Plot Area

Plot Area
The What To Plot drop-down list in the Plot Area group lets you specify which part of your drawing
you want to plot. You may notice some similarities between these settings and the Zoom command
options. Each Plot Area option is described next. Most of these options are used only in a Model tab.
Typically, when plotting from a Layout tab, you’ll use the Layout option.

Limits
The Limits option (available in Model Space only) uses the limits of the drawing to determine the
area to print. If you let AutoCAD fit the drawing onto the sheet (by selecting the Fit To Paper check
box in the Plot Scale group), the plot displays exactly the same image that you would see on the
screen if you selected View 
Zoom 
All.

Layout
The Layout option (available in Layout tabs only) replaces the Limits option when you plot from
a Layout tab. (See the section “WYSIWYG Plotting Using Layout Tabs” later in this chapter.) This
option plots everything displayed within the paper margins shown in the Layout tab view. Typically,
this is the only option you’ll use when printing from a layout.

Extents
The Extents option uses the extents of the drawing to determine the area to print. If you let AutoCAD
fit the drawing onto the sheet (by selecting the Fit To Paper check box in the Plot Scale group), the plot
displays exactly the same image that you would see on the screen if you chose View 
Zoom 
Extents.

Display
Display is the default option; it tells AutoCAD to plot what is currently displayed on the screen. If
you let AutoCAD fit the drawing onto the sheet (that is, you select the Fit To Paper check box from
the Plot Scale group), the plot is exactly the same as what you see on your screen, adjusted for the
width and height proportions of your display.

View
The View option is available when you’ve saved a view in the drawing by using the View command.
When you select View from the What To Plot drop-down list, another drop-down list appears, offering
a list of views available in the drawing. You can then select the view that you want to plot. If you
let AutoCAD fit the drawing onto the sheet (by selecting Fit To Paper from the Plot Scale group), the
plot displays exactly the same thing that you would see on the screen if you recalled the view you’re
plotting. Objects that don’t appear in the view are clipped in the plotted view.

TIP
Do you get a blank printout, even though you selected Extents or Display? Chances are, the Fit
To Paper check box isn’t selected, or the Inches = Units setting is inappropriate for the sheet size
and scale of your drawing. If you don’t care about the scale of the drawing, make sure the Fit To
Paper option is selected. Otherwise, make sure the Plot Scale settings are set correctly. The next
section describes how to set the scale for your plots.