xref for a title block?

[mrspetos]

I am experimenting with using an xref for my title block, and havent found any major problems yet but wanted your opinion also. the only downfall i noticed is a slightly slower response in the viewports in paperspace.

the xref consists of the lines that make the border and the block itself for the file name, drawing name, company logo, etc.

on a seperate layer inside the actual drawing have the text to fit in the xref's text area.

this should also allow me to change the company logo and make minor changes to all my drawings without having to make the change 500 times to keep all my prints current. one major living part of our drawings are our color codes that often change, and are now part of the xref.

my only fear is that the xref file gets moved or destroyed.

 

[CADSTUDENT]

I believe that XREF is a good approach for title and block drawing and the system automatatly updates XREFs blocks in drawing files. Professional tip - keep a current backup on a floppy in your desk in case the file is moved or destroyed. Hope this helps - John

 

[IFRs]

I don't like to use xrefs for title block info like drawing name, number, checked, date, etc. That stuff is very drawing specific and needs to be part of our drawings. For our company logo we use a small jpg file that, like an xref, does not become part of the drawing. We keep the jpg in the roof folder of the drive containing the drawing and have a text only logo on a frozen layer for times when we have to send an original to a customer and don't want to burden them with the logo jpg file business.

 

[CDH]

Xref is the way to go, changes can be made across all drawing very easily. In out office we have a standard "border" drawing that gets copied to each project and is updated with the proper job name and number, etc.
This is xref'd into the drawing. Then we have a block with attributes that is inserted, (via a lisp routine that automatically inserts in the right location, layer etc.)
This block contains the fields for sheet number, sheet title, and other sheet specific items.

Chris

 

[CTruax]

I have an extensive title block with logo, name, association images, etc. I save it as an XREF block and call it up when I'm ready to do final plots / presentation.
During the actual drawing/preparation of the unique work though, I use a 12-segment polyline (fast-load low-overhead) which outlines the title block borders and shows me where I would place sheet#, sheet title, and anything that changes for each job.
The polyline is on DefPoints layer which does not plot and the titleblock overwrites it (thicker lines) when they are both loaded.

 

[mrspetos]

well it seems i am going to continue in this path after hearing that works smoothly for many.

can i set AutoCAD to auto reload the xref? the way that i have reloaded them before is by clicking the small icon in the bottom right hand corner to load the xref manager. is this operation capable of programming a button to do the work for me?

 

[CDH]

It will automatically reload when you open the drawing. If you are in the drawing, you'll have to do that, or what I have done in the past is make a button that will reload all xref's.
You could make one to do just your border drawing if you want.
Basically create a macro button that inputs your commands as you would type them:

-xref;reload;(name of xref);

what I did for my routine is when it asks for the name of the drawing I put in *.* This way it reloads all drawings that are xref'd in.

Hope this helps!

Chris

 

[jsraider]

Typically I tend to create the sheet border as it's own separate drawing. You can copy this sheet border around to your different jobs as needed, changing just the information that is "job specific". For items that are not job specific like: SHEET NUMBER, DRAWN BY, DESIGN BY, DATE, APPROVED BY, SHEET TITLE, etc... I create a block called "SHEET-INFO" that contains attributes for the information above, relative to the sheet border.

When I set up the sheet for a job I "xref" in the sheet border in PS at 0,0. Then insert the block "SHEET-INFO" in PS at 0,0.

::If you have created the attributes for the "SHEET-INFO" block correctly, when you insert it into your individual sheets it should prompt you for all the information that is sheet specific. More importantly all the sheets will have the same style text and location sheet to sheet.::

 

[advidana]

have someone send you a drawing with xrefs, then he will forget to send you some of the required xfers drawings. then call him up to sent you the rest of the xrefs- oops he forgot one call him again and again. xfers are great when you do them yourself and have control but not if you are in the receiving end.