AutoCAD 2013 and AutoCAD LT 2013: No Experience Required

TIP You can also click the Model button in the middle of the status bar to move from model space to paper space. When you are in paper space, this button changes to Paper, and it will toggle you back to the current model space viewport.

Setting the Viewport Scale The layout is set to print to an 11′ × 17′ (297 mm × 420 mm) paper, and you want the contents of the viewport to plot to a specific scale. In this section, you will adjust the viewport scale to display the 1 model space objects at / ′ = 1″ (1 = 50) by assigning a viewport scale. 4 1. Select the viewport. You know that the viewport is selected, and not the border polyline, when the Viewport Scale button appears in the status bar. TIP Because the viewport and the title block are drawn atop one another, try using Selection Cycling if you’re having a hard time selecting the viewport. 1 2. Click the Viewport Scale button and, from the drop-down list, choose / ′ = 1″-0′, as shown in 4 Figure 14-45. Figure 14-45: Selecting the imperial viewport scale (left) and the metric viewport scale (right) 1 The viewport scales to / ′ = 1″-0′, and the scale is reflected on the status bar. 4 You can also change the viewport scale by selecting the viewport and changing the Standard Scale value in the Properties palette or Quick Properties panel.

3. Double-click in the viewport if necessary to switch to model space, and then use the Pan tool inside the viewport to adjust the position of the cabin so that the floor plan is centered (see Figure 14-46). Figure 14-46: The cabin drawing zoomed in to the floor plan The scene is a bit cluttered, but that will be rectified in a later section. TIP It’s recommended you use the actual PAN command instead of the middle mouse button. Because Zoom and Pan are shared by the middle button/wheel on mice, it’s easy to change the drawing scale accidentally by zooming. Using the PAN command will avoid this possibility. 4. Double-click the gray area outside the title block to switch back to paper space. 5. Keeping its current name, save I-A-100.dwg (M-A-100.dwg) and open I-A-200.dwg (M-A- 200.dwg). TIP Items such as tables and notes can go either in model space, as shown in this exercise, or in paper space. When they are in paper space, it’s easy to develop and maintain a consistent text or table style that appears the same in all drawings. When notes and tables are in model space, you have the flexibility to change their sizes simply by zooming in or out in the viewport. Model space objects can also be shown in any number of layouts in the same drawing. You’ll develop your own standard, or adhere to your

company’s standard, for note and table placement. 6. Repeat steps 1 to 4 on the I-A-200.dwg (M-A-200.dwg) file. Instead of using the PAN command to bring the floor plan into view, bring the north elevation into view. The north elevation currently faces opposite the World UCS. You’ll fix the elevation’s view in a later exercise.

Copying the Layouts The layout that you made is an excellent starting point. You will add a few items from the Autodesk® Content Explorer™, adjust the title block information, and then duplicate the layouts several times to accommodate the different views of your cabin. Each time a layout is copied, all of its contents, including the viewports and their settings, are copied with it. These copies are not interdependent, and any changes made to one are not reflected in the others. You can delete all the paper space layouts, but you can’t delete model space. Adding Content from the Autodesk Content Explorer Before you copy the layouts, you’ll add a block by using the Autodesk Content Explorer and then edit its attributes. The Autodesk Content Explorer is similar to DesignCenter in the way that it provides access to blocks, layers, linetypes, styles, and modes. Unlike DesignCenter, Content Explorer is built from an index of user-specified locations spanning from your local hard drive to network paths. The end result is a Google-like index that allows you to access drawing files (and their contents) quickly with a simple search query. To see how this feature works, you’ll use the Autodesk Content Explorer to locate a view title block: 1. Use Sheet Set Manager to open the A-101 layout in the I-A-100.dwg (M-A-100.dwg) file. 2. Use the Layers drop-down list on the Home tab to make A-ANNO-TTLB-TEXT current. 3. Open the Autodesk Content Explorer on the Plug-Ins tab ⇒ Content panel ⇒ Explore button. 4. In the Search field atop the Content Explorer palette, enter the search query Imperial Drawing Title↵ (Metric Drawing Title↵). After executing the search query, the Content Explorer returns content from its indexed (Watched Folder) locations (see Figure 14-47). Figure 14-47: The Autodesk Content Explorer returning search results

Adding Watched Folders to Content Explorer The Autodesk Content Explorer will search only indexed content sources. You may add any directory on your local computer to this index by clicking the Add Watched Folder button at the bottom of the Content Explorer palette. Installing the Autodesk Content Service on a file server will allow network directories to be added to the Content Explorer index. To install the Autodesk Content Service on a network server, run the AutoCAD 2013 installer on your server and choose Install Tools & Utilities. 5. Locate the Drawing Title - Imperial (Drawing Title - Metric) block within the search results, and insert it into your drawing by dragging it from the Content Explorer palette into the drawing area (see Figure 14-48). 6. Make the Drawing Name the same as the Sheet Name in Sheet Set Manager by completing the following: a. Select the VIEWNAME tag in the Enhanced Attribute Editor. b. Right-click in the Value field, and select Insert Field. c. Change the Field Category to SheetSet, and then select the CurrentSheetTitle Field Name from the Field dialog box. d. Click OK. Figure 14-48: Inserting a block from the Autodesk Content Explorer Using Fields to Acquire a Viewport Scale Automatically Instead of manually entering a viewport scale, you’ll use a field to acquire the scale dynamically: 1. Erase the contents of the Viewport Scale attribute value. 2. Right-click, and select Insert Field. 3. From the Field dialog box that opens, select Objects for Field Category and Object from the Field Names list box. Because the list of AutoCAD objects is quite lengthy, you must first select an object to acquire

the properties of an object within a field. 4. Click the Select Objects button, and then select the viewport on sheet A-101. The Field dialog box updates to display a complete list of available viewport properties (see Figure 14-49). Figure 14-49: Acquiring the viewport scale by using fields 5. With the viewport properties displayed within the Field dialog box, choose Custom Scale for Property and #′ = 1″-0′ (1:#) for Format. When you are finished, the Field dialog box should look like Figure 14-49. 6. Click OK to return to the Enhanced Attribute Editor dialog box. The Viewport Scale attribute is now populated using a field, as shown in Figure 14-50. Figure 14-50: The completed Enhanced Attribute Editor dialog box

