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Share your designs with others through printing, plotting, and layouts.
Type:
Tutorial
Length:
10 min.
Learn how to output a drawing layout to a printer, a plotter, or a file.
When you begin to work on a new drawing, one of the biggest concerns is often how to get the drawing to print or plot at the proper scale. Watch the video to master the basics.
Transcript
00:03
When you begin to work on a new drawing,
00:05
one of the biggest concerns is often how to get
00:08
the drawing to print or plot at the proper scale.
00:12
When you work in a drawing,
00:14
you should always create the objects that represent the actual drawing geometry,
00:19
the building, the mechanical part or whatever it is that you are creating
00:24
in model space
00:26
and
00:27
you should create that geometry at its actual size.
00:31
Therefore, when working in model space,
00:34
one drawing unit should always equal one real world unit.
00:39
When you create drawings at a scale of 1-1,
00:43
you actually make it easier to share your drawings with other team members.
00:48
If everyone creates their geometry at full scale,
00:51
you can combine work from other team members and everything will fit together.
00:56
Then
00:57
when you are ready to print or plot,
00:60
you create a layout that looks like what you want to see on paper.
01:05
Although each drawing file can have only one model space tab.
01:10
Each drawing can have as many layout tabs as you want.
01:15
Each layout represents a sheet of paper
01:18
while it is possible to print from model space.
01:22
The best practice is to create one or more layouts
01:25
that essentially represent exactly what you want to appear on each sheet.
01:30
And then print those layouts.
01:34
Each layout should be created at the exact size of
01:37
the piece of paper on which you will print.
01:40
In other words. If you plan to print the drawing on a d size sheet of paper
01:45
or an a one sheet. If you're using metric,
01:49
you would create a layout that measures 24 by 36 inches or 594 by 841 millimeters.
01:58
You can do this by using the page setup manager
02:02
to select both the printer that will be used and the paper size.
02:08
You then add the model space geometry to the
02:11
layout By placing view ports onto the layout.
02:15
Each view ports
02:17
is essentially a window that displays the model space geometry at a
02:21
scale that will fit onto the layout the sheet of paper.
02:26
You can also add a border and title block drawn in paper space on each layout.
02:33
Then when you are ready to print that layout,
02:36
you printed at full size. In other words at a scale of 1-1
02:42
each layout can have its own unique page set up.
02:46
For example, you could create one layout representing a drawing to print on a D.
02:51
Size sheet
02:52
with a view ports showing a building elevation at
02:55
a scale of one quarter inch equals one ft
02:59
And a second layout representing a drawing to print on an a size sheet
03:04
with a view ports showing the same building elevation
03:07
at a scale of 1/8" equals one ft.
03:12
In addition, once you have created page setups,
03:16
you can reuse them in other projects by importing them from an
03:20
existing drawing or saving them as part of a drawing template file.
03:26
If you always follow these basic rules
03:29
that you always create models at full scale.
03:32
Always create layouts at actual size
03:35
and always print or plot layouts at full scale or 1-1.
03:40
You should always be able to get your geometry to appear at the proper size
03:44
on the sheet of paper when it comes out of your printer or plotter.
Video transcript
00:03
When you begin to work on a new drawing,
00:05
one of the biggest concerns is often how to get
00:08
the drawing to print or plot at the proper scale.
00:12
When you work in a drawing,
00:14
you should always create the objects that represent the actual drawing geometry,
00:19
the building, the mechanical part or whatever it is that you are creating
00:24
in model space
00:26
and
00:27
you should create that geometry at its actual size.
00:31
Therefore, when working in model space,
00:34
one drawing unit should always equal one real world unit.
00:39
When you create drawings at a scale of 1-1,
00:43
you actually make it easier to share your drawings with other team members.
00:48
If everyone creates their geometry at full scale,
00:51
you can combine work from other team members and everything will fit together.
00:56
Then
00:57
when you are ready to print or plot,
00:60
you create a layout that looks like what you want to see on paper.
01:05
Although each drawing file can have only one model space tab.
01:10
Each drawing can have as many layout tabs as you want.
01:15
Each layout represents a sheet of paper
01:18
while it is possible to print from model space.
01:22
The best practice is to create one or more layouts
01:25
that essentially represent exactly what you want to appear on each sheet.
01:30
And then print those layouts.
01:34
Each layout should be created at the exact size of
01:37
the piece of paper on which you will print.
01:40
In other words. If you plan to print the drawing on a d size sheet of paper
01:45
or an a one sheet. If you're using metric,
01:49
you would create a layout that measures 24 by 36 inches or 594 by 841 millimeters.
01:58
You can do this by using the page setup manager
02:02
to select both the printer that will be used and the paper size.
02:08
You then add the model space geometry to the
02:11
layout By placing view ports onto the layout.
02:15
Each view ports
02:17
is essentially a window that displays the model space geometry at a
02:21
scale that will fit onto the layout the sheet of paper.
02:26
You can also add a border and title block drawn in paper space on each layout.
02:33
Then when you are ready to print that layout,
02:36
you printed at full size. In other words at a scale of 1-1
02:42
each layout can have its own unique page set up.
