topic Re: Scale Issues in AutoCAD Forum

Scale Issues

chezronify — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 19:13:54 GMT

I hope I can explain this. I am putting large apartment complexes into CAD. I scale the drawing at the beginning and all measurements are true. When I put the plan into paper space and scale it using the Viewport Scale from the Application Status Bar, so it fits in the viewport. I make sure the scale does not change when plotting. Here is the issue- when I print the plan and measure a known distance with a ruler, it is not true to the scale in AutoCAD. The scale I used to make it fit was 1/64" = 1 foot. So this means that there are 64 feet is one inch, right? Yet, when I measure on the plan a parking space that is supposed to measure 9 feet is measuring 3/8" which, according to the scale is also 24/64" which is supposed to represent 24 feet. Why is this happening?

Re: Scale Issues

chezronify — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 19:31:09 GMT

I want to add that when I add plot scale 1/64" = 1 foot to the plotting dialogue window I get a blank drawing when I use extents, display or layout.

Re: Scale Issues

pendean — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 19:54:16 GMT

@chezronify based solely on your words and no DWG file, your content is all drawn incorrectly. Nothing more.

If you want to show your work by sharing a DWG file here, someone here could probably resolve it for you rather quickly.

Re: Scale Issues

chezronify — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 20:00:42 GMT

Here is a screenshot of the scale and the drawing.

Re: Scale Issues

chezronify — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 20:00:57 GMT

Here is a screenshot and the scale.

Re: Scale Issues

paullimapa — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 20:11:37 GMT

as @pendean replied, share the actual dwg...sharing a screen shot does not help

Re: Scale Issues

chezronify — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 20:19:16 GMT

I am new to this forum and I would appreciate some instruction and kindness. Tell me what kind of file do you want to see?

Re: Scale Issues

chezronify — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 20:21:44 GMT

Here is the DWG file.

Re: Scale Issues

paullimapa — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 20:22:37 GMT

When you’re replying to this message in your web browser just click on Browse files to attach or drag and drop your dwg file onto that location to share your drawing file that you are experiencing the plot scale problem

Re: Scale Issues

pendean — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 20:40:50 GMT

@chezronify wrote:

Here is the DWG file.

Hey, you did it!! thanks for sharing.

I see in Layout2 your outline is only 7-15/16" tall and 10-11/16" wide, that is no where near close to 24x36 PDF output that I see you have opted to use in PLOT command, did you by chance miss that? See below

I suggest you delete the layout and start over, it is just messed up. Once fixed, it looks like this now

Side note if I may ask, is someone in your office (or client) actually asking for a site plan set to 1/64" scale? That's very unusual to say the least.

Re: Scale Issues

chezronify — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 21:00:27 GMT

Thank you. As I said, I am new to this, even though I did it in school a few years ago. No one in my office does CAD so I am trying to figure it out. 1/64' = 1' was the scale that allowed the drawing to show best in the viewport. I tried all of them. It would be so much easier if there was someone here I could ask. As it is I just continue to make mistakes and I am very frustrated. I will try to make sense of your explanation.

Re: Scale Issues

chezronify — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 21:08:00 GMT

Thank you for your explanation. How do you think this happened? Did I need to set it up better in Page Setup Manager? What did I do to make the size of the viewport so small? How come the paper size is not 36" x 24"?

Re: Scale Issues

pendean — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 21:18:42 GMT

@chezronify wrote:

Thank you for your explanation. How do you think this happened? Did I need to set it up better in Page Setup Manager? What did I do to make the size of the viewport so small? How come the paper size is not 36" x 24"?

No idea: sorry. Not enough sourcing/methods explanations and recorded actions are available to review and diagnose.

As a general rule for most of us, when something like this takes more that 5-10 minutes to fix, it is best to just abandon it and start over as that usually takes so much less time. After all, our clients sure don't want to pay us for fix an AutoCAD problem all day, do they 😉

Have a great weekend.

