Viewports in paper space
Viewports must be created to view a drawing in paper space. By default, existing layouts already have one viewport each. Usually, one viewport is not enough to accurately represent the model, since it requires showing several different views of the structure or the same view, but with different details. For example, in technical drawings, three-dimensional parts or assemblies are usually depicted in three projections. In addition, several drawings can be placed on one sheet at once, which means that you can create several floating viewports, placing different views on them.
Note
There are two types of viewports in AutoCAD: non-overlapping and overlapping. Non-overlapping viewports can only be created in model space. This chapter only deals with overlapping (floating) viewports that are rendered in paper space.
Floating viewports are real objects that can be edited.
Advice
Since you usually don't need to print the borders of floating viewports, they should be created on a separate layer. Subsequently, disabling this layer will remove the borders of the viewports from the sheet. The objects in model space remain in place. But even if you plan to keep the borders, still create a separate layer for the viewports - this will provide the ability to batch edit the floating viewports. For example, you can quickly set all borders to one color by assigning it to a given layer.
Most of the operations for creating and editing floating viewports are performed using the group Viewports(Viewports) located on the tab View(Display) the ribbon, or on the toolbar Viewports(Viewports) (Figure 8.12).
Rice. 8.12. Viewports toolbar
Create floating viewports
To bring up a dialog box Viewports(Viewports) (Fig. 8.13), being in paper space, click on the button New(New) in the group Viewports(Viewports) tab View Display Viewports Dialog(Display Viewport Dialog Box) on the toolbar Viewports(Viewports). You can also type the VPORTS command. The same result can be achieved by executing the menu command View? Viewports? New Viewports(View? Viewports? New Viewports).
Rice. 8.13. Viewports Dialog Box
List Standard viewports(Standard Viewports) allows you to select the number of floating viewports and their position on the sheet. Moreover, in the area Preview(View) schematically shows the future layout of the viewports and the name of each of them. With the selected mode 2D in the list Setup(Mode) in each viewport, the view of the entire model is set. If you set the mode 3D, then standard views of the model will be created in the viewports.
Dropdown Change view to(Change View To) sets the view in a specific viewport. For example, with the selected mode 3D from this list, you can select one of the standard views or set the isometric display of the model.
In field Viewport Spacing(Distance) indicates the distance that the viewports will be located from each other on the sheet. It is clear that this field becomes active only when two or more floating viewports are created.
After completing all the necessary settings, click the button OK. This will close the dialog box, and the command line will ask you:
Specify first corner or
In response, set the first corner point with the mouse or press the Enter, so that the viewports occupy the entire printable area of the sheet. If you set the first point, then the following prompt will appear on the command line:
Specify opposite corner:
Pick the opposite corner of the rectangular area that all viewports will fit into. The specified path will be filled with floating viewports.
Create a complex-shaped floating viewport
You already know how to create one or more floating rectangular viewports. However, AutoCAD allows you to create irregularly shaped screens by clicking the button Create Polygonal(Create polygonal) in group Viewports(Viewports) tab View(Display) a ribbon or on a button Polygonal Viewport(Polygonal viewport) on the toolbar Viewports(Viewports). You can also execute the menu command View? Viewports? Polygonal Viewport(View? Viewports? Polygonal Viewport). In this case, the border of the floating viewport will be created from straight and arc segments.
After running the command, a prompt will appear:
Specify start point:
Set the first point. After that, a new request will appear:
Specify next point or:
Continue to pick points or choose one of the following options:
When the Arc parameter is selected, it becomes possible to add arc segments;
If you select the Length parameter, a line segment of the specified length and direction will be drawn;
The Undo parameter deletes the last fragment that was created.
After specifying the last point, press the key Enter, to complete the creation of the viewport boundaries. It is clear that the outline of the viewport must be closed, so if the last specified point does not coincide with the starting point, the program will automatically draw a line segment to obtain a closed object.
Create a floating viewport from an object
AutoCAD allows you to create floating viewports from any enclosed objects. To convert a closed polyline, ellipse, spline, region, or circle to a viewport, use the menu command View? Viewports? Object(View? Viewports? Object) or click the button Create from Object(Create from object) in group Viewports(Viewports) tab View(Display) the ribbon or on the button Convert Object to Viewport(Convert Object to Viewport) on the toolbar Viewports(Viewports). A prompt will appear:
Select object to clip viewport:
Select a suitable closed object. It will immediately be converted to a floating viewport, in which the model image will appear.
