How to Set Linetype and Dimension Scales

in AutoCAD 2014
By Bill Fane and David Byrnes from AutoCAD 2014 For Dummies

Even if youve engraved the drawing scale factor on your desk and written it on your hand,
AutoCAD 2014 doesnt know the drawing scale until you enter it. Keeping AutoCAD in the
dark is fine as long as youre just drawing continuous lines and curves representing real-
world geometry because you draw these objects at their real-world size, without worrying
about plot scale.

However, as soon as you start using noncontinuous dash-dot linetypes (line patterns that
contain gaps in them), you need to tell AutoCAD how to scale the gaps in the linetypes based
on the plot scale. If you forget this, the dash-dot linetype patterns can look waaaay too big or
too small.

The scale factor that controls dash-dot linetypes is found in a system variable called LTScale
(as in, LineType Scale). You can change this setting at any time, but its best to set it
correctly when youre setting up the drawing.

The following steps include directions for typing system variable and command names. To
set the linetype scale at the keyboard, follow these steps:

1. Type LTSCALE (or LTS) and press Enter.

AutoCAD responds with a prompt, asking you for the scale factor. The value at the
end of the prompt is the current linetype scale setting, as shown in the following
command line example:

Enter new linetype scale factor <1.0000>:

2. Type the value you want for the linetype scale and press Enter.

The easiest choice is to set the linetype scale to the drawing scale factor. Some
people, however, find that the dashes and gaps in dash-dot linetypes get a bit too long
when they use the drawing scale factor. If youre one of those people, set LTSCALE
to one-half of the drawing scale factor.
 Alternatively, you can specify linetype scale in the Linetype Manager dialog box:
Click the Linetype drop-down list on the Properties panel of the Ribbons Home tab
and select Other. Then in the Linetype Manager dialog box, click the Show Details
button, and type your desired linetype scale in the Global Scale Factor text box.

Besides LTSCALE, there are three other similarly named system variables you can use to
control the display of dash-dot linetypes:

PSLTSCALE: Makes linetype spacing look the same in paper space viewports,
regardless of the viewport scale
CELTSCALE: Changes the effective linetype scale factor for new objects
MSLTSCALE: Visually displays dash-dot linetypes in the model tab based on the
annotative scale setting

If any of these sound useful and it is strongly encouraged that you enable PSLTSCALE
check them out in the online help index.

You should set linetype scale only when youre starting a new drawing from one of the
generic AutoCAD templates (acad.dwt or acadiso.dwt in the full version, acadlt.dwt or
acadltiso.dwt in AutoCAD LT) and youre not using the default linetype scale. Dont change
LTSCALE in existing drawings without knowing why youre doing it and what values to set
them to, in case someone before you set those values for good reasons.

AutoCAD Line Type Scales, The Secret

Truth.
May 2010 by Paul Munford 21 Comments

The best thing about AutoCAD is that the programmers

never throw anything away. The worst thing about
AutoCAD is that the programmers never throw anything
away!
There are now four AutoCAD variables that govern your line type scale. It can seem a little
confusing, so hang on tight while we take a run through them

Suggested values:

LTSCALE = 1.0

CELTSCALE = 1.0

PSLTSCALE = 1

MSLTSCALE = 1
To change a variables value, simply type it in at the command line and enter a new value
when prompted. These values are saved in the drawing, so its worth getting them right in
your template file.

Why should I use these values?

Why have I suggested these settings? Let me run through each one in a little more detail.

LTSCALE

This variable sets the Line Type Scale factor globally.

Use LTSCALE to change the scale factor of all linetypes for all geometry in a drawing.
Changing the linetype scale factor causes a REGEN so you can see the result of your
changes straight away.

If you only draw and plot from Model space, you can use LTSCALE to scale all your line
types to suit your plot scale. If you use Paper space layouts, just leave this set at 1.0.

CELTSCALE

Sets the Current Entity Line Type Scale i.e. whatever you are about to draw next!

The CELTSCALE is relative to LTSCALE. By setting CELTSCALE to 0.5 the next line
you draw will have a linetype scale factor which is half that of the lines drawn previously.

You can use this feature to vary the linetype scale of your lines as you draw them. You can
also change the line type scale of some geometry after youve drawn it by selecting the
geometry and looking for LTSCALE in the properties palette.

Dont forget to set the CELTSCALE back to match LTSCALE when youre finished.

PSLTSCALE
This variable controls the linetype scaling of geometry displayed in paper space viewports
Paper Space Line Type Scale.

This variable only has two settings. Setting PSLTSCALE to 0 (Off) will mean that the
linetype scale factor of your modelspace geometry will not be effected by the scale of your
viewport.

Setting PSLTSCALE to 1 (On) means that the line type scale of your modelspace
geometry will be scaled to match the viewport scale.

If you use paper space layouts, turning paper space line type scaling on ensures that all your
geometry will have the correct line type scale, no mater what the viewport scale is.

