Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
schematic sketch of the thing they're going to draw. By sketching on paper first,
you'll often catch scale or sheet-size problems before you set up a drawing, when
repairs take only a few minutes — not after you've created the drawing, when fix-
ing the problem can take hours.
Defending your border
The next decision to make is what kind of border your drawing needs. The options in-
clude a full-blown title block, a simple rectangle, or nothing at all around your drawing. If
you need a title block, do you have one, can you borrow an existing one, or will you
need to draw one from scratch? Although you can draw title block geometry in an indi-
vidual drawing, you'll save time by reusing the same title block for multiple drawings.
Your company may already have a standard title-block drawing ready to use, or
someone else who's working on your project may have created one for the project.
The most efficient way of creating a title block is as a separate DWG file, drawn at its
normal plotted size (for example, 36 inches long by 24 inches high for an architectural D-
size title block, or 841 mm long by 594 mm high for an ISO A1-size version). You then
in-
sert
or
xref
the title block drawing into each sheet drawing. I explain inserting drawings
into other drawings, or attaching drawings as external reference files in Chapters 17 and
18.
A Template for Success
When you start in either the Drafting & Annotation workspace (as I do throughout this
topic) or the old AutoCAD Classic workspace, AutoCAD creates a new, blank drawing
configured for 2D drafting. Depending on where you live (your country, not your street
address!) and the dominant system of measure used there, AutoCAD will base this new
drawing on one of two default drawing templates:
acad.dwt
for the imperial system of
measure, as used in the United States, or
acadiso.dwt
for the metric system, used
throughout the rest of the galaxy. (In AutoCAD LT, the two default templates are
acadlt.dwt
and
acadltiso.dwt
.) When you explicitly create a new drawing from
within AutoCAD, the Select Template dialog box, as shown in Figure 4-3, appears by de-
fault so you can choose a template on which to base your new drawing.