Editing floating viewports
Once you have created a floating viewport, you can move, resize, or delete it by first selecting it.
Like other objects, floating viewports can be edited using grips. However, the most interesting feature is overriding viewport boundaries using the VCLIP command. This command is invoked by clicking on the button Clip existing viewport(Crop existing viewport) on the toolbar Viewports(Viewports). In this case, it becomes possible to change the shape of the floating viewport in accordance with the new boundaries. To trim the viewport, either pick an existing closed path or create it during command execution.
Select the floating viewport you want to crop and then run the VPCLIP command, or first run the VPCLIP command and then, when prompted:
Select clipping object or
specify a closed object that will act as a clipping boundary.
If, in response to this prompt, you click Enter(that is, select the Polygonal parameter), then it will be possible to create a clipping border manually. As with creating a complex-shaped viewport, in this case, the clipping boundary is formed from straight and arc segments.
You can delete some clipping enclosed area using the Delete parameter, which is available only if the selected floating viewport is clipped.
Working with a model in a viewport
After creating and editing floating viewports, each of them will display the same model view. However, in each viewport, you must customize the desired view. To do this, switch from paper space to viewport, which can be done in two ways.
Double-click the viewport you want to select.
Click on the button PAPER(Paper) located on the status bar. In this case, the button will change its name to MODEL(Model), and one of the floating viewports is activated in the graphics area. To switch to the desired viewport, click on it with the mouse button.
Advice
Press Ctrl + R to cycle through the active viewports.
The border of the activated viewport is highlighted with a thick line.
By switching to one of the floating viewports, we are effectively in model space. Here you can edit or create new objects as if you were on a tab Model(Model) and therefore the changes will be reflected in all viewports.
Consider the commands that the viewport context menu provides. Select the floating viewport (its borders will be displayed as a dashed line), and then right-click to bring up the context menu (Fig. 8.14).
Rice. 8.14. Viewport context menu
If there are several viewports on the sheet, then, most likely, they are small in size and it is not very convenient to work with the model in such small windows. However, you can temporarily extend one floating viewport to fill the entire graphics area. To do this, select the item Maximize Viewport(Expand Viewport) from the context menu or simply double-click on the frame of an inactive viewport. The zoomed viewport with a red border spans the entire graphics area. Here you can perform all the actions as in the tab Model(Model), however, the zoom and pan commands will not change the display of objects in the viewport. To minimize the screen, open the context menu and select the item Minimize Viewport(Minimize viewport).
The viewport can be maximized by running the VPMAX command and minimized by running the VPMIN command. In addition, the status bar contains a button Maximize Viewport(Expand viewport)
expands the boundaries of the screen, and you can minimize the screen using the button Minimize Viewport(Minimize viewport)
which appears in its place.
Command Display Viewport Objects(Displaying Objects in Viewports) The context menu provides the ability to enable or disable the visibility of objects in the viewport. By selecting the item #(No), we will remove from the screen all objects contained in the current viewport. Such an operation can be useful if it is necessary to visually relieve the space of the sheet. To return objects to their place, check the box Yes(Yes).
Context menu command Display Locked(Show Locked) allows you to fix the scale of the viewport. By default, you can scale each viewport separately, but if you select the Yes(Yes), then trying to scale the image in the viewport will change the display scale of the entire paper space.
To switch back to paper space, double-click an area not occupied by viewports, or click MODEL(Model) located in the status bar.
Viewport scaling
Typically, paper space prints at a 1: 1 scale. Therefore, in order to achieve the correct layout of the drawing, you must set the scales for each viewport separately. To accurately scale the drawing, you must specify the scale of the viewport in relation to paper space. This scale factor is determined by dividing paper space units by model space units. You can set the exact scale using the XP parameter of the ZOOM command. For example, to scale an image to 1:10, enter 1 / 10XP when prompted for the ZOOM command.
You can also specify the scale of a specific viewport using the toolbar drop-down list Viewports(Viewports). After you set the scale of the image in the viewport, you should lock this scale factor from accidental changes. To do this, you need to run the command Display Locked? Yes(Show Locked? Yes) on the floating viewport context menu.
Controlling the visibility of objects within the viewport
In each viewport, you can individually adjust the visibility of layers. For example, you can hide hatching or text that is repeated across multiple viewports this way.
Double-click in the area of the desired viewport to make it active.
Click the button Layer Properties(Layer properties)
in a group Layers(Layers) tab Home(Main) ribbon or the same button on the toolbar Layers(Layers). The palette will open Layer Properties Manager(Manager of layer properties) (Fig. 8.15).
