Creating a custom linetype in AutoCAD is a useful skill that allows you to personalize your drawings and add a touch of uniqueness to your designs. In this tutorial, we will walk you through the step-by-step process of creating a custom linetype in AutoCAD.
Step 1: Gather the required information
Before we begin creating our custom linetype, it’s essential to gather the necessary information. You will need to know the desired pattern for your linetype as well as the length of each element in the pattern. Once you have these details, we can move on to the next step.
Step 2: Create a .lin file
To create a custom linetype, we need to define it in a .lin file. This file contains all the information about our new linetype and its pattern.
Open any text editor (such as Notepad) and create a new file with a .lin extension. Now, let’s define our linetype.
Pattern Definition:
Each line in the .lin file represents an element in our linetype pattern. The pattern definition consists of codes that specify whether each element is a line or space and its length. Here’s an example:
*custom_linetype_name, description
A,_ _ _ _ _ _, "Solid line"
B,. - .
- . -, "Dashed line"
[..]
In this example, we have defined two elements: A solid line (A) and a dashed line (B). The underscores (_) represent spaces, and the hyphens (-) represent lines or dashes. You can add more elements by extending this pattern definition.
Step 3: Load the custom linetype
Now that we have created our .lin file with the desired linetype pattern, we need to load it into AutoCAD. To do this, follow these steps:
- Open the AutoCAD drawing where you want to use the custom linetype.
- Type ‘LINETYPE’ in the command line or access it from the properties palette.
- In the Linetype Manager dialog box, click on ‘Load.’.
- Navigate to the folder where you saved your .lin file and select it.
- Click on ‘OK’ to close the Linetype Manager dialog box.
Step 4: Assign the custom linetype
With our custom linetype loaded into AutoCAD, we can now assign it to objects in our drawing. Follow these steps:
- Select the objects that you want to assign the custom linetype to.
- Type ‘PEDIT’ in the command line or access it from the Modify panel.
- In the Edit Polyline dialog box, select ‘Yes’ for ‘Close’. This ensures that closed objects are displayed correctly with our custom linetype.
- Click on ‘OK’ to close the Edit Polyline dialog box.
Note:
If you want to assign your custom linetype as a continuous linetype (without gaps), you can change its scale factor. To do this:
- Type ‘LTSCALE’ in the command line or access it from the properties palette.
- In the Linetype Scale dialog box, enter a value greater than one (e.g., 2) and click on ‘OK’.
Congratulations! You have successfully created a custom linetype in AutoCAD and assigned it to objects in your drawing. Now you can add more creativity and personalization to your designs.
Remember, custom linetypes are saved in the .lin file, so make sure to keep a backup of this file for future use. You can also share your custom linetypes with others by sharing the .
With this newfound knowledge, you can explore different linetype patterns and create unique designs that stand out. Happy CADing!