Controlling Linetype Scale

Controlling Linetype Scale
Although you’ve designated this as a dashdot line, it appears solid. Zoom in to a small part of the
line, and you’ll see that the line is indeed as you specified.
Because you’re working at a scale of 1˝ = 1´, you must adjust the scale of your linetypes accordingly.
This too is accomplished in the Linetype Manager dialog box. Here are the steps:
1. Choose Format  Linetype from the drop-down menu.
2. The Linetype Manager dialog box opens. Click the Show Details button in the upper-right
corner of the dialog box. Some additional options appear at the bottom.



TIP The Linetype Manager dialog box offers Load and Delete buttons that let you load or delete a
linetype directly without having to go through a particular layer’s linetype setting.
3. Double-click the Global Scale Factor text box, and then type 12 (metric users type 30). This is
the scale conversion factor for a 1˝ = 1´ scale (see “Understanding Scale Factors” in Chapter 3).
4. Click OK. The drawing regenerates, and the shower curtain rod is displayed in the linetype
and at the scale you designated.
5. Click the Zoom Previous tool so your drawing looks like Figure 5.6.
TIP You can also use the Ltscale system variable to set the linetype scale. Type Ltscale↵, and at
the Enter new linetype scale factor <1.0000>: prompt, enter 12↵.
TIP If you change the linetype of a layer or an object, but the object remains a continuous line,
check the Ltscale system variable. It should be set to your drawing scale factor. If this doesn’t
work, set the Viewres system variable to a higher value (see Appendix C). (Viewres can also be set
by the Arc And Circle Smoothness option in the Display tab of the Options dialog box.) The behavior
of linetype scales depends on whether you’re in Model Space or in a drawing layout. If your
efforts to control linetype scale have no effect on your linetype’s visibility, you may be in a drawing
layout. See Chapter 16 for more on Model Space and layouts.



Remember that if you assign a linetype to a layer, everything you draw on that layer will be
of that linetype. This includes arcs, polylines, circles, and traces. As explained in the “Assigning
Colors, Linetypes, and Linetype Scales to Individual Objects” sidebar later in this chapter, you
can also assign different colors and linetypes to individual objects, rather than relying on their
layer assignment to define color and linetype. However, you may want to avoid assigning colors
and linetypes directly to objects until you have some experience with AutoCAD and a good grasp
of your drawing’s organization.
In the previous exercise, you changed the global linetype scale setting. This affects all noncontinuous
linetypes within the current drawing. You can also change the linetype scale of individual
objects by using the Properties button on the Properties toolbar. Or you can set the default linetype
scale for all new objects with the Current Object Scale option in the Linetype Manager dialog box.
When individual objects are assigned a linetype scale, they’re still affected by the global linetype
scale set by the Ltscale system variable. For example, say you assign a linetype scale of 2 to the curtain
rod in the previous example. This scale is then multiplied by the global linetype scale of 12, for
a final linetype scale of 24.
TIP You can also set the default linetype scale for individual objects by using the Celtscale system
variable. After it’s set, only newly created objects are affected. You must use the Properties palette
to change the linetype scale of individual existing objects.
If the objects you draw appear in a different linetype from that of the layer they’re on, check the
default linetype by using the Linetype Control drop-down list on the Properties toolbar. You can also
choose Format  Linetype. Then, in the Linetype Manager dialog box, highlight ByLayer in the Linetype
list, and click the Current button. In addition, check the linetype scale of the object itself, by using
the Properties palette. A different linetype scale can make a line appear to have an assigned linetype
that might not be what you expect. (See the sidebar “Assigning Colors, Linetypes, and Linetype
Scales to Individual Objects.”)
NOTE A system variable called Psltscale affects how layout viewports display linetypes. When
the Psltscale system variable is set to 1, layout viewports display linetypes at the Ltscale setting,
which is usually incorrect for the 1-to-1 scale of the layout. When Psltscale is set to 0, linetypes
appear in layout viewports in the same way they appear in the Model tab.