3D AutoCAD 2004/2005: One Step at a Time

Overview

Following this lesson, you will:

• Be familiar with Viewports

• Know the difference between Model Space and Paper Space

• Know how to set up a drawing in the Paper Space environment – the MView command

By now, you've printed (or plotted) a drawing in Model Space. You understand, then, the complexity of the mathematics involved …

How large is the area to plot?

How large is the paper?

At what scale will I want to plot?

… and a host of other questions that must be answered. And then you have to consider stuff like text and dimensions – plotted size and drawing scale factor. AGHH!

Does it have to be that difficult!?

The answer is a resounding, NO! ("Now I tell you!")

We begin this section of our text by simplifying these tasks with a remarkable tool called Paper Space.

When it comes to drawing display and arrangement, there exist two distinct groups of CAD operators – those who've used Paper Space and would never use anything else, and those who (generally for lack of training) haven't used Paper Space.

This lesson will familiarize you (painlessly) to the wonders of Paper Space and Viewports so that you may join the ranks of enlightened operators! To keep it simple, we'll remain in the two-dimensional world throughout this lesson. However, you'll continue to discover the benefits of these tools even as you explore the third dimension in our next text – 3D AutoCAD 2004: One Step at a Time.

Let's begin by answering the basic questions.