If you’re an AutoCAD user, you’ve been wrestling with Linetypes since day one. I think we’d all agree that Autodesk hasn’t really done much to improve how this underlying core piece of ACAD technology works for way too long. Have we given up hope of any reprieve?
To Be or Not to Be
No, I’m not ignoring that somewhat improved linetype “plan readability” got added and cleaned up in the last couple of ACAD releases. But come on - the whole Linetype method (and what we publish) still remains based on primitive Neolithic “pen” based vectors.
If your smartphone worked liked AutoCAD linetype, it would have a dialing rotator on the back. Maybe someone will mashup a rotary iPhone 6 pic for next April 1. In early April (and now in October) we all have try and laugh at the absurd – our pain avoidance is human.
Wait a minute…
Some of my readers may be millennials who’ve never seen a rotary phone except in an old movie…not so funny to them…but I believe there’s got to be an App for that that mimics a rotary phone. ‘Nuff said.
Boring, Necessary, and More
Our Production Solution products come with National CAD Standards NCS 4.0 and NCS 5.0 linetype resources. The supplied AutoCAD linetype resources also include a huge pile of other common civil engineering and survey graphic standards versions we gathered up from State DOTs and many other places. Yeah, we even supply the ACAD resource drawings so you can preview what the linetypes look like. Be prepared to Zoom and Pan. Remember you can always DWF it or PDF it.
Lean and Mean
God No! I’m not going to count the linetype resources in the new Release 5 for AutoCAD Civil 3D. To put that chore in perspective there are 1000 lines in the file. It includes a bunch of standardized linetype prototypes too. That and the built-in, in-file documentation in the .lin files allows you to customize a new, standardized linetype in no time.
The Release 5 NCS 4.0 and separate NCS 5.0 linetypes are all normalized with standardized values, ONE textstyle (font) reference, and ONE .shx file reference. If you like, the SHX nasty you can actually avoid or replace completely without much effort in your published work. Therefore, simple Search and Replace tools allow you to change a lot of linetype specific properties really fast. That’s Way Cool.
Our NCS 4.0 and NCS 5.0 linetype resources also conform to our published and open Standard Keys – our infamous and simple “NCS like” naming convention. Get them here.
It’s a built in AutoCAD Civil 3D Production Solution resource that is adaptable and flexible.
What more could you want?
All this backend detail work gets you responsive AutoCAD linetypes that cope with annotative scale changes in AutoCAD Civil 3D with less hassle and fewer plot time headaches. Yeah. You’re welcome.
No. We do not include these NCS linetype resources in our Free Download. The Free Jump is admittedly getting somewhat long-in-the-tooth at this point. Real soon now, the Free Jump will be replaced with something else more useful. Stay tuned.
Take Five a Jump Ahead
No pics for a reason…Next time: what we should do about linetype in Civil 3D.
Better Consider Linetype in AutoCAD Civil 3D | A Line of Type – A Considered Opinion