02:46
For example, you could create one layout representing a drawing to print on a D.
02:51
Size sheet
02:52
with a view ports showing a building elevation at
02:55
a scale of one quarter inch equals one ft
02:59
And a second layout representing a drawing to print on an a size sheet
03:04
with a view ports showing the same building elevation
03:07
at a scale of 1/8" equals one ft.
03:12
In addition, once you have created page setups,
03:16
you can reuse them in other projects by importing them from an
03:20
existing drawing or saving them as part of a drawing template file.
03:26
If you always follow these basic rules
03:29
that you always create models at full scale.
03:32
Always create layouts at actual size
03:35
and always print or plot layouts at full scale or 1-1.
03:40
You should always be able to get your geometry to appear at the proper size
03:44
on the sheet of paper when it comes out of your printer or plotter.
The command to output a drawing is PLOT, which you can access from the Quick Access toolbar.
To control whether the advanced options in the Plot dialog box are hidden or displayed, click the More Options button.
Use the PLOT command to:
Display one or more scaled views of your design on a standard-size drawing sheet called a layout.
While there are many layout methods to explore in AutoCAD LT, the Trans-Spatial Method is a good place for beginners to start. With this method, you create geometry in model space, create annotations in paper space on a layout with the dimension scale set to 1, and then print from the layout.
Learn how to create a layout, scale views, and plot a drawing.
Transcript
00:04
Once you finish your design, you'll probably need to share it with others.
00:08
A drawing layout organizes one or more views of your design
00:11
on a virtual sheet of paper.
00:14
A layout usually contains a title block,
00:16
one or more view ports
00:17
and annotation,
00:19
let's take a look at the steps for creating a layout.
00:22
The number of layouts in your drawing depends on
00:24
the template you used to create the drawing.
00:27
You can right click on the layout tab and choose from a list of options
00:31
including new layout. Delete
00:33
and rename
00:35
for this demonstration.
00:36
I'll create a new layout using the new layout button.
00:40
All new layouts include a default page set up and view ports.
00:45
The view port controls which area of the design to show
00:47
and at which scale
00:49
for this layout, I'll show you how to edit the page setup,
00:53
insert a title block and create your own view ports.
00:57
I'll start by erasing the default view ports.
01:00
I'll right click on the layout tab and select page setup manager.
01:06
The page setup Manager is where I'll modify the layouts,
01:08
output device and paper size.
01:13
Now I'm ready to insert my title block.
01:16
I'll make the title block layer current.
01:20
I'll select insert
01:21
and choose a title block that I created earlier.
01:26
Next
01:27
I'll define a view port to display my design.
01:31
I'll make the view ports layer current
01:33
and use the view ports. Command
01:35
to create a new view ports.
01:38
I'll size the view port to fit into my title block.
01:43
I can change the scale at which my design is displayed
01:45
by selecting the view ports
01:47
and choosing an appropriate scale from the list of predefined options.
01:53
Once my layout is ready,
01:55
I choose plot,
01:58
notice the arrow in the bottom right corner of the plot dialogue.
02:02
You can click on this era to display additional settings.
02:05
In this case,
02:06
I'll accept the default settings and choose preview.
02:10
Finally,
02:11
I clicked the plot button to send my way out to the output device.
Video transcript
00:04
Once you finish your design, you'll probably need to share it with others.
00:08
A drawing layout organizes one or more views of your design
00:11
on a virtual sheet of paper.
00:14
A layout usually contains a title block,
00:16
one or more view ports
00:17
and annotation,
00:19
let's take a look at the steps for creating a layout.
00:22
The number of layouts in your drawing depends on
00:24
the template you used to create the drawing.
00:27
You can right click on the layout tab and choose from a list of options
00:31
including new layout. Delete
00:33
and rename
00:35
for this demonstration.
00:36
I'll create a new layout using the new layout button.
00:40
All new layouts include a default page set up and view ports.
00:45
The view port controls which area of the design to show
00:47
and at which scale
00:49
for this layout, I'll show you how to edit the page setup,
00:53
insert a title block and create your own view ports.
00:57
I'll start by erasing the default view ports.
01:00
I'll right click on the layout tab and select page setup manager.
01:06
The page setup Manager is where I'll modify the layouts,
01:08
output device and paper size.
01:13
Now I'm ready to insert my title block.
01:16
I'll make the title block layer current.
01:20
I'll select insert
01:21
and choose a title block that I created earlier.
01:26
Next
01:27
I'll define a view port to display my design.
01:31
I'll make the view ports layer current
01:33
and use the view ports. Command
01:35
to create a new view ports.
01:38
I'll size the view port to fit into my title block.
01:43
I can change the scale at which my design is displayed
01:45
by selecting the view ports
01:47
and choosing an appropriate scale from the list of predefined options.
01:53
Once my layout is ready,
01:55
I choose plot,
01:58
notice the arrow in the bottom right corner of the plot dialogue.
02:02
You can click on this era to display additional settings.
02:05
In this case,
02:06
I'll accept the default settings and choose preview.
02:10
Finally,
02:11
I clicked the plot button to send my way out to the output device.
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