UNIVERSITYOFSHEFFIELD;LANDSCAPEDEPARTMENTAUTOCAD2013/14/15TUTORIALS-SESSION3

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In this session we will look again at Setting Up Your Drawing Sheet, Viewports, Scaling viewports and Printing your work Onceyou’vedrawnyourworkintheModelspaceandyou’rereadytoprint,youneedtosetupyourDrawingSheetLayout(i.e.thepieceofpaper)you’llbeprintingyourworkon.Intheorythetheonlythingthatwilllimithowbigthepieceofpapercanbeisthesizethepapertheprinteryou’resendingittocantake.InmostcasesthiswillbeA0(841×1189mm)althoughmorecommonprintingsizeswillbeA1(594x841mm)andA2(594x420mm).InthecaseofthisworkshopwewillbesettingupanA3page(420x297mm)asthiscanbeeasilyprintedtothecolourplottersandwillbestsuitthescaleofthedrawingdone.CREATEANEWLAYERCALLEDVIEWPORTWITHACONTINUOUSLINETYPE.MAKEITTHECURRENTLAYER

SETTINGUPYOURPAGELAYOUT:Thisbasicallymeanssettingupthepieceofpaperyou’llbeprintingyourworkonandisquicktodo.Simplyclickonthetagthatsays“Layout1”nexttotheModeltagonyourAutocaddocument(seeright)Youwillleaveyourworking“Model”spaceandmovetothe“Layout”space(seebelow).You’llnoticeaboxonthesheetofpaperthatmayshowsomeofyourworkoragridinitifthegridisstillon.ThisisaViewport,whicharelikewindowsintotheModelspacewhereyou’vebeendrawingyourwork.Itisfromthesethatyoucanzoomintoyourworkatascaletofitontothepieceofpaper.

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SETTINGUPYOURPAGELAYOUT(contd):ThefirstthingyouneedtodoissetthepagesizeandPlotStyle(“Plotting”isCad’sversionofprinting).Dothisbyrightclickingoverthe“Layout1”tagandthenclickingon“PageSetupManager”(seeright).Makesure“Layout1”ishighlightedandthenclickonModifyThiswilltakeyoutoyourPageSetupforLayout1andhereyouneedtochangeanumberofthings:(seeImagefarright)Printer/plotter-Forthemomentsettoeither“None”or“DWGtoPDF.pc3”Papersize-SettoA3(420x297mm)-Whattoplot,-select“Layout”–plotstyletable-Ifyouwantcolourleaveitasitis.Generallyweproduceconstructiondrawingsandplantingplansinblackandwhitesowouldsetthisto“Grayscale”PlotScaleMakesure“PlotScale”readsasintheimage–iescale1:1and1mm=1unit.drawingorientation-setto“Landscape”Oncethisisdone,click“OK”andthenClosethePageSetupManagerYou’llnoticethepapersizehaschangedandshouldnowbe420x297mm(youcantestthisbytypingDIandmeasuringthelengthofthepaperorbyusingthe‘Measure’toolinthe‘Utilities’toolset)

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Viewports–zoomingandpanninginmodelspaceintheviewporttochangewhatisvisibleYoucandragtheViewportsothatitfitsontothepieceofpaper.DothisbyclickingontheborderoftheViewportandthendraggingitbyoneofitsfourcornerswherethere’sabluebox,andthiswillmakeitbigger.RoughlystretchittofittheA3sheet(youcanchangethesizeoftheViewportatanytime).NextdoubleclickinsidetheViewport(itsborderswillgobolderincolourandyou’llnoticethe“PAPER”tagchangesto“MODEL”-seeImageright).Scrollwiththemousetozoominandout.UsetheZoomExtentstool(“Z”return“E”return)andyouwillzoomintheViewporttoallthedrawingworkyou’vedone.ThisisagreatwayoffindingyourworkintheViewport.UsethePantool(“P”return)tocentreyourgardendesign,pressreturnagainonceyou’redoneandandyou’llbereadytoscalethedesigntoasuitablesizeforyourA3sheet.ViewportsandScaling:Note–AutoCADscalesworkaresettoworkwithdrawingscreatedwithmmasunits.Ifyou’vedrawnyourgardeninmetresthenthesimplestthingistoreturntoModelspaceandScaleeverythingyou’vedrawnbyafactorofa1000.Scalingcanbedoneinanumberofways.1.doubleclickinsidetheviewportsoyou’reinmodelspaceintheviewport.Type“Z”(zoom)andreturn,“S”(scale)andreturn,andthentypingthescaleyouwant,inthiscase1:100,bytyping1/100xpandpressingreturn.Clickon“MODEL”tochangebackto“PAPER”andstopzoominginandoutoftheViewport.ThisshouldbefairlysuitableforthesizeofthegardendrawingtofitcomfortablyontheA3sheet.Ifyouwantedtozoomtoadifferentscale(forexampletoshowaparticularpartofyourdesigninmoredetail)youwouldsimplygothroughthesameprocessandtype“1/50xp”for1:50scale,“1/20xp”fora1:20scaleetc.2.Clickontheoutlineoftheviewport.TotherightofwhereitsaysPapertherewillnowbeeitheradecimalnumberorascalesuchas1:50.Clickonthedownarrowalongsidethistoopenthescalestoolset.Clickonthescaleyouwantandtheimageonsidetheviewportwillinstantlychangetothenewscale.Ifyouwanttocreateyourownscalesoredittheexistingonesthenclickon‘Custom’and‘EditDrawingScales’menuappears.Tocreateanewscaleclick‘Add’;namethenewscale;thenadjustthescaleproperties–note.1:100wouldread1paperunit=100drawingunits.ClickOK.Yournewscaleappearsintheeditdrawingscaleslist.Usingthe‘moveup’and‘movedown’buttonallowsyoutoplaceyournewscale/swhereveryouwant.3.Clickontheoutlineoftheviewport.Openthepropertiestoolbar.Adjustthescaleinthe‘Standardscale’boxbyclickingintheboxandthenchoosingthedownarrowandselectingfromthelistthatappears.4.asper3buttypeadecimalintothe‘Customscale’boxeg0.01=1:100;0.02=1:50etc.NBifyouhavemetresasaunit–type100/yourdesiredscaleintothecustomscaleboxeg1000/500=2=1:500.

