Expert: Bob - 9/5/2009

Question
hello and thanks for you help with my question;

I am an industrial designer and I was taught AutoCAD in 1995 as part of my undergraduate degree; I have used the program since then to produce my plans and elevations etc. of furniture and other products, to give to manufacturers for fabrication -  I don't remember what version I was taught on (sorry.  I have 2008, but had 2004 before this.  My skill level is medium - I do well by doing things the long way 'round,(no short cuts) but accurately.

Recently I transitioned into interior design (in a new country) as a career and here is my problem - the scale is so different to what I am used to furniture Vs interiors -  plus, the units of measure are different: millimeters Vs inches.

Q1. - I have changed my units to be in inches and I am drawing 1:1 scale, is there anything else I should specifically change?  

Q2. - And, of great concern, how do I select in the Plot dialogue box a scale of say, 1/4" = 1'0", so that my drawings print out at the scale I want? I know how to do it in millimeters, but inches...

Answer
Hi-- Congratulations and good luck! Thanks for giving all the information, so I understand how to answer.

I am going to start with what I think is the most important advice --- but you didn't ask me this question, I am bringing it up.
"I do well by doing things the long way 'round,(no short cuts) but accurately"
Accuracy is essential --- doing AutoCAD the long way, as in 1995, wastes time and shows a stubborn attitude. Time is money -- particularly to Americans (the only people still using Imperial measure, as far as I know). I personally think AutoCAD 2008 is twice as fast as R12 (1995), for Interior Design, if you use it.
(for instance, your favorite hatches and blocks should be in Tool Palettes, set to come in on the right layer: never change layers when inserting blocks again, rarely use the annoying hatch creation dialog, etc, etc,it's great)

Obviously, you are aware that anything you bring from Metric must be scaled down.

Your 2 questions are perplexing, because I don't hear them from people who have learned in the past decade --- they are both covered by basic setup done the modern way.

Q1 --Yes, all the dimension styles, etc --- but, of course, you should be creating new drawings via a template file, either a stock one, or (better)one you have created, with layouts, styles, etc. Starting new drawings from scratch and changing settings is for new students, to me.

Q2 -- Maybe you are plotting from an old command??? When you hit the printer icon, you get a dialog box that includes all the common scales (but can be customized). If you are calculating scale factor, etc -- that went out 10 years ago, and I have forgotten how to do it (almost, lol).
BUT --- you must be plotting from Model Space, if you need to scale when plotting. Layouts (paper space) have scaled viewports, and the page is plotted full size. All drawing sets are plotted from Paper Space, except by grey-bearded stubborn Engineers and Architects --- but I often plot single items or drawings in progress from Model Space: the scale is set in the Plot Dialog, via the drop-down window.

In other words, you sound clever and thorough. Why not learn AutoCAD 2008 from a good book or class, as if from scratch, and work faster and easier? Of course, that is just my suggestion.

I hope I gave you the clearest possible answer to your questions that I could -- except I cant really teach modern plotting and setup here.

If I mistook you, please write back.

BOB