Chapter 16 Drawing Complex Objects 485

5.Type tablet and on .

6.Type line .

7.In Figure16-38, pick 3 with the digitizer, then 4, and then each line endpoint in turn, counterclockwise around the figure.

8.After you reach 5, do not digitize point 1 again. Instead, type c to close the figure exactly.

9.Type tablet . Type off to return the digitizer to Screen Pointing mode.

10.Save your drawing.

3 4

1

Figure 16-38: An unfolded sheet-metal template.

Summary

Several types of complex objects add greatly to the capabilities of AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT. In this chapter, you read about:

Using polylines to combine lines, segments, and arcs of any width into one object

Utilizing splines to mathematically calculate curves, fit to points that you specify

Using regions, which are two-dimensional surfaces

Creating regions or polylines from complex areas by using the BOUNDARY command

Filling in an area with lines, a solid fill, or a gradient with hatches

Drawing complex parallel lines at one time with multilines (AutoCAD only), and drawing double lines with AutoCAD LT

Drawing freehand by using the SKETCH command, creating either lines or polylines (AutoCAD only)

Using a digitizer in Tablet mode, when you need to copy a paper drawing into AutoCAD In the next chapter, I explain how to lay out and plot a drawing.

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Plotting a drawing from model space

Model space refers to the mode in which you work when you draw and edit your model. Throughout this book, you’ve been working in model space. The Model tab at the bottom of the drawing area visually confirms that you’re in model space. After you’ve prepared your drawing for plotting, as just discussed, you can plot your drawing. See the discussion on plotting later in this chapter.

Creating a Layout in Paper Space

If you’re using several views of your model, you should consider creating a paper space layout. Although paper space was designed for the needs of 3D drawings, it’s often used for 2D layout as well. For example, if you want to show views of your model at different scales, paper space is indispensable. If you use a title block, paper space is a good choice, because the size of the title block needs to be appropriate for the sheet of paper on which you will plot. Paper space is a tool that is specifically for laying out a drawing. It’s analogous to creating a sheet of paper at the size on which you’ll plot, and placing views on the paper. You place the views by means of floating viewports. Floating viewports on a paper space layout are windows into model space, through which you see your drawing.

A layout provides a visual environment that lets you know what your plot will look like. By creating more than one layout for a drawing, you can create more than one plot for a single drawing. For example, you can create layouts at different scales for different sheet sizes.

Entering paper space

You draw in model space, which you access from the Model tab at the bottom of the screen. You use a paper space layout to lay out a drawing. When you’re in paper space, you can view your drawing only through floating viewports.

To enter a paper space layout, simply click a layout tab. By default, you see one floating viewport through which you can view your model. An example is shown in Figure 17-1. The paper space icon confirms that you’re looking at a paper space layout.

Figure 17-1: When you click a layout tab, a layout is automatically created, with one floating viewport through which you can see your entire drawing.

To switch back to model space, click the Model tab.

Using the Layout Wizard

The Layout Wizard guides you through the process of laying out a drawing in paper space. Although you may eventually want to lay out your drawings on your own, the Layout Wizard is a great way to get started using a paper space layout.

To use the Layout Wizard, follow these steps:

1.Choose Tools Wizards Create Layout. You see the wizard screen shown in Figure 17-2, where you name the layout. This name will appear on the layout tab at the bottom of the drawing area.

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Figure 17-2: The first screen of the Layout Wizard.

2.Type a name for the layout and click Next.

3.The second screen asks you to choose a configured plotter. This list also includes printers. For more information on configuring a plotter or printer, see Appendix A. Click Next after you’re done.

4.On the third screen, shown in Figure 17-3, specify a paper size and drawing units, and then click Next.

Figure 17-3: The Paper Size screen of the Layout Wizard.

5.On the next screen, specify whether you want the drawing to plot in portrait or landscape orientation. The wizard rotates a letter A on a sheet of paper so that you can see which way your drawing will plot. Then click Next.

6.On the Title Block screen, shown in Figure 17-4, choose a title block if you want to add one. You can add it as a block (see Chapter 18) or as an external reference, or xref (see Chapter 19).

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Figure 17-5: The Define Viewports screen of the Layout

Wizard.