7. Click OK to accept the block attribute values. 8. Place the Drawing Title - Imperial (Drawing Title - Metric) block within the layout tab for sheet A-101, and save the I-A-100.dwg (M-A-100.dwg) drawing, keeping the current name. 9. Use the procedure outlined in steps 1–7 to acquire the viewport scale automatically for the SCALE attribute value within the drawing sheet title block. 10. Edit the SCALE attribute by double-clicking the placeholder value. The new block assigns the necessary context to the Floor Plan view. In addition to the title itself, the block provides a unique view number and drawing scale, two components that are especially helpful as you begin coordinating with contractors and other consultants. After inserting this block, the static FLOOR PLAN text saved in I14A-FPLAYO.dwg (M14A- FPLAYO.dwg) is no longer needed. You’ll use the Edit Reference In-Place tool to erase this text from the floor plan xref: 1. Make sure that I-A-100.dwg (M-A-100.dwg) is open, and switch to model space by using the Quick View Layouts button in the status bar. 2. Zoom in to the FLOOR PLAN text, and then select the I14A-FPLAYO.dwg (M14A-FPLAYO.dwg) xref. The contextual External Reference Ribbon tab opens to display common commands related to xrefs. 3. Select the Edit Reference In-Place tool from the Edit panel on the contextual External Reference tab. Alternatively, you can double-click the xref or enter REFEDIT↵ at the command line to start this command. 4. From the Reference Edit dialog box that opens (shown in Figure 14-51), select the I14A- FPLAYO (M14A-FPLAYO) reference and click OK. The contextual Edit Reference panel is appended to each Ribbon tab. 5. Erase the FLOOR PLAN text. 6. With the floor plan reference open in the Reference Editor, adjust your dimensions as needed

so that they will fit on your drawing sheet without conflict. 7. After completing these steps, pick the Save Changes (REFCLOSE) button on the contextual Edit References panel. Figure 14-51: Opening the I14A-FPLAYO.dwg (M14A-FPLAYO.dwg) reference from the Reference Edit dialog box 8. Choose OK from the AutoCAD dialog box alerting you that “All reference edits will be saved.” 9. Switch back to the A-101 layout tab, and adjust the location of the Drawing Title block if necessary. Your A-101 layout should look like Figure 14-52. Figure 14-52: Floor Plan drawing sheet with Drawing Title block

10. Save I-A-100.dwg (M-A-100.dwg) after making these changes. 11. Select the Drawing Title - Imperial (Drawing Title - Metric) block, and right-click to choose the Clipboard ⇒ Copy option from the contextual menu that opens. 12. Open the I-A-200.dwg (M-A-200.dwg) file, and switch to the A-201 layout if it’s not already current. 13. Right-click anywhere in the drawing area, and choose Clipboard ⇒ Paste To Original Coordinates. Take note of where the Drawing Title block inserts into the layout tab; its location is exactly the same as the A-101 layout tab. Likewise, the title within the Drawing Title - Imperial (Drawing Title - Metric) block automatically updates to reflect the sheet title from Sheet Set Manager. 14. Double-click the Viewport Scale field within the Drawing Title - Imperial (Drawing Title - Metric) block, and associate it with the viewport for the A-201 sheet. Refer to the exercise in the section “Using Fields to Acquire a Viewport Scale Automatically” earlier in this chapter for a reminder of the steps required to complete this function. 15. Repeat step 14, and update the SCALE attribute within the drawing sheet title block, along the right edge of the layout tab. 16. Save the current I-A-200.dwg (M-A-200.dwg) drawing, keeping its original name. Creating Additional Layouts Your finished document set will include a Floor Plan Materials And Floor Plan Doors plan. The A- 101 layout now contains a scaled view of your floor plan. Rather than duplicating all of this work, you’ll use the completed A-101 layout as a template for these additional drawings by copying it.

Here’s how: 1. Open I-A-100.dwg (M-A-100.dwg) by double-clicking the A-101 - Floor Plan sheet from the Sheet List palette in Sheet Set Manager. The I-A-100.dwg (M-A-100.dwg) files open, and you are taken to the A-101 layout. 2. Right-click the Quick View Layouts button on the status bar, and select Move Or Copy from the contextual menu that opens. The Move Or Copy dialog box opens. TIP Notice the small padlock that displays next to the A-101 sheet in Sheet Set Manager after you open it. This padlock indicates that the drawing is locked, which most likely means that someone else has it open. Hover the cursor over the A-101 sheet to display information about the sheet, including who currently has the drawing open. This is especially helpful when multiple people are working on a project at the same time. 3. Select the (Move To End) option in the Before Layout portion of the dialog box, and then check the Create A Copy check box (see Figure 14-53). Figure 14-53: Copying a layout by using the Move Or Copy dialog box 4. Click OK to copy the layout and exit the Move Or Copy dialog box. 5. Click the Quick View Layouts button in the status bar to display thumbnails of the layouts in your drawing. A second A-101 (2) layout is now listed as one of the layouts. 6. Right-click the A-101 (2) layout thumbnail, and choose Rename. 7. Rename the layout to A-102 and then press ↵ (see Figure 14-54). Figure 14-54: Renaming the copied A-101 layout

8. Repeat steps 3 through 7 to create another layout named A-103. 9. Save the current I-A-100.dwg (M-A-100.dwg), keeping its existing filename, and then double- click the A-201 sheet from the Sheet Set Manager Sheet List palette to open the I-A-200.dwg (M- A-200.dwg) file. 10. If you do not already have two tabs (Model and A-201) just under the drawing area shown in Figure 14-55, start the OPTIONS command and go to the Display tab of the Options dialog box. Figure 14-55: The Layout and Model tabs displayed in the Application window 11. From the Display tab, check the Display Layout And Model Tabs check box found in the Layout Elements group in the lower-left portion of the dialog box. 12. Click OK to exit the Options dialog box and display the layout and Model tabs in the Application window (see Figure 14-55). 13. Press and hold the left mouse button, and then press the Ctrl key on your keyboard. 14. Move the mouse to the right and, when a small arrow displays to the right of the A-201 layout tab, release (see the left image of Figure 14-56). Figure 14-56: Using Ctrl+left-click to copy an existing layout (left) and the copied layout (right) TIP If the layout copies to the left of the A-201 layout, use the mouse to drag the A-201 (2) layout to the end, as shown in the right image of Figure 14-56.