Rice. 8.15. The Layer Properties Manager palette, invoked in Layout mode
Please note that this window is somewhat different from the analogous one called from model space (see Fig. 2.27). In particular, new columns have appeared that are responsible for the properties of objects inside the editable viewport: VP Freeze(Frozen in PVE), VP Color(Color in PVE), VP Linetype(Line type in PVE), VP Lineweight(Line thickness in PVE) and VP Plot Style(Print style in PVE). The purpose of these columns does not differ from similar ones without padding. VP, with the only amendment that their change is limited to an editable floating viewport.
For example, to make all objects of a layer invisible, click opposite the name of this layer in the column VP Freeze(Frozen in PVE), or, for example, to change the color of layer objects inside the viewport, use the column VP Color(Color in PVE).
The preparation of the sheet for printing at this stage can be considered complete. Let's take a look at the printing process itself.
From the book AutoCAD 2009 the author Orlov Andrey AlexandrovichPaper space viewports Paper space is used to place multiple views of a constructed model in a single drawing. Working in paper space is similar to working in a designer's drawing board, since any sheet tab simulates a paper sheet.
From the AutoCAD 2009 student book. Self-instruction book the author Sokolova Tatiana YurievnaViewports in paper space To view a drawing in paper space, you must create viewports. By default, existing layouts already have one viewport each. Usually one viewport is not enough for an accurate representation
From the AutoCAD 2009 book. Get Started! the author Sokolova Tatiana YurievnaViewports A viewport is an area of a graphics screen that displays some of the drawing's model space. There are two types of viewports, non-overlapping and overlapping (Figure 15.6). Non-overlapping viewports
From AutoCAD 2009. Tutorial the author Sokolova Tatiana Yurievna From AutoCAD 2008 Student: A Popular Self-Study Guide the author Sokolova Tatiana Yurievna From the author's book From the author's bookViewports As mentioned, a viewport is a portion of a graphics screen that displays some of the drawing's model space. There are two types of viewports - non-overlapping and overlapping (Figure 12.3). Non-overlapping
From the author's bookNon-overlapping viewports You can split the graphics area in model space into multiple non-overlapping viewports, and create overlapping (floating) viewports in paper space.
From the author's bookFloating viewports When the user first switches to paper space, the graphics screen is blank and is a blank slate where the drawing will be laid out. Overlapping (floating) viewports containing
From the author's bookViewports A viewport is an area of a graphics screen that displays some of the drawing's model space. There are two types of viewports - non-overlapping and overlapping (Figure 15.16). Non-overlapping viewports
From the author's bookNon-overlapping viewports You can split the graphics area in model space into multiple non-overlapping viewports, and create overlapping (floating) viewports in paper space.
From the author's bookFloating viewports When the user first switches to paper space, the graphics screen is blank and is a blank slate where the drawing will be laid out. Overlapping (floating) viewports containing
From the author's bookViewports A viewport is an area of a graphics screen that displays some of the drawing's model space. There are two types of viewports - non-overlapping and overlapping (Figure 15.5). Non-overlapping viewports
From the author's bookNon-overlapping viewports You can split the graphics area in model space into multiple non-overlapping viewports, and create overlapping (floating) viewports in paper space.
From the author's bookFloating viewports When the user first switches to paper space, the graphics screen is blank and is a blank slate where the drawing will be laid out. Overlapping (floating) viewports containing
From the author's bookFreeform Viewports Convenient is the ability to create non-rectangular viewports in paper space and link clipping paths to viewports so that their visible shape can be any.
Panel :
Menu: Draw> Viewport
Ribbon: Editor tab> Draw panel> Viewport
Command: Viewscreen
Allows you to add one or more viewports on additional sheets (Layout). You cannot add viewports in the Model area.
Viewports are used to lay out the plotted drawing. They allow you to specify in paper space the visibility of the entire drawing located on the Model sheet, or only part of it, and set a custom display scale. For each viewport, its own drawing display scale is set. Viewports can be moved, resized, and resized. In order for the border of the viewport not to be printed, it should be placed on a separate layer, which then turn off, or prohibit its printing.
Create a viewport
You can create a viewport in a variety of ways to create freeform viewports. To determine the boundaries of the viewport, three modes are used, which are available after clicking on the black arrow pointing down:
The default viewport creation method is Rectangle. The Polyline and Object options allow you to create freeform viewports.
