Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Plot Area
In the Plot Area group, a drop-down list contains the options for specifying which
portions of your drawing to print. You have already decided which layers will be vis-
ible when the print is made by freezing the layers in each viewport whose objects you
don't want to print. Now you must decide how to designate the area of the drawing
to be printed. As you go through the options, it's useful to think about the choices
with regard to two printing possibilities: printing the whole drawing and printing
just the floor plan. Using layouts removes much of the guesswork from the plotting
process.
To illustrate how these options work, we'll make a couple of assumptions.
First, the 1:1 Scale option is selected in the Plot Scale area, so AutoCAD will
try to print the drawing at full scale. Second, the drawing will be in landscape
orientation.
1.
In the Plot Scale area, expand the Scale drop-down list and select 1:1.
Verify that the Plot Scale Units drop-down list is set to inches (mm)
as shown in Figure 15.2 above.
You'll learn more about plot scale in the “Plot Scale” section later
in this chapter.
2.
To expand the dialog box, click the right-pointing arrow in the lower-
right corner.
Make sure Landscape is selected in the Drawing Orientation group, and then
click the left-pointing arrow to collapse the expansion.
the Display option
The Display option on the What To Plot drop-down list prints whatever is currently
on the screen, including the blank area around the drawing. With the sheet in land-
scape orientation and with the origin in the lower-left corner of the paper space area,
choose this option. Click the Preview button in the lower-left corner of the Plot dia-
log box. The plot preview will look like Figure 15.3. The drawing doesn't fit well on
the sheet with this option. It's oriented and sized correctly, but with the beginning
of the plot area in the lower-right corner of the paper space area, it's printed above
and to the right of where it should be. A considerable amount of clipping has also
occurred, and much of the drawing is not displayed. Printing to Display is a quick
method of plotting everything that is shown in the layout but is rarely the best solu-
tion when plotting in model space. Right-click and choose Exit, or press the Esc key,
to exit the preview mode.
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