Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
adds to the complexity of your task in controlling that display. Your drawing's linetype scale in
particular needs careful attention.
In Chapter 5, “Keeping Track of Layers and Blocks,” you saw that you had to set the linetype
scale to the scale factor of the drawing in order to make the linetype visible. If you intend to
print that same drawing from Paper Space, you have to set the linetype scale back to 1 to get the
linetypes to appear correctly. This is because AutoCAD faithfully scales linetypes to the cur-
rent unit system. Remember that Paper Space units are different from Model Space units. When
you scale a Model Space image down to fi t in the smaller Paper Space area, the linetypes remain
scaled to the increased linetype scale settings. In the Chapter 5 example, linetypes are scaled
up by a factor of 24. This causes noncontinuous lines to appear as continuous in Paper Space
because you see only a small portion of a greatly enlarged noncontinuous linetype.
The Psltscale system variable enables you to determine how linetype scales are applied to
Paper Space views. You can set Psltscale so the linetypes appear the same regardless of whether
you view them directly in Model Space or through a viewport in Paper Space. By default, this
system variable is set to 1. This causes AutoCAD to scale all the linetypes uniformly across
all the viewports in Paper Space. You can set Psltscale to 0 to force the viewports to display
linetypes exactly as they appear in Model Space. Psltscale is not a global setting. You must set
Psltscale for each layout view that you create; otherwise, the default value of 1 will be used.
You can also control this setting in the Linetype Manager dialog box (type
LT
↵). At the
bottom of the dialog, you see a check box called Use Paper Space Units For Scaling. When this
check box is selected, Psltscale is set to 1. When it isn't selected, Psltscale is set to 0.
Dimensioning in Paper Space Layouts
At times, you may fi nd it more convenient to add dimensions to your drawing in Paper Space
rather than directly on your objects in Model Space. This can be useful if you have a small proj-
ect with several viewports in a layout and you want to keep dimensions aligned between view-
ports. You have two basic options when dimensioning Model Space objects in Paper Space. The
associative dimensioning feature can make quick work of dimensions for layout views contain-
ing drawings of differing scales. Alternatively, if you prefer not to use associative dimensioning
(see Chapter 11, “Using Dimensions”), you can adjust settings for individual dimension styles.
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Perhaps the simplest way to dimension in Paper Space is to use the associative dimensioning
feature. With this feature turned on, you can dimension Model Space objects while in a Paper
Space layout. Furthermore, Paper Space dimensions of Model Space objects are automatically
updated if the Model Space object is edited.
Try the following exercise to see how associative dimensioning works:
1.
Click File
New from the menu bar (or press F-N), and use the acad.dwt template to
create a new blank file. Metric users select use the acadiso.dwt template.
2.
Draw a rectangle 12 units wide by 4 units high. If you're using a metric fi le, make the
rectangle 480 units wide by 160 units high.
3.
Click the Show Drawings & Layouts tool from the status bar.
4.
Click the Layout1 thumbnail. Right-click and choose Page Setup.