15. Repeat steps 13 and 14 until you have a total of four layout tabs. 16. Select and then right-click the A-201 (2) layout tab, and select Rename from the contextual menu that opens. 17. Rename the tab to A-202. 18. Repeat this procedure for the other two tabs, renaming them to A-203 and A-204, respectively. When finished, the Model and layout tabs should look like Figure 14-57. Figure 14-57: Four layout tabs sequentially numbered for each of the elevation drawings 19. Save the current I-A-200.dwg (M-A-200.dwg) file (keeping its existing filename). TIP To navigate quickly between layout tabs, press Ctrl+Page Up or Ctrl+Page Down. Page Up will cycle to the left, and Page Down will cycle to the right. This also works with worksheets in Microsoft Excel. You have now created all of the layouts necessary to document your cabin in a construction document set. Although these layouts are saved in the I-A-100.dwg (M-A-100.dwg) and I-A- 200.dwg (M-A-200.dwg) drawings, these new layouts are not yet part of your AutoCAD sheet set. Now you need to add these new layouts to the Summer Cabin sheet set. Adding New Layouts to Sheet Set Manager Refer to the “Adding Existing Drawings to a Sheet Set” section if you need to refresh your memory on how to do this. These steps summarize the procedure: 1. Right-click the Architectural subset, and choose Import Layout As Sheets. 2. Browse to and select the I-A-100.dwg (M-A-100.dwg) and I-A-200.dwg (M-A-200.dwg) files. 3. Verify that the layouts you added to the I-A-100.dwg (M-A-100.dwg) and I-A-200.dwg (M- A-200.dwg) files are checked (see Figure 14-58). Figure 14-58: Importing the new layout tabs into the Summer Cabin sheet set

4. Click the Import Checked button. The A-101 and A-201 layouts should have the status “This layout is already part of a sheet set - not available for import.” Because one layout in each drawing is already part of the sheet set, the four new layouts display the status “Warning: this layout may belong to another sheet set.” Renaming and Renumbering Sheets in Sheet Set Manager Each of the newly created layouts is now part of the Summer Cabin sheet set. Because these layouts were not created using Sheet Set Manager but rather by copying existing layouts, their name follows a default naming template of drawing name - layout name. This exercise will guide you through renaming and renumbering each of these sheets in an efficient manner: 1. With any drawing open, right-click the first sheet representing the newly created layouts in the sheet list, as shown in Figure 14-59, and select Rename & Renumber from the menu that opens. Figure 14-59: Choosing the Rename & Renumber option within the Sheet List panel of Sheet Set Manager

The Rename & Renumber Sheet dialog box shown in Figure 14-60 opens. This dialog box shares many similarities with the New Sheet dialog box but has a number of file management additions. By using the Rename & Renumber Sheet dialog box, you could also rename the layout tabs within each drawing. The order in which Sheet Set Manager imports the new layouts into your sheet set may vary based on the order they were selected when imported. Figure 14-60: Renaming and renumbering the new layouts 2. Enter the corresponding values shown in the following table into the Number and Sheet Title fields in the Rename & Renumber Sheet dialog box.

Drawing File Layout Name Number Sheet Title I-A-100.dwg(M-A-100.dwg) A-102A-103 A-102A-103 Floor Plan MaterialsFloor Plan Doors I-A-200.dwg(M-A-200.dwg) A-202A-203A-204 A-202A-203A-204 East ElevationSouth ElevationWest Elevation 3. Using this table as your guide, click the Next button and repeat this process for each sheet. 4. After renaming and renumbering each of the newly created layouts, click the OK button to exit the Rename & Renumber Sheets dialog box. The sheet list in Sheet Set Manager should look like the left image of Figure 14-61. Figure 14-61: The renamed sheets (left) and sequentially ordered (right) Note how the sheets are no longer sorted sequentially in the Sheet List palette. 5. Use your mouse to drag each drawing into its proper position. When you’re finished, the Architectural subset should be sorted as shown in the right image of Figure 14-61. You have now finished setting up your plan set in Sheet Set Manager. While each of the sheets (layouts) has been created, nothing outside of the title block is drawn on the sheets. In the next several exercises, you’ll learn about creating and using viewports to look through paper space (layout) into model space at a specific scale.

Adjusting a Viewport’s Contents When using xrefs to reference only the model files necessary for a given sheet, you can take care of much of the layer management by using the XREF command. However, even after you’ve employed this practice, a quick look at the current A-100 series of plan sheets will reveal a set of sheets that’s too cluttered to be useful. A drawing that looks like this would not be acceptable in most production environments, and one of the strengths of AutoCAD is that it enables you to easily adjust existing objects in the drawing. External references are typically used in the generation of sheets because, when combined with strong file management standards, they can dramatically reduce clutter in drawings. By grouping similar sheets together into a single file, you can perform a large portion of your layer management from model space. Because features such as layer states are much easier to use in model space, you’ll generally strive to manage as many layers as possible from model space. With this in mind, you have a choice to make when any two sheets become dissimilar. Let’s use the floor materials layer as an example. It is shown on only one sheet in the entire plan set. Because layers that are frozen or turned off in model space remain that way throughout the entire drawing, you cannot manage that particular layer in the I-A-100.dwg (M-A-100.dwg) model space. There are a couple of ways to address this problem. First, you may determine that the dissimilarities between it and the other drawings in your set are dramatic enough to justify creating a separate sheet file. Because the layer is used only in a single sheet throughout the entire plan set, you may also choose to categorize your design further by creating a floor finish model file. That way, you wouldn’t have to concern yourself with turning that layer off in your other plan sheets, but you could easily reference it in the plan sheet or sheets that needed it. The other option is to create a viewport override for that layer. Because viewport overrides are hard to track and manage, using them is a less-than-optimal approach; but when used sparingly, they can be the right option in certain situations. As you create your own plan sets, the method you choose will most often be determined based on the time required for each option. For instance, overriding just one layer in 10 viewports will probably take much longer than simply creating another sheet file for that special case. This section will allow you to see both approaches employed to manage the contents of your viewports. The A-100 series of drawings will require you to create some viewport layer overrides, whereas the layers for the A-200 series will be managed entirely from model space.

