Layout tab Default Paper Size

nathan crawford

Hi,

Wondering if there is a way of setting a default paper size when creating a new layout tab.
Currently it defaults to A4 and wish to have it as A1.
I know you can create a new one from a template etc but we are running other software within the BricsCAD Platform and when plotting Longsections etc to a layout the 'black' paperspace is set to A4.
frustrating when the titleblock is A1.

Any help would be greatly appreciated and very stress relieving.

thank you.

Anthony Apostolaros

I don't know of a way to do that, but I know you can create an A1 version of a plotter configuration file, saving it as PDFCreator-A1. But I don't know of a way to set a default plotter configuration file either.

If you set PAPERUPDATE to 1 then the plotter configuration file's paper size will be used automatically. If you set it to 0, then the previous paper size will be used, but when you close Page Setup it will ask you whether you want to use the plotter configuration file's paper size.

I didn't understand why the "From Template..." option when creating a new layout doesn't work for you, but note that you can also make the page setup of an existing layout take the settings of another layout in the same file, via the "Based on" column in the Page Setups section of Drawing Explorer.

Joe Dunfee

Whenever I create a new layout, the paper is set to letter sized. So, A1 is not a hard-coded setting. But, I don't recall if it has always been Letter Sized, or that somehow I changed the default.

Normally, I don't create a new layout from scratch. Rather, I copy an existing layout. I do this so that I already have the title block, printer setup, etc. in place. Just right-click the tab and select copy. Then you will be prompted to name the new tab.

But, I often get bitten by the fact that when you make a copy, the original tab stays selected. I tend to expect the copy that I just created, to have focus, since I last edited it by assigning it a name. So, I start editing the original tab, and then later realize it was not the copy.

-Joe

Anthony Apostolaros

Joe: "Letter size" is an imperial term. I get that as default too. But I think the rest of the world writes letters on A4, which is 8.27 x 11.69 in imperial units. If I start a new file using a metric DWT file the default paper size is A4.

That suggests that it's possible to create a template file whose default paper size is A1 or ARCH D, or whatever, but I haven't found a way to do that.

nathan crawford

Thanks Joe and Anthony.

I can easily copy another layout tab with the correct settings etc and I am using a workplace .DWT which I have everything set up.
Normally i would do just that and copy the layouts when i need more but its only become a problem when using this other software sititng inside BricsCAD.
When it sends drawings, longsections etc to a layout, which is a function through the software, it creates it on an A4 paper size.
I have asked the software company and they are stumped and seem to think its something that needs to be setup through BricsCAD

Anthony Apostolaros

Perhaps you should try opening a new file using Default-imperial.dwt, and within that new file have your add-on software "send a drawing to a layout," and see whether it creates it on "Letter (8.50 x 11.00 inches)" paper, which seems to be the default paper size associated with that DWT file. If so, that means the add-on software is using an undocumented and maybe non-user-definable setting that comes into a DWG file via the DWT file. Then you could file a support request and ask whether it's possible to create a template file whose default paper size is A1.

Joe Dunfee

I would forget any further testing. The knowledge of how you can set the default paper size of a brand new tab, lays with Bricsys.

-Joe

Jason Bourhill

@nathan crawford said:
Thanks Joe and Anthony.

I can easily copy another layout tab with the correct settings etc and I am using a workplace .DWT which I have everything set up.
Normally i would do just that and copy the layouts when i need more but its only become a problem when using this other software sititng inside BricsCAD.
When it sends drawings, longsections etc to a layout, which is a function through the software, it creates it on an A4 paper size.
I have asked the software company and they are stumped and seem to think its something that needs to be setup through BricsCAD

You could try using -PSETUPIN to pull in your preferred page settings after the fact, followed by -PLOT to assign the preferred page setup to your layout. Attach some examples using a script. This could easily be modified to use LISP instead, allowing you to assign it to a Command.

The "other software" company could modify their code to allow you to specify a specific drawing + layout to use when generating.

Regards,
Jason Bourhill
CAD Concepts