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IntermediateFree AutoCAD course about 20 min

Layouts and viewports

Layouts are the sheets you print. You arrange scaled windows — viewports — onto a sheet with a title block. This is where a full-size drawing becomes a 1:100 plan.

In this lesson you will

  • Explain model space and paper space
  • Create a layout with a title block
  • Create viewports and set exact scales
  • Lock viewports and freeze layers per viewport

Model space and paper space

Model space is where the building is drawn full size. Paper space (a layout) is the sheet, measured in paper millimetres or inches. A viewport is a window cut through the sheet into model space, showing the drawing at a chosen scale. One model can appear on many sheets at many scales.

Left: model space, where the building is drawn full size. Right: a layout sheet with a title block and a viewport window showing the same drawing at a scale of 1:100.Model space (1:1)drawn full size, in real unitsLayout (paper)titleblockviewport at 1:100
Figure: Model space and a layout with a viewport. Original KitWren diagram.

Setting up a layout

  1. 1Click a Layout tab (or + to add one); rename it after the sheet, e.g. A-101 Ground floor.
  2. 2Right-click the tab › Page Setup Manager: choose the printer (e.g. DWG To PDF.pc3), paper size (ISO A3), plot scale 1:1 and your plot style.
  3. 3Insert your title block at 0,0 on a title-block layer.
  4. 4Delete the default viewport if it's in the wrong place.

Creating and scaling viewports

  1. 1Create a viewport with MV (MVIEW) and pick two corners inside the title block, on a no-plot Viewports layer.
  2. 2Double-click inside the viewport (or type MS) to work through it.
  3. 3Pick the scale from the Viewport Scale list on the status bar, e.g. 1:100.
  4. 4Pan to position the drawing — don't zoom, which would change the scale.
  5. 5Double-click outside (or type PS) to return to paper space.
  6. 6Select the viewport border and Lock it (status bar padlock) so the scale can't change accidentally.
A 10-metre wall drawn full size in model space appears 100 millimetres long on paper at 1:100 and 200 millimetres long at 1:50.Model: wall 10 000 mm longPaper at 1:100 → 100 mm10 000 ÷ 100 = 100 mmPaper at 1:50 → 200 mm10 000 ÷ 50 = 200 mm(paper lines shown at a reduced size)
Figure: How drawing scale works. Original KitWren diagram.

Controlling what each viewport shows

In the Layer Properties Manager, while inside a viewport, the VP Freeze column freezes a layer in that viewport only: show furniture on the presentation plan but not on the construction plan, from the same model. VP overrides can also change a layer's colour or lineweight in one viewport.

Scale checks

Measure something known in paper space: a 3600 wall in a 1:100 viewport should measure 36 mm with DIST. Include a scale bar and the scale in each view title.

Quick reference

Command / toolHow to start itWhat it does
MVIEWMVCreates viewports
MSPACE / PSPACEMS / PSWork inside / outside a viewport
PAGESETUPRight-click layout tabPrinter, paper and plot settings
VPLAYERLayer manager › VP FreezePer-viewport layer visibility
LAYOUTLOCreates, copies and renames layouts

Common mistakes

  • Scale changes when you scroll inside a viewport.

    Lock the viewport display.

  • Viewport border prints.

    Put viewports on a layer set to No-plot.

  • Title block drawn in model space and scaled up.

    Keep title blocks in paper space at 1:1.

Exercise

An A3 sheet at 1:100

  1. Create a layout called A-101 with an A3 PDF page setup.
  2. Insert or draw a simple title block.
  3. Create a viewport and set it to 1:100; pan the plan into view and lock it.
  4. Add a second small viewport at 1:50 of one room.
  5. Freeze the furniture layer in the 1:100 viewport only.
  6. Check scale by measuring a known wall in paper space.

You should end up with: A properly scaled sheet ready to plot.

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Lesson quiz

1 / 4

At 1:100, a 3600 mm wall measures how long on the sheet?

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