Combining Objects into Blocks - AutoCAD 2011 and AutoCAD LT 2011: No Experience Required - page 359

inserting one Drawing into Another
When you insert a drawing into another drawing, it comes in as a block. You use
the same Insert tool that you use to insert blocks, but in a slightly different way.
For example, in the previous section you Wblocked a portion of 07A-FPLAY4.dwg
and made a new file called bath.dwg . Now suppose you want to insert bath.dwg
into a new drawing. Take the following steps:
1. Start a new Drawing, Drawing#.dwg , and set it current.
2. Start the INSERT command.
3. In the Insert dialog box, click the Browse button, and then navigate
to the folder containing BATH.dwg.
4. Open that folder, highlight BATH.dwg, and then click Open to return
to the Insert dialog box.
The drawing file that you selected is now displayed in the Name
drop-down list. At this point, a copy of BATH.dwg has been converted
to a block definition in Drawing#.dwg.
5. Set the insertion parameters, and then click OK.
You can uncheck Specify On-Screen and accept the defaults for
each parameter.
6. Finish the insertion procedure as if you were inserting a block.
The contents of BATH.dwg are displayed in your new drawing at the
same location they were found in 07A-FPLAY4.dwg .
You transfer blocks between drawings by dragging and dropping or by using
the DesignCenter. You can also convert them into .dwg files by using the WBLOCK
command, and you can insert them back into other .dwg files as blocks by using
the INSERT command. They become disassociated when they leave the drawing
and can be inserted as a block when they enter another drawing.
Exploring AutoCAD's Palettes
AutoCAD provides a tool called palettes to make blocks and other features or
tools easily accessible for any drawing. You'll now take a brief look at the sample
palettes that come with AutoCAD and see how to manage them on the screen:
1. Open the 07A-FPLAY4.dwg drawing, and zoom to the drawing's extents.
Then use the scroll wheel to zoom out a little.