ISO Command

[jmerchant]

Does AutoCAD have an iso command or am I thinking of a customized LISP that does this? I'm just trying to iso some North symbols and Misc. stuff.

If it's a LISP, does anyone have it to share?

[jaberwok]

First question - no, vanilla auticad does not have an "iso" command.

Googling (?) "iso.lsp" produces a couple of results but neither looks much like what you're looking for.

[oliveoil182411]

Does AutoCAD have an iso command or am I thinking of a customized LISP that does this? I'm just trying to iso some North symbols and Misc. stuff.

If it's a LISP, does anyone have it to share?

This depends on what you are wanting to accomplish. If you are creating these symbols from scratch, the answer is yes. However, the command is not called ISO. Go to: Tools/Drafting Settings, then in the Drafting Settings dialog box select the Snap and Grid tab. In that tab, select the Isometric Snap radio button (see attached). After this, you should be able to toggle through the 3 isoplanes by using the F5 key.

If you are taking existing symbols, this can be done a couple different ways. One of which is having your symbol in model space, then go to a layout tab and create a viewport and change the view of the viewport to an iso view such as SE isometric(see AC help file). If viewports aren't for you and you are somewhat 3D savvy, you could 3DROTATE or 3DALIGN until you get the symbol the way you want it to look. A similar 3D way is to copy/clip the symbol in plan(world ucs), then create and save an Iso ucs(see AC help file). When you are in the Iso ucs, simply paste the symbol into your drawing. In plan, it should look like an Iso drawing even though it is technically 3D(you could use the FLATTEN command when done, however it may give you unexpected results) .

Personally, if I had existing symbols, I would go with the viewport method. It is much less work.

[jmerchant]

I see. I use to work at a company (who must have had a LISP routine) that we could just iso any objects we wanted to. When it came time to show iso's on a sheet, we iso'd the North symbol as well in paperspace. I try to keep anything sheet related out of model space if I can. But until I find that LISP, it looks like the vport is the simplest way to get my result.

[oliveoil182411]

I see. I use to work at a company (who must have had a LISP routine) that we could just iso any objects we wanted to. When it came time to show iso's on a sheet, we iso'd the North symbol as well in paperspace. I try to keep anything sheet related out of model space if I can. But until I find that LISP, it looks like the vport is the simplest way to get my result.

You could copy/clip the symbol into paperspace(scale as necessary). You could also, if you are using AutoCad 2004 or later, go to: Express Tools/Layout Tools/Change Space, to bring the symbol into paper space(should be no scaling necessary). Use the FLATTEN command when done if you believe necessary. But like I stated before, it may have some unexpected effects.

[JeffClark]

...........just iso any objects we wanted to. ...........

Can you explain that for me?
Do you mean sort of lay it down (your model), to like the 30 degree thing that Isometric resembels?
Would it actuclly rotate your model or just the way you are looking at it (camera angle)?

[oliveoil182411]

You could copy/clip the symbol into paperspace(scale as necessary). You could also, if you are using AutoCad 2004 or later, go to: Express Tools/Layout Tools/Change Space, to bring the symbol into paper space(should be no scaling necessary). Use the FLATTEN command when done if you believe necessary. But like I stated before, it may have some unexpected effects.

I did a little experiment, and found that it works only if while you are in the3D model ISO view and change your ucs to 'View'. Then use the FLATTEN command on the geometry. After that you can paste it into your layout. However, if your symboI is a block, the FLATTEN command will explode it. Also, any hatch seems to just go away. If your symbols aren't blocks and are devoid of hatch, this might be a good method for creating an iso symbol in paperspace. Otherwise, changing the view in the viewport will still work. Sorry, if I led you down a path with this. Anyway, good luck on finding the lisp.

[oliveoil182411]

You could copy/clip the symbol into paperspace(scale as necessary). You could also, if you are using AutoCad 2004 or later, go to: Express Tools/Layout Tools/Change Space, to bring the symbol into paper space(should be no scaling necessary). Use the FLATTEN command when done if you believe necessary. But like I stated before, it may have some unexpected effects.

Actually, if you are using AutoCad 2005 or later (not AutoCad 2004), go to: Express Tools/Layout Tools/Change Space, to bring the symbol that is in model space into paper space. There is no need to change your UCS . Simply, change the view to an iso (SE, NW, etc.), then use the Express Tool, Change Space, to bring the symbol into paperspace. Also their is no need to use the FLATTEN command. AC will automatically flatten the object, block or not. However, you still may need to scale the symbol. The prior experiment that I did was on AutoCad 2004. Sorry for the confusion.

[jaberwok]

Actually, if you are using AutoCad 2005 or later (not AutoCad 2004), go to: Express Tools/Layout Tools/Change Space, to bring the symbol that is in model space into paper space. There is no need to change your UCS . Simply, change the view to an iso (SE, NW, etc.), then use the Express Tool, Change Space, to bring the symbol into paperspace. Also their is no need to use the FLATTEN command. AC will automatically flatten the object, block or not. However, you still may need to scale the symbol. The prior experiment that I did was on AutoCad 2004. Sorry for the confusion.

That's great!
It doesn't flatten solids though.

[oliveoil182411]

That's great!
It doesn't flatten solids though.

Thanks. I try... Guess we'll just have to manually EXPLODE &FLATTEN our solids(or just leave them be, depending on preference). And if Jmerchant still wants to automate this, he or she is on their own. I'm not much of a lisp guy.