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AutoCAD 2015 and AutoCAD LT 2015 Bible

The most comprehensive AutoCAD book around!

Create a scale for plotting

You should draw full size, but rarely do you plot at full size. That’s because your models are not usually the same size as your sheet of paper. Therefore, you have to scale your drawing when you plot. There are a number of ways to do this, but here is the most direct method I […]

Label the scale of individual viewports

A reader asked me how to label the scale of individual viewports when they have different scales. You can use fields to accomplish this.

If you only have 1 viewport, you can also let the system automatically show pre-set scale in the title block

Let’s look at the example below with 2 viewports, each one […]

Create mass output with the PUBLISH command

The PUBLISH command creates the multi-page DWF,  DWFx, or PDF files. You can also use the command to batch plot to a plotter. This command gives you a lot of flexibility to choose which drawings to output.

Be sure to save your drawing before using the PUBLISH command.

Choose  Output tab > Plot panel> Batch […]

AutoCAD 2016 – 30 releases young and still going strong – Part 2

This is a guest post from Lee Ambrosius, who was my co-author for the AutoCAD 2015 and AutoCAD 2015 LT Bible. As you can tell from the photo, he’s a runner — even in some pretty cold Wisconsin weather! Lee is both an Autodesk Authorized Developer and Authorized Author. He’s also the author of the […]

Synchronize backups and create a quick PDF with the AUTOPUBLISH command

The AUTOPUBLISH command is a way to quickly publish to a DWF, DWFx, or PDF file. To specify the settings that this command uses, choose Application Button > Options and click the Plot and Publish tab. In the Auto Publish section, click the Automatic Publish Settings button. There you can specify settings similar to those […]

How to automatically display the plotting scale on your AutoCAD drawing

A reader asked me, “Can we have AutoCAD print the plotting scale on the drawing?”

Yes, you can! I’m going to assume that you have 1 viewport on a layout tab with a title block that will display the scale of that viewport.

Here are the steps:

Set the scale for the viewport. I explain […]

Use AutoCAD’s VIEWBASE command to create 2D views of your 3D model

Starting with AutoCAD 2012, you can use the VIEWBASE command to quickly create 2D views of your 3D model. These views are called view objects. The command prompts you to create views based on the default 3D views, such as Top, Front, SE Isometric, etc. You can choose a shading style, as well. It’s quick […]

Know what your plot will look like when you use plot styles

Here is a guest blog post from Paul Munford.

Did you know that you can set AutoCAD up to show you exactly how your plot will look, even before you Preview it? (You can click the Preview button in the Plot dialog box to preview your plot.)

It’s easy – when you know how. […]

Layout and plotting tips for AutoCAD

Almost everyone needs to plot or print drawings. Here are some tips for working with layouts and plotting. Please leave a comment with your own tips so we can have a great plotting resource all in one place!

(Thanks to Jozef2011 for the image, found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ColorPlotter.jpg.)

Working with layouts To see what is on […]

Working with layout tabs

When you’re ready to lay out your drawing for plotting, you’ll start working with layout tabs. Here are some tips to make this task easier.

Rename a layout tab by double-clicking it, then just type the new name and press Enter. And remember, you should name your layouts something other than Layout1, Layout2, etc.

Move […]