If you are producing professional draughting work in the UK, mastering the relationship between your drawn model and your printed output is absolutely essential. Whether you are working on architectural floor plans, structural details, or mechanical components, ensuring your text remains legible and your dimensions read accurately across various sheet sizes can often feel like a juggling act.
Understanding annotation scales, text, dimensions and viewports in BricsCAD Lite is the key to unlocking a effortless, efficient draughting workflow. When properly configured, these tools eliminate the tedious need to duplicate text or manually calculate scale factors, allowing you to focus on the precision of your design. This guide focuses on Annotation scales, text, dimensions and viewports in BricsCAD Lite as applied to UK drawings.
In this comprehensive guide, we will explore everything you need to know about scaling your annotations correctly for UK drawing standards. We will cover the mechanics of annotative elements, how to structure your layouts, and provide actionable troubleshooting tips to ensure your documentation is flawless every time.
To fully grasp how annotation scaling works, we must first revisit the foundational concepts of modern CAD draughting. The fundamental debate of model space vs paper space BricsCAD dictates how we construct and present our drawings. This model space vs paper space BricsCAD distinction underpins everything that follows.
Model space is your infinite digital canvas. Best practice dictates that you always draw your geometry here at a 1:1 scale. If a wall is 4,500 millimetres long in the real world, you draw it exactly 4,500 units long in model space. You do not scale the geometry itself; you represent reality as it is.
Paper space, on the other hand, represents your physical sheet of paper (such as an A1 or A3 sheet). Here, you set up your title blocks and create “windows”—known as viewports—that look back into your model space.
The relationship between these two environments is bridged by the BricsCAD viewport scale (often written as BricsCAD viewport scale). By assigning a specific scale to a viewport (for instance, zooming out so that 50 units in model space equal 1 unit on the paper), you define how the 1:1 geometry fits onto your printed sheet.
However, if model space geometry is displayed through a scaled viewport, any non annotative text or dimensions drawn at a fixed model space size may appear too small or too large on the plotted sheet. This historical problem was the catalyst for the development of annotative scaling.
For veterans of 2D CAD, the old method of scaling annotations involved calculating text heights manually. If you wanted a BricsCAD text height (BricsCAD text height) of 2.5mm on the final printed sheet at a 1:50 scale, you had to multiply 2.5 by 50, resulting in a model space text height of 125mm. If you then needed to show that same plan at 1:100, you had to create a separate text layer with text 250mm high. It was inefficient and prone to error.
Today, BricsCAD Lite vs AutoCAD LT scale management reveals that both platforms handle this issue beautifully using the exact same underlying DWG mechanics: the annotative scale (BricsCAD annotation scale). BricsCAD Lite allows you to define the printed size of your text (e.g., 2.5mm) and automatically scales that text in model space based on the current annotation scale you have selected. This means a single annotative text object can display correctly in multiple viewports, provided the required annotation scales are assigned to that object.
The core of modern draughting efficiency is the BricsCAD annotation scale. When you apply the annotative scale property for BricsCAD 2D entities, you are essentially telling the software: “I want this text to be 2.5 mm high on the printed page for each viewport scale that the annotative object supports.”
Annotative entities include text, MText, dimensions, multileaders, hatches, gradient fills and blocks. These entities can support multiple annotation scales.
For example, if you assign both a 1:50 and 1:100 scale to a dimension, BricsCAD calculates the necessary model space size dynamically. Automatically adjusting text height for different scales ensures that whether you view the drawing through a 1:50 viewport scale or a 1:100 viewport scale, the text remains a crisp, readable 2.5mm on the physical paper.
Before placing annotations, you must ensure your drawing’s scale list is clean and relevant to UK standards (BricsCAD scalelistedit). You do not need imperial scales (like 1/4″ = 1′) cluttering your workspace if you are working in metric units.
To tidy up your workspace:
Setting up a drawing for multiple output scales begins with a robust, metric-only scale list.
In accordance with UK draughting standards (such as BS 8888), text on technical drawings must be legible and consistent. Standard practice dictates a printed text height of 2.5mm or 3.5mm for general notes and dimensions, and 5.0mm or 7.0mm for drawing titles. This approach is sometimes called BricsCAD Lite annotative text.
To take advantage of BricsCAD Lite annotative text, you must first create a dedicated text style.
Now, whenever you place text in model space, BricsCAD looks at your current annotation scale (visible in the bottom right of the status bar). If your scale is set to 1:50, the text will appear correctly proportioned for a 1:50 viewport.
Dimensions are arguably the most critical annotations in technical drawings. If they are illegible, the drawing fails its primary purpose.
Creating annotative dimension styles follows a similar logic to text styles.
Because the style is annotative, BricsCAD assigns the current annotation scale to new dimensions and controls their plotted size through the annotative dimension style. Using BricsCAD annotative dimensions ensures consistent, standards-compliant output across multiple scales without manual recalculation.
A common debate among CAD technicians is the difference between model space and layout dimensions.
Paper space dimensions do not normally need annotative scaling, but they must be managed carefully. BricsCAD can create associative paper space dimensions when they are associated with model space entities.
For best practices for CAD documentation in BricsCAD Lite, especially when elements are shared across multiple views, placing annotative dimensions in model space is the superior workflow.
When placing dimensions, ensure you understand associative vs non-associative dimensions in BricsCAD.
Set DIMASSOC to 2 when you want new dimensions to be associative, which works flawlessly in tandem with annotative scaling.