Figure 17-6 shows the result of completing the wizard with a 2×1 array of viewports. You would still need to pan the model to get the views that you want in each viewport. You may also find that you need to change the scale.

Figure 17-6: After completing the Layout Wizard, you now see your model in the viewport(s) that you created.

In the following exercise, you practice using the Layout Wizard to create a paper space layout.

STEPS: Creating a Paper Space Layout with the Layout Wizard

1.Open ab17-a.dwg from your CD-ROM.

2.Save the file as ab17-01.dwg in your AutoCAD Bible folder.

3.Choose Tools Wizards Create Layout.

4.On the Begin screen, type Double as the name of the layout. Click Next.

5.On the Printer screen, choose the printer or plotter that you want to use. Click Next.

6.On the Paper Size screen, choose a paper size that you have available and that is suitable for the printer or plotter that you chose on the previous screen. The drawing units should be in inches, but you can use millimeters, if you prefer. Click Next.

7.On the Orientation screen, choose Landscape. (This is the default.) Click Next.

8.On the Title Block screen, choose ANSI A title block.dwg. The type should be set to Block. Click Next.

9.On the Define Viewports screen, choose Array. Set Rows to 1 and Columns to 2. Choose 1:4 from the Viewport Scale drop-down list. Click Next.

10.On the Pick Location screen, click Select Location. In the drawing, choose a point near the top of the border on the left, and a second point at the bottom-right of the border, just above the title block. If necessary, turn off OSNAP.

11.Click Finish.

12.Save your drawing. It should look like Figure 17-7.

Figure 17-7: Using the Layout Wizard to create a paper space layout with floating viewports.

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Laying out a drawing in paper space on your own

Now that you’ve used the Layout Wizard once, you can try creating layouts on your own. The Layout Wizard only creates the floating viewports, leaving most of the scaling, the panning, and other tasks up to you.

Working with layout tabs

You can have up to 256 layouts, including the model tab. To create a new layout, right-click an existing layout tab to open the shortcut menu. The shortcut menu options help you to manage layouts:

New layout: Creates a new layout tab.

From template: Opens the Select File dialog box in which you can choose a .dwg, .dxf, or .dwt file. Click Open. You can then choose the layout or layouts that you want from the Insert Layout(s) dialog box. When you import a template, you import everything that exists on the paper space layout, including viewports, any existing text, the title block, and so on. (You can then get rid of anything you don’t want, if necessary.)

Delete: Deletes the selected layout. A warning dialog box appears. Click OK to delete the layout.

Rename: Opens the Rename Layout dialog box, where you can rename the layout. Click OK.

Move or Copy: Opens the Move or Copy dialog box. To move a layout tab, you choose the layout tab that you want the selected tab to be to the left of. You can also choose to move it to the end. Click Create a copy to copy the selected tab. (You can then rename it.) Click OK after you’re done.

Select All Layouts: Selects all layouts. You can then delete them.

Activate Previous Layout/Activate Model Tab: Moves you to the last layout tab that you had displayed or to the Model tab.

Page Setup Manager: Opens the Page Setup Manager, which is discussed next.

Plot: Opens the Plot dialog box, which is discussed later in this chapter.

Using the Page Setup Manager

When you click a new (unused) layout tab, by default you see one floating viewport. However, you can create and save page setups that store many of the settings that were explained previously in the discussion of the Layout Wizard. The value in saving page setups is that the settings are attached to the layout. If you have more than one layout, each with its own page setup, then you can quickly switch the page settings as you move from layout to layout. Once you have page setups, you can manage them in the Page Setup Manager, shown in Figure 17-8.

Figure 17-8: The Page Setup Manager helps you to control your page setups.

Note When you check the Display When Creating a New Layout check box, the Page Setup dialog box will automatically appear each time you display a layout tab for the first time. To display it if it does not appear, right-click the current paperspace layout tab and choose Page Setup Manager; then check the check box. You can also specify whether you want the Page Setup Manager to appear when you click a new layout tab, by choosing Tools Options and clicking the Display tab. Check or uncheck the Show Page Setup Manager for New Layouts check box.

To display the Page Setup Manager, right-click any layout tab and choose Page Setup Manager. The Page Setup Manager lists your layouts and page setups. You can create a new page setup, modify an existing setup, or set a page setup current for the active layout. Click the Import button to import a page setup from another drawing.