Setting the Linetype Scale Before you begin configuring the layers in each viewport, let’s be sure that the layers are displaying correctly. You may have noticed that the rooflines are not dashed, in both model space and paper space. This is because the two variables that control linetype appearance are not set to render lines consistently throughout the entire drawing. To set the linetype scale variables, do the following: 1. Make sure that the I-A-100.dwg (M-A-100.dwg) file is open. 2. Set the drawing linetype scale to 1 by entering LTSCALE↵ 1↵ at the command line. 3. To configure AutoCAD so that the linetype scale for each viewport is determined by the viewport scale, enter PSLTSCALE↵ 1↵. This will ensure a consistent dash length between viewports. 4. Finally, to configure AutoCAD to use the current annotation scale in model space to render dashed lines, enter MSLTSCALE↵ 1↵ at the command line. When finished, your drawing should look similar to Figure 14-62. Figure 14-62: The Cabin Floor Plan layout after selectively freezing layers in the viewport

Managing the Floor Plan Sheet File The Floor Plan sheet file is composed of three differing layouts and thus is rather atypical. Each layout, while similar, has numerous dissimilar elements. Much of the layer management affecting the entire drawing has been taken care of through the use of xrefs. That is, since the civil site plan is not referenced in the I-A-100.dwg (M-A-100.dwg) file, there’s no need to worry about turning the layers contained within it off. Even with the civil site plan layers off the table, there are still plenty of layers whose visibility you need to configure in the Floor Plan sheet file. Since many of these exceptions are for a single sheet, much of the remaining layer management for this sheet file will be done using viewport layer overrides. 1. Make sure the I-A-100.dwg (M-A-100.dwg) file is open, and switch to model space. The only layer that’s currently visible and that should be frozen in all viewports is the A-AREA- NPLT layer. While it’s possible that you already changed the Plot layer property, you’ll freeze this layer as well. 2. Open the Layer Properties Manager, and freeze the I14A-FPLAYO|A-AREA-NPLT (M14A- FPLAYO|A-AREA-NPLT) layer. Note how the reference name prefixes the layer name. This allows you to quickly determine to which xref a layer belongs. Conversely, layers without such a prefix belong to the current drawing. TIP Try selecting the Xref group in the filters section of the Layer Properties Manager. This will display only layers that are referenced in the current drawing. To see a list of only the layers in the current drawing, check the Invert Filter check box in the lower-left corner of the Layer Properties Manager. If you try this, be sure to select the All group and uncheck the Invert Filter check box after you’re finished. The Floor Plan Sheet After adjusting the visibility of layers common to each layout in the current sheet file, you’ll begin addressing layer visibility for the individual plan sheets. First up is the Floor Plan sheet A-101. In this plan, you do not want the grid, plan materials, or door label layers to display. You will make these changes in this exercise: 1. Make sure the I-A-100.dwg (M-A-100.dwg) file is open, and switch to the Floor Plan A-101 layout. 2. Double-click anywhere inside the viewport boundary to enter model space from the viewport. 3. Select the Freeze tool (LAYFRZ) found on the Layers panel of the Home tab, and then graphically select one of the floor material hatches on the A-FLOR-PATT layer. After you select an object on the A-FLOR-PATT layer, that layer is no longer visible on the screen. Because this change was made from within a viewport, the change is applied as a

viewport override. This means the A-FLOR-PATT layer will be visible in other viewports in the same drawing but will not display in the viewport on sheet A-101. NOTE The viewports in layouts are described as floating because they can be moved around. They always reside in the layout portion of the drawing. There is another kind of viewport in AutoCAD called a model space, or tiled, viewport, which is fixed and exists only in model space. If you want more information on this subject, search for the phrase set model space viewports in the AutoCAD help system. For brevity, in this chapter I refer to floating viewports simply as viewports. 4. Using the Freeze tool once again, select one of the door tags (a circle with a number inside it near the doors). 5. Remaining inside the viewport on sheet A-101, open the Layer Properties Manager and locate the 14A-FPLAY1|A-GRID layer. If necessary, scroll to the right until you find the VP Freeze column. 6. Click the icon to freeze the grid layer in the current viewport. 7. Close the Layer Properties Manager palette to return to your drawing. With these layer changes complete, your drawing should look like Figure 14-63. The Floor Plan Materials Sheet Similar to the Floor Plan sheet you just finished, you’ll apply a series of viewport overrides to the Floor Plan Materials sheet. This time you’ll be changing the visibility of the grid, dimension, and door tag layers: 1. Make sure I-A-100.dwg (M-A-100.dwg) is open, and switch to the Floor Plan Materials A- 102 layout. 2. Double-click in the viewport, and use the Freeze (LAYFRZ) tool to select any of the dimensions. The 14A-FPLAY1|A-ANNO-DIMS layer is frozen in the current viewport only. Figure 14-63: The A-101 Floor Plan layout after the layers in the viewport are selectively frozen

3. Use the Freeze tool once again to select one of the vertical gridlines above the floor plan. Selecting one of these lines freezes the 14A-FPLAY1|A-GRID layer. 4. Finally, use the Freeze tool to select one of the door tags to freeze the 14A-FPLAY1|A- ANNO-TABL layer. 5. The Drawing Title block is a dynamic block. Click it, and then drag the right end of the horizontal line to the right until it extends underneath the entire title (see Figure 14-64). Figure 14-64: Adjusting the Drawing Title dynamic block 6. You may choose to use the PAN command to orient the floor plan better on the Plan Materials sheet. When finished, your drawing should look like Figure 14-65. Figure 14-65: The A-102 Floor Plan Materials layout after the layers in the viewport are selectively frozen

