plotting scale Q? when drawing in centimeters

[kingnero]

First of all, I searched for this (google and eng-tips) but haven't found the exact answer I was looking for.
Maybe someone could point me tho somewhere where this has been discussed before?

I have received a drawing that was drawn with 1unit = 1cm.

I know about scaling commands, changing dimension units, ... but the problem is as follows:

When plotting, ACad only knows 2 units: mm or inches. the drawing is set as "decimal".
When I want to plot at 1:50 (in paperspace) (with paperspace in 1:1 off course), I have to set the model scale to 1:5 to have an actual print of 1:50.

I know this has to do with the cm vs. mm, but is there a way to change a setting so I can choose the correct scale from the drop-down menu in paperspace (instead of having to manually choose a scale with a "times 10" smaller)?

thanks in advance,

 

[chicopee]

If the drawing was initially started under STARTUP in metric then the default dimension would have been in millimeters (1 unit=1 milimeter) and not centimeters. When you draw in model space, you should be drawing in the actual dimensions of the objects and not to some scaled factor. Then the plotting in paperspace would have been scaled down to 1:250.
If I were you, I would rescale(50X to get the drawing in millimeters)the drawing in model space to its actual dimension which will necessitate to rescale the size of the dimensions and arrows under dim scale with particular attention to a proper scale value in the FIT tab"Use overall scale of:". Then you can scale down the drawing to 1:250 in paper space.
Do those changes on a copy and not on the sender's drawing.

 

[kingnero]

When you draw in model space, you should be drawing in the actual dimensions of the objects and not to some scaled factor.

It has been done like that, in centimeters instead of millimeters but still to the actual dimensions. Architectural work in Europe is 99% of the times drawn in cm.

I have to make adjustments to his drawing and send it back, so I cannot rescale the whole drawing just for plotting purposes. I cannot believe an intelligent program like ACad can only plot scales referenced to either mm and inches, and having to manually adjust the "times ten" confuses me as I've got several viewports with different scales (some even 1:1, which I have to set to 10:1 to get the correct print).

Also, the dimscale "to fit" is wrong by 10.
I cannot be the first one with these problems in a drawing in cm's...?

 

[chicopee]

I can only say that in the USA, ACAD has those default units mentioned in my response.
I guess I have it backward from you statement"I have to set the model scale to 1:5 to have an actual print of 1:50". Apparently in model space you reduce the drawing 1/5th of the actual dimensions and when you plot you scale up by 50X your viewport, so in essence your plotted drawing is 10X larger then the real part.
When I open my viewport in paper space I personally like to scale my plotted drawings by either using the viewports toolbar or the command line Z>S>nXP since many of the viewports will have different scales. If for any reason I enlarge or reduce certain views in model space,then I'll have to do the same as you do.

 

[kingnero]

thanks for that.

I'll rephrase the question though, maybe has someone else some insights:

If I drew something in furlong, 1:1, and I wanted to plot that drawing in scale 1:1 (let's assume we have a plotter and sheets of paper big enough...).

How would you do that? with the 1XP command, you would plot with 1 unit = either 1 mm or 1 inch (choice in the plot dialog).
I am trying to avoid doing the calcs in order to plot at a certain scale, as I have several viewports with different scales. I know there are ways around this (viewport-specific scales/locking), but I would like to know if this specific question is possible or not (in AutoCad 2009, or any other version if that matters).

 

[chicopee]

The nXP command would be as you pointed out 1XP regardles if you drew in Imperial or metric units. If the drawing scale were 1/4"=1' in essence this is equivalent to 1/4"=12" and the nXP line command would take the form 1/48XP. Another word the n value = 1/48 where the 48 is the scale factor as designated by Autodesk when you are about to plot. let's say the object in model space is small and the drawing scale in paper space is 10:1, the nXP line command would take the form 1/0.1XP or better yet 10XP whereby 0.1 is the scale factor when you are about to plot. If you have a civil drawing scale (and I am exaggerating) of 1cm =1km, this is equivalent to 1cm=100000cm or 1:100000, therefore the nXP value = 1/100000XP and the scale facot in paperspace is 100000.
You can also use the viewport toolbar and designate the scale either those that are programmed or those that you are setting up and the active floating viwport in paper space will automatically adjust to that scale.

 

[tr1ntx]

I guess there are 2 times that it matters what the drawing unit is: when plotting and if using system standard dimensions styles that put the suffix on, i.e., mm or ". You can create your own dimension style that puts the abbreviation for furlongs, whatever that is, so there is a work-around for that.

Centimeters vs. millimeters is a tricky one though. As chicopee mentioned, perhaps the particular country's version of ACAD uses cm as a standard unit.

Can you change your plotter's paper size to cm instead of mm? Maybe make a custom paper size for Euro-boy's drawings?

 

[tr1ntx]

How about going ahead and preparing your plots in cm, ignoring the fact that they will be 10X your paper size, then when you actually start to plot, set the Plot Scale to 1:10?

 

[MrBachelor]

Check your model space dimensions again to verify that the line that is dimensioned as 10cm is really 10 units long. Dimension styles can be manipulated to display different units (ie if I draw a 1 unit long pLine I can dimension it to be 12 inches or 1 foot very easily).

Question, if you are modifying and returning another person's drawings, why do you have to manipulate the VP scales at all? Didn't he set them up in the first place?

Also, I assume since you are plotting from PS that you have a titleblock of standard size inserted. If you are stuck on having your viewport set correctly and you can't solve the issue with cm vs mm, scale your titleblock and veiwport up by 10 and plot it that way (at 1:10 as tr1ntx suggested).

This seems like a minor issue that would be best solved by spending as little time as possible on your part messing with plot settings.

Nate the Great

http://www.ceieng.com