topic Re: XREF Mirror Text & Dimensions in AutoCAD Forum

XREF Mirror Text & Dimensions

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Jan 2018 01:56:53 GMT

I am looking to mirror an XREF containing text (all justified center) and dimensions. These are plans for a subdivision and the city requires reverse plans for submittal. I would love to simply XREF in my entire drawing and mirror it with a new title block and go about my day. That way come plan check comments, I only need to do things once. A lot of responses say its not possible unless you bind and explode. I do not want to do that. Before you post those responses, please watch the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hY4tFZAvyo

It appears that someone has figured it out as a plugin and was possibly available at some point? Any ideas on who might have the capability of writing this plugin? Is it available somewhere under a different name in the AppStore? I'm happy to pay for this add-on feature.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Re: XREF Mirror Text & Dimensions

pendean — Wed, 10 Jan 2018 13:49:02 GMT

You could have mirrored the second DWG file an saved it as a separate file and be done by now too.

Re: XREF Mirror Text & Dimensions

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 14:05:32 GMT

Hello there. Did you ever get a reply to this issue. I am having exactly the same problem as i am using the same plan in different orientations. Would be great if the text stayed the same in them all!!!!!

Would be interested to hear how you got on, if, at all.....

Re: XREF Mirror Text & Dimensions

RobDraw — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 16:37:31 GMT

Make a copy of the file. Mirror with MIRRTEXT set to 0. Save. XREF new file. Done.

Re: XREF Mirror Text & Dimensions

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 16:57:16 GMT

I never did receive a solution.

Making a copy of a file and XREFing the new file defeats the whole purpose of an XREF. The goal is to minimize repetition and error with XREFs.

The only insight I can offer is what I ended up doing. I was working on a single family subdivision at the time. We needed both standard orientation and reverse plans. I made an XREF file that only included the walls, doors, cabinetry, etc. I did not included any notes or dimensions in that file. Now if a change to the floor plans were to happen, it would be applied to both the standard and reverse plans. As for the text, notes and dimensions, I simply added those to the standard orientation drawing on top of the XREF. Once complete, I did a copy of everything with a base point and then mirrored the information on top of the reverse XREF plan. As changes came up, I would repeat the process but in smaller sections since there was some tweaking that needed to happen after mirroring. Primarily with the dimension text being on the opposite side of the dimension line. I did make sure that all my notes, tags, room names were all centered and justified with a "Top Center" or "Middle Center" justification point. That way when I mirrored, things stayed in the correct spot.

I will also add this. Our room names are a dynamic block with a pull down to select visibility states so it says, Bedroom, Bath, Kitchen, Etc. This block was set up with center justifications on the origin. When mirrored, the text stays backwards despite the MIRRTEXT setting. Since everything is centered in the block design, I was able to isolate that layer, select all the tags, and change the "Scale X" value from -1 to 1. This is a pretty quick fix, but only if the block is set up correctly in advance.

I used this process for mush of the project, roof plans, electrical plans, etc.

I'm sure the nature of your project, but hopefully that helps.

Re: XREF Mirror Text & Dimensions

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 17:07:19 GMT

I then have 2 xrefs to amend.... I only want a single xref....minimizes my workload....

Re: XREF Mirror Text & Dimensions

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 17:16:45 GMT

Thanks for reply. Its hard to believe that there is no solution to this from Autodesk...!! Am sure its a common problem for many users.... how does one even go about asking Autodesk ??? They are providing a forum but no solution....

Re: XREF Mirror Text & Dimensions

RobDraw — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 17:22:53 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Making a copy of a file and XREFing the new file defeats the whole purpose of an XREF.

I beg to differ but that's a matter of opinion. The workflow I suggested works.

@Anonymous wrote:
The goal is to minimize repetition and error with XREFs.

That goal was never stated but the alternatives are still repetitive and just as prone to errors.

@Anonymous wrote:
I did a copy of everything with a base point and then mirrored the information on top of the reverse XREF plan. As changes came up, I would repeat the process but in smaller sections since there was some tweaking that needed to happen after mirroring.

That sounds very similar to what I suggested. Now tell me how you eliminated the repetition and being error prone. It's the exact same thing but in a different file.

@Anonymous wrote:
I did not included any notes or dimensions in that file.

But that is quite different from the original issue. TBH, my non title block XREFs have very little text if any at all. The text that I do need, like room tags, is always brought into the working file so its location can be adjusted as needed.

Re: XREF Mirror Text & Dimensions

RobDraw — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 17:26:43 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Its hard to believe that there is no solution to this from Autodesk...!!

This is a user help forum. Users helping users.

@Anonymous wrote:
Am sure its a common problem for many users....

For many more it is not an issue.

@Anonymous wrote:
how does one even go about asking Autodesk ???

AUGI hosts the "official" wish list.

@Anonymous wrote:
They are providing a forum but no solution....

There are solutions. Just not the magic button that you desire.