The Floor Plan Doors Sheet The Floor Plan Doors sheet is the first layout that requires more than one viewport. Here is a summary of the steps to clean up the drawing: 1. Make the A-103 layout active. 2. Inside the viewport, freeze the A-ANNO-DIMS and A-FLOR-PATT layers. 3 3. In the status bar, click the Viewport Scale button, and choose / ′ = 1″-0′ (1:70). 16 The viewport zooms out to reflect the smaller scale. To set the metric scale 1:70, it may be necessary to enter ZOOM↵ 1/70↵↵ at the command line. 4. Adjust the length of the horizontal line in the block until it extends underneath the entire title as necessary. 5. Select the viewport and, using the grips, adjust it so that it fits more closely to the floor plan. Your drawing should look similar to Figure 14-66. 6. Make the A-ANNO-NPLT layer current. 7. Create a new viewport in the lower-left corner of the layout (see Figure 14-67). Figure 14-66: The A-103 Floor Plan Doors layout after the layers are frozen and the viewport is adjusted

Figure 14-67: The new notes and table viewports Refer to the “Creating the Paper Space Viewport” section if you need a refresher. The viewport displays all the model space contents. Although the view will be labeled as not 1 having a scale, you should create the viewport with a scale of / ′ = 1″-0′ (1:50). 4

8. Select the I14A-FPLAYO.dwg (M14A-FPLAYO.dwg) xref, right-click, and then choose Open Xref from the contextual menu that opens. This opens the I14A-FPLAYO.dwg (M14A-FPLAYO.dwg) file in a new drawing window. 9. Modify the General Notes text box to be a single column, by doing the following: a. Place the cursor just after the first note in the left column. b. Press the Delete key. 10. To allow more room in the plan sheet, stretch the 1, 2, 3, and 4 gridlines to be closer to the cabin. 11. Save and close the I14A-FPLAYO.dwg (M14A-FPLAYO.dwg), and then return to the A-103 layout tab in the I-A-100.dwg (M-A-100.dwg) file. 12. Copy this viewport, double-click inside the new viewport, and then pan and zoom until the General Notes text fills the viewport. 13. Copy the Drawing Title block under the new viewports, and edit the attributes as shown in Figure 14-67. NOTE Most plan sheets require some degree of refinement as they are put together. Learning how to switch quickly between different xrefs is imperative in making these edits in an efficient manner. You’ll likely determine a preference, between editing xrefs in place or opening the referenced file, as you gain more experience with the software. The floor plan drawings for your plan set are now complete. In this section, you learned how to create viewports at a specific scale, manage the layers in those viewports, and import layouts into Sheet Set Manager. In the next section, you’ll apply many of these same concepts to setting up your elevation plan sheets.

Managing the Elevations Sheet File Much of the preceding section was dedicated to managing layers in viewports. Because a handful of layers were viewable in only one or two viewports, you had to spend a sizable amount of time creating viewport layer overrides. It’s possible that each of the sheets was different enough to justify creating separate DWG files for each sheet. In contrast, there’s no need to create any viewport overrides in your Elevations sheet file. In fact, your elevations are a perfect example of how xrefs can play a role in layer management for plan sheets. There are no conflicting objects or layers in any of the views you’ll create. Consequently, you’ll simply verify that all of your elevation layers are visible in model space. Adjusting the South Elevation Layout You’ll start with the south elevation because it is the only one drawn without rotating the UCS. Consequently, it should be the quickest to set up. Here’s how: 1. Using Sheet Set Manager, open the A-203 - South Elevation drawing sheet in the I-A-200.dwg (M-A-200.dwg) file. 2. Turn on and thaw all of the layers in the current drawing by using the Turn All Layers On (LAYON) and Thaw All Layers (LAYTHW) tools found on the extended Layers panel on the Home tab. 3. Pan in the viewport so that the south elevation is centered in the viewport. 4. Delete the SOUTH ELEVATION text from the I14A-FPLAYO.dwg (M14A-FPLAYO.dwg) file. 5. Adjust the viewport boundary as necessary so that only the south elevation is viewable on the A-203 drawing sheet. When you’re finished, the South Elevation drawing sheet should look like Figure 14-68. Adjusting the Other Elevation Layouts The remaining elevations were drawn with a rotated user coordinate system (UCS) so that they appeared in the correct orientation while you were drawing them. However, they are rotated when looking at the drawing in the world coordinate system (WCS). In a similar fashion, you’ll modify the view of each viewport by rotating the UCS: 1. Make the A-202 (East Elevation) layout active, and double-click inside the viewport. Figure 14-68: The South Elevation layout after layers are frozen and the viewport is adjusted

2. To rotate the UCS, do the following: a. Click the View tab, and then click the Z button in the Coordinates panel. b. Enter 90↵ at the Specify Rotation Angle About Z Axis: prompt. Enable the Coordinates Panel If the Coordinates panel is not visible from the View tab, do the following: 1. Right-click any panel title to display a contextual right-click menu. 2. From the contextual right-click menu, choose Show Panels ⇒ Coordinates. 3. To use the PLAN command to rotate the view to match the UCS, enter PLAN↵↵. 1 4. Click the Viewport Scale button, choose / ′ = 1″-0′ (1:50), and then exit model space. 4 5. Pan in the viewport so that the east elevation is centered. 6. Adjust the viewport boundary as necessary so that only the east elevation appears on the A- 202 layout. 7. Delete the EAST ELEVATION text. Your layout should look like Figure 14-69. Figure 14-69: The East Elevation layout after the layers are frozen and the viewport is adjusted

8. Repeat steps 1–7 for the two remaining elevation layouts, substituting the appropriate text and values as required. For example, the viewport in the A-201 - North Elevation layout must be rotated 180˚, and the A-204 - West Elevation layout must be rotated 270˚ or –90˚. When the elevations are completed, the A-201 - North Elevation layout should look like the top of Figure 14-70, and the A-204 - West Elevation layout should look like the bottom of Figure 14- 70. Figure 14-70: The North Elevation plan sheet (top) and the West Elevation plan sheet (bottom)



Setting Up the Site Plan Sheet The site plan should show the cabin plan, the driveway, the access road, and the image, but not the elevations or much of the information shown on the previous layouts. Because of the odd shape of the property line, you’ll delete the current viewport, draw a polyline, and turn that polyline into a viewport. Here’s how: 1. Open the I-C-101.dwg (M-C-101.dwg) sheet file, and make the C-101 layout current. 2. Switch to the Model thumbnail by using the Quick View Layouts button in the status bar. 3. Make the current layer A-ANNO-REFR, and attach I13C-SPLAYO.dwg (M13C-SPLAYO.dwg) by configuring the Attach External Reference dialog box, as shown in Figure 14-71. Figure 14-71: Attaching the civil site plan to the Site Plan sheet file 4. Use the upper-left corner of the deck as the insertion point for the site plan reference (see Figure 14-72). 5. Make the A-ANNO-NPLT layer current, and create a new viewport extending from the upper- left corner of the title block to the lower-right corner of the title block. 6. Double-click inside the viewport, zoom to the drawing’s extents, and then double-click outside of the viewport to switch back to paper space. Figure 14-72: Specifying the site plan insertion point

