Scale Manager is a tool that we use set our
- Dimension Styles (DIMSTYLE),
- Text Height (TEXTSIZE),
- Layer Names, Dimscale (DIMSCALE),
- Text Style (TEXTSTYLE),
- Linetype Scale(LTSCALE),
- Units (DDUNITS),
- Insert Units (INSUNITS).
It is the backbone of our drafting system. You should not have to modify any of the variables listed above. If you are editing any of these things, you are doing something
VERY wrong.
What Scale Manager doesn't do
- When the scale is changed, it will not change the scale of what has already been drawn.
- Viewport Scales are not controlled by scale manager
- Annotation scales (if any) will not be affected
Scale manager makes it possible to have many different drafting scales in one drawing. This eliminates the need to have one drawing per scale.
Scale Manager Layout
1. Unit Values - Switch between Architectural Units, Engineering Units, and Metric Units. These are the units you will use to draft your drawings. You should only switch the units once to start working. They should not be modified after starting work in drawing.
2. Layer Categories or A,B,C Area - This is an additional layer division that allows for 3 different categories for layers on the same scale in the form of A, B, and C layers. (Example: 0A-dim-A-0010, 0A-dim-B-0010, and 0A-dim-C-0010.) All layers are default "A" category unless some other category is selected. Scale Manager will add these to your layer names.
3. Scale and Dimension Styles Area - This area is where you will set the scale and also it will determine what units your dimension will be shown in. This comes into play with Metric Units more than Architectural or Engineering Units. Scale Manager will add the current scale to certain objects layer names. Decimal and Metric units are easy to decipher, but the architecture units are a little harder read because they are in decimal format. for instance 3/4" = 0016.
How to Use Scale Manger
1. Command: : "SM"
2. Select your Units.
3. Select your Scale
4. Should not have to hit "OK" after selecting scale.
Working With Metric Scales
1. Select the units you will be drawing in. You should not toggle units when drawing in metric. Usually plans are drawn in meters and details are drawn in millimeters. If you decide to toggle units (not scales) you will need to rescale your drawings.
2. When selecting scales also consider what dimension style you would like to see them in. For instance if you are drawing in MM but want to see dimensions in Meters you would select a scale from the Meter Dimensions column.
When working with metric scales, we have chosen to use dimscales that are scaled from imperial units. Meaning dimscales are not set to 1, 5, 10, 15, etc... when working in metric units, they are instead set to 25.4, 127, 254, 381, etc... The reason for this is that all the current blocks, linetypes, hatch patterns, and notes have been created in imperial units and therefore will need what I call a "dirty scale" to scale them correctly instead of a "clean scale" of 1, 5, 10, 15. So do not be worried if the dimscale is not set to 1, 5, 10, 15, etc..
Layer Categories
Layer categories were created to provide a way to see different annotation sets at the same scale. Please refer to the article on
AutoCAD Layer Names. A common scenario... A pool plan has deck dimensions at 10scale for one drawing and pool fence layout dimensions at 10scale in the same drawing. When viewing this drawing in a sheet plan, if the dimensions were drawn on the same layer, you would not be able to freeze the deck dimensions and see only the fence dimensions because they were created on the same layer. That is where using categories become useful. Now you can have dimensions for the deck on "A" category and fence dimensions on a "B" category.
Selecting a Category
If a Category is never set then it will always default to "A" category.
Otherwise:
Selecting "A" category will show ALL "A" category objects and make the "A" category current for all new items and freeze the category "B" and "C" layers.
Selecting "B" category will show ALL "B" category objects and make the "B" category current for all new items and freeze the category "A" and "C" layers.
Selecting "C" category will show ALL "C" category objects and make the "C" category current for all new items and freeze the category "A" and "B" layers.
View All "ABC"
This will thaw all ABC layers no matter what the scale is.
View Current ABC
View Current ABC will show the current category at the current scale.
To see a specific scale in A, B, or C categories.
1. Set the scale you would like to see first.
2. Select "A","B",or "C" category to show ALL "A","B", or "C" category items.
3. Select "View Current 'ABC'" and click "OK" to show the A, B, or C layers at the current scale.
View All Dimscale
This will show all layers with the current dimscale. Matchlines, Reference Lines, Utility Text, and Street Text usually do not have A, B, or C categories and this command will thaw them as well.
Software Bug:
If current dimscale is annotative, Scale manager will not close and will show an error on the command line. It will also give you an error when switching between model space and paper space. To fix this either set a dimstyle that is not annotative current or modify the current dimstyle. To modify the current dimstyle, type "dimstyle" on the command line and select the current dimstyle. Click the modify button. Select the "Fit" tab. and uncheck the annotative box. Save the dimstyle.
