Regarding the settings before drawing

Your way of painting is already the style from twenty years ago. Since AUTOCAD introduced two drawing spaces, namely Layout and Model, you are asked to create drawings in the Model space. The drawings are made at a 1:1 scale relative to the objects you design; for example, if an object is 2 meters long, 1 meter wide, and 3 meters high, then you will create a drawing in the Model space with dimensions of 2000X1000X3000. After creating the image, go to the configuration space to create a frame, then set up a viewport within that frame, and place the image you’ve created into this viewport at a fixed scale.

Could you explain it in more detail? I’m a beginner. I can’t accept such new things all at once

I’m confused too! I really don’t understand it. If you understand it now, we can discuss it!

I still haven’t figured it out; it’s a habit for each person to draw on their own. Everyone has different opinions

It’s about drawing in the model space and adding a frame around the image in the paper space; you can try to find it yourself – you’ll be able to locate it :)

Let’s briefly discuss the issues related to “scale” and “layout”. In CAD, the drawings we create are always made at a 1:1 scale, using millimeters as the unit of measurement. Therefore, for a column that is 1 meter by 1 meter in reality, we represent it as 1000x1000 in the drawing. However, when it comes to generating the final printout, we cannot use a 1:1 scale – if we did, not to mention an entire floor, even a single column wouldn’t fit on the page. So, we need to reduce the size of the drawn diagram to A3 format. But we can’t simply shrink the building itself; that would be incorrect. I’ve also seen drawings where the scale of the building had been altered. Generally, when we receive a drawing, we first check whether there are any issues with the scale. The way to do this is by looking at the column alignment lines – most buildings have such lines, and they indicate distances, usually in millimeters, though sometimes in centimeters as well. Either way is acceptable, as it allows us to know clearly which scale to use for further work. But there are times when we get very upset upon receiving a drawing, because the person who created it, for some unforeseen reason, “randomly scaled” the building. For example, a column that was 1000x1000 might end up with dimensions of 21657.12549 x 21657.12549 after checking the dimensions – meaning there’s no proper scale. Although it’s possible to restore the original scale, it still causes concern. The reason for this is usually that, when preparing the drawing for printing, the person tries to make sure it fits on the desired paper size without adjusting the printing settings, so they simply scale the entire building to that size before printing. This is definitely the worst approach. It’s a bit better when people use the printer’s printing options to adjust the way in which they want the drawings to be produced; however, they don’t use the “Settings” function. Generally, such people don’t adjust the layout of the building itself, but rather they adjust the size of the drawing frames. So, if there are 100 different sizes of buildings, then there will be 100 drawing frames with the same design but different sizes. Each time a drawing is created, it’s necessary to determine the scale at which it should be printed – it could be 1:500, 1:650, 1:700, or even higher for larger buildings, such as 1:1300. This can cause difficulties when creating drawings. Sometimes, to save time, people choose to set the scale to “fill the entire page.” This works fine too. For convenience, we sometimes use this method, but it does present some problems. If all the required dimensions have been carefully noted during the creation of the drawing, then it’s okay. But if one dimension is missed, the worker won’t be able to know the desired size from the printed drawing, as it’s a drawing without any scale. The scales we usually use are 1:100, 1:200, 1:300, 1:400, 1:500, and 1:600. As of now, there isn’t any scale that can create a drawing without a scale, unless calculations are used. But aside from calculations, workers generally don’t carry scales with them while working; only designers use them. Therefore, it’s best to provide workers with drawings that have a scale, preferably 1:100 or 1:200. These two scales allow for measurement using ordinary scales, without the need for conversions. Better designers use both ‘models’ and ‘layouts’ together in order to simplify the output. First, they create the desired image at a 1:1 scale in the model space; then, in the layout area, they add a frame around it. The size of this frame remains constant and does not change. For example, for an A4-sized image, the frame size is 270 X 190, while for an A3-sized image, it’s 400 X 270. With an A4 image using a 270 X 190 frame, a 1:1 scale is sufficient for rendering; the same applies to an A3 image with a 400 X 270 frame. Thus, we can always use a 1:1 scale when working with frames, eliminating the need to adjust the scaling ratio each time. However, there is one issue: since the images we create are at a 1:1 scale, how can we combine different architectural plans without shrinking the images or enlarging the frames? This is where the use of ‘models’ and ‘layouts’ comes in. We create the image in the model space and then add the frame in the layout space. By using MVIEW, we can create a view that goes through the frame. Imagine the model space as the first floor and the layout space as the second floor: if we place a table on the first floor, then on the second floor we place an A4 sheet of paper on the ground. In this case, we can only see the A4 sheet, not the table, as it’s blocked by the floor of the second floor. But by using MVIEW, we can create an opening in the floor of the second floor, as long as the opening isn’t larger than the A4 sheet. This way, we can see both the A4 sheet (i.e., the frame) and the table. Since there’s a height difference between the first and second floors, even though the A4 sheet isn’t very large, we can still see the entire table. This is why it’s necessary to adjust the scale after using MVIEW. What we adjust is the scale of the view, not the size of the objects themselves. So, when we switch back to the model space, the image is still created at a 1:1 scale using millimeters, while in the layout space, we can use whatever size is needed for the output. Simply put, a model is a standard drawing space! And the configuration is like a drawing paper or sketch paper placed on top of the model! Because it’s a computer, the original draft placed at the bottom can have its proportions adjusted using a computer! From this perspective, the configurations placed on the model (treated as sketch papers here) can also be used for drawing! I suggest you print out the diagram and place a sketch on it (treat this sketch as a configuration), and you’ll understand better what I mean! ! It will also be more user-friendly when using configurations in the future!

This post was last edited by bao*aozhong on 2012-5-14 at 10:35. It is still possible to make use of the new feature in CAD2008, called annotation scale, which allows different view annotations and layers to be set within a configured drawing. By making good use of these configurations, it is possible to use a single file to define various settings – so that drawings can be tailored for different clients, such as those in the water and electricity industry, or for interior designers or customers who want to see floor plans. This makes it easy to organize the drawings accordingly