7. With the A-ANNO-NPLT layer still current, start the PLINE (Polyline) command and draw a closed polyline that roughly follows the shape of the property, as shown in Figure 14-73. Figure 14-73: Draw a polyline around the property. The exact shape isn’t important because the viewport scale isn’t properly set yet. 8. To turn the polyline into a viewport, do the following: a. Click the Layout tab. b. Expand the Rectangular tool, and click the From Object button in the Viewports panel. c. Click the polyline. The new viewport displays the model space contents as well as the original viewport. 9. Delete the rectangular viewport.

TIP The Create Polygonal button can also be used to draw the viewport directly. However, the Polyline tool provides greater control over the shape of the viewport by allowing arc segments, and it allows the viewports to have a width in situations where they are visible when plotted.

Defining a New Viewport Scale Scales that use the convention fraction′ = 1″-0′ are said to be using an architectural scale. Site plans generally use an engineering scale, which uses the convention 1′ = number″, where number is a multiple of 10. For this site plan, you’ll define a new viewport scale and add it to the Viewport Scale drop-down list. 1. Select the viewport, click the Viewport Scale button, and choose Custom to open the Edit Drawing Scales dialog box, as shown in Figure 14-74. Figure 14-74: The Edit Drawing Scales dialog box 2. Click the Add button to open the Add Scale dialog box. The best engineering scale for the site plan, found through experimentation, is 1′ = 20″-0′ (1 = 300). This calculates to a ratio of 1′ = 240′ (1 = 300). 3. In the Name Appearing In Scale List box, enter 1′ = 20″ (1:300) but don’t press ↵ yet. 4. In the lower part of the dialog box, set the Paper Units to 1 (1) and the Drawing Units to 240 (300), as shown in Figure 14-75. Figure 14-75: The Add Scale dialog box 5. Click OK in each of the dialog boxes to accept the changes and close them.

6. Select the viewport again, click the Viewport Scale button, and then choose 1″ = 20′ (1:300). The viewport scale changes to match the scale selected. 7. Pan in the viewport, or select the viewport in paper space, and adjust its endpoints so that only the site information is displayed. 8. Using the Freeze button or the Layer Properties Manager, freeze the following layers in the viewport only: A-AREA-NPLT A-ANNO-DIMS A-DOOR A-FLOR-FIXT A-GRID A-FLOR-PATT A-ROOF A-ANNO-TABL A-ANNO-TEXT A-GLAZ 9. Copy the Drawing Title block from another drawing sheet, and change the Viewport Scale to 1′ = 20″ (1:300). 10. Create a new viewport, and zoom in to see the referenced image file. 11. Copy and edit the Drawing Title block. Your layout should look similar to Figure 14-76. Figure 14-76: The completed Site Plan layout

12. Save the current I-C-101.dwg (M-C-101.dwg), keeping its existing filename. You’ve made a set of eight drawings, complete with scaled viewports and designated content. In the next section, you will look at a couple of ways to protect the drawings from accidental errors.

Locking and Turning Off Viewports One of the common errors that you will make when working with viewports is zooming or panning while in a viewport and then failing to return the viewport to its proper appearance. You can prevent yourself, or anyone else, from editing the viewport view by locking the viewport. This feature doesn’t prevent you from editing the content of the viewport—just how you access and view it. Similarly, you may encounter instances where the contents of your viewports do not print, or plot as it’s known inside AutoCAD. This is most often the result of a layout being turned off, often by accident. Ensuring your viewports are both locked and turned on are critical steps to managing document sets within AutoCAD. Locking Viewports When you execute a pan or zoom while inside a locked viewport, AutoCAD temporarily exits the viewport, pans or zooms the equivalent amount in paper space, and then returns to model space. There is a slight lag in time when panning or zooming with this feature on, but it is much less than the time you may spend correcting, replotting, or reissuing a set of drawings that have viewports at the wrong scale factor. Follow this procedure to lock a viewport: 1. Open the I-A-100.dwg (M-A-100.dwg) drawing, and make the A-101 layout active if it’s not already. 2. Select the viewport, and then click the Lock/Unlock Viewport button next to the Viewport Scale button on the status bar. The open lock icon changes to a closed lock. The viewport is now locked. 3. Repeat step 2 for all the viewports that show the cabin in the remaining layouts. Turning Off Viewports Beyond controlling the visibility of layers in each viewport, you can also turn off a viewport so that all model space objects within it are invisible: 1. Make the A-103 - Floor Plan Doors layout current, and then select the viewport that shows the table. 2. Right-click and choose Display Viewport Objects; then click No. The contents of the viewport disappear (see Figure 14-77). Figure 14-77: The Plan Notes layout with the table viewport turned off

You can accomplish the same result in the Properties palette by opening the drop-down list next to the On option in the Misc rollout and clicking No. 3. Turn the viewport back on. 4. Save this drawing, keeping its existing I-A-100.dwg (M-A-100.dwg) filename. Being able to turn off viewports can be an advantage for a complex drawing with many viewports or for one with a lot of information in each viewport. Remember that even though all the layouts in this drawing are based on one drawing, AutoCAD is drawing at least part of that drawing in each viewport. In a complex drawing, this can slow down the computer, so it’s handy to be able to temporarily turn off any viewports on which you aren’t working. It’s also an easy way to check which objects are in model space and which are on the layout (or in paper space). You will work with the viewports and layouts again in the next chapter, where you will round out your knowledge of 2D AutoCAD by learning the principles of plotting and printing AutoCAD drawings. What You Do in Model Space and Paper Space (Layouts) To summarize, here’s a partial list of some of the things you do in each of the two environments. Model Space You can perform the following tasks in model space: Zoom to a scale in a viewport Work on the building (or the project you are drawing) Make a viewport current