To create a new page setup, click New. In the New Page Setup dialog box, enter a name for the page setup. Choose an existing page setup to start from so that you don’t have to change all of the settings, and click OK. The Page Setup dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 17-9.

Here’s how to use the Page Setup dialog box:

Printer/Plotter: Choose a printer or plotter from the drop-down list. For more information, see “Choosing a plotter/printer” later in this chapter.

Paper size: Choose a paper size from the drop-down list.

Plot area: By default, the plot is set to the layout. However, you can choose to plot the current display, the drawing extents, a named view, or a window that you specify.

Plot offset: You can move the plot from the lower-left corner. Specify the X and Y offset in inches. If you aren’t plotting the layout, but rather some smaller area, check the Center the Plot check box to center the plot on the paper.

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Figure 17-9: The Page Setup dialog box.

Plot scale: Set the scale from the drop-down list. You can also type a scale in the text boxes. Because you scale your model in your floating viewports, you usually don’t have to scale the layout as well. Therefore, you typically plot a layout in paper space at 1:1. If you’re using lineweights and want to scale them, check the Scale Lineweights check box.

Plot style table: Choose a plot style table if you want to use one. For more information, see the section “Working with Plot Styles” later in this chapter.

Shaded viewport options: Use this feature to determine the display of the Model tab. (To set the display of a viewport on a layout tab, select the viewport and make the changes in the Properties palette.) With the Model tab displayed, choose one of the four display options: As displayed, Wireframe, Hidden, or Rendered. You can also choose a quality (resolution). If you choose the Custom quality, you can specify the dots per inch (dpi). (AutoCAD only.)

Plot options: Clear the Plot Object Lineweights check box if you used lineweights but don’t want the lineweights to be plotted. Clear the Plot with Plot Styles check box if you assigned plot styles to layers or objects but don’t want to plot them. (Plot styles are discussed later in this chapter.) Clear the Plot Paperspace Last check box in order to plot objects drawn on the paper space layout first. Check the Hide Paperspace Objects check box to hide lines of 3D objects that you created in paper space. (Later in this chapter, I explain how to hide lines of 3D objects that were created in model space, a more common situation.)

Drawing orientation: Choose portrait or landscape. You can also choose to plot upside-down. Use these settings to rotate a drawing when you plot it.

When you’ve completed your settings in the dialog box, click OK to return to the Page Setup Manager. You can see the new page setup in the list. To make the page setup active, click Set Current. Then click Close to return to your drawing.

Preparing layers

If necessary, create the layers that you need. If you want to insert a title block, create a separate layer for it. The actual viewports should also be on their own layer. This is because it’s common to freeze that layer or set it to non-plottable, so that the borders don’t show. Even if you want to plot the viewports, making them a different color from your model helps you to easily distinguish them.

Inserting a title block

Insert the title block. You can have a file that contains just the title block. You can also use a block or external reference. Putting the title block on your layout is common because it defines the edges of your paper and is not a real-life object. These qualities make it appropriate for paper space, which also relates to your paper, rather than the real-life model that you’ve drawn.

Creating floating viewports

Remember that you need a floating viewport to see your model on a paper space layout. The default is one floating viewport. Floating viewports have properties that are important to understand when you’re creating layouts in paper space. These properties are:

Unlike tiled viewports (see Chapter 8), floating viewports are actual objects that you can erase, move, and stretch. They can — and should — be on separate layers, so that you can control the visibility of the viewport borders when desired. They don’t need to take up the entire screen. You can define their size and location freely.

In paper space, the crosshairs are not limited to one floating viewport.

You can separately set the visibility of the UCS icon in each floating viewport.

You can create as many viewports as you want, but it’s best to keep the drawing uncluttered.

Whatever you draw in paper space does not affect your models; it exists only in paper space and disappears when you return to the model space tab.

After you create floating viewports, you can switch to model space and work on your models while still on the layout tab. To do so, double-click inside a viewport. You do this mostly to adjust the view of the model in the viewport. In model space, floating viewports are similar to tiled viewports in that only one can be active at a time.

