Tag / linetype

by mikechristenson

Linetypes

CONVENTIONAL USES FOR LINETYPES:

Dashed lines are often used to indicate items above the plan cut or in front of the section cut, or objects below or beyond a visible surface.

A “center” linetype (a repeated pattern of single long dash and single short dash) is usually used to indicate gridlines or center lines of objects or spaces.

Specialty linetypes are often used by various engineering disciplines to indicate utility routes; such linetypes often consist of a dashed or broken line annotated with the service description.

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by mikechristenson

AutoCAD: Linetypes

Like lineweight, linetype is a property assigned to layers, and by extension, to objects assigned to those layers. Although it’s considered good practice to use layers to organize object linetype, object lineweight is often set on a per-object basis.

LINETYPE SCALE IN AUTOCAD.

All AutoCAD linetypes, with the exception of the default CONTINUOUS linetype, are subject to the LTSCALE system variable. As a general rule, if LTSCALE is increased, the size of the pattern (e. g. the dashes in the line) will increase. However, each different LINETYPE bears a different relationship to LTSCALE. For example, if you set LTSCALE to 1, the DASHED linetype looks like this:
linetype-dashed
Meanwhile, the HIDDEN linetype looks like this:
linetype-hidden
A good rule of thumb for LTSCALE is as follows. Consider the scale at which you’ll print the drawing. Convert this scale to a ratio (e. g. 1/4” = 1’-0” is equivalent to 1 : 48). Set LTSCALE to the right half of this ratio (in this example, to 48). This rule works because if you print your drawing at a comparatively small size, the dashes in the lines should be large relative to the size of objects in the drawing.

TO LOAD A LINETYPE INTO A DRAWING:

1.     Type LINETYPE.

2.     In the resulting Linetype Manager dialog box, click Load.

3.     Choose the linetype you want to load and click OK.

4.     Click OK again to close the dialog box. The linetype is now available to be assigned to layers and/or objects (see below).

 

TO CHANGE LINETYPE ON A PER-OBJECT BASIS:

1.     Load a linetype into your drawing. (See above.)

2.     From the View tab, Palettes panel, click Properties to display the Properties palette.

3.     Click on an object, or a group of objects. Click next to the word “Linetype” in the Properties palette and select a new linetype from the pulldown menu. Click the escape key to deselect the object(s).

by mikechristenson

AutoCAD: Lineweights

Lineweight is the visual thickness of lines. The use of lineweight is critically important to maintaining good legibility and professional appearance in drawings. See this post for general information on lineweight.

In AutoCAD, lineweight is an object property, meaning that every object in an AutoCAD drawing can be assigned its own lineweight. By default, every object is assigned the ByLayer lineweight, meaning that the object assumes the lineweight assigned to its layer. Like any object property, this can be overridden on an object-by-object basis.

It’s considered good practice to use layers to organize object lineweight, rather than setting object lineweight on a per-object basis. In other words, unless there is a compelling need to do otherwise, always keep AutoCAD object lineweight set to ByLayer.

 

TO CHANGE LINEWEIGHT OR LINETYPE ON A BYLAYER BASIS:

1.     Load a linetype into your drawing. (See above.)

2.     Type LAYER to bring up the Layer Properties Manager palette.

3.     Click on the layer whose properties you wish to change.

4.     Choose the desired linetype or lineweight. All objects in this layer with the BYLAYER property set for linetype or lineweight will inherit these settings.