Re: Scale Issues

chezronify — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 21:32:47 GMT

I hope someone else chimes in as to why my paper size is 36 x 24 and my viewport is small? I guess the paper size was 8.5 x 11 and that is why my viewport is so small. When does Page Set Up Manager come into play. At what point in drawing a plan so you use Page Set Up Manager?

Re: Scale Issues

paullimapa — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 21:42:44 GMT

I hope the attached modified dwg file will help you.

I've setup the typical architectural paper sizes used: Letter, Tabloid, ArchD & ArchE.

I used Page Setup Manager to create the different setups and then set it to I want current in each layout.

This way I can have multiple settings and by just changing the page setup or creating new ones, I can apply them quickly to various layouts.

As the paper size gets bigger, the arch scale blows up so for Letter size = 1/64, Tabloid = 1/50 (more like an engineering scale), ArchD = 1/20 (again engineering scale), ArchE = 1/16...

So the selection of the sheet size & obviously what you want to see will determine the scale to use...

see screen captures below:

Re: Scale Issues

chezronify — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 21:42:47 GMT

Hi Paul,

(Not sure of your name, sorry). This helps a lot. So I set this up in Page Set up Manager BEFORE I go to plot. Do you name the set up? What would you call the different sheet sizes? Is it best to refer to the size in the title? Once I set up the different sized paper in Page Setup Manager it seems like you can just bring all other drawings into the set ups. Is that correct? I do not work for a firm that has people I can ask. I am figuring all of this out by myself. There are no "office conventions" to refer to, so I appreciate your guidance.

Thanks,

Sharon

Re: Scale Issues

paullimapa — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 04:19:33 GMT

The following answers are just my conventions I've adopted so you can always do something else.

Q: So I set this up in Page Set up Manager BEFORE I go to plot.

A: Page Setup Manager is used to save all the various settings when you go to plot like pages sizes, plot devices, pen weights & etc. This way you don't have to remember exactly what settings you used to generate the plot file.

Q: Do you name the set up?

A: Yes, as you can see from my previous screen shots, I had named the Page Setups starting with the Plot Device like "DwgToPdf...." followed by the Paper Size. But you can always name this starting with the Paper Size like "11x17...", "24x36...", "36x48..." and etc. This really depends on what makes it easier for you to see and select to Set Current in each of your Layouts

Q: What would you call the different sheet sizes?

A: As I mentioned in my previous answer, you can name the Page Setup based on the Sheet/Paper Size you plan to use to generate the plot. Some users like to even differentiate between Landscape (like 36x24) vs Portrait (like 24x36). Then the Page Setup name may look like DwgToPdf 36x24 vs DwgToPdf 24x36. Or you can name it by adding L or P at the end like: DwgToPdf 24x36L vs DwgToPdf 24x36P. Again the naming convention s is all dependent on what helps you identify what you’ve set within each Page Setup.

Q: Is it best to refer to the size in the title?

A: Again I typically just include the Plot Device & the Sheet/Paper Size in the Page Setup name because usually these are the options I would alternate when it comes to plotting. But if things change like if I need plot often using differing scales like: 1=1 vs 1=2 or 2=1 then I would most likely add this parameter in the Page Setup name as well like: DwgToPdf 24x36 1-1 vs DwgToPdf 24x36 1-2 vs DwgToPdf 24x36 2-1

Q: Once I set up the different sized paper in Page Setup Manager it seems like you can just bring all other drawings into the set ups. Is that correct?

A: Now that all the Page Setups are done, you can go into the Layout like 36x48-1-16 Scale, launch Page Setup Manager (command: PAGESETUP), then select from the Page setups list. Highlight the one you want that has all the plot settings desired and select Set Current. Do this on all the other Layouts and now whenever you need to Plot, there’s no need to make any changes within the Plot window.

Re: Scale Issues

Pointdump — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 08:28:38 GMT

Hi Sharon,
In addition to all the excellent advice here, using command LAYOUTWIZARD will step you through the settings.
Dave