Because viewports are created on the current layer, you need to make the desired layer current. Then, to create floating viewports, choose View Viewports while on a layout tab. Choose from the following submenu items:

Named Viewports: If you’ve saved a tiled viewport configuration, choose this option to open the Viewports dialog box. On the Named Viewports tab, choose the configuration from the list and click OK. In other words, you can use a tiled viewport configuration for floating viewports.

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New Viewports: Choose this item to open the Viewports dialog box, shown in Figure 17-10. Choose one of the standard configurations, which you can see in the Preview box. Click OK to create the viewports.

Figure 17-10: Use the Viewports dialog box to choose one of the standard configurations of floating viewports.

1 Viewport: You see the Specify corner of viewport or [ON/OFF/Fit/Shadeplot/ Lock/Object/Polygonal/Restore/2/3/4] <Fit>: prompt on the command line. You can pick two diagonally opposite points or use the Fit option to create one viewport that fits the entire screen. Note that AutoCAD LT does not include the Object or Polygonal options. You cannot create non-rectangular viewports in AutoCAD LT.

2 Viewports: Creates two floating viewports. You can choose a horizontal or vertical configuration. You can choose Fit to fit them to the entire screen or pick diagonal points. The diagonal points define the combined two viewports, not each viewport.

3 Viewports: Creates three floating viewports. You can choose from several configurations. You can choose Fit to fit them to the entire screen or pick diagonal points. The diagonal points define the combined three viewports, not each viewport.

4 Viewports: Creates four floating viewports. You can choose Fit to fit them to the entire screen or pick diagonal points. The diagonal points define the combined four viewports, not each viewport.

Polygonal Viewport: Lets you create a viewport using a combination of line segments and arcs, with prompts similar to those that you see when creating a polyline (see Chapter 16 for information on creating polylines). Follow these steps to create a polygonal viewport (AutoCAD only):

1.At the Specify start point: prompt, pick a point.

2.At the Specify next point or [Arc/Length/Undo]: prompt, continue to specify points or right-click to choose one of the options. If you choose the Arc option, you see suboptions that are just like those you see when drawing an arc in a polyline.

Viewport scale

You’ll probably want to set the zoom for each viewport to exact scale. You can set the zoom in two ways:

If you’re still in paper space, select the viewport on its border. Choose Properties from the Standard toolbar to open the Properties palette. Choose Standard scale and choose one of the standard scales from the drop-down list that appears.

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From model space, choose Zoom Scale from the Zoom flyout of the Standard toolbar. You

need to use the inverse of the scale factor with the xp option of the ZOOM command. If you have an architectural drawing at a scale of 1:48, type 1/48xp . (The abbreviation xp stands for “times paper space.”) Each viewport can have its own scale.

If you remain in model space with a viewport active, and then zoom in or out, you change the displayed scale of the model. After you set the scale, you can lock it to avoid this problem. To lock a viewport, select the viewport’s border (while in paper space, not model space) and choose Properties from the Standard toolbar to open the Properties palette. Choose Display Locked and then choose Yes from the drop-down list. (You can also select the viewport, rightclick, and choose Display Locked Yes.) Now, when you zoom in and out, only paper space objects will be affected.

After you scale each viewport, you need to go back and pan until you see what you want in the viewport. If you can’t get it perfectly, don’t worry; you can also change the size of the viewport itself.

Setting viewport size, placement, and display

To adjust the viewports themselves, return to paper space by clicking MODEL on the status bar or by double-clicking anywhere outside a viewport (but in the drawing area). You cannot access your models anymore, but you can now move and resize the viewports if necessary.

You can use grips to stretch and move them, or use the STRETCH and MOVE commands.

The VPCLIP command enables you to redefine the boundary of an existing viewport. You can delete the boundary of a clipped viewport and change it to a rectangular viewport or create a polygonal boundary just as you do when creating a polygonal viewport.

The VPCLIP command is not available in AutoCAD LT.

To redefine the boundary of a viewport, you must be in paper space. Type vpclip on the command line. Select a clipped viewport boundary from paper space. At the Select clipping object or [Polygonal/Delete] <Polygonal>: prompt, you can select an object to use for the new boundary or press Enter to see the same prompts that you see when you create a polygonal viewport. Right-click and choose Delete to delete the boundary of a clipped viewport (one created by choosing an object or using the Polygonal option).

