Inserting Title Block Poll

[Iceberg]

I am curious to see how people insert there title blocks into there drawings.

The pro's and cons of doing it one way verses the other?

Issues or limitations that have been encountered?

The choices of discussion are:

Xref in titleblock into Paper Space

Insert title block into Paper Space (not as a block)

Insert title block into Paper Space as a block ( with attributes)

Insert title block into Paper Space as a block ( without attributes)

[Wanderer]

Insert title block into Paper Space as a block ( with attributes)

When I started here, some of my predecessors had done the insert as block, with attributes.

I switched over to using X-refs for the titleblock geometry and using an attributed block for the data (I use the same titleblocks for all of my drawing sets, but, using slightly different types of data depending on usage). Now I still x-ref the titleblocks, but, I use Fields instead (which draw from the drawing itself and the sheetset it's part of). It's much easier to set up new drawing sets that way.

[tedg]

Xreffed title block.
To add to your descriptions, we have 2 sets of attributes,

One set of attributes for the project-level information that lives in the xref title block, everything that is constant throughout the set.
And a block with attrubutes for the actual sheet layout that has sheet specific information; sheet title, sheet number, drawn by.. (etc)

:beer:

(edit)
Oh yea, Melanie reminded me... fields too if possible

[tedg]

BTW,
You can "copy and paste" an xreffed title block into a new layout as long as it's not on a locked layer or something.
I do that sometimes too, (ctrl+c) from original layout, and then (pasteorig) into new layout, xref comes in just like a block would, pathed from which it came.

[Tom Beauford]

None of the above. I use the 'Update Drawing Property Data' Express Tool to import Custom Drawing Properties, then edit the Drawing Properties as needed. All my layouts use fields referencing them. I installed DWGInfoTipSetup.msi (http://apps.exchange.autodesk.com/CIV3D/Detail/Index?id=appstore.exchange.autodesk.com%3adwginfotipfreeware%3aen) from Autodesk Exchange DwgInfoTip freeware from JTB World. Now I can see all that information from Windows Explorer without even opening AutoCAD.

[cadtag]

Title bocks are inserted as an attributed block, and information is filled in via fields - either Sheet Set at a Set level for things that are consistent within a project, or at a Sheet level for information that is specific to and varies between different sheets.

Pre SSM, We used an project specific xref attached to each layout with the linework and project specific information, and used a custom LISP & DCL command to populate the textual information that was sheet specific.

[jpaulsen]

We insert the title block as a block with attributes. The attributes (at least most of them) contain fields that are updated through the sheet set. Our title block rarely changes so we don't have a need to xref it. I will say there is merit to xreffing it if you need to change, say a client logo or some other non-attribute, information frequently.

[Wanderer]

We insert the title block as a block with attributes. The attributes (at least most of them) contain fields that are updated through the sheet set. Our title block rarely changes so we don't have a need to xref it. I will say there is merit to xreffing it if you need to change, say a client logo or some other non-attribute, information frequently.

Frequency could be one reason... volume could be another.

I've probably only changed our titleblock three times since I've been here, the first one being the change from block to x-ref, then next two times I had to update it (on our ~10,179 layouts for our living files), I was certainly glad I'd used x-refs. Our company changed logos. Yack. I had redrawn the logos in AutoCAD back then, now I just link to an image that I can switch out.

Our project files are archived as-is and never updated, but, our 'composites' of those files are always in use as 'living' documents... 39 floor plates and 28 buildings (layouts) within those same floors = 1,131 layouts, across 9 disciplines = 10,179. Whee.

[cadtag]

For Melanie's situation - large numbers of documents that have to be current -- Xref makes a world of sense. It would be a problem here -- even though we are changing laogos/brands/identities at the moment. Why one asks? because everything that has been done was done under one legal entity, and everything new will be another entity. Can't risk the old jobs suddenly being called up and plotted/submitted under the new corp name -- and even worse vice-versa.

[Wanderer]

For Melanie's situation - large numbers of documents that have to be current -- Xref makes a world of sense. It would be a problem here -- even though we are changing laogos/brands/identities at the moment. Why one asks? because everything that has been done was done under one legal entity, and everything new will be another entity. Can't risk the old jobs suddenly being called up and plotted/submitted under the new corp name -- and even worse vice-versa.

Heh, yeah, I'll bet they never remember to budget for stuff like that when they rebrand and order new stationary. ;)