Printing to scale

Because MicroStation designs can be printed at any scale, the one design can be used in a number of drawings. For example, the one design may be used in an overall plan at 1:100 and parts of it in other views or details at 1:10, 1:20, and 1:50. With manual drafting, each view or detail has to be drawn separately. With MicroStation, however, you need only draw the design once. It then can be used any number of times, referenced to other files at various scales, either in its entirety or just a portion of it, and printed.

For this reason, planning is required to produce finished drawings with borders. Take text placement, for example. If you place text elements in the design and it is scaled, then the text elements also will be scaled.

With manual drafting, you scaled your design to fit the border. MicroStation lets you use this same technique, via scaled references. Alternatively, you can scale your border to fit the design.

Using a 1:1 scale border

With manual drafting, you have a full-size drawing sheet into which you place scaled views of your design. With MicroStation you can do the same thing, except that you draw the original design at full-size and then scale it, as a reference, to fit the border.

For this method, you first create a sheet model, with the sheet layout set to full size. Into this model you reference your standard border (at full scale). Within the confines of this border you then reference the design(s) at the required scale(s). All text and dimensioning is placed in the sheet model at full size.

Scaling the border to fit the design

An alternative method to that discussed above, is to create a sheet model that is scaled to surround the required part of the design. This is done, simply, by setting the Annotation Scale to the required value when creating the sheet model. When you place text with Annotation Scale lock on, the text and dimensioning is scaled such that when it prints it is the correct size. For example, if the border is 20 times its normal size, all text also would have to be 20 times its normal size. In such a case, when the final printed output is created, you would use a scale of 1:20 to reduce the border and text back to their normal size. At the same time, the design elements will be reduced by the same ratio.

With this method, you print the sheet model at a scale that returns the border back to its normal size, at the same time scaling the design elements elements, text and dimensioning.

Using the sample borders delivered with MicroStation

When you install MicroStation with “Commonly used Workspace files” checked (the default) then a number of sample border files are delivered to the ANSI, Architectural, and ISO sub-folders of the “Workspace\Projects\Examples\Borders” folder. These provide sample border files that you can use, either as references, or placed as cells.

In each border DGN file there is a default model, in which the title block is drawn at full scale. This model then is referenced to other models for various scales, including Full Scale. The description for each model includes an example of the size required for any text, to produce standard size text in the printed output. A saved view also is provided for each scale, with the name of the saved view matching the scale represented.

A cell placed below the title block provides instructions for its use. This cell contains tags that can be used to input information into the various fields of the title block.

If the border file has been referenced to the active file, rather than placed as a cell, then you should copy the cell (containing the instructions) into the active file in order to edit the title block tags.

To attach a 1:100 AO border as a reference

To place a 1:100 AO border as a cell

To fill in the attached border's title block