Scale - driving me mad

[tails]

Okay so I am trying to set up some templates at work. (I'm a beginner)

I have used a standard title block and altered it This appears to be scaled at 1/4" (imperial) 1:48.

The drawing I have imported as a dwg (separate layer) I want scaling at 1:1250 (metric) but when I do this it looks like a grain of rice on the paper.

Scaling at 1:50 gets me within 5m at 1:1250 measured with a scale rule after printing.

Now I'm convinced it is something to do with the title block being in imperial and my imported drawing being in metric, but i'll be blown if I know what I'm doing.

So is there a way round this or should I just create my own title block in metric from scratch on a separate layer?

[tails]

I suppose to rephrase that.

When I scale my drawing at 1:1250 it comes out at 1:2000000???, when I scale it at 1:50 it is close to 1:1250. There is something obviously wrong here.

My drawing setup appears fine millimeters/ISO A3.

[VincentCuclair]

When you import a dwg you must! import it to match the same units as you have set in Document prefs. of the actual file, the drawing scale is of little importance at this instance.

Drawing Scale in VW is only a way to see things on screen, it has nothing to do with object sizes, you could compare it with ltscale in AutoCAD.

If you keep to the same units throughout (ie. don't start mixing inches, meters, millimeters etc) symbols, title blocks etc will show correct.

Edited October 22, 2010 by Vincent C

[tails]

Thanks vincent this forum is beyond helpful. So what your saying is I need to know what scale the DWG was produced in and match my scale in VW to this, before importing?

thanks

[VincentCuclair]

Well if those are the units you want to work with yes, otherwise here is the text from the help file (sorry I've never imported imperial to metric or vice versa and I don't really understand the text below so you'll have to experiment a bit...... ):

Setting Units Manually

If objects seem to be the wrong physical size after import, ensure that the units chosen are correct. (Model Space Scale only affects the display, but Units Setting in File affects the actual measured size of the objects.) DXF/DWG files do not always have the true units set, and sometimes have incorrect units set.

The Vectorworks program guesses the units based on the information available, and indicates what it found in the dynamic text at the top of the pane. If the guess is wrong, set the units manually.

If you do not know the correct units, but you know the true length of one of the objects in the drawing, determine the true units as follows.

Import the file and choose Custom units, setting the edit boxes to something like 1 DXF Units = 1". After import, measure the size of the object that you know the true length of. Close the document and redo the import, but this time set the units to Custom with these values in the edit boxes: (measured length) DXF Units = (true length). For example, if the true length is 1", but the measured length is 2.54", enter 2.54 DXF Units = 1". (Do not include units in the first box, and if in feet and inches mode, just use the total measured length in inches.)

If the Vectorworks program finds an exact match for that ratio, it will change the Custom choice to the correct units. (In the example above, it changes it to Centimeters.) If the measurements and the ratio are not exact (for example, 2.539 instead of 2.54), manually adjust it to a standard ratio. Common ratios have values such as 1, 12, 2.54, and powers of 10. Examples: 1/12, 12/10, 2.54/0.01, etc.

If you do not know any true lengths, but the document contains dimension objects that show lengths, follow the steps just described with the following change: Select Convert Dimensions to Groups (see Objects Tab), import, and use the value in the imported dimension object as the true length.

Normally the Vectorworks program leaves the document units setting unchanged after an import. If a DXF/DWG file is set to meters, but the Vectorworks document is set to feet and inches, then a dimension object that shows 1 meter in the original file will show as 3'3.37" in the imported file. If you want the imported drawing to be the same as the original, select the Set Vectorworks Units to Match option. You can also import with the option to convert dimensions to groups (see Objects Tab) if you want the document to stay in the current units, but you want the dimensions to look the same as in the original.

[VincentCuclair]

Basically I think you simply enter the dwgs units here (see attached file) regardless of the VW document units.....

[tails]

Thanks a million Vincent, it worked!!

[VincentCuclair]

Well it's about time I paid back for all the help I've received here through the years