printing to Scale

#1
I usually set up LAYOUT so that the drawing is printed to fill the sheet, which means it is not printed to any particular scale, however in this particular instance I want to set up LAYOUT so that the drawing on paper is to scale : say 1:1

I would presume the printable area of say A4 has tomcorrespond to the selected area to be printed, however that does not seem tom work either.

Can anyone explain how to set up LAYOUT so the drawing is printed on paper to scale.

Warren Sugden

#2
warrensugden,

Generally all CAD drawings are created in full size then scalled to make the drawing fit the page.

As you mentioned "layout" I presume you are printing from paperspace.

In paperspace draw an A4 outline ie 210x297 drawing units (mm) as this will be your A4 sheet size.

Insert a viewport slightly smaller than the outline as this will represent the available printing area of your printer.

Double click in the viewport and type: Zoom {Enter} 1/1xp

This will set the viewport to a scale of 1:1

The xp suffix appended to to the 1/1 is IntelliCAD's or AutoCAD's way of scalling a current viewport.

If you want a scale of 1:50 just zoom to 1/50xp

Now double click in paperspace and print 1:1

#3
warrensugden,

One thing I forgot to mention is that you can lock the viewport by:

In paperspace select the viewport boundary and right click then select properties. Select the option "Lock Viewport".

This can save you some time if you accidentally enter the viewport to alter the model.

printing to scale

#4
John Finlay

I go into paperspace/LAYOUT and as you suggest, I draw a rectangle 210 x 297 to represent the sheet size. Inside that I draw another rectangle, 5mm inside all round, which represents the A4 printable border. Just inside of that I draw my drawing border (and title block). I then create a viewport about 1-2mm inside that again.

In MODEL, I draw a line 260 units long (1 unit = 1mm).

I then switch back to LAYOUT/modespace where I find the line displayed. I then Z /enter / 1 / x / p / enter and using Tools/enquiry/distance and measure the line as 260 units.

I then print out, using a window represented by the printable border and 'Scale to Fit' which produces a line 260mm long as desired. If I select 1:1, the print preview will show only half the drawing in portrait.

However, if I use the same process with A3, and a line drawn as 350 long, the printout measures the line as 383 long.

Following your steps on A4 I get a line 248 long instead of 260 long.

I note that you do not take account of the printable sheet size !!!. Should I note take account of the non printing border ????.

On the printout the line measures 248mm and not 260mm.

Warren Sugden

#5
warrensugden,

I noticed you typed:
I then Z /enter / 1 / x / p / enter

It should be:
I then Z /enter 1/1xp enter

Was this a typo?

#7
Warren,

I have just drawn a line 260 long and printed this in paperspace and my line is ok.

Please email me and I will send you my drawing so you can check if there is any other thing on your system which is causing the problem.

My email is finlay.john@gmail.com

print to scale

#8
John Finlay

I can now get the line to print out to scale, although I had to switch to version 6.4.

In layout (paperspace) I drew a rectangle 297 x 210 to represent the size of the A4 sheet of paper. This is solely for my guidance in drawing the actual drawing border.

Within that border and by trial and error, I drew a rectangle 282 x 198 which represents the actual drawing border (and title block). Each time I checked the print preview to be sure the whole of the drawing border displayed.

I presume this corresponds to the print area for my particular printer. Other printers may have different print areas.

I found the line printed out exactly to 260mm for a scale of 1:1 and exactly 130mm for a scale of .5:1. The scale is set using Z enter .5 x p enter within modelspace in the Layout. Switch back to Paperspace to print.

Thank you John for your help.

Warren Sugden
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