Plot Options

Plot Options
The options in the Plot Options group offer a greater amount of control over your output and
require some detailed instruction. Here is a brief description of these options. You’ll learn more
about them in the next section.

Plot in Background
If you think your plot will take some time to complete, this option plots your drawing in the background
so that after you begin a plot you can immediately return to your drawing work. You can
also control this option through the Backgroundplot system variable.

Plot Object Lineweights
As mentioned earlier, AutoCAD lets you assign lineweights to objects either through their layer
assignment or by directly assigning a lineweight to the object. If you use this feature in your drawing,
this option lets you turn lineweights on or off in your output.

Plot with Plot Styles
Plot styles give you a high degree of control over your drawing output. You can control whether
your output is in color or black and white, and you can control whether filled areas are drawn in
a solid color or a pattern. You can even control the way lines are joined at corners. You’ll learn more
about these options and how they affect your work in the next section.

Plot Paperspace Last
When you’re using a Layout tab, otherwise known as Paper Space, this option determines whether
objects in Paper Space are drawn before or after objects in Model Space. You’ll learn more about
Model Space and Paper Space later in this chapter.

Hide Paperspace Objects
This option pertains to 3D models in AutoCAD. When you draw in 3D, you see your drawing as
a Wireframe view. In a Wireframe view, your drawing looks like it’s transparent even though it’s
made up of solid surfaces. Using hidden-line removal, you can view and plot your 3D drawings
so that solid surfaces are opaque. To view a 3D drawing in the editor with hidden lines removed,
use the Hide command. To plot a 3D drawing with hidden lines removed, use the Hidden option
from the Shade Plot drop-down list.

WARNING Hide Paperspace Objects doesn’t work for views in the Layout tab viewport described
in the next section. Instead, you need to set the viewport’s Shade Plot setting to Hidden. (Click the
viewport, right-click, and choose Shade Plot  Hidden from the shortcut menu.)