PREVIEW (Command)

Displays the drawing as it will be plotted.

Find

The preview is based on the current plot configuration, as defined by the settings in the Page Setup or Plot dialog box. It shows exactly how the drawing will look when plotted, including lineweights, fill patterns, and other plot style options.

The cursor changes to a magnifying glass with plus (+) and minus (-) signs. Dragging the cursor toward the top of the screen while holding down the pick button enlarges the preview image. Dragging toward the bottom of the screen reduces the preview image.

3D Graphics System Configuration Settings

Two settings for your graphics system configuration will affect the preview. To access these settings, enter 3dconfig, and click Manual Tune to display the Manual Performance Tuning dialog box. For more information, see Performance Tuning.

Note: 3D graphics system configuration is not available in AutoCAD LT.

• Texture Compression. When Texture Compression is turned on, there is a reduction in the quality of the images in the drawing when they are previewed. Texture Compression does not affect viewports that are rendered. To identify whether Texture Compression is turned on, look at the Hardware Effects List in the Manual Performance Tuning dialog box.
• Hardware Acceleration. When hardware acceleration is turned on or off, but does not support shadows, it is possible to preview a drawing that contains shaded viewports with unsupported hardware effects by the graphics card through software emulation. To enable the software emulation of hardware effects that are not supported by your graphics card, in the Manual Performance Tuning dialog box, click Emulate unsupported hardware effects in software when plotting. The unsupported effects will not appear in the viewport in real-time, but will appear when previewing the drawing.

Preview Window Toolbar

Provides options in the Preview window.

Plot

Plots the drawing as it is displayed in the full-sheet preview, and then exits Plot Preview.

Pan

Displays the pan cursor, a hand cursor that you can use to pan the preview image. Hold down the pick button and drag the cursor in any direction. The pan cursor stays active until you click another button.

Zoom

Displays the zoom cursor, a magnifying-glass cursor that you can use to enlarge or reduce the preview image. To enlarge the image, hold down the pick button and drag the cursor toward the top of the screen. To reduce the image, hold down the pick button and drag the cursor toward the bottom of the screen.

Zoom Window

Zooms to display a specified window. Zoom Window works with both the zoom cursor and the pan cursor.

Zoom Original

Restores the initial full-sheet preview. Zoom Original works with both the zoom cursor and the pan cursor.

Close Preview Window

Closes the Preview window.