Creating and Managing Viewports in AutoCAD: A Step-by-Step Guide

We have made great progress getting our A2.2 deliverable sheet file together. We're now getting ready to start looking at how to create the viewports that will let us look from paper space down into model space for the different enlarged views. But I'd like to bring something to your attention.

If I select on this no plot view, you can see that the no plot view goes essentially border to border. And by that I mean from this boundary line over here on the left and the one over here on the bottom right, edge to edge. If we were to create viewports that were to go boundary to boundary, when we ended up completing the image, everything would go right to the edges of the viewable area.

So what we're going to do is we're going to create viewports that instead of going the complete size of the viewport, that rather they will go one region in. So what I'd like to do is to make a no plot our current layer. And the reason we're making a no plot the current layer is that we want to have the viewports, but we do not want to have a boundary displaying around the viewports themselves.

So here's what I'm going to do. I will go up to view, viewports one, and you can see it wants to do a fit. And I will fit it from the end of this interior rectangle to that interior rectangle.

I will go back to view, viewports one, fit, same thing. View, viewports one, same thing. And last but not least, view, viewports one from the second rectangle in.

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Now, we have our viewports. The only reason that we brought the no plot view images into our paper space environment was so that we could correctly register our viewports. Now what I can do is I can go on and I can erase out the viewport images that we populated.

So I'm going to go to erase, and I will choose on this guy here. And you can see that what's happened is I've gotten rid of the no plot view, but I still have the viewport. I can go hit ENTER, erase out that guy, erase that guy, and erase this one.

So again, we now have our appropriate viewports already prepared. I'm going to go to the model space environment, and I'm going to look for a second at the kitchen. When we have been doing our viewports before, we've been doing our viewports around the outermost rectangle because the scale factors were all relating.

Remember, this guy is brought in, the viewport being, was brought in 48 times larger. Since our registration in paper space is for this next rectangle in, we can still maintain the same visibility and the same scale factor. Since we're zooming into the second rectangle in paper space, zoom into the same second rectangle in model space.

So I'm going to zoom extents, go to paper space. In paper space, I'm zooming around here, I'm going to double click to go into the viewport. I'm going to pan, and so I will now go view, zoom window, from the end, shift right of there, to the end, shift right of the second rectangle in.

If you look down here, you can see, yes, we do have the appropriate scale, and so I will now lock the viewport. I'm going to pan down here, click into that viewport. We want to have our fireplace area here, so I'm going to again go view, zoom window, you see that that's on top.

From the end of the second rectangle to the end, I'll do some panning to the other second rectangle. Again, you look down here, I have my scale, one inch equals a foot, and of course, I lock the viewport. Locking viewports is very important.

I will now double click here, I'm going to do the Jack and Jill area. So once again, view, zoom window, I'm going to go from the end of the bottom right of the second rectangle to the end of the second. I look down here, I have my scale, I lock the viewport, double click to go into this viewport.

Now it's the guest bathroom, zoom window, view, zoom window, from the end of the second rectangle to the end of the other second rectangle. Again, look down here, see I have the scale, lock it. Now visually, these no plot views are sort of in my face, so what I'm going to do is go to home tab, go to layers.

I'm going to make zero my current layer. I will turn off no plot. I will expand the width.

I will also turn off the no plot layers that are displayed within the model that's been referenced in and control S to save. When you look at the image, you see all kinds of dimension styles. Because remember that in our model file, we have our annotative layers, the dims 48,24, and 12.

And what's happening is that on this sheet file, I need to see dimensions. But I only need to see the dimensions that are relative for the scale at which they're being presented within the viewport. Our model file currently is showing the annotative dims 48, which is the quarter inch drawing scales that are shown throughout the entire model.

We do not need to see those particular layers on this enlarged plan sheet file. So what I want to do is to go to layers, and I want to turn off the xref layers and no dims 48. Because again, those layers are not being utilized on this sheet file at all.

