Preparing imported foreign DWG drawings in AutoCAD

Autodesk Support

Oct 17, 2023


Products and versions covered


Issue:

The following article explains one or more of the ways for preparing foreign DWG drawings for work in AutoCAD. It is for the workflow to modify the drawings directly instead of the workflow, whereby the drawings will be used as external references. 

Solution:

Drawing Preparation steps*

  1. Explode the DWG plans - This step is done when portions of the data are grouped in a block or nested blocks.
  2. Scaling - See the scaling methods below. 
  3. Linefactor control - decide whether to change the global linefactor of the drawing, or to modify object-linefactor individually to achieve the desired drafting look.
  4. Inserting DWG into your working drawing - Using copy-paste or Insert workflows.
 

Scaling method:

  1. Use -DWGUNITS command > correct the DWG units - (linework units vs. dawing units). 
  2. Scale > according to plan scale. E.g. 1:200 > scale x 2.
  3. Scale > by plan linework unit. E.g. factor 100000 
    1. Measure the absolute size of the linework at some reference location with the help of a line or polyline guide.
    2. Decide how many digits the decimal point must be shifted for the scaling factor. In this way you find out how many zeros you must use for the scaling factor.

Notes:
There are several methods of preparing foreign, reference drawings for work in AutoCAD. The order of the operations might differ depending on the requirements.
 

Products:

AutoCAD Products;


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