Wrong dimension scale

[Anonymous]

Hi there,

I am running 2016 AutoCad (currently upgrading to 2017) and have an issue with a dwg file which is being sent to me from a user.

I need to import my blocks into their file, and when I do, they are way oversized. So I check their scale and it is set to millimetres at 1:1 as I have requested. However when I check dimensions on the drawing, the main wall is 12mm long. When I question the user, they are adamant that the wall is 12 METRES (not mm) and that it is correct on their end.

As my machine is currently installing the upgrade to 2017 I can't attach a sample file for you right now, but if there is not a 'basic' solution I will upload it asap.

Thanks in advance!

[dbroad]

Your questions seem to relate to AutoCAD instead of AutoCAD Architecture. You may be posting in the wrong forum.

To answer your question, it would help if you would post two attachments: a sample from the outside source and a sample host drawing that you are using to put the outside content.

Units are important and -DWGUNITS is the command to use to control whether international content is automatically scaled correctly.  In that command, choose to accept automatic scaling.  If there are unit errors in the source content however, those need to be fixed.

[David_W_Koch]

Are either you or the other user using AutoCAD Architecture (as opposed to plan AutoCAD)?

***I stand corrected.  See @dbroad's response regarding the -DWGUNITS command.

AutoCAD Architecture has to ability to specify what one unit means (on the Units tab of the Drawing Setup dialog).  If you try to change from meters to millimeters (or vice versa), you will be asked if you want to rescale the drawing (model space or paper and model space).  If you are using AutoCAD Architecture, and one unit is currently set to be one millimeter, you could change the unit to meters without scaling, and then change back to millimeters with scaling, to do the scaling.

[Tiana_Y]

Hi @Anonymous, 

I'm just checking in to see if you need more help with this. Did the suggestion that @David_W_Koch and @dbroad provided work for you?

If so, please click Accept as Solution on the posts that helped you so others in the community can find them easily.s

[Anonymous]

Thank you both for your answers!

I am using AutoCad Architecture, and I "assumed" they were aswell, perhaps not. Would this make a difference?

This seems to be the case every time I receive a drawing from architects in France, and they say they always draw as standard to metres. So I am not sure what is going wrong when I open it and see mm. Should I do something different? Naturally I prefer my drawings in mm but if their's were in metres and my blocks inserted to scale, I could work with that.

I have now attached a sample of the drawing, as well as a sample of the library block I am trying to insert. The block is 500mm wide with a 1000mm safety distance marked around it. The sample drawing has a width of 12m, but the way I see it, it is 12mm. I have tried scaling etc but it just doesn't seem the right thing to do, when the architects who sent it to me insist it is correct.

I am definitely not an expert at AutoCad so hopefully I am making a simple error, I feel like I need a solution going forward for when this happens again.

Thanks so much in advance!! 

[dbroad · Accepted solution]

There's nothing in either drawing that uses AutoCAD architecture objects or methods. There is nothing wrong with the block scaling since the source and target drawings are using the same units settings.

There are problems of scale:

1)The drafter may have thought he was using meters but his drawing uses millimeter units, making his drawing 1000 times too small.  In other words, he was thinking in meters and the resulting layout is consistent with that.  To fix, either scale the content in that drawing or change the units to meters.

There are also problems of technique:

1)Assigning colors for block sub-objects in the library drawing rather than using layers.

2)Over-detailing doors in the test drawing.

3)Meaningless attribute tags and prompts.

4)The floor plan is far away from the origin. This can cause hatch issues and when referencing or inserting the plan into another drawing, placement will be a problem.

BTW: If you change the units from millimeters to meters using -dwgunits without opting for scaling model space objects and then change it back from meters to millimeters using -dwgunits by opting to scale model space objects, it should scale everything properly including all the block definitions.

[David_W_Koch · Accepted solution]

The test drawing.dwg file has its linear unit set to millimeters, but clearly the file was drawn as if one unit equals one meter. 

If you want to work with the drawing in millimeters, use the UNITS command (or the Units tab of the Drawing Setup dialog; same thing in AutoCAD Architecture), change the Drawing Units at the top to meters, but do NOT scale any objects.  Run the UNITS command again, and change the units back to millimeters.  This time, rescale model space objects.

[Anonymous]

Thank you both SO much! 

Incredible feeling when it works, it is really great to have this forum.

I was messing around with changing the scale at 0.001 which wasn't working, but your solution of course makes much more sense, to set it to metres as it is, and then scale back to mm.

Also secretly a nice feeling that a novice like me was right when they insisted it was not a scaling issue from their end!

Thanks again!

[dbroad]

You're welcome. Glad to help.