Question for you all about Drawing Scale

[Anonymous]

Hello Everyone,

I need some expertise Archicad users that worked with Archicad versions for years.

Do you using 1'=1'-0" drawing scale? Or Do you using 1/4"=1'-0" drawing scale?

It has been debating and issues with the scale dues to dimensions and markers, angle dimension, etc. That kind of tool that would not able to reduce more than 1.42 pt. It has been frustrating for our office. I cannot find information that states that we should always use 1'=1'-0" so that dimension dash marker can be reduce easily for detail drawings or section drawings.

I cannot find the reason WHY we can't use drawing scale at 1/4" to make this work. We were forced to increase the drawing scale over and over. It was not a great approach to create templates as we wanted to improve better each time.

Is there a reason why archicad created various drawing scale that other tool such as dimension marker cannot meet at the smallest scale at 1/4" or smaller for detail and section drawings? Your feedback or answer on drawing scale dues to design or architecture purposes would be greatly appreciated. Big thanks!

[Richard Morrison]

It sounds like you need an expert to come in and show you how this all works. Typically, the building and all details are in real world measurements but are DISPLAYED at the desired drawing scale. Annotation (call-outs, text, etc.) should be automatically re-scaling depending on what scale you have chosen. So, for example, a section marker that is 36 points tall will be 36 pts. tall "on paper" regardless of the displayed scale. You should be choosing labels with 7 pt. text, say, regardless of what scale you are drawing at. You shouldn't need to even think about it. If it is not working this way, you are probably doing it wrong.

[Barry Kelly]

I have moved this topic to 'Working in Archicad".

Barry.

[Anonymous]

Hello Richard,

Yes, I do need an expert to come in. I took training class that only last two days few weeks ago, to learn everything but it was impossible to remember everything. It was kind of overwhelming. It was FAST pace courses! I did asked the teacher about drawing scale, but it did not answered clearly. She did mentioned about project map and view map and use view map as possible. She did also mentioned use scale 1:1 or 1'=1'-0". I cannot remember exact which one.

My issues was mainly toward to 1/4" drawing scale that we always use and use sections and details on drawing scale at 1/4", text is ok, but dimension, angle dimension or label tool was the major issue that cannot reduce more than 1.42 pt. It forced us to use worksheet to get what we needed. I assumed that we supposed to use that worksheet or view map to have that kind of system. We are trying to find the answer why can't we use drawing scale 1/4" for everything to be more efficient but apparently not. We did looked up manual from I think Archicad 8.1 and try to find drawing scale and scale purposes to work with for our daily use. There is no answer for it. That is why I asked everyone in here.


Thank you Barry for move this topic since this forum looked complicated to use. I was not able to find my history posts.... I am trying to learn how to use this forum.

[Richard Morrison]

I will try to explain this as clearly as I can. You can draw in any scale, but what you draw will always be in "real world" units. If you draw a line from point A to point B, and the tracker or info box says that the line is 10' long, then it is 10' long regardless of what scale you were drawing in. Whether you are drawing at 1/4"=1'-0" or 6"=1'-0", the standard text probably should be around 7 pt. (might be 8pt. or more if you want larger text, but 7 pt. is around the normal range.) and it will rescale if you change the drawing scale. 1.42 pt. would be microscopic and virtually unreadable on the printed drawing. If you are using text this size, then there is a fundamental misunderstanding of how ArchiCAD handles scale.

So if you want the final drawing to be at 1/4"=1', then set the scale to that and draw away. When you place text or other annotation, that is how it will look when it is printed at 1/4"=1'. If you take this drawing, and change it to 1/8"=1', then all of the text will rescale and appear twice as large relative to the other drawn elements, but that is what it will look like if you send it to Layout with 1/8" scale. Similarly, if you change the scale to 1/2", then all of the annotation will appear smaller relative to all of the other elements, but 7pt text will still print out at 7 pts. (about 3/32").

The best thing you can do is to have someone work with your office who knows what they are doing. There are many trainers who can work remotely, as well. Making mistakes early on in the process will just make the project more expensive, and harder to correct later. You might also try something like Eric Bobrow's "Quick Start" online course, which you can watch over and over again if you don't get the concepts right away.

[Anonymous]

Hello Barry,

Yes, that is exactly what i remembered in the class. That is the reason why i was struggling with this "layout" and Drawing scale along with text, annotion, etc dues to supposed match any scale with same font/text size no matter what you do. That is where I need to figure it out why it doesn't working properly. But with drawing scale, I just showed your comment to my coworker, he said it still does not helping according to archicad software (conception of "scale"). Haha. But, I will go back to Eric and see if I can understand without closed captioning. I do not hear it very well. That is one reason why I went to in-class to learn through via interpreter.

Other than that, thank you for trying to explain me clearly. I do understand it but try to make this work better on our current template but I am thinking maybe our template is corrupted. MMM... Not sure why it would not automatically same text size on layout. I just did experimented them and see what is the issue. Maybe project map was the issue, not view map. I guess I need more practice. I will go home and watch Eric bobow and see if I figure this out.

Big thanks! I appreciated for your spare time!

[David Maudlin]

cadpg wrote:
MMM... Not sure why it would not automatically same text size on layout.

On the Layout, select the Drawing and open its settings. In the Settings dialog box under Properties, see if the Drawing Scale matches the Original Scale (Magnification = 100%), that could be the issue.

You should add a Signature to your Profile (click the Profile button near the top of this page) with your ArchiCAD version and operating system (see mine for an example) for more accurate help in this forum.

David

[Anonymous]

Hello David,

Ah, that explains why!!! that is the reason the dimension markers (/) and text size were not cooperated in the first place dues to magnification. That is why I was struggling to make it work dues to points system that marker cannot reduce to 1.42pt. It never the reason why the archicad made this point in the first place.

That explains. Haha.. OOPS!!! I just explained to co worker. He realized that now so we needed to be careful with how to save and place the layout from now on. I will go back working on templates and make sure everything is uniformity no matter what you do with any scale increase such as sections, details, etc... Thank you for explaining that. That is where I always been asking myself why the dimension markers setting made for but it has to be working right for layout. Turned out it was layout issues. Now, we will fix and make sure it stays the same.

DAVID, Thank you so much. that is exactly what i am looking for. Now, I am focus on correct templates and stay with it no matter what dues to our favorite and keep our habits right how to place the layout and use worksheet or details as possible for small detail drawings. I appreciated your help.

I have been looking for the solution and you had the answer! I was looking for troubleshooting through website, my training courses and nothing that i can find until now!

About profile, thank you. I never knew about it. I am still learning how to use forum and want to become good at it. I wanted to learn more about how to find my history posts but still awkward how to use. I had to use search to find my post. I don't know if that is normal....

[David Maudlin]

cadpg:

Glad that you found the issue. A good template will take care of this type of problem. Keeping the same scale from View to Layout is important.

In your Profile there is an option to Always notify me of replies, so if this is checked you will get e-mail notifications when the thread has replies.

Thanks for adding the signature.

David