Beyond basic text and dimensions, managing multileaders and blocks with annotative properties will vastly improve your detailing process.
Multileaders (MLEADER) are used for callouts and material tags. By creating an annotative Multileader style (via the MLEADERSTYLE command), the arrowhead, landing line, and text will all scale uniformly based on the viewport. This ensures that a material tag on a 1:20 detail looks identical in size to a material tag on a 1:100 general arrangement plan.
Symbols, such as section markers, elevation tags, and electrical symbols, can also be made annotative. When creating a block with BLOCK, use the Annotative property if the block should scale according to annotation scale. BricsCAD states that this type of block should be created when the annotation scale in model space or paper space is 1:1.
If you have a wall socket block, making it annotative ensures it remains visually discernible on a large-scale floor plan, rather than shrinking to a tiny, unreadable dot.
Once your model is drawn and annotated, it is time to present it. BricsCAD paper space viewports are windows into your model, and managing them correctly is vital (commonly called BricsCAD paper space viewports).
To create a layout:
To set a viewport scale, select the viewport boundary, open the Properties panel, and set the Annotation scale or Standard scale as required.
Let’s say you are detailing a standard UK house. You might want the overall floor plan on one side of the sheet and an enlarged detail of the staircase on the other.
Because your text and dimensions in model space were created with annotative styles, and assuming they have both 1:100 and 1:50 assigned to them, they will display at precisely the same printed height in both viewports.
One of the most common mistakes made by junior draughtspersons is accidentally zooming in or out whilst active inside a viewport, thereby ruining the carefully set scale.
To prevent this, you must make a habit of locking BricsCAD viewports to preserve scale.
To fully master the annotative environment, you need to understand the system variables that govern it. BricsCAD gives you precise control over how annotative elements behave.
CANNOSCALE sets the current annotation scale for the current space. When an annotative entity is created, the current annotation scale is applied automatically. You don’t always have to type this command; it is easily accessible via the scale dropdown in the bottom right corner of the BricsCAD status bar.
Tutorial Scenario:
What happens if you have already annotated a drawing at 1:50, but your client requests the drawing at 1:100? You need to add the 1:100 scale to all existing annotations.
This is where BricsCAD ANNOAUTOSCALE comes in (BricsCAD annoautoscale).
Actionable Tip: Use ANNOAUTOSCALE carefully. Leaving it on while rapidly switching between multiple scales can bloat your drawing with unnecessary scale representations for every single piece of text. Turn it on, change to your required scale, and then turn it off again.
Even seasoned CAD professionals encounter issues with scaling. Let’s address the most common headaches and how to resolve them.
The most frequent panic-inducing moment in draughting is setting up a beautiful layout, assigning a viewport scale, and watching all your dimensions and text vanish.
If you are wondering why text disappears in BricsCAD viewports, the answer almost always comes down to matching viewport scales with annotation visibility. If ANNOALLVISIBLE is off, an annotative object will not display in a viewport unless it supports that viewport’s annotation scale. If your text is only set up for 1:50, and you change the viewport to a 1:100 viewport scale, BricsCAD hides the text to prevent drawing clutter.
The Fix:
If you are in model space and change your scale from 1:50 to 1:100, and everything disappears, it is because BricsCAD is trying to show you only what will print at 1:100.
To override this and see all annotations regardless of their assigned scales, you use BricsCAD ANNOALLVISIBLE.
Sometimes, your dimensions may appear physically correct in size, but the measurement value is wrong (e.g., a 1000mm wall measures as 20mm). This is usually an issue with the dimension scale factor, not the annotative scale.
To maintain efficiency and accuracy, especially when conforming to UK CAD standards, you should integrate these best practices into your daily workflow:
Mastering annotation scales, text, dimensions and viewports in BricsCAD Lite is an absolute game-changer for your CAD productivity. By moving away from manual calculations and embracing the power of the annotative scale property for BricsCAD 2D entities, you ensure that your drawings remain dynamic, accurate, and effortlessly adaptable to any sheet size or output scale.
By standardising your BricsCAD text height, fully utilising BricsCAD annotative dimensions, and understanding the vital relationship between model space and paper space, you guarantee that your documentation meets the highest professional UK standards. Take the time to set up your templates, familiarise yourself with commands like CANNOSCALE and ANNOALLVISIBLE, and you will find that managing scales becomes a seamless, invisible part of your draughting process.
Question: How do I set up annotative text and dimensions for consistent UK-standard printed sizes? Short answer: Clean your metric scale list, make your text and dimension styles annotative, set their printed sizes, then place them with the correct current annotation scale.
Question: My text/dimensions disappear in some viewports—why, and how do I make them show? Short answer: If ANNOALLVISIBLE is off, annotative objects only display in viewports when they support that viewport’s annotation scale. Add the missing scale to the objects (or use ANNOAUTOSCALE carefully).
Question: Should I place dimensions in Model Space or Paper Space? Short answer: For most BricsCAD Lite workflows, use annotative, associative dimensions in Model Space; use Paper Space dimensions only when the view won’t move.
Question: My dimensions look the right size on paper, but the numeric values are wrong—what’s the fix? Short answer: Correct the dimension measurement scale; annotative size and measured value are separate settings.
Question: How do I set exact viewport scales and prevent accidental changes? Short answer: Set the viewport’s Standard Scale in Properties and lock the viewport.
