topic Re: Copy from one DWG to another throws scale off in AutoCAD Forum

Copy from one DWG to another throws scale off

Anonymous — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 20:15:02 GMT

Hello everyone,

I feel like this is a silly question but I am needing some help on something that I'm sure is an easy fix.

I was recently on a subscription version of CAD 2016, where I drafted a ton of drawings. My company has recently bought the rights of another company and in that deal obtained a copy of a 2013 autodesk premium design suite with a perpetual license. It is a 2013 version so I guess you could say I have downgraded in the sense.

My issue is this; if I try to copy something in model space to a different drawing file (also in model space) it is pasting in the new drawing at a much larger scale which is SUPER FRUSTRATING!

I have researched and tried what appeared to be the common fixes but nothing is working for me. Here is what I have tried:

INSUNITS = 0 (Both Files)

DDUNITS: UNITS TO SCALE INSERTED CONTENT = UNITLESS (FOR BOTH FILES)

-DWGUNITS: when it asks to scale objects from other drawings upon insert I selected "NO" as that was what I was seeing as a solution to the problem I am currently having.

However none of these options seem to be working for me and I am starting to get really annoyed with this. Am I missing something that is blatantly obvious? Like I said all I'm trying to do is copy from one model space dwg file to another model space dwg file but the scale increase is just killing me.

If someone could shed some light that would be great. I wouldn't think opening a DWG file that was drafted in CAD 2016 and trying to copy that file to another DWG file opened in 2013 would be this difficult scale wise but man this is annoying!

Thanks for any and all help!

Re: Copy from one DWG to another throws scale off

pendean — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 21:34:12 GMT

>>>a much larger scale ..<<
By how much? Did you find out? often that alone is a clue.

What did -DWGUNITS report the units inside each of the two files? Are they both mm, cm, mm, inch, meter or something else?

PS: all those variables you list have never affected any 'pasted' objects from outside files.

Re: Copy from one DWG to another throws scale off

Anonymous — Mon, 01 May 2017 12:34:46 GMT

Well that's the weird thing, depending on what I have copied and pasted, sometimes I cannot see the entire item that was pasted, even if I am zoomed all the way out (as far as autodesk will let me zoom out) I cannot see the entire object and cannot pull a dim on it to compare.

But if I choose a different file where I have a smaller part drafted,and copy that to a new file, and I get lucky to where I can see that entire item and I pull a dim on it, it will tell me the same length as is shown in the original file. Even though it is clearly showing up larger in the new file. So that's just odd to me.

Both units reported in each file are exactly the same. Inches set as linear units.

What's even weirder now too is I have messed with it more this morning, opening different files to see if they all do the same thing, and some just don't appear to do this on quite the same scale of increase as others. Some paste in at a slightly larger increase (although dimensions line up exactly the same in both files) and some come in absolutely huge enough to where I can't even see the whole item.

I never did anything different between all these different files when I originally drafted them in CAD 2016, my routine was always the same. Some of my drawings would have different units of measurement depending on the application (like decimal vs fractional dimensions) but if I am pasting to a new dwg I make sure the units match between the two files before pasting.

Re: Copy from one DWG to another throws scale off

TheCADnoob — Mon, 01 May 2017 14:24:11 GMT

are you pasting blocks or just plain geometry?

Re: Copy from one DWG to another throws scale off

Anonymous — Mon, 01 May 2017 15:34:48 GMT

I've done both and it does this in both scenarios, albeit it seems to blow the blocks up more than just the shapes/parts I've drawn.

Re: Copy from one DWG to another throws scale off

TheCADnoob — Mon, 01 May 2017 16:15:48 GMT

if you insert the source drawing (completly with everything in it) into the new drawing as though it was a block does the size change?

Re: Copy from one DWG to another throws scale off

kadmonkee — Mon, 01 May 2017 17:10:50 GMT

wblock the entire file into a new file then open that new file in 2013 see if that cleans up any issues.

Re: Copy from one DWG to another throws scale off

Emmsleys — Tue, 02 May 2017 23:11:02 GMT

Hi @ bhaynieYHTZU,

Have you tried working with the block in a new drawings file? Try using the WBLOCK command as suggested in the previous post.

Have you noticed that this happens with other blocks and or drawings?

Post back with any other new updates.

Re: Copy from one DWG to another throws scale off

Anonymous — Thu, 04 May 2017 12:23:04 GMT

Ok wow I seem to have figured out the issue, or lack thereof.

If I paste something into a new file and it appears larger, enough to the point where I can't see the whole object on the screen and it tells me that I'm zoomed out as far as possible, I can click to drop my item in model space and then just double tap my mouse scroller and it then zooms out to where I can see the item. And it appears to be the same size as in the original file.

I feel pretty dumb haha this is just one of those things I obviously wasn't aware of since I'm not a full time user of CAD.

Strange though because I never had this "issue" when copying and pasting in my 2016 version. But 2013 for whatever reason seems to do this any time I copy and paste between files. It's kind of annoying but at least I know what is going on now...

Thank you for all the replies!

Re: Copy from one DWG to another throws scale off

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 14:49:04 GMT

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.....I have been having this same exact problem for months and gave up trying to solve it. I have just been doing a "Save As" and deleting everything I didn't want. Ridiculously inefficient. The double tap mouse wheel worked perfectly As soon as a double clicked all of my clipboard items that I had copied and pasted shrank into view.