Using Layouts to Set Up a Print - AutoCAD 2011 and AutoCAD LT 2011: No Experience Required - page 701

Getting Ready
So far all of your work has been done in model space. There you drew your cabin
using real-world units, meaning that if a wall was 6 ′ , you drew the wall 6 ′ . It's
certainly not possible to print the cabin using real-world units; instead you need
to somehow reduce its size. This is where a list of standard scales used by archi-
tects and engineers, such as 3 ⁄ 16 ″ or ¼ ″ = 1 ′ -0″ (or 1 = 60), comes into play.
The standard way of accomplishing this is with Layout tabs, sometimes referred
to by its former name of paper space. Each layout is assigned a printer and paper
size, and you adjust the positioning of the drawing and the scale of the print.
The part that is difficult to understand is the way two scales are juxtaposed in
the same file: the scale of the drawing on the printed paper (usually a standard
scale used by architects, such as 3 ⁄ 16 ″ or ¼ ″ = 1 ′ -0″ or 1 = 60), and the scale of
the layout, which is almost always 1:1, or the actual size of the paper. Other
professionals, such as mechanical or civil engineers, set up their drawings the
same way. They may use a different set of standard scales such as 1″ = 30 ′ for
the drawing, but the layout almost always remains 1:1.
One way to visualize how layouts, and more specifically viewports, work is to think
about looking through a pair of binoculars. By turning one knob, you can adjust
how big or small objects appear by changing the magnification or scale of the cur-
rent view. Turning a second knob allows you to adjust how the view is focused, or in
the context of AutoCAD which layers and drawings are viewable, and which ones are
not. Finally, moving (panning) to the left or right completely changes everything in
the current view.
Another way to visualize how a layout works is to think of it as a second drawing,
or a specialized layer, that has been laid over the top of your current drawing. Each
layout that you create will have one or more viewports—special windows through
which you will view your project at a scale to be printed. The layouts are usually at
a scale of 1:1 (actual size) and contain some of the information that you originally
included with the building lines, such as the border and title block, notes, the
scale, North arrow, and so on.
Think for a moment about drawing the floor plan of a building on a traditional
drafting table. You draw the building to a scale such as 3 ⁄ 16 ″ = 1 ′ -0 ″ (1 = 60). Then,
on the same sheet of paper, you print a note using letters that are, say, 3 ⁄ 16 ″ (5 mm)
high. If you looked at those letters as being on the same scale as the building, they
would measure 1 ′ (300 mm) high, and that's what we've been doing on the cabin
drawing so far. But in traditional drafting, you don't think that way; instead, you
work with two scales in the drawing without thinking about it. So a letter is 3 ⁄ 16 ″
(5 mm) high (actual size), and a part of the building that measures 3 ⁄ 16 ″ (5 mm)