Explore the meticulous process of creating architectural drawings to scale using AutoCAD. This article provides a detailed discussion on how to adjust and optimize elements such as dimensions, scale factors, and insertion points to make precise and accurate graphical representations.
Key Insights
- The article emphasizes the importance of scaling and dimensioning in AutoCAD drawings, highlighting that drawings not to scale can lead to inaccurate representations. Steps are provided on how to adjust the scale factor for dimensional accuracy.
- Various AutoCAD commands and tools are elaborated on, such as DDIM for modifying dimension styles, Move Window for adjusting viewing areas, and Convert Text to Emtext for text transformation. Each step demonstrates the application of these commands in the drawing process.
- The article also details how to create and modify M Leaders, which are useful for adding annotations to drawings. Further instructions are given on how to adjust the text size, leader structure, and leader format for customization.
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Let's begin working on our next detail. So let's go File, Open, slide down, choose 04 Original, and then File, Save As, 04. Now you can see that this drawing right here says it's not to scale.
We want to have our drawings to a scale. So let's begin by inserting, go to Browse, My Detail Border, 1x1, I'm going to try a scale factor of 2, so that would mean 6 inches to a foot, and Upper Entry Flashing Edge Detail Tip, Zoom Extents, Move Window from here down into here. I think that that will probably work just fine.
You can see that I've had the dimensions change. The reason, I'm going to erase this, the reason is if I go into DDIM, I take TickTick, I'm going to rename it 02, modify it, the Fit Factor is going to be 2, Set Current, Close, so you can see that it has now taken the dimension style, and if I list the entity, it's saying it's on ADIMS, it's using dimension style TickTick02. Well, it was using TickTick, and TickTick was set to a scale factor of 48, which is why the detail dimensions got so big.
Now, what I can do though, I don't need to have this much information over here, so I'm going to draw a line from here down and trim, erase this, erase this, because I'm noticing that there's some flashing I want to show around there. So, I'm now going to say Move Window from here to the right, Move Previous from the end of here, perpendicular to there, CTRL S to save, Zoom Extends. I'm going to Convert Text to Emtext, Express Tools, Convert to Emtext, go into Layers, LA for Layers, A Text will be color 120, Title Block also 120, LTS for Line Type Scale, give it a factor of 2, CTRL S to save.
I need to go into my M Leaders, so Annotate, M Leader, go to the Properties, right-button Rename, M Leader 02, make it Current, modify it, Content, I'm going to change the text to an eighth of an inch, Leader Structure, a scale factor of 2, and I always tend to select out and then type a 2 and a period, just because if I try to wiggle around where that period is, sometimes I don't get it, but by selecting more stuff and then typing my scale in a period, I don't inadvertently get a scale factor of like 2,000. Leader Format, wants to be straight, OK, Set Current, Close, and Save. I'm going to go to Layers, I'm going to make text my current layer, and I'm going to do my M Leaders.
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Well, first I'm going to move the text. I do have some dots I need to get rid of, so Erase Windows, so these are dots that came in with the other drawing. I'm going to stretch crossing these leader ends to get them back a bit.
I'm going to move the text from the insertion base point to the node, and again I'm typing INS and NOD, move the text from the INS to the NOD, move the text INS to NOD, move text INS, NOD. Let's begin working on our M Leaders. I'm going to turn off Ortho, I'm going to turn on Polar, zoom in, Annotate, M Leader.
I'm going to say from the end of here, again I'm going to go up, make the text so that the horizontal crosshairs bisect the text from there over to there, close the editor, erase that, M Leader. From the end of here, again bisect the text, go to 30 degrees off of Vertical, close the editor, erase this guy. Now this should be on the dimensioning layer, ADIMS, LA for Layer, A-DIMS, I will make that color 120.
I can type M Leader, MLD is a shortcut, I'm going to go from the end of here, again 30 degrees off of Vertical, should be at 300, place the crosshairs so they bisect the text, close the editor, erase this. MLD, M Leader, from the end of here, again 30 degrees off Vertical, which would be 300, close editor. If I wanted to, I could go Erase Crossing, R Spacebar for Remove, pick that guy.
I'm now going to draw my line from the node of here, straight down, move last, just a little bit, doesn't really matter. Pick on the grip, go to the arrowhead, perpendicular, grip, arrow, perpendicular, square grip, move to the left, arrow, perpendicular. Pan down, grip to the left, arrowhead, perpendicular, erase, zoom extents, save the file, and so there we are.
The sort of gotcha that happened was dimensions, because again remember that in the original detail, which was not to scale, there were dimensions that were already existing and those dimensions were mapped to a dimension style. We had to go in and change the dimension scale factor so that the dimensions would be appropriately updated. So zoom extents, save the file, and let's get ready for our next detail.
