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Thread: Question on Lineweights using a CTB

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    Default Question on Lineweights using a CTB

    I typed this out yesterday, but can't find my post, so I apologize if this is a duplicate.

    How many lineweights can AutoCAD plot? And what are those line weights?

    I am only familiar with and have worked with the 24 default line weights, out of the box in any version of AutoCAD:

    0.00 mm = 0.000"
    0.05 mm = 0.002"
    0.09 mm = 0.004"
    ....
    ....
    1.58 mm = 0.062"
    2.00 mm = 0.079"
    2.11 mm = 0.083"

    My company is setting up a new CAD template and the CAD manager wants to use an example CTB she has, but it has much different lineweights.
    It has 27 different lineweights and almost none of them match the default lineweights in autoCAD.
    examples include:

    0.1143 mm = 0.0045"
    0.2388 mm = 0.0094"
    0.4775 mm = 0.0188"
    0.6680 mm = 0.0263"

    Is it possible to set AutoCAD to accept these lineweights? Or should the CTB be modified to utilize the 24 default lineweights in AutoCAD?

    Thank you

  2. #2
    Administrator Ed Jobe's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question on Lineweights using a CTB

    When you edit your ctb, you can make the lineweights anything you want. If you are using a non-metric system, I would use the defaults that come with AutoCAD imperial ctb's. Keep in mind that your eye is not going to notice the difference in how fat a line is when its width is carried out to four places. Can you see the difference in .004 and .0045? Anyway, in my AutoCAD, the ctb lists the lineweights as 4 places, but the LWEIGHT dialog shows them at 3 places. The default widths are/were based on the pen sizes from the old pen plotter days and should work well. They are set by the ctb. I'm not sure what you mean by "Is it possible to set AutoCAD to accept these lineweights?". The lineweights will be determined by whatever ctb the layout is set to when the layer lineweight is set to DEFAULT. The layer can override the ctb if you set the lineweight to something other than the default.
    C:> ED WORKING....

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    Default Re: Question on Lineweights using a CTB

    Quote Originally Posted by Ed Jobe View Post
    They are set by the ctb. I'm not sure what you mean by "Is it possible to set AutoCAD to accept these lineweights?".
    Assuming that our plotter is capable of plotting the difference between a 0.0050" and 0.0045", which will be plotted? Will the plotter plot 0.0045" from the CTB or will autocad round the to the nearest default line width? Understood, we couldn't see those differences.


    Quote Originally Posted by Ed Jobe View Post
    The lineweights will be determined by whatever ctb the layout is set to when the layer lineweight is set to DEFAULT. The layer can override the ctb if you set the lineweight to something other than the default.
    I've always been under the assumption that lineweight = DEFAULT, meant that the lineweight = 0.25mm. Which I was told was the minimum our plotter could plot anyway. If I understand what you are saying, setting the lineweight to anything other than DEFAULT will override the CTB?

    Thank you

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    Administrator Ed Jobe's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question on Lineweights using a CTB

    When you send a file to plot, the plotter doesn't talk directly to AutoCAD. A special plot file is created that uses plotter language as translated by your printer driver. So all the plotter knows is the linewidth. Its going to do its best to plot the the nearest unit specified.

    Its been a long time since I've had to think about lineweights, so I might have been a little confusing. The dwg file specifies a line's weight either by the line's property or the layer property if the line is set to ByLayer. The default setting for line weight in a ctb is "use object lineweight". If you set a specific line weight for a color, it will override what the object/layer is set to.Lineweight.png
    BTW, a lineweight of 0.00" is a special lineweight. It will show as 1 pixel in modelspace and plot to the plotter's smallest resolution.
    Last edited by Ed Jobe; 2019-02-15 at 06:56 PM.
    C:> ED WORKING....

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    Certified AUGI Addict cadtag's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question on Lineweights using a CTB

    Caveat -- run a sample of a drawing using the desired CTB at a reduced size, say 11x17, then run three generations of photocopies...

    can you tell the difference between the lineweights after the third copy comes out?

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