LTSCALE and CELTSCALE Still effect the Line type scale of your geometry. You
might need to use the REGEN or REGENALL command to see the result of any changes
in your viewports.
MSLTSCALE

This is a reasonably new (Since 2007), but extremely useful variable. Like Paper space line
type scaling, Model Space Line Type Scaling only has two options. Setting MSLTSCALE
to 0 (Off) is the default setting and will behave as Autocad always has.

Setting MSLTSCALE To 1 (On) will cause the Line type scale of any geometry in model
space to be scaled by the Annotation scale. This allows you to have a preview of how the line
type scale might look when seen through a scaled viewport.

MSLTSCALE Overrides LTSCALE and CELTSCALE in Modelspace, but it doesnt

effect Paperspace, so it wont change how your geometry looks inside your viewports.

Using MSLTSCALE is a really good way of checking that your linetypes are going to look
as you expect them to, without having to Flick back and forth between Paperspace and
Modelspace.

Do you know how to which Linetype definitions you should use to meet the ISO Technical
drawing standard? Read these posts on defining ISO linetype definitions to find out more.

20

7
13

Filed Under: AutoCAD Tutorials Tagged With: AutoCAD Productivity, Line Type
Definitions
Comments

1. yogendera says

January 2016 at 12:15 pm

hello

i have autocad 2015 student version and my line settings are @ by default that means
when i enter co-ordinates for the next point i takes previous point as the base point
instead of the (0,0) can you help me out. please

Reply

o Paul Munford says

January 2016 at 9:04 pm

Hi Yogendera,
 Is this article helpful?
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/learn-
explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2016/ENU/AutoCAD-Core/files/GUID-
1CAE0A1F-EE69-4EAF-AD67-7745D45C0CF7-htm.html

Paul

Reply

2. rhoda says

January 2016 at 9:06 pm

This was a good article, I never knew about MS & PSltscale before. But Im still
having an issue which I cannot find an answer to at all. Ive set ALL ltscales to 1, and
my Hidden lines show correctly in paper space, but not in model space (it is still
showing continuously). I even tried copying everything into a new drawing.
Thanks in advance.

Reply

o Paul Munford says

January 2016 at 9:26 pm

Hi Rhoda,

Most likely you used the wrong template for your drawing. Check out theses
posts by Edwing Prakoso at CAD-Notes.com

http://www.cad-notes.com/what-will-went-wrong-if-i-use-imperial-template-
for-my-metric-drawing/

http://www.cad-notes.com/fix-autocad-drawing-unit/

Let me know if that helps!

Paul

Reply
3. marco says

August 2015 at 4:33 am

Hi,

Nice article. Never knew there were so many choices in editing line scale. I do have
one question/issue. After setting all values to 1, I drew a center line as a test and
found that when drawn in short lengths, I found that the breaks werent visible. After
stretching the line out I could see the breaks. would this be a case where you would
set the CELTSCALE to a different value? What would be a good value to use without
the center line from looking to small?
Than k you.

Reply

o Paul Munford says

August 2015 at 7:16 am

Hi Marco,

How long is the line? If it is very small you may not see the dashes. Try
drawing a line 100mm long to test the linetype scale.

You could also try using the model space scale to preview what the line type
scale will look like when you plot it, or create a viewport in paper space and
set that to different plot scales.

Finally, dont forget to refresh your view to regenerate the drawing each
time type RE at the command line and press the SPACEBAR to complet the
command.

Does that help?

Paul

Reply
4. Steve says

July 2015 at 1:51 pm

Great article, MSLTSCALE has solved all of my problems. Cant believe Ive put up
with linetype errors in my viewports for sooooo long now.

Cheers man!

Reply

o Paul Munford says

July 2015 at 2:59 pm

Hooray! Go Steve!

Reply

5. Lucy says

March 2015 at 9:24 am

Hi,

I was just wondering how you change the scale of a single line? Every time I go to
change it all the others change too!

Reply

o Paul Munford says

 April 2015 at 9:01 am

Hi Lucy,

Thanks for your comment. If you open the properties palette:

View tab > Palettes Panel > Properties.

Type properties at the command line.
Or right click on any object and choose properties.

Then select your line, you will see a property of Line type scale. You can
change this single entities LTscale property here.

Here are some more properties palette tips:

http://cadsetterout.com/autocad-tutorials/how-increase-your-productivity-
autocad-properties-palette/

Thanks for your comment!

Paul

Reply

6. Letitia says

November 2012 at 7:47 pm

Hello Paul,

I am using AutoCAD LT 2012. My LTScale, PSLTScale, MSLTScale, & Celtscale

are all set to 1. My hidden lines show up properly in model space & in paper space.
However, when I plot, they show up as continuous lines. I dont know how to fix this.
I cannot find anywhere online that talks about this issue either. Please help! Thank
you!

Letitia

Reply

o Paul Munford says

November 2012 at 8:12 pm

Hi Letitia,

I would start by looking at the STB/CTB file that you are using. This can
override the Line types that you are plotting.

Also, Check and see whether the same problem happens when you plot to
PDF/DWF this will illuminate the plot driver as a culprit.

