AboutBob Expertise I am good at getting Architects and Interior Designers who are intimidated by Autocad, ADT, etc. to feel comfortable, get things done.
PLEASE GIVE ME:
1- some background on you and your skills, and what field you are working in, so I can reply at your level and dont give architecture answers to an engineer
2- the reason you want to do what you are asking, so I will know I am helping you to get to a goal (maybe I have a better way to suggest)
3- the release of AutoCAD you are using
4- how much AutoCAD training you have taken
THAT WAY -- your question will be easy to answer more clearly. Thanks, BOB
Experience Interior Design and Space Planning. Autodesk U. 2000 and 2001.
Expert: Bob Date: 6/18/2008 Subject: I dont understand why
Question QUESTION: Hi Bob,
I have a question, sometimes I draw a line 70' long and the line barely fits on the screen, and if i open a new drawing and draw a line the line will be really small yet still dim as 70 units!!! I like the second way better but idk it happens the first way
could you please explain this to me and what I can do to fix this for good. Am i not setting up something incorrectly??? units, limits????
Thank you for your time
ANSWER: Hi--
2 flaws in the question make it harder for me:
1-- You dont give your experience level and so on, so I can write at the proper level. (in this particular case, it is ok that you didnt give the AutoCAD release, as my profile asks.)
2-- AND I dont know whether you opened the drawing on a Metric or Imperial template. quote___and if i open a new drawing and draw a line the line will be really small yet still dim as 70 units!!!___
If you use a Metric template, but type "70'", you will get a line 70 feet long -- but if it is 70 UNITS long, it will be 70 mm, which is roughly 27 inches.
Imperial AutoCAD opens with limits of 9x12 inches, because it was first used for small mechanical parts.
I am out of town on vacation -- no AutoCAD here -- and I dont remember all the names of the templates. Good practice is to create a template by including all your layers, units, etc. in a drawing, and saving it as a .dwt file. Then you set in OPTIONS the path for QNEW to go to the folder where you have stored that template --- you NEVER have to do set-up again, if all your drawings are similar.
I urge you to have a good basic AutoCAD book on hand (one slanted to your field of work). The drawing setup is in the beginning of the book, and should be mastered, so it is out of your way.
Does this help?
BOB
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Hi Bob,
Im 16, and I've been studying autocad for 8 months.
What confuses me is that i always open my QNEW in acadiso
ANSWER: Hi --
What confuses ME is why this did not answer the question for you:
____If you use a Metric template, but type "70'", you will get a line 70 feet long -- but if it is 70 UNITS long, it will be 70 mm, which is roughly 27 inches.___ (if you are 16, you may run a high screen res and not have noticed the feet symbol after the 70)
I would have NO idea why you are using a metric template if you want to draw in feet and inches. Of course if I new whether you are doing Architectural, Mechanical, or what, I could suggest a template. (next week, when I am back from vacation)
You need to read up on the templates in HELP, in a good book, or online.
BTW-- When you say you "have been studying for 8 months" -- I hope you mean at a school not building bad habits by working it out on your own. Did your teacher tell you to use that template?? I still say, look up templates.
I hope this helps -- and (being old fashioned) I will tell you that is is horrible form to ask a 2nd question without thanking the person for taking the time to reply to the first. Your peers dont care, but employers will, so be careful to use some graciousness --- cool??
BOB
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: touchy touchy! I was going to thank you after the followup
Answer WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I WAS GOING TO SEND YOU A THOUSAND DOLLARS AFTER YOU THANKED ME, BUT NOW.......................
MAY I PROMISE YOU..... That appropriate gratitude is SMART. People want to help those who show appreciation IN A WAY THE HELPER FEELS IS APPROPRIATE.
Your reply was similar to "Well, since you criticized me, I dont have to thank you now, and I get to describe you by a rude adjective."
I HOPE THAT YOU LEARN SOON -- who in the %*()&*&^# are you to address me that way? Did you PAY for the help? Did I try to assist you while I am on vacation?
Go ahead -- do it your way. See what the result is. I suggest you print this and show it to your school counselor, asking whether you were appropriate.