Rectangle |
Adding a rectangular viewport. Creation is carried out similarly to the Rectangle primitive: the first point of the rectangle's diagonal is specified, then the second. In dynamic input mode, you can set the width and height of the viewport rectangle. |
Polyline |
Creates a non-rectangular viewport from the specified points. Creation is carried out in the same way as a polyline. Selecting the Enter command from the context menu completes the construction and automatically closes the contour, completing the last segment. |
An object |
Allows you to convert a closed object that was previously added to the sheet into a viewport. As an object for transformation can be used: circle, ellipse, spline and polyline, forming a closed contour. After the viewport is created, a selected object is associated with it, which defines the boundaries of the viewport. To create a viewport from an object, run: 1) using drawing tools in the sheet area, create an object that will define the boundaries of the viewport; 2) select the method for creating the Object viewport; 3) with the left mouse button select the previously created object to transform it into a viewport. |
After creation, all the elements that are contained in the sheet Model will be displayed in the created viewport. The content of the viewport is not editable, but you can zoom and move it within the bounds of the viewport. All changes made on the Model sheet are displayed in the viewport.
Viewports created by a polyline or converted from an object consist of two objects: a viewport and a clipping boundary. The clipping boundary is the geometric object that was used to create the viewport. You can change the viewport, crop border, or both.
In order for the borders of the viewport to be invisible when printing, the creation of the viewport should be performed on a separate layer, which must be disabled or disabled before printing.
Working with Viewport Content
You can move the image in the viewport and set a custom scale factor. Manipulations with the contents of the viewport are performed after its activation.
To activate the viewport, double-click the left mouse button inside the viewport boundaries, or select the viewport and in the context menu, run the command Activate viewport... Upon activation, the viewport markers will disappear, and its borders will be shown with a dashed line.
Moving ... Activate the viewport and while holding the left mouse button move the mouse cursor in the direction where you want to move the image.
Scaling
... You can change the scale of the drawing display in the viewport using the mouse wheel and commands of the context menu when the viewport is activated. The exact scale factor is set in the panel Properties by changing the property value Scale ... For each viewport, you can set its own display scale.To deactivate the viewport, select the command
Deactivate viewportin the context menu, or double-click the left mouse button outside the viewport.Editing a viewport
After creating the border of the viewports, you can move and resize them. Editing operations are performed using markers that appear after selecting a viewport. The center marker is used to move the viewport without changing its size. Corner and center handles let you resize the viewport.
A viewport, like other objects, has a certain set of properties that are displayed in the Properties panel after you select a viewport. Some properties are editable, others are informative.
Property |
Description |
Colour |
Viewport border color. Allows you to set a new value colors. |
Layer |
The layer on which the viewport is located. This property contains a list of all layers available in the drawing and allows you to move the selected viewport to another layer. |
Center of sheet |
The X, Y, Z coordinates of the center of the viewport in paper space. Can be changed by the user. Note: Viewports created by a polyline or converted from objects consist of two objects: a viewport and a clipping boundary. This property shows and allows you to change the center of the viewport without changing the coordinates of the clipping border. |
Height |
Viewport height. The property is editable. When you change the height of the viewport in the Properties panel, the display scale of the viewport content changes proportionally. |
Width |
Viewport width. The property is editable. |
Scale |
The scale factor for displaying the contents of the viewport. Set separately for each viewport. |
Twisting angle |
The OX angle by which the viewport image is rotated relative to the transform base point. |
Purpose of viewing |
The base point of the transformation from which to rotate the image in the viewport. Shows coordinates in the model area. |
Model Center |
The coordinates of the center of the image of the model shown in the viewport: |
Front clipping plane |
Specifies the front clipping plane. |
Rear clipping plane |
Specifies the rear clipping plane. |
Disable |
Turns off or on the visibility of the image in the viewport. The borders of the viewport remain visible. |
All operations in AutoCAD are performed in the viewport. Also, objects and models created in the program are viewed in it. The viewport containing the drawings is placed on the sheet layout.
In this article, we will take a closer look at the AutoCAD report - we will find out what it consists of, how to configure and use it.
Displaying viewports
When working with the creation and editing of a drawing on the "Model" tab, you may need to reflect several of its views in one window. For this, several viewports are created.
From the menu bar, choose View - Viewports. Select the number (from 1 to 4) of the screens you want to open. Then you need to set the horizontal or vertical position of the screens.
On the ribbon, go to the View pane of the Home tab and click Viewport Configuration. Select the most convenient screen layout from the drop-down list.
After the workspace is divided into several screens, you can customize the view of their contents.
