Issue:
Users reported that when inserting an object into an AutoCAD drawing, the object is inserted at the wrong scale or displays at the wrong scale when measured. This may occur with any object, including:
- Geometry
- Block
- Xrefs
- Vehicle Tracking object
- Raster image
Causes:
- The drawing might be set up in different units than expected.
- The geometry was originally drawn at the wrong scale.
- One of the system variables for scaling inserted objects may need to be changed to get desired results.
Solution:
Check the drawing unit
- Check that the drawing units for the receiving drawing are correct. Type -DWGUNITS and follow the prompts.
Check the dimensions
- Check the dimensions on the original file using the DIST command for consistency with the dimensions.
Check INSUNITS, INSUNITSDEFSOURCE, and INSUNITSDEFTARGE
- There are three system variables (INSUNITS, INSUNITSDEFSOURCE, and INSUNITSDEFTARGET) that control the insertion scale for blocks, xrefs, and raster images.
- Inserted objects should be automatically scaled to the units of the host file.
- Files that are created with different units will be converted according to the insertion scale. For example, a file drawn in millimeters will be automatically scaled to meters when inserted into a drawing that is set up for meters.
- Check that the insertion scale is set correctly by typing INSUNITS. If the units are not specified correctly in all involved files, automatic scaling will not work as anticipated.
Check the annotative Object
- If the block scaling has been corrected, but annotative objects inside the block like Mtext or Dimensions scale incorrectly, see Annotative multileader in block inserts at incorrect scale in AutoCAD.
Scale the object by reference
- If already inserted, and a dimension is known, the imported objects can be rescaled (see To Scale an Object by Reference).
Deactivate automatic scaling of inserted objects:
-
Enter INSUNITS on the command line.
-
Change the value to 0 (zero).
-
Repeat this for INSUNITSDEFSOURCE and INSUNITSDEFTARGET.
Detailed information about these variables and their possible values can be found in the AutoCAD Help.
Note: The INSUNITSDEFSOURCE and INSUNITSDEFTARGET set the source file units value only when INSUNITS is set to zero.
Following a new import, try the following to confirm the correct scale:
- Zoom so you can see an object with a known dimension. Draw a new dimension object. Compare the two dimensions.
- Scale the Entire Drawing by the desired dimension divided by the measured dimension.