Engineering Scale to Imperial Scale Question

[JEFFJW9BB]

I received a 1:20 engineering scale .dwg file from a surveyor and I want to print it out on 11x17" paper at 1/8" = 1'-0" scale.  In layout I set up a sheet of 11x17 paper and when I go to change the scale it gets smaller; not larger, as I would have expected.  

Perhaps a better question is, how can I convert engineering scale drawing to an architectural (Imperial) scale drawing ?

Thank you,

Jeff

[pendean · Accepted solution]

@JEFFJW9BB Thank you so much for sharing the DWG file.

Site/Civil Engineers draw with units = feet. And in this file the engineer only uses paperspace for plotting.
You seem to want to use units = inches.
There is a 12x difference (1foot=12inches).

So if you want 1/8" scale, you multiply that by 12 if you only want to work inside this other person's file (rarely a good idea if your "print" recipient is not a jurisdiction that will find it odd that you submitted a site plan at an unusual 1/8" scale).

Do this: In your viewport in their file, double-click inside it then set ZOOM command to 12x.
Yep, it does not all fit on an 11x17 at that scale. But it is 1/8"=1'-0" scale just like you wanted. Is that good enough for your needs?

OR... how about another plot scale if you need their full sheet on 11x17? Or plot to their 1:20 scale from modelspace to a PDF, then in your PDF viewer you can scale and print to 11x17 any way you want.
OR..
Open one of your own TEMPLATE files that is already set as you like to do all day long with your own files.
Then just XREF this units=foot file in there, using your own layouts, and find that plot scale and sheet size that will capture all the that content you want.

[JEFFJW9BB]

Thank you so very much for your advice and good directions.  My comments follow your most recent message in bold italics.

Site/Civil Engineers draw with units = feet. And in this file the engineer only uses paperspace for plotting.
You seem to want to use units = inches.
There is a 12x difference (1foot=12inches).

So if you want 1/8" scale, you multiply that by 12 if you only want to work inside this other person's file (rarely a good idea if your "print" recipient is not a jurisdiction that will find it odd that you submitted a site plan at an unusual 1/8" scale).

  This is not for filing with AHJ's, I simply want his site plan in an architectural scale so that I can x-ref it into my standard office template and use it as a base for my architectural project.  Having the contour lines is the most important part.

Do this: In your viewport in their file, double-click inside it then set ZOOM command to 12x.
Yep, it does not all fit on an 11x17 at that scale. But it is 1/8"=1'-0" scale just like you wanted. Is that good enough for your needs?

  Sounds right but I could not get this to work.  When I ZOOM by 12 the image gets gigantic.  The plan in the upper left quadrant is about 100 feet long (model space) and at 1/8 inch scale it should be 12.5" long (in paper space) and fit nicely in 11 x 17 paper.  I don't know what I am doing wrong. Drawing called "PLAN" attached.

OR... how about another plot scale if you need their full sheet on 11x17? Or plot to their 1:20 scale from modelspace to a PDF, then in your PDF viewer you can scale and print to 11x17 any way you want.

  Unfortunately Adobe Acrobat does not scale images.  I believe blue-whatever does but It is not available for MAC I understand.
OR..
Open one of your own TEMPLATE files that is already set as you like to do all day long with your own files.
Then just XREF this units=foot file in there, using your own layouts, and find that plot scale and sheet size that will capture all the that content you want.

  I am getting better with x-refing files in and scaling them up but in this case I just don't see it at all. The reg manager says it's there but I just can't see it, select it to scale it up.  I attach the file:  "Site Plan". This is my standard template.

Any further comments would be really appreciated.

Jeff

[JEFFJW9BB]

ignore the drawing PLAN. wrong one.

sorry.

[JEFFJW9BB]

The survey is in decimal scale and I have decided to do my work in the same scale. This is site work, after all, and I think it best that we are all on the same page, scale-wise.
Thank you for your reply. I very much appreciate you taking the time to reply.

Jeff