That one trick with layer properties in AutoCAD that everyone overlooks

I kept seeing guys in my shop spend 10 minutes manually changing line weights on every single viewport. Then my lead drafter showed me you can just set up your CTB file once with all your layer colors mapped to specific pen widths. It cut my setup time from 15 minutes to maybe 2 on a typical 3-sheet set. I swear half the drafters I meet never touch their plot style tables. Has anyone else found a hidden setting that saved them tons of time?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_susan19d ago

Viola, you're right that it saves time but I'd gently disagree with the "set it and forget it" part. You gotta check your CTB file now and then because printers and plotters change, paper sizes change, even the way your office manages colors can shift over time. I learned that the hard way when we switched to a new wide format printer and all my old line weights came out looking like spaghetti. Also, Derek's point about corruption is valid - I keep my CTB on a shared network drive with daily backups rather than a thumb drive though, since thumb drives can get lost or fail just as easy. The real trick is to also label your layers properly in the drawing itself, not just rely on the plot style for everything. That way if the CTB gets messed up you still have a readable drawing.

viola_ward19d ago

Just set it and forget it. That CTB file is the real time saver, right?

the_derek19d ago

Read some blog post about someone who lost their entire project file because the CTB got corrupted mid-session. They swore by backing it up on a thumb drive now. Always good to have a backup plan even with the time savers.