscore is important as that is part of the actual name of the block you need to edit. To edit you can insert it say at the end of a line, so you don't lose it as it is quite small, change the color of the object to what you want and using the block command remake it into _ArchTick again. Do not resize it or alter it in any way other than changing its color. Thats it or as noted from previous poster you can do this in block editor which may be easier. You can change the name and use it as a user arrow but that creates all the mess the first poster says namely dim lines that come up short of the ticks. Very bad and means a convoluted tick to fix in my opinion. You can do the same steps and set the original _ArchTick back to layer 0 to reverse the process or any color you like.