Viewport Tools
The viewport interface is for viewing the model. It has two main tools - the view cube and the steering wheel.
The viewcube exists in order to view the model from the established orthogonal projections, such as cardinal points, and switch to axonometry.
To instantly change the projection, just click on one of the sides of the cube. The transition to the axonometric mode is carried out by clicking on the icon of the house.
The wheel is used for panning, orbiting and zooming. The functions of the wheel are duplicated by the mouse wheel: pan - hold the wheel, rotation - hold the wheel + Shift, to zoom in or out of the model - rotate the wheel forward and backward.
Customizing the viewport
While in drawing mode, you can activate the orthogonal grid, origin of the coordinate system, snaps, and other auxiliary systems in the viewport using hotkeys.
Set the display type of the model on the screen. Select "View" - "Visual Styles" from the menu.
Also, you can customize the background color and cursor size in the program parameters. You can customize the cursor by going to the "Drawings" tab in the parameters window.
Setting up a viewport on a sheet layout
Click the Layout tab and select the viewport that you placed on it.
By moving the handles (blue dots), you can set the edges of the image.
The status bar sets the scale of the viewport on the sheet.
Clicking the Layout button on the command line will take you to model editing mode without leaving paper space.
So we examined the features of the AutoCAD viewport. Make the most of its capabilities to achieve high work efficiency.
In conclusion, we just need to resize the viewport so that the drawing takes up the entire available area of the layout sheet. In addition, we will face the need to adjust the scale of the drawing, because after the automatic creation of the layout, it remains arbitrary, and not 1:10, as indicated in the title block.
1. Click on the rectangle that marks the boundaries of the viewport. Selection handles appear at the corners of this rectangle, just as you would select a normal AutoCAD object.
2. Click on the indicator button BINDING on the status bar, or just press F3 to turn off all permanent object snaps.
3. Click on the top-right selection handle to select it and switch to handle-editing mode.
4. Move the cross-hair pointer to the right and up, as close to the upper-right corner of the frame as possible. Since the current marker editing mode will be Stretching, AutoCAD will follow the movement of the crosshair with a rubber line. With the crosshair at the desired point, click to enlarge the viewport to the right and up to the specified point.
5. Select the lower left selection handle, and then in mode Stretching stretch the outline of the viewport to the left and down, as shown in fig. 13.14.
Rice. 13.14 Changing viewport size in mode Stretching editing with selection handles
6. Deselect the viewport by pressing Esc. The viewport is now only slightly smaller than the layout sheet frame. If you noticed, the viewport is on the Frame layer. It makes sense to place it on a separate layer, and also to make the viewport border more visible, as a reminder that the corresponding rectangle is not part of the drawing and does not need to be printed.
7. Create a new layer Viewport with a color index of 220. (You can have any color, as long as it stands out well in the drawing area.) You do not need to make the new layer current.
8. Click on the viewport to select it again, and then open the palette Properties using the button Properties on the Standard toolbar or by selecting the appropriate command from the context menu or in any other way convenient for you.
9. Make sure that in the list at the top of the palette Properties, type selected Viewport... Then click on the CkjqLayer property and select the just created Viewport layer from the list of layers (Figure 13.15).
Rice. 13.15 Assigning a Viewport to a Viewport layer using a palette Properties
11. Switch from the mode Sheet into mode MODEL by clicking on the status bar indicator button.
Advice. If you prefer to work in the command window, you can switch to the mode SHEET enter the command in the command window Sheet or simply L, and to switch to the mode MODEL- command Model or simply M.
12. For precise zooming, as you must remember from the first chapters of the book, it is best to use the tool Decrease or Increase in command variant Show command window. So enter in the command window on and then a scale factor of 0.1xp (that is, set the scale to 1:10). The image on the layout sheet changes to scale.
Note. Suffix x after the value of the scale factor indicates that the new scale must be set relative to the current scale of the drawing, and the suffix xp- that the new scale needs to be set relative to the units of measurement set for the layout sheet.
13. If necessary, correct with the tool Real-time panning location of the drawing.
14. Return to the mode again. SHEET... Make sure the Frame layer is current and freeze the Viewport layer. So, we got a drawing that practically does not differ from what the original drawing looked like (see Fig.13.1), but now the frame and the title block are made on the layout sheet at a scale of 1: 1 (Fig.13.16)
Rice. 13.16 Completed creation of drawing design elements on the layout sheet
15. Save the current drawing state in the Work131.dwg file.
