Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. 116 AutoCAD and Its Applications—Advanced There are two types of viewports used in AutoCAD. The type of viewport created depends on whether it is defi ned in model space or paper space. Model space is the space, or mode, where the model or drawing is constructed. Paper space, or layout space, is the space where a drawing is laid out to be plotted. Viewports created in model space are called model space viewports or simply model viewports, and are also known as tiled viewports. Viewports created in paper space are called layout viewports, also known as fl oating viewports. Model space is active by default when you start a new drawing. Model space view- ports are created with the VPORTS command. Model space viewport confi gurations are for display purposes only and cannot be plotted. If you plot from model space, the content of the active viewport is plotted. Model space viewports are described as tiled viewports. They are referred to as tiled because the edges of each viewport are placed side to side, as with fl oor tile, and they cannot overlap. Model space viewports are not AutoCAD objects and cannot be edited. Floating (paper space) viewports are used to lay out the views of a drawing before plotting. They are described as fl oating because they can be moved around and over- lapped. Paper space viewports are objects and can be edited. These viewports can be thought of as “windows” cut into a sheet of paper to “see into” model space. You can then display different scaled drawings (views) in these windows. For example, archi- tectural details or sections and details of complex mechanical parts may be displayed in paper space viewports at different scales. Detailed discussions of paper space view- ports are provided in AutoCAD and Its Applications—Basics. The VPORTS command can be used to create viewports in a paper space layout. The process is very similar to that used to create model space viewports, which is discussed next. You can also use the MVIEW command to create paper space viewports. Creating Viewports Creating Viewports Creating model space viewports allows you to work with multiple views of the same model. To work on a different view, simply pick with your pointing device in the viewport in which you wish to work. The picked viewport becomes active. Using viewports is a good way to construct 3D models because all views are updated as you draw. However, viewports are also useful when creating 2D drawings. The project on which you are working determines the number of viewports needed. Keep in mind that the more viewports you display on your screen, the smaller the view in each viewport. Small viewports may not be useful to you. Four different viewport confi gurations are shown in Figure 5-1. As you can see, when 16 viewports are displayed, the viewports are very small. Normally, two to four viewports are used. Quick Viewport Layout A four-view layout can be instantly displayed by picking the Multiple viewports button on the View panel in the Home tab of the ribbon. See Figure 5-2. This selection automatically creates a top, front, side, and pictorial view based on the current UCS. See Figure 5-3. This layout may be a good one to start from when working on models that require two or more views for construction purposes. The screen display can be quickly returned to a single view by picking the Single viewport button on the View panel in the Home tab of the ribbon. Keep in mind, the resulting view will be the viewport that is current, which is the one surrounded by a highlighted frame. VPORTS Ribbon Home View Multiple viewports VPORTS Ribbon Home View Single viewport