You can also turn viewports on and off. When a viewport is off, it doesn’t display your model. Do this when the regeneration process becomes slow as a result of a large number of viewports or a complex drawing. To turn off a viewport, select it (in paper space); then right-click and choose Display Viewport Objects No.

Setting layer visibility within a viewport

If you want, you can individually set layer visibility in floating viewports. For example, you might have some text or dimensions that appear in more than one floating viewport, but you may not want to show them more than once. Or perhaps you don’t want a hatch to appear in one of the viewports. You must be in model space, so double-click in any viewport. To freeze a layer in an active viewport, click the Layer Control drop-down list on the Layers toolbar. Find the layer that you want to freeze in that viewport and click the icon in the Freeze or Thaw in Current Viewport column. That layer disappears in the active viewport.

You can also freeze/thaw layers in new viewports; these are viewports that you haven’t yet created. Choose Layer Properties Manager from the Layers toolbar to open the Layer Properties Manager. Click the icon for the layer that you want in the New VP Freeze column and choose OK to close the dialog box.

Cross- Don’t forget that layers have a plottable/not plottable state. Therefore, you can set certain Reference layers to not plottable if you don’t want them to appear on the plot. For more information,

see Chapter 11.

Setting hidden and shaded views for viewports

If you have a 3D drawing, you may want to hide back lines for objects in a viewport when you plot (similar to using the HIDE command on the Model tab). This procedure lets you hide lines in one viewport but not in others. You don’t see the result until you plot or display a plot preview. You can also specify shading and rendered views for each viewport, from both model space and paper space layouts, as shown in Figure 17-11.

Figure 17-11: In this drawing, one viewport displays a wireframe, one a hidden view, and one a rendered view.

To choose the type of shaded view, select any viewport in paper space. Right-click, and choose Shade Plot. Then choose one of the following options:

As Displayed: Plots the objects as they’re currently displayed.

Wireframe: Plots the objects in wireframe display.

Hidden: Plots objects with hidden lines removed.

Rendered: Plots objects using the default rendering settings. (See Chapter 25 for information on rendering. This option is not available in AutoCAD LT.)

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Express Tools include several commands for working with layouts:

The CHSPACE command (choose Express Layout Tools Change Space) moves objects from model space to paper space.

The ALIGNSPACE command (choose Express Layout Tools Align Space) aligns objects in different viewports.

The VPSYNC command (choose Express Layout Tools Synchronize Viewports) changes the pan and zoom of a second viewport to match that of the first (“master”) viewport that you select, so that the view of the objects is consistent (synchronized) from viewport to viewport.

The VPSCALE command (choose Express Layout Tools List Viewport Scale) displays the scale from paper space to model space of the selected viewport.

The LAYOUTMERGE command (choose Express Layout Tools Merge Layout) moves all objects on one or more layouts that you specify to a single layout.

Adding text on a paper space layout

In general, text that relates directly to the model is created in model space — dimensions, leaders, and so on. However, annotation that applies to the entire drawing, title block text, or other element, can be, and often is, created on the paper space layout. Change to a text layer and use the DTEXT or MTEXT command as usual.

Dimensions

Dimensioning is usually done in model space, but you can dimension in paper space as well. The Trans-Spatial Dimensioning feature automatically adjusts dimensions for the scale of the viewport. These paper space dimensions are fully associative. Dimensioning in paper space has several advantages:

You don’t have to worry about the size of the dimension objects themselves, such as the text and the arrows. If you plot from paper space, you plot at 1:1 scale.

You can place the dimensions outside the border of the floating viewport, which may make it easier to fit the dimensions.

You can easily dimension just one view of the model. If you dimension in model space, you see the dimensions in all of the viewports unless you freeze that layer in some of the viewports.

You still need to scale the size of the dimension itself to your viewport scale, including the text, arrows, and so on:

1.Open the Dimension Style Manager.

2.Choose the dimension style that you want to use and click Modify.

3.On the Fit tab, choose Scale Dimensions to Layout (Paper Space).

4.Click OK and then click Close.

When you follow this procedure, all of the dimensions using the dimension style that you chose appear the same size on your final plot.

