Layouts and Layout Viewports

Layout viewports are objects in paper space that display views of model space. You create, scale, and place them in paper space on a layout.

On each layout, you can create one or more layout viewports. Each layout viewport is like a closed-circuit TV monitor of a view of the model at a scale and orientation that you specify.

To create a new layout

Click the views tab, then click + New Layout.

Layout properties

Paper size: Choose among the supported standard paper sizes.

Plot style: Choose acad, Grayscale, and monochrome, or None.

Orientation: Choose portrait or landscape.

Modify layout viewports

After you create a layout viewport, you can change its size and properties, and also scale and move it as needed.

To modify the scale of a layout viewport

1. Click a layout viewport's border to select it.
2. Click the Properties tab to open the Properties panel.
3. In the Properties panel, go to Viewport Scale and choose a scale from the list of options.

Custom Scales

You cannot key in a custom scale. The only way to create a custom scale is to double-click inside a layout viewport to activate it, and then zoom within the viewport to resize the scale. However, if an uploaded drawing has a layout viewport with a custom scale as its current scale, the viewport will maintain that scale until you change it. You can also use the MATCHPROP command to match the properties of an existing layout viewport to any other layout viewports.

The only available scale options are the ones you see in the Viewport Scale drop-down. Drawings created in the AutoCAD web app have a default list of scale options. Drawings that are uploaded to the AutoCAD web app will inherit the existing scale options that are associated with each layout viewport.

To modify the properites of a layout viewport

1. Click a layout viewport's border to select it.
2. Click the Properties tab to open the Properties panel.
3. In the Properties panel, you can view and modify any of the viewport's properites, including layer, color, viewport scale, and display lock.

To move or resize a layout viewport

Click a layout viewport's border to active it, then use its grips to move or resize the viewport.

To create additional layout viewports in a layout

Use the COPY command to copy an existing layout viewport.

Locked layout viewports

To prevent accidental panning and zooming, each layout viewport has a Display Locked property that can be turned on or off. You can access this property from the Properties panel.