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Scale Bar


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This is one of the most confusing tools available.  I'm sure I'm doing it wrong because I don't think like a software engineer.  

1. Should it be inserted in the annotation viewport?  Where I assume it would take on the scale of the viewport.  Or should it be placed on the sheet layer?

2. Well, skip question #2.

Guess I'm mostly just complaining because with some of these tools one never knows what units they are supposed to be working with (sheet units, drawing scale units)

 

Okay I played with it and  figured it out.  I ranted to soon!

Edited by jmartinarch
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The scale bar and most of the tools in the Dims/Notes palette work with Drawing Units (scale). That means they will only make sense in a drawing if you put them somewhere that has a scale that makes sense.

 

If you place a Scale Bar on the Sheet Layer (that has a scale of 1:1) it will work just fine, but if you scale bar is set to feet, it is going to be REALLY big. If you place it in a viewport with a scale of 1/4"=1' it will display at the size you are expecting.

 

It will also work just fine to place on a Design Layer and pick up the scale from there.

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The key words are "in my experience." Regardless of how may people you may have seen, they are a small subset of all the users of VW, even the users who are in a similar industry to you. Anytime you start asking for changes that will effect how many/most users will use a tool you need to consider all of the repercussions.

 

In the case of scale bars, if you have multiple viewports at different scale on a sheet layer, why would you want a scale bar to insert with the title block?

 

An easy work around to get what you want is to make a symbol out of your Title Block and Scale Bar. If you make it a "Red" symbol, it will convert back to the original Plug-in objects when you insert it into the drawing.

 

This way you can get what you want and not impact the workflows of all the people who don't work exactly like you.

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Hi Pat, 

I think I misled you with "Drawing Title"  - after looking it up, the correct term is "Drawing Label."   I can see why you thought adding a scale bar to the title block might seem a little strange.

 

Instead, I was referring to the typical convention of adding a scale bar to drawing labels to verify scale when drawings are reproduced or resized.

 

While I've tried to create a symbol that combines the drawing label and the scale bar, I've found that the two don't play very well together.

The drawing label works well as a symbol, but the scale moves around and distorts when placed in different scaled viewports.  Therefore, a different symbol is necessary for every scale used in the drawing.

 

I've included a few images of some of the problems that I've run into.

So, with a little more thought, this is probably a better fit for the "wishlist topic:" 

Can we have a drawing label that includes the capacity for north arrows and scale bars in one object please?

 

Graphics below.

Screen Shot 2016-11-08 at 3.42.48 PM.png

Screen Shot 2016-11-08 at 3.42.55 PM.png

Screen Shot 2016-11-08 at 3.51.10 PM.png

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On 11/4/2016 at 1:18 PM, jmartinarch said:

Guess I'm mostly just complaining because with some of these tools one never knows what units they are supposed to be working with (sheet units, drawing scale units)

 

 

 

There are some logical inconsistencies in the program that make it so one never quite knows where something is supposed to go.  I understand that frustration.  Until now - it seems that VW has erred on the side of User Choice - and now is facing uniformity issues.

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  • 3 years later...

Uhhh, so when placing dims within a annotated viewport the font size is automatically adjusted to whatever settings your dimension style is set to. Why not the scalebar? That and why is the scalebar stacking in 2020? Meaning text on top of the boxes. I have a thread out about this but I haven't received any responses. I have a tech support call out but the solutions have not worked.

 

So here's the thing. The DRAWING LABEL is like a receptionist in your office. If the receptionist is bad then your representing yourself badly. Anything done thereafter is questionable. Detailed drawings are meant to be documents one can trust. Not question.

 

Now I keep hearing things like, "from a programmers perspective". The programmers are not the detailers. When a "detailer" says there is a problem then it should be addressed. The program should be dictated by what a detailing drawings should be, not what a programmer thinks it should be. All of the issues here are not about personal preference. They are about industry standards.

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