I always suggest that you post in the Autodesk forums, there are a lot of
knowledgeable folk there who could help you out. If you do post me a link
so that I can Join in :)

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Printing-and-Plotting/bd-p/30

Paul

Reply

Letitia says

November 2012 at 9:03 pm

Thank you! That was it! I had accidentally set them all to solid when I
created the ctb file. Thank you so much. This has been driving me
crazy! LOL
Letitia

Reply

Paul Munford says

November 2012 at 12:39 pm

Hurrah! Well done you :D

Reply
7. jeff says

October 2012 at 5:52 pm

Cheryl & Paul,

I have been working in AutoCAD since version 12 (1995-ish), and have run across
this very issue for years. Knowing about the MSLTSCALE, PSLTSCALE,
CELTSCALE, & LTSCALE settings (all set to 1), I still run accross a drawing from
time to time that just will not properly display the linetypes when working in model
space. I am not sure if it is just a bug, but have found the fix to be to just copy
everything out of the bugged drawing, and into a fresh template drawing. Unless
there is another setting that I am missing, I truely believe that it is just a bug which
can not fixed within a drawing. Any additional thoughts that anyone has to offer on
this subject, I would certainly be interested.

Thanks,

Jeff

Reply

o Paul Munford says

October 2012 at 8:16 pm

Hi Jeff,

Good old AutoCAD does seem to have plenty of those Undocumented

features from previous versions that just never got fixed ;)

In this case I would look very carefully at the template file that I used to create
the drawing (ACAD.dwt or ACADiso.dwt).

Edwin Prakoso has a very good explanation of why this important on his
CAD-Notes Blog:
http://cad-notes.com/2012/03/what-will-went-wrong-if-i-use-imperial-
template-for-my-metric-drawing/

Paul,
 Reply

8. Cheryl says

August 2011 at 8:42 pm

Thanks for the info. I was hoping it would fix an issue Im having with my autocad
2010 template but unfortunately it didnt. I changed all ltscale settings in my
template to 1 as suggested, but everytime I launch a drawing with the template my
linetype scales changes to 2. Even when I change it to 1 in the properties
manager then save and close it reverts back to 2 when I reopen the drawing. Any
ideas on how I can fix this?

Reply

o Paul Munford says

August 2011 at 9:14 pm

Hi Cheryl,

The LTSCALE value is saved in the drawing, so if it is correct in the template,

it should be correct for every drawing that is created from that template.

The Linetype scale in the properties pallette is changing the CELTSCALE

value not the LTSCALE VALUE.

Do you have an ACAD.lsp or an ACADdoc.lsp running on your system? Do

you have any third party apps or vertical products running that might be
changing the LTSCALE variable?

Reply

9. iPinda says

December 2010 at 11:23 pm

 Great article. Didnt know about the MSLTSCALE until now. ;-)

Reply

o Paul Munford says

December 2010 at 7:13 pm

Cool! Glad I could help :-)

Reply

10. Rich says

June 2010 at 5:23 pm

Although a confusing topic, great post! I work with the McGraw Hill Sweets
Network, and we offer a great selection of cad details.

Reply

Wednesday, 25 September 2013

Memberikan Garis Putus-Putus Di AutoCAD

By Sahidin Doank
Ok, Kali ini saya akan membahas tentang Merubah jenis garis Mungkin sudah tidak asing
lagi bagi para pengguna AutoCAD, oh ea kebetulan saya menggunakan AutoCAD 2010, biar
ga kelamaan langsung aja ke TKP.

Mulanya coba agan buat gambar yang seperti pada gambar A, jika sudah :

Sebelum kita mulai kita harus tau dulu bagian-bagian Properties

a. Untuk merubah jenis warna garis

b. Untuk merubah ketebalan garis
c. Untuk merubah jenis garis seperti garis putus-putus, dan yang akan kita bahas
sekarang.

Langkah-langkah :
1. Klik pada Properties Klik Propertis Bylayer yang ke 3
2. Klik Load

3. Pilih Jenis garis yang diinginkan, Con : PHANTOM

4. Klik OK
5. Klik OK lagi

6. Klik Pada Garis

7. Klik ByLayer
8. Klik Garis yang kita pilih tadi PHANTOM
Bila ukurannya tidak sesuai yang diinginkan kita bisa merubah scala ukurannya dengan cara
dobel klik pada garis yang ingin di rubah scala garisnya.

9. Pada no 9 Klik linetipenya

10. Rubah ke scla yang di inginkan con: 0,25,
11. Jika sudah beres klik clos di ujung.

Hasilnya bisa di lihat pada gambar B.

==========================================

Semoga bermanfaat, Mohon maaf bila ada kesalahan dalam penulisan dan dalam kata-kata.

Kunjungi terus http://sahidin-doank.blogspot.com/ untuk mendapatkan Tutorial selanjutnya.

By Sahidin Doank

Jangan lupa kunjungi :

Fb : Fans Page
Blogger : http://sahidin-doank.blogspot.com/
By Sahidin Doank
No Hp : 08974797264/085323669315
Email : redmaster_21@yahoo.com

Ket :
Hanya ingin sekedar berbagi ilmu, karna semakin kita membagikan ilmu Insya Allah tidak
akan habis malah bisa makin bertambah Aamiin.