Default dimensions (text height, arrow size..) for external drawings

Giovanny Maccione

Hi,

I often get drawings in DWG format from customers that use different CAD applications.
When I open these drawings in Bricscad and try to add a dimension, the size of the dimension is unreadable small. (e.g. text height 0.1800)
This happens only with external drawings. When i start a new drawing from the Bricscad-templates, the text height is somewhat around 180.
Is there a way to default the text height for all drawings to 180 on opening?

Thanks and kind regards,
G. Maccione

Roy Klein Gebbinck

There is no 'ideal' solution for your problem.

But assuming you have a good template (with your company layers, textstyles, dimstyles etc.) and assuming that there are no name conflicts (for example the third party dwg does not use the textstyle 'Standard') this can work:
1. Open your default template.
2. Insert the 3rd party dwg as a block.
3. Explode that block.
4. Purge the exploded block.

Another approach can be to attach/overlay the 3rd party dwg as an xref.

John Gaunt

0.18 is the default text height for any dimstyle. It's also the default arrow size.

If they are equally small, Dimscale is probably causing it (under Fit on the menu). I set that to a multiple of 0.18 to give the dimtext size I want, leave all other dim settings as default.  

If it's only dimension text that's wrong, then the height of the text style dimensions use is probably set to 1.

I think if you change that to 0, the dimtext size overrides. Then the number you give textsize dictates the height of other text.

Text style height, dim settings and textsize are confusing, but I use that strategy to negotiate them.

Giovanny Maccione

Thanks a lot to both of you for the help!

Dimscale works fine for me.
Now when I open an external drawing, i just use dimscale 3000 in the command line and can read the text on the dimensions i take.