Control layer visibility globally for the drawing Paper Space (Layouts) You can perform the following tasks in paper space: Create viewports Modify the size and location of viewports Use the Viewports toolbar to set a viewport’s scale Lock/unlock the scale of the display in a viewport Turn viewports on or off

If You Would Like More Practice… Most plan sets for a building project like this one will include a long list of drawing sheets to document all aspects of its construction. Additional sheets might include an overall site plan, a detailed cross section of your kitchen with cabinets and appliances, or even a series of detail sheets documenting how the foundation should be constructed. To create additional sheets (layouts) like these, follow these steps: 1. Create a new drawing from scratch, attaching the necessary external references. 2. Create another layout for the cabin drawing that has a landscape orientation and is sized to fit a 30′ × 42′ paper. 3. Create four or more viewports: one for an overall site plan and the others for various views of the drawing. Your new layout may look something like Figure 14-78. Figure 14-78: An additional layout for the cabin project 4. Save this drawing as I-A-100-extra.dwg (M-A-100-extra.dwg).

Are You Experienced? Now you can… Create a layout and associate it with a page setup Move between paper space and model space Create and manage plan sheets by using Sheet Set Manager Set up viewports on layouts Control layer visibility in individual viewports Zoom to a scale in a viewport Lock the display of a viewport Turn viewports off and on

Chapter 15 Printing a Drawing With today’s equipment, there is no difference between printing and plotting. Printing used to refer to smaller-format printers, and plotting referred to pen plotters, most of which were designed for plotting large sheets. But the terms are now used interchangeably. Pen plotters have been virtually replaced by large-format inkjet or laser plotters with a few additional settings not commonly found on standard printing devices. Otherwise, as far as Autodesk® AutoCAD® software is concerned, the differences between plotters and laser, inkjet, or electrostatic printers are minimal. In this book, printing and plotting have the same meaning. Although you may have a variety of small-format and large-format plotters attached to your computer, this chapter assumes as a standard the DWFx ePlot (XPS Compatible).pc3 plotter. Since each plotter is slightly different, standardizing on this one virtual device will ensure that you’re able to follow each of the steps as they are discussed in this chapter. You will print the layouts from the A-100.dwg, A-200.dwg, and C-100.dwg drawings from a layout at its default Ledger 11′ × 17′ (297 mm × 420 mm) A3 sheet and at 24′ × 36′ (594 mm × 841 mm) A1 sheet sizes. In addition to ensuring your ability to plot to each of these formats, plotting to an electronic format similar to DWF or DWFX is not all that uncommon in industry. There is often a need to keep an electronic record of each submittal of a project, and the DWF format is one of the ways this is possible. I’ll discuss some other electronic formats later in this chapter, but for now it’s more important to know that the purpose of using a DWF plotter is to give you the basic principles for plotting, regardless of whether you have access to a printer or plotter. In this chapter, you will learn to Set up a drawing to be printed with page setups Assign lineweights to drawing layers, and manage plot styles Configure and preview a print Publish multiple layouts, and use Sheet Set Manager

Using the Plot Dialog Box The job of getting your AutoCAD file to plot (electronically or as a hard copy) can be broken down into five tasks. You’ll need to tell AutoCAD the following: The printing device you’ll use The lineweight assigned to each object in your drawing The portion of the drawing you’re printing The sheet size to which you’re printing The scale, orientation, and placement of the print on the sheet You handle most of these tasks in the Plot dialog box: 1. Open I-A-100.dwg (M-A-100.dwg), shown in Figure 15-1. Click the A-101 layout to make it active and ensure that you are in paper space. Figure 15-1: The A-101 layout showing the floor plan 2. Click the Output tab, and then click the Plot button on the Plot panel to open the Plot dialog box. The title bar includes the name of the layout because, in this case, you’re printing a drawing from paper space (layout). If you print from model space, the title bar displays the word Model. This dialog box is similar to the Page Setup dialog box you worked with in Chapter 14, “Using Layouts to Set Up a Print,” when you were setting up layouts (see Figure 15-2). Figure 15-2: The Plot dialog box

You can also open the Plot dialog box by pressing Ctrl+P or by entering PLOT↵ or PRINT↵. First you’ll take a quick tour of the Plot dialog box. Then you’ll start setting up to print. You’ll see seven groups of settings on this unexpanded version of the dialog box. Some of the buttons and boxes won’t be activated. I’ll mention others only in passing, because their functions are for more-advanced techniques than those covered in this book. These functions are available when in model space as well. Unreconciled Layers If you receive a Layer Notification Warning dialog box or a notification bubble stating that you have unreconciled layers, you should address the situation before plotting the drawing. Unreconciled layers are new layers that have been added since the last time the drawing was saved, the PLOT command was used, or a layer state was saved. The purpose of the warning or notification is to signal you to look at these new layers and determine whether any action is required. Follow these steps: 1. Open the Layer Properties Manager, and click Unreconciled New Layers in the left pane to display the list in the right pane. 2. Select all the layers shown, right-click, and choose Reconcile Layer from the context menu.

3. Close the Layer Properties Manager. All layers are now reconciled, and the warnings should discontinue until you add any new layers.

Printer/Plotter In the Printer/Plotter group, the Name drop-down list contains the various printing devices to which AutoCAD has been configured. The current one, the DWFx ePlot (XPS Compatible).pc3, is displayed in Figure 15-2. Just below the list, the name of the driver and the assigned port or network path and asset name are displayed for the selected printer. Clicking the Properties button to the right opens the Plotter Configuration Editor dialog box, which has three tabs of data specific to the current printer. You must have a default printer assigned for the Properties button to be available. Most of this will already be set up by your Windows operating system. Back in the Plot dialog box, you’ll notice that the Plot To File check box is selected and grayed out. This is because the DWF plotter you have selected is a virtual device, meaning that it cannot create a physical print on a piece of paper and can create only a file. In this case, a DWFX file will be created, which can then be viewed and plotted to an actual piece of paper by using the free Autodesk® Design Review program or mobile application if you want. Autodesk® Design Review is included in the default installation of AutoCAD, and it may also be downloaded from the Autodesk website (www.autodesk.com/designreview) for free. A mobile version is also available for free from the Apple App Store and Google Play. When a physical device, such as a printer attached to your computer, is selected in the Plot dialog box, the Plot To File check box will not be grayed out. Selecting it will direct AutoCAD to make and save the print as a PLT file, rather than sending it to the selected printer. Many reproduction service bureaus prefer to receive electronic formats such as PLT, DWF, DWFX, and even PDF files to print, rather than AutoCAD DWG files. Unlike DWG files, the previously mentioned electronic formats do not require you to send all of the support and externally referenced files (fonts, images, external references, and so on) for the drawing to plot correctly.

