Page 1 of 1

Return of the Graphics Scales

PostPosted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 10:33 am
by WizArtist
Some years ago I posted a topic on "Graphics Scales" that I had created for the company I was working at. Since I'm no longer employed there, I have had to go through the laborious task of recreating things on my own for my personal use. Just this week I got around to finally recreating these Graphics Scales. Once I had these done, I save them to a Symbol Template where I only need to drop them in at an enlargement of "1" and I'm done. The line below the scales are not a part of the symbol, they are there only for a reference to the insertion point (the right endpoint of the line) of the symbol. Also not shown is that to the left of the scale there is text that notes the scale size but is in a 'non-printing' color in my particular pen table. If anyone could use these, contact me at brianwhisenhunt@gmail.com and I will send you the Datacad file.

Re: Return of the Graphics Scales

PostPosted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 10:44 am
by Neil Blanchard
Are you going to use these with Symbol Scale? These symbols would be ideal for this. No need to enlarge anything or to have different sized symbols for various scales.

Re: Return of the Graphics Scales

PostPosted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 10:52 am
by WizArtist
I'm not sure that Symbol Scaling would really work since the increments change depending upon the scale used. These do not need to be enlarged. Simply saved to a template and dropped in as needed at full size. The way these are set up is so they will be virtually the same size on any sheet but incremented appropriately. Since I use a "Sheet Title" that has an insertion point at the bottom left corner of my Title Block border, these symbols will insert at the right endpoint of that title line and be lined up at the same point on every sheet regardless of scale. I am really not sure how I would even go about making a 'Dynamic Graphic Scale' that would adjust to any desired scale. I'm still trying to figure out how to write my own hatch patterns!

Re: Return of the Graphics Scales

PostPosted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 11:37 am
by Neil Blanchard
Right, you would still need a different symbol for the "range" of the graphic scale you needed. Symbol Scale would work if you insert at 12" scale, and any other scale, so if you have a site plan or a floor plan or any other scale drawing, the full sized graphic scale would automatically enlarged to read correctly at whatever scale you plot it at. So the graphic scale could be included along with the rest of the detail/plan/drawing and you would not need to insert it separately.

Re: Return of the Graphics Scales

PostPosted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 12:32 pm
by Mark F. Madura
Sounds like a job for View/Scale-dependent symbols.

A while back I also created a version to use with the symbol enlargement factor or Symbol Scale where the values are based on associative dimensions. The symbol has to be exploded at the time it is placed in order for the associative dimensions to update and the current scale type should be set to Decimal.

Drawing Scale Symbol
http://forum.datacad.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2987&p=11177&hilit=+drawing+scale+#p11177

Disclaimer: This was a proof-of-concept so you'll have to customize it to suit your own purposes.

Re: Return of the Graphics Scales

PostPosted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 2:52 pm
by Roger D
WizArtist wrote:work since the increments change depending upon the scale used.


You could look at using the Min/Max Scale settings in the Symbol Editor/Layer Menu.
You can have the unique set of numbers for each scale on a layer (I call my by the scale factor) and set the Min/Max for only that one scale. Then the correct numbers display for the scale, while the symbol / line work is on a common layer.