How to Use Model Space and Paper Space in BricsCAD

Last updated: July 20, 2026. Verified against Octave’s official V26 documentation.

Quick answer: Model Space is where you build your 2D or 3D drawing, based on the WCS or a UCS. Paper Space is where you lay that drawing out for printing, arranging views of it onto one or more layouts like sheets of paper. You can switch between them using the Model and Layout tabs, or a few other quicker methods covered below.

Model Space

Your initial working area when a drawing session starts. It’s a single view filling the screen by default, though you can split it into multiple viewports, tiled side by side, each showing a different view of your drawing or model. You can only work in one viewport at a time, click into it to make it current, but every viewport updates simultaneously as you work. Only the current viewport can be printed. Manage model space viewports with VPORTS.

Paper Space

An additional work area representing a paper layout of your drawing. Here you arrange different views of your model much like arranging drawings on a physical sheet of paper, and you can add print-related content, keynotes, annotations, borders, title blocks, that you don’t want appearing in model space itself.

Every drawing has at least one layout, and each layout can contain one or more layout viewports, essentially windows looking into your model space content. Layout viewports can go anywhere within the layout, and each has its own scale and layer visibility. Every viewport within the same layout can be printed together. Manage paper space viewports with MVIEW.

Why Use Paper Space

Not strictly necessary to print a drawing, but it offers real advantages:

• Create multiple layouts to print the same drawing with different settings, pen widths, printer configuration, lineweights, scale, and more.
• Add print-related content that isn’t part of the model itself, keynotes, annotations, title blocks.
• Within a single layout, create multiple layout viewports to print several views of your drawing at different scales at once.

Switching Between Model Space and Paper Space

• Use the Model and Layout tabs at the bottom of the graphic window.
• While working in a layout, double-click inside a viewport to access model space through it, and double-click outside any viewport to return to paper space.
• Click the Paper/Model field in the Status Bar to toggle between them, useful when there’s nowhere to click outside a viewport.
• Run MSPACE or PSPACE directly, also available from the right-click context menu of the Paper/Model field in the Status Bar.

Using the Layout Tabs

The active tab’s name displays in bold. Navigation buttons on the left let you switch between tabs, and you can drag tabs to reorder them. The button after the last layout tab opens the Manage Layouts menu.

Right-click a layout tab for a context menu:

• New Layout: creates a new layout.
• From Template: imports a layout from another drawing.
• Delete: deletes the layout.
• Rename: renames the layout.
• Copy: inserts a copy of the layout.
• Move Right / Move Left: repositions the layout.
• Export: exports the layout to a new drawing.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I quickly jump into model space from within a paper space layout? Double-click inside a viewport. Double-click outside any viewport to go back to paper space.

What if I can’t click outside a viewport to get back to paper space? Click the Paper/Model field in the Status Bar instead, or run PSPACE directly.

Can I have more than one layout in a drawing? Yes, every drawing has at least one, and you can create as many additional layouts as you need.

How do I duplicate an existing layout rather than building a new one from scratch? Right-click its tab and choose Copy.