Paper Size and Number of Copies In the Paper Size group, the drop-down list contains paper sizes that the current plot device can recognize. To the right is the Number Of Copies group, which is grayed out when plotting to a file; this option allows you to specify how many copies of a drawing to plot. When you have a large run of pages to print, it’s prudent to print a single copy of each, check for errors or omissions, and then print multiple copies of each page.

Plot Area In the Plot Area group, a drop-down list contains six options for specifying which portions of your drawing to print: Display, Extents, Limits, View, Window, and Layout. You have already decided which layers will be visible when the print is made by freezing the layers in each viewport whose objects you don’t want to print. Now you must decide how to designate the area of the drawing to be printed. As you go through the options, it’s useful to think about the choices with regard to two printing possibilities: printing the whole drawing and printing just the floor plan. Using layouts removes much of the guesswork from the plotting process. To illustrate how these options work, we’ll make a couple of assumptions. First, the 1:1 Scale option is selected in the Plot Scale area so that AutoCAD will try to print the drawing at full scale. Second, the drawing will be in landscape orientation. 1. In the Plot Scale group, expand the Scale drop-down list and select 1:1. 2. Verify that the Plot Scale Units drop-down list is set to inches (mm), as shown in Figure 15-2 earlier. NOTE You’ll learn more about plot scale in the “Plot Scale” section later in this chapter. 3. To expand the dialog box, click the right-pointing arrow in the lower-right corner. 4. Make sure Landscape is selected in the Drawing Orientation group, and then click the left- pointing arrow to collapse the expansion. The Display Option The Display option on the What To Plot drop-down list prints whatever is currently on the screen, including the blank area around the drawing. 1. With the sheet in landscape orientation and with the origin in the lower-left corner of the paper space area, choose the Display option. 2. Click the Preview button in the lower-left corner of the Plot dialog box. The plot preview will look like Figure 15-3. Figure 15-3: The cabin drawing printed to Display

The drawing doesn’t fit well on the sheet with this option. The drawing is oriented and sized correctly, but with the beginning of the plot area in the lower-right corner of the paper space area, it’s printed above and to the right of where it should be. A considerable amount of clipping has also occurred, and much of the drawing is not displayed. Printing to Display is a quick method of plotting everything that is shown in the layout but is rarely the best solution when plotting in model space. 3. Right-click and choose Exit, or press the Esc key, to exit the preview mode. The Extents Option When you select the Extents option, AutoCAD tries to fill the sheet with all visible objects in the drawing. 1. Choose the Extents option. 2. Click the Preview button; the results will look similar to Figure 15-4. Figure 15-4: The drawing printed to Extents

This is more acceptable than the Display option, but it’s not quite right. The border is off-center because the extents of the drawing begin at the lower-left corner white area in paper space that represents the actual paper. This is a good method to use if the border is not plotted or if there is no border at all. Be aware that if any objects exist in paper space to the left or below the drawing area, they will shift the beginning of the extents and reduce the amount of the actual drawing area that is visible. 3. Press the Esc key to return to the Plot dialog box. The Limits Option Do you remember the drawing limits for the cabin drawing that you set in Chapter 3, “Setting Up a Drawing”? As a refresher, perform the following steps: 1. Open the floor plan model file, I14A-FPLAYO.dwg (M14A-FPLAYO.dwg), from the preceding chapter or from the Chapter 15 download. 2. Click the Quick View Layouts button in the status bar to switch to model space. Plotting to Limits is not available in a layout. 3. Zoom in to the floor plan, start the PLOT command again, and assign the same DWFx plotter. 4. With the plotter selected, choose Limits from the What To Plot drop-down list. 5. In the Plot Scale section, click the Fit To Paper option. Plotting at 1:1 in model space would result in only a miniscule portion of the vast drawing area actually getting plotted. When you print to Limits, AutoCAD prints only what lies within the limits, and it pushes what’s

within the limits to the corner that is the origin of the print. 6. Click the right-facing arrow in the lower-right corner, and make sure that Landscape is selected in the Drawing Orientation group. 7. Click the Preview button in the lower-left corner (see Figure 15-5). This print won’t work here because the limits don’t cover the entire drawing, and the title block has already been moved into paper space. Printing to Limits can be a good tool for setting up a print, but you’ll usually reset the limits from their original defining coordinates to new ones for the actual print. 8. Right-click and choose Exit from the context menu to exit the preview. NOTE If you are in a layout of a DWG file, the Limits option is replaced by Layout in the What To Plot drop-down list in the Plot Area section. Figure 15-5: A preview of the drawing printed to Limits The View Option When printing to View, you tell AutoCAD to print a previously defined view that was saved with the drawing. When plotting from model space, the View option isn’t displayed in the What To Plot drop-

down list if you haven’t defined and saved any views yet. The View option is never available when plotting from paper space (layouts). 1. Open the I14A-FPLAYO.dwg (M14A-FPLAYO.dwg) from the Chapter 15 download, or update the named views for your elevations, and use the floor plan model file you created in the preceding chapter. NOTE Because you moved your elevations in an earlier chapter, you may need to redefine your named views for this exercise to work. The named views stored in the I14A-FPLAYO.dwg (M14A-FPLAYO.dwg) file in the Chapter 15 download have been updated. 2. Start the PLOT command once again, expand the What To Plot drop-down list, and click View. A new drop-down list appears to the right. 3. Expand the new drop-down list, and choose East_elev. 4. Click the Preview button, and the preview should look similar to Figure 15-6. Figure 15-6: Plotting model space to a named view (East_elev) A view is always taken from the same fixed location. In the preceding chapter, you moved several components of the cabin drawing and might need to update the named views to reflect