Community
AutoCAD LT Forum
Welcome to Autodesk’s AutoCAD LT Forums. Share your knowledge, ask questions, and explore popular AutoCAD LT topics.
cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Layout Viewports and Dimensioning

5 REPLIES 5
Reply
Message 1 of 6
aolpen4
210 Views, 5 Replies

Layout Viewports and Dimensioning

I have a question regarding Layout Viewports.

Prior to this I never really questioned the way I did things, it was the way I was taught and I thought that i was the right way, but I have started to wonder if there isn't a better way to do this.

Scenario: (i don't actually have a drawing like this) I have several viewports each with a different zoom scale showing a different area of the model space drawing. Because each viewport has a different scale I have set up the model space drawing DDIM and Text heights to match those different scales, meaning that if one view port is scaled at .0208 (1/4) then I have a saved DDIM specifically for 48 scale, and I also have a text hieight that works for that viewport. The dimensions and text specifically created for that viewport have their own layer which I would turn off (or freeze in CV) in the other viewports. The other viewports would also have there own Dim layer and Text layer created specifically for it. This might create a number of extra layers which would be turned off (Freeze in CV) in any given viewport.

This method works but it does seem a bit complicated to me. Is there a better way to do this? I have never used "Scale Dimensions to Layout" because I was told that it was an unreliable method of Scaling the DIMs for Layouts...is this correct? Should I stick with the tried and true if somewhat complicated method or...any suggestions would be helpful.

Another thing that occured to me...if I didn't set up the DDIM scale (whether for one viewport or all) then the size of the dim text and arrows would be greatly effected, maybe not even visible depending on the actual size of the drawing in model space... so it seems to me that the Overall DDIM Scale would still need to be set up regardless of the "Scale Dimensions to Layout" option... correct? Unless I turn off the layer with those scale dimensions on it...which means I would still need at least on other dim layer...

I think I'm just getting more confused...

One other question: If I only had one viewport would I be correct in setting up the ddim scale to match the viewport's zoom scale?

I plan on working with this concept on my own to see what the differences are and whether one way really works better than the other. (One way being to set the DDIM scale while the other way is to allow the Layout zoom scale to determine the DDIM scale by selecting the "Scale Dimensions to Layout" option)

Jenn
5 REPLIES 5
Message 2 of 6
Anonymous
in reply to: aolpen4

Beauty of Cad.......15 ways to do anything. I used to use dims that way but
not anymore. In this office we have specific dims set up for different
scales. We mostly use leaders and want to know what our notation looks like
in relation to the drawing.
Another method you may want to investigate is doing your dims in paperspace.
Really comes down to what works best for you.

Matt
Message 3 of 6
Anonymous
in reply to: aolpen4

Yep, we do it that way too. And your second tip is excellent as well as a
workable alternate.

--
Dean Saadallah
Add-on products for LT
http://www.pendean.com/lt
--
Message 4 of 6
aolpen4
in reply to: aolpen4

These are great tips, but now I have another question about Viewports and Dimensions

I set up a drawing (for real) created two different DDIM styles and have two separate Dimensions, one DDIM style applied per Dimension. The scale of the Drawing is 96 and the text height in the DDIM is 3/16. The second DDIM is an exact copy of the first except that instead of using the overall scale of 96 I set the second DDIM to Scale DIM with Paper Space (Layout). When I brought the drawing into the Viewport and scaled it at .0104xp the DIM set to overall scale is right but the DIM set to Layout Scale is twice as large...what happened? When I plot the drawing the one DDIM measures at 3/16 (which is what I set) while the other measures at 3/8 (which I did not set). Is there something I didn't set in the DDIM so that the DDIM would still be 3/16 tall when scaled in the Viewport? I need to understand why it does this so that I can prove the value of using the Scale DIM with Paper Space... OH...and this is being plotted to a 11x8.5 sheet of paper.

One more thing that I have noticed with Scale DIM to Paper Space. If I use this setting first in Model Space and then switch to Paper Space that I pretty much can't read the Dimension no matter how I scale it after. I can only set the Dimension to Scale to Paperspace when i am already in Paper Space. Is this normal?
Message 5 of 6
aolpen4
in reply to: aolpen4

One more thing:

When I did an actual dimension thru Paper Space using the second DDIM style (scale DIM with Paper Space), it worked and is comparible to the first DDIM which was set to Overall scale.

So the problem seems to lie specifically with Dimensioning in Model Space and then switching to Paper Space and changing the setting to Scale DIM with Paper Space...so is the simple answer to do one (use model space with overall scale) or the other (thru Paper Space with Scale Dim to Paper Space) but not to do DImensions in Model Space, switch to Paper Space and change the overall scale to scale Dim to Paper Space? Could it really be such a lame answer?

Please help
Message 6 of 6
Anonymous
in reply to: aolpen4

Pick one method, or the other: don't jump around like that,
you expose yourself to too many potential problems and
inaccuracies.

--
Dean Saadallah
Add-on products for LT
http://www.pendean.com/lt
--

Can't find what you're looking for? Ask the community or share your knowledge.

Post to forums  

Autodesk Design & Make Report

”Boost