“PAPER”tagchangesto“MODEL”whenyoudoubleclickintheViewportspace.Clickonittochangebackfrom“MODEL”to“PAPER”

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CREATINGNEWLAYOUTSANDVIEWPORTSClickontheLayoutTabalongsideAnnotation.Tocreateanewlayoutclickon‘New’inthelayouttoolset.Whenprompted-Namethelayout.AnewlayoutwiththatnamenowappearsinthebottomleftalongsideModel,Layout1andLayout2.

YoucanalsoaccessthePageLayoutmenufromthistoolset.Tocreateanewviewport.Openoneofyournewlayouts.Usingpagesetupmanagerand‘Modify’changethenewlayoutsizetoA1.(Howlongsinceyousaved?)clickon‘Rectangular’inthe‘LayoutViewports’.Drawarectangularviewportasyouwouldarectangle.Yourmodelspacedrawing(orpartofit)nowappearsinthisnewviewport.Thisviewportcanbeadjustedintermsofsize,position,scaleetcasbefore.Clickonthedownarrowbeneathrectangulargives2moreoptions.‘Polygonal’allowsyoutodrawaviewportwithanyshapeyoulike.SeeitlikedrawingapolylineandusetoCtocloseattheendofdrawingit.‘Object’allowsyoutoturnany‘sealed’objectintoaviewport–drawacircleandtryit.Thereareotheroptions–whenyouclickon‘rectangle’lookatthecommandline.2,3and4createsetsofviewportsarrangedeitherverticallyorhorizontallywithintherectangleyoudraw.

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Theideaistocreatearangeofviewportsshowingvariousaspectsofyourdrawingatappropriatescales-seeright.Note-youcancopyandpasteviewports.Theywillretaintheoriginalscalebutthiscanlaterbechanged–seeimageontheright.

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MODIFYINGLAYOUTSRightclickontherelevantlayoutandthe‘menu’emergesasbeforewithPagesetup.RenamewillbeusefulbothinpracticeandinyourworkinUni.MovingandCopyinglayoutsSelect‘MoveorCopy’.Bothoptionsareavailablethroughthesamemenu.Moveallowsyoutoorganise theorderoflayouts.Copyallowsyoucopylayoutsyouhavecreated.ThisisESSENTIALwhencreatingworkingdrawingswithatitleblockandkeyetc..TASK-CREATEADRAWINGSHEET:Beforeyouprint,you’llneedtocreateafinishedlayoutsheetwithtitlesandakey.YoucanusetheDrawingandModifyingTools(Polyline,Rectangle,Text,CopyMoveArrayetc)inPaperSpacejustlikeyoudoinModelSpace.Firstcreatea“Titleblock”layertodothisin.TheTitleblockisalwaysonthebottomrightofthedrawingsheet.Thekeyisusuallyabovethisthoughsometimessheetspacemakesthisdifficult.YouwillneedtostatethefollowinginformationintheTitleblock:-ProjectTitle;DrawingTitle;DrawingNumber;Sheetnumber(“sheet1of2”etc);DrawingScale(alwayssayatwhichpapersizethescaleworksateg“1:200@A2”);;Dateofdrawing;whodrawnby;revisionnumberanddate.Youwillalsoneedakeyforanyofthesymbolsandhatchesyou’veused.YoucancreatethekeyintheModelspacenexttowhereyou’vebeendrawingyourdesignandthencreateanotherViewportinyourLayoutandzoomintotheKeyORyoucancreateseparateviewportsinPaperspace.Theadvantageofthismethodisthatyoucanturnlayersonandoffor‘Freeze’themintheseparatekeyviewports.Youcanusearraytocreateyourkey.Drawtheobjectyouaregoingtoputthekeyinfoin.puttextalongsideit(youwillneedtocreateapaperspacetextstye)Thenusearraytoreplicatethem.Turntherectanglesintoviwportsusingthe‘Object’option.

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Alwayshaveanortharrow.PRINTING:Toprint,simplyrightclickontheLayouttabandclickPlot.ThePlotboxwillcomeup(seeImageright)whichshouldhavethecorrectsettingsfrombeforewheneditingthePageSetupManager.IfyoudowanttochangePlotsettings(forexampleyoumaywanttoprinttoadifferentprinteroruseadifferentplotstyle)youcandosohere.ThiswillnotchangethesizeoftheactualpaperinyourLayoutbutdoesmeanyoucanprinttodifferentsizesandstylesasyouneed. Howeverfornow,allyouneedtodoisclickonPreviewinthebottomlefthandcornerofthebox-thisisjusttocheckthateverythinglooksclearonyourplan.Ifitlooksreadytogo,justclosethepreviewboxandclick“OK”.YouwillthenbeaskedwhereyouwanttosaveyourPDF.Saveitandthenyoucanopenitandprintit.AlternativelyifyouwishtoprintstraightfromtheCaddrawing,youcandosobychangingthePrinter/plottertoaprinterthatcanprintA3.Ifyouwanttochangeelementsinyourdrawingsuchastextsizesorhatchscalesifyouthinktheydon’tlookright,yousimplyclosethePreviewbox,CanceltheplotandthenreturntoyourModelspacewhereyou’vebeendrawingandeditwhatyouwishtochange.