Datasheet
24 Chapter 1: Getting Familiar with AutoCAD
In step 3, your entire drawing disappeared when you deleted the outer rectangle.
This is because that rectangle is really a viewport into the drawing you created in model
space. When you are in a layout view, a viewport acts like a window into your drawing.
By default, AutoCAD creates a single viewport to show your drawing, but you can have
multiple viewports of various sizes, each displaying different parts of your drawing.
When you deleted that viewport, you essentially closed your view into your drawing in
the model space, so your rectangle and circle disappeared from view. They didn’t really
go anywhere—it’s just that your view of them was deleted.
You might have also noticed that a layout displays a white area over a gray back-
ground. This white area represents the area of the paper onto which your drawing will
be printed.
The white area also shows a dashed line close to its edge. This dashed line represents
the printable area of your paper. The current default printer connected to your computer
determines both the paper area and the dashed line.
If you have a printer that accepts paper of different sizes, you can select a different
sheet size, and the new sheet size will be reflected in the white area shown in the layout.
You’ll learn how to control sheet sizes and layouts in Chapter 12.
As you might guess, you use the layout to lay out your drawing for printing. You
can print from the model space if you want, but you have much more control over your
printer output from a layout.
TURNING OFF THE LAYOUT TABS
AutoCAD can be set up to hide the model and layout tabs at the bottom of the drawing area.
To hide the tabs, right-click any tab, and select Hide Layout and Model Tabs. With the tabs
hidden, you can still switch from model space to a layout by clicking the Model or Layout1
tools that appear in the status bar.
Model Layout1
If you have multiple layouts, you can use the Quick View Layouts tool just to the right of
the Layout1 tool in the status bar to switch between layouts.
Quick View Layouts tool
To turn the tabs back on, right-click the Model or Layout1 tool, and then select Display
Layout and Model Tabs. The tabs will appear below the drawing area.
For more on the Quick View Layouts tool, see “Switching Between Layouts” in Chapter 12.
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