Autocad Annotative Tutorial

Creating clear drawings is an essential part of CAD drafting. Making text and dimension information readable in different scales and prints has previously entailed a lot of extra work. It is now much easier using AutoCAD's annotative scaling tools.

Before Annotative Scaling

One of the problems in CAD drafting has always been keeping text and dimensions readable when plotted at different scales. For instance, a drawing may be drafted to plot on an E size sheet and a C size copy is also printed to quickly check the drawing. As it is half the size, the text may not be readable. Additional work is required so that both sizes can be read when printed.

Annotative Scaling Principles

With annotative scaling, the size the text will be printed at is decided first. This size remains constant regardless of the scale that is printed. Dimensions can be aligned and additional scales can be added to the drawing. This considerably simplifies printing the same drawing at different scales and ensures all the text is still readable.

Issues with Annotative Scaling

Because the text size is constant, if the drawing is printed on too small a sheet then the text can appear too large and obscure parts of the actual drawing. As annotative scaling was only introduced with the 2008 version of AutoCAD, adjustments must be made so that earlier versions can read the drawings. Other CAD programs may not be able to use annonative scaling at all.

References

• CAD Notes: Introduction to Annotative Scaling