Note Drawings created in earlier releases (before AutoCAD 2002 and AutoCAD LT 2002) do not automatically have the new associative dimensions. If necessary, change the DIMASSOC system variable’s value to 2. Also, you usually need to use the DIMREASSOCIATE command to associate existing dimensions to their objects. See Chapter 14 for more information on associative dimensions.

Saving a layout template

After you do all of the work to create a layout, you can save it as a template so that you can use it in other drawings. Here’s how:

1.Type layout on the command line.

2.At the prompt, right-click and choose Save As.

3.At the Enter layout to save to template <Layout2>: prompt, press Enter to save the current layout, the name of which appears in brackets, or type the name of another layout tab.

4.The Create Drawing File dialog list opens, with the Template folder active. The Files of Type drop-down list shows Drawing Template File (*.dwt). Type a name for the drawing template and click Save.

To use the template, in any drawing, right-click a layout tab and choose From Template, as explained earlier in this chapter.

In the following exercise, you practice laying out a drawing in paper space using the same drawing that you used in the previous exercise.

STEPS: Laying Out a Drawing in Paper Space

1.Open ab17-a.dwg from your CD-ROM.

2.Save the file as ab17-02.dwg in your AutoCAD Bible folder.

3.Click the Layout1 tab. Right-click the tab and choose Page Setup Manager.

4.Click New. In the New Page Setup Name text box, type PrinterDraft. Click OK. The Page Setup dialog box opens.

5.In the Paper Size section, set the paper size to Letter (8.50 × 11 inches). (This enables you to plot to a printer if you don’t have a plotter available.) In the Shaded Viewport Options section, choose Draft from the Quality drop-down list. Make sure that your printer is listed in the Name drop-down list of the Printer/Plotter section. Click OK to return to the Page Setup Manager.

6.The PrinterDraft page setup should be highlighted. Click Set Current. Click Close.

7.Right-click the Layout1 tab and choose Rename. Name the tab 3-view. Click OK.

8.You see one floating viewport with the drawing displayed inside. Click its border and press the Delete key so that you can make your own viewports.

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9. Click the Layer drop-down list arrow. Choose the Titleblk layer to make it current.

10. Choose Insert Block to open the Insert dialog box. Click Browse. Choose ab17ablk.dwg from the CD-ROM and click Open. Uncheck any checked Specify On-Screen check boxes. Click OK to insert the title block, as shown in Figure 17-12.

11. Choose the np layer from the Layer Control drop-down list to make it current.

12. Choose View Viewports 1 Viewport. (Turn OSNAP off if it’s on.) At the Specify corner of viewport or [ON/OFF/Fit/Shadeplot/Lock/Object/Polygonal/ Restore/2/3/4] <Fit>: prompt, choose 1 in Figure 17-12. (If you are using AutoCAD LT, your prompt will look slightly different.) At the Specify opposite corner: prompt, choose 2.

1 5

2 6

3

4

Figure 17-12: The title block inserted into paper space.

13.Click the right mouse button and then choose Repeat 1 Viewport. At the prompt, choose 3 in Figure 17-12. At the next prompt, choose 4 in Figure 17-12. Again, repeat the command and choose 5 and 6 in Figure 17-12. You now see the drawing in the three viewports.

14.Click the border of the top-left viewport. Choose Properties from the Standard toolbar to open the Properties palette. Choose Custom Scale from the Properties palette. Type .4 . Press Esc to deselect the top-left viewport.

15.Select the top-right viewport and set its custom scale to .4. Deselect the top-right viewport.

16.Select the bottom viewport. Choose Standard Scale in the Properties palette. Choose 2:1. This is equivalent to using a ZOOM 2xp, which is a scale factor of 1/2. Deselect the viewport.

17.Double-click inside each viewport in turn to switch to model space, and pan until you see the view shown in Figure 17-13. It doesn’t have to match exactly. If you want, you can resize the viewports to fit the models better.

18.Double-click inside the bottom viewport. From the Layer Control drop-down list on the Layers toolbar, click the icon in the third column (Freeze or Thaw in Current Viewport) next to the DIM and HATCH layers, to freeze those layers in the viewport. Click the name of the DIM-PS layer to make it current. The current dimension style, Style1, is already set to be scaled to paper space.