[Seth Emery]

This post is in response to a comment from Travis on one of my blog entries. I wanted to put this in a thread so more people would see it and have a chance to respond with their ideas on the subject.

“Seth, since you brought up demensioning. I read somwhere that dimensioning is much easier in paper space rather than model space. Do you agree with this? When I try to dimension in paper space my demensions are huge so I have been dimensioning in model space.”

I rarely use paperspace. The reason for this is because I usually print out pages with only one scale per page. When I do use paperspace, it is normally for showing isometric views or showing views with different scales on one page. The benefit of dimensioning in paperspace is that you can use one dimension style for all scales. I usually show plan views in 1/2″=1′ scale and thru sections in 3″=1′ scale and have dimension styles and layouts set up for use in model space for these scales and others. If you dimension in paperspace, you can just set up a full scale dimension style and use it for dimensioning everything. If you dimension in paperspace and want to copy objects into modelspace from another drawing and copy the layout from that drawing, you have to make sure the objects are located at the same coordinates in the new drawing so the dimensions will line up. Either that, or you have to dimension it again or move the old dimensions around. It only takes me between one and two seconds to select a different dimension style, so I don’t see the benefit for me to dimension in paperspace. I only use 8-1/2″x11″ and 11″x17″ paper, so I can’t fit many views on a page. If I was using larger paper, I would use paperspace for plotting a lot more (but still not for dimensioning). I did use paperspace earlier this week for plotting an isometric view and a plan view on the same page. I hadn’t used paperspace for about two months. It is good to use it every once in awhile so you don’t get too rusty at it. Paperspace is a necessity in some cases. If you look at a forum dedicated to CAD, there will no doubt be many posts about this subject with a lot of differing opinions. I just know what works best for me in my application, and I’m sure my opinion would be different if I was an architect.

About your dimensions being huge when you try dimensioning in paperspace, what scale do your dimensions look good at? If it is 1/2″=1′, make a new dimension style with the attributes being 1/24 of what they are at on the style that you normally use. This should be full scale (1″=1″). What size of paper are you using normally? Do you have layouts set up for different scales?

Have a nice evening,

Seth

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