Background on layout

[hendriksjansssen]

Hi,

I would like to have a background image on my layout page. For as far my research got this isn't possible..

Is there a way to work around this ?

below is what I'm trying to get working.

I tried to make a titleblock with the image I want to use, insert this on the layout page, and then add viewports. This way the drawing won't be visible in the viewport.. Then I tried various things found on the web to solve this but nothing worked. Maybe it's hidden behind the image? If the image has a 100% transparancy the drawing is still not visible.

Is there a way to add a viewport in the titleblock that still can be used in the layout page ? (Added it before on the titleblock but then the viewport can't be activated.

Maybe there is a watermark function I'm not aware about.

hope you know something to help me out.

[pendean]

Greetings @hendriksjansssen

AutoCAD/LT does not have a 'watermark' feature: if you need to simulate such content then you have to use the tools at hand like IMAGEATTACH or PDFATTACH an so on. But if this a dire business need, you might wish to seek out a different software package that offers it, I believe Adobe Illustrator has such an ability.

Viewports in Layouts do not hide/mask content behind them, if that is also a feature you need. you might have to take an extra step or more by editing the image behind it to leave a "hole" or introduce a 2DSolid that is draworder-placed between them then turning off "plot viewport last" option in that pagesetup.

Again, if this is a dire business or project/client need, then AutoCAD/LT is the wrong tool to use.

HTH

[hendriksjansssen]

Hi @pendean 

Thanks for your reply!

Already thought this wouldn't be easy. So I will look for a other solution, maybe cut the picture in pieces and use bits of it.

Do you know if autocad can plot to a pre designed PDF ? That way I could make an emtpy layour with the viewports, and plot it to a PDF with the background pre designed in it.

[pendean · Accepted solution]

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@hendriksjansssen wrote:

Do you know if autocad can plot to a pre designed PDF ? That way I could make an emtpy layour with the viewports, and plot it to a PDF with the background pre designed in it.

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No, you'll need to find and use a 3rd party program or driver that can create/merge PDFs like that.

[emanuel_ferreiraVRGED]

Theres 2 ways to do it.
One you import the image  and create a mask so that it doesn´t overlap the viewport. Sometimes it help to use 2 times the image, as am example if your viewport is a square in the middle you pick up the image and make a mask in mirrored C shapes so you are left with a open square in the middle.
The second and more easy is to put your image on the model, create a viewport with the size of the sheet and the just adjust the image to the viewport size and send it to the back. 99% of the times the main viewport will not display its content on the monitor but if you export it to pdf it will be visible.

[emanuel_ferreiraVRGED]

Another way even more easy is to put the image in the size of the sheet then do a inverted clip and choose the viewport