Printing correctly to scale from AutoCAD is a classic stumbling block for many beginning (and sometimes experienced) drafters. You have drawn your plan neatly, but when printing, the dimensions on paper are incorrect. The key to success lies in understanding ‘Model Space’, ‘Paper Space’, and the Viewport scale.
Model Space vs. Paper Space
In AutoCAD, you always draw in Model Space. Here you draw at full size (scale 1:1). A wall of 10 meters is drawn as 10 units (if your unit is meters) or as 1000 units (if your unit is centimeters).
To print the plan, you go to Paper Space (Layout). This represents your physical sheet of paper (e.g., an A0 or A1 sheet). On this sheet, you draw a ‘Viewport’ - a kind of window that looks through to your Model Space.
The Viewport Scale (ZOOM XP)
The Viewport itself needs a scale to determine how ‘far’ to zoom in on your model. This scale value depends on two factors:
- What is the unit in which you drew in Model Space? (mm, cm, m, inch)
- What is the unit of your Paper Space? (usually mm in Europe, inch in the US)
- What is the final desired print scale? (e.g., 1:50)
The calculation to determine how much to zoom in relative to the paper size can be confusing. The ZOOM command is often used with the XP (Times Paper) parameter.
Use the Europlan AutoCAD Calculator
To save you this math, we have added the AutoCAD Viewport Calculator to our online toolset.
How does it work?
- Go to the AutoCAD Viewport tab in our Scale Calculator.
- Enter the desired print scale under which you want to present the document (e.g., 1:100).
- Select your Model Space units (e.g., ‘Centimeters’ if you drew 1m walls as ‘100’).
- The calculator immediately shows you the correct command (e.g.,
ZOOM 0.1XP).
Activate your viewport (by double-clicking inside the frame on your Layout tab), paste the command, and press Enter. Your plan is now perfectly positioned and exactly to scale!