2004

78 | Chapter 7 Start and Save a Drawing
Start a Drawing from Scratch
A quick way to begin a new drawing is to start from scratch, which starts a
drawing that uses settings from a default drawing template file.
You can start from scratch from the Create New Drawing dialog box, from the
Select Template dialog box, or without using a dialog box at all. In each case,
you use either the
NEW command or the QNEW command.
Use the Create New Drawing Dialog Box
The Create New Drawing dialog box is displayed under the following
conditions:
■ You set the STARTUP system variable to 1 (on).
■ You set the FILEDIA system variable to 1 (on).
■ You click New on the File menu or Qnew on the Standard toolbar when
no drawing template file is specified in the Options dialog box.
The Create New Drawing dialog box provides several methods for starting a
new drawing.
When you use Start from Scratch, you can specify either imperial or metric
units for the new drawing. The setting you select determines default values
used for many system variables controlling text, dimensions, grid, snap, and
the default linetype and hatch pattern file.
■ Imperial. Creates a new drawing based on the imperial measurement
system. The drawing uses internal default values, and the default drawing
boundary, called the drawing limits, is 12 × 9 inches.
■ Metric. Creates a new drawing based on the metric measurement system.
The drawing uses internal default values, and the default drawing bound-
ary is 429 × 297 millimeters.
Use the Select Template Dialog Box
The Select Template dialog box is displayed under the following conditions:
■ You set the STARTUP system variable to 0 (off).
■ You set the FILEDIA system variable to 1 (on).
■ You click New on the File menu or, by default, Qnew on the Standard
toobar.
At the bottom-right corner of the Select Template dialog box, there is an
Open button with an arrow button next to it. If you click the arrow button,
you can choose between two internal default drawing templates, metric or
imperial.