But remember, this viewport is at half inch, and these other three viewports are at an inch. So what I'm going to do is I want to manage my layer visibility by viewport. So here's what's going to happen.

This is my half inch drawing. I'm going to be double clicking to go into that viewport. Now, I want to have the layers for the half inch shown within the drawing, but I want to manage their visibility by viewport.

Whereas a couple of seconds ago, I turned off my quarter inch, my anodims 48 layer, because I don't need to see them at all within this drawing. So I have jumped into the viewport. I'm going to go into layers, and within this viewport, I want to see my anodims 24 in this viewport.

But I do not want to see the anodims 12 in this viewport. So I'm selecting the row for anodims 12. I'm going to slide over to the right, and you can see that I have the plot, no plot.

I have layer management, viewport freeze for future or new viewports. But I also have viewport management by current viewport. So on the left hand side, I have selected the anodims 12 layer, and what I want to do is I want to freeze that layer within my current viewport.

Because again, what I'm working with and what I want to have displayed are my half inch anodims 24 dimensions. So I'm freezing the anodims 12 within the current viewport. When I go into my fireplace area, which again is at one inch equals a foot, within this viewport, I want to see my anodims 12, but I don't want to see my anodims 24.

So again, I'm jumping into the model space within the viewport. I will go to layers. I want to choose my anodims 24.

I will slide to the right, and I will say freeze those layers, the anodims 24, within my current viewport. Again, those layers are on within the drawing, but they're being frozen within the viewport. If I go to the Jack and Jill bath, double click to get into model space, go to layers.

I want to choose my anodims 24, slide to the right, and I want to freeze those within the current viewport. And once again, double click to go into the guest bathroom. So I'm in that viewport.

I go to layers. I'm going to choose my anodims 24, slide to the right, and freeze those within the viewport. I'm now going to double click to go into paper space and control S to save the file.

Now, I'd like you to see something really fun. That when I zoom in, you know that this image over here on the right is at half inch equals a foot. This image on the left is at an inch equals a foot.

This image over here on the right has an annotated dimension scale of 24. The image on the left has a dimension scale of 12. Do you notice how the dimensions are the same size? And the reason they're the same size is that the different viewports are zoomed back different distances.

But because of the dimensional scale factor I have going on, I have a dim scale of 24 here, a dim scale of 12 here. This guy is zoomed back 12. This guy is zoomed back 24.

Because I have my dimensional scale and the zoom factor, that is now why my dimensions are appearing to be the same size when they are projected to the underside of paper space. The last thing I need to do is to start labeling the actual contents for my drawing title. So, I'm going to click, double click on the drawing title 2 right here.

And my drawing label will be 1. The drawing name will be Enlarged Kitchen Plan. The scale will be 1 half inch equals 1 foot 0 inches. So, again, 1 half inch, space, equals sign, space, 1 foot 0 inches, okay.

Now, this is label 1. And as I've mentioned before, when we number these things, we have 1, we'll have 2, we will have 3, and we'll have 4. So, I'm going to pan up, double click here. The drawing label will be 2. This will be the enlarged fireplace area. And the scale will be 1 inch equals 1 foot 0 inches.

Now, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to select this, control C it, put it on the clipboard, and go okay. I'm now going to pan over here, go to the Jack and Jill.

This will be drawing label 3. The drawing name enlarged Jack and Jill area. And the scale, I'm going to select here and go control V and go okay. So, I didn't have to type it again.

Double click here. This will be image 4. Drawing name enlarged Guest Bathroom area. The scale will be control V. I think what I'd like to do is to double click on this Jack and Jill bathroom area and go okay.

Zoom extends, zoom real time, and I save the file. So, we now have our enlarged plan created. The next thing I'd like to do, though, is to go back into our A2.1 file and to reference these enlarged plans from the A2.1 file over to the A2.2 file.

So, I hope you're having fun. I hope you're understanding this. And I'll talk to you in a couple more minutes.