Layouts and viewports

A layout is a sheet of paper on which you place viewports, each showing the model at a scale you choose. Model and layouts are switched with the tabs at the bottom of the drawing (In the app: Help ▸ Show me).

Work with layout tabs

Click Model or a layout name to switch. Right-click a tab for this menu:

Item	What it does
New layout	Asks for a name and adds a layout
Copy	Copies the layout under a new name
Rename	Renames it
Delete	Deletes the layout and everything on it (a drawing keeps at least one layout)
Move left / Move right	Changes the tab order
Page setup…	Paper size, orientation, plot scale or fit, and plot area

The Model tab cannot be copied, renamed, deleted or given a page setup. The LAYOUT (LO) command offers the same actions as a dialog (New, Copy, Delete, Rename, Set, ?), and PAGESETUP opens the page setup of the layout you are on.

Add a viewport

Open a layout tab.
Enter MVIEW (MV).
Click the first corner, then the opposite corner. The viewport is fitted to the model extents.

MVIEW works on a layout tab only.

Work inside a viewport

Double-click inside a viewport, or enter MS (MSPACE), to work in model space through it. Double-click the paper outside any viewport, or enter PS (PSPACE), to return to the sheet.
Select one viewport, or enter it with MS, and the scale list in the status bar shows its scale (In the app: Help ▸ Show me). Pick a standard scale or Custom…. The Properties panel shows the same value as Scale, typed as 1:N (Properties).
VPLOCK locks the display of the active viewport, or of the selected viewports, so zoom and pan cannot change its scale. A locked viewport refuses scale changes.

Right-click the border of a viewport on the sheet for a menu with one item, Display locked, ticked when the lock is on.

Rotate or mirror a viewport

Rotating or mirroring a viewport moves its boundary and its view together. A turn by a multiple of 90 degrees keeps a rectangular viewport; any other angle turns it into a clipped viewport. A mirror moves the frame only; the view inside is not mirrored.

Note

Model space cannot be entered through a twisted (rotated) viewport in this version.

Freeze a layer in one viewport

Select a viewport on the sheet, or enter it with MS.
In the Layers panel, click the freeze button in the VP column of the layer (In the app: Help ▸ Show me). Click again to thaw.

The VPLAYER command does the same by name: Freeze, Thaw or Reset, a layer list (comma separated, * and ? wildcards), then Current, All or Select viewports.

Tip

See Layers for the other layer columns, and Plot to PDF to print a layout.