Drawing Format Overview

A drawing format is a series of lines, tabular notes, and symbols which form a drawing border, title block, revision block, etc. These items contain information about the drawing. Figure 1 shows an example of a drawing format.

Figure 1 An Example of a Drawing Format

Drawing Format Example

Drawing Format Components

There are two basic components that make up a drawing format: border and format block. Splitting the drawing format into these two components simplifies the manipulation of the drawing format.

Border

A drawing border specifies that size of the drawing to be used as well as the geometry placed around the edges of the drawing. Another thing a border does is determine the space available to place drawing blocks, views, and other annotations. A drawing can only contain one border.

Format Block

A format block organizes drawing information into a single unit. Examples of format blocks are the titleblock and revision block. A drawing can contain many blocks. Each format block can have multiple styles that can be used to determine how the information in the block is shown or not shown on the drawing. Format blocks can also possibly be placed in multiple locations on the drawing.

Add/Edit A Drawing Format

Here is the basic procedure to add a drawing format and edit a block.

Adding a Drawing Format

  1. Enter the Drafting application and select Insert->Sheet...
  2. Select the border type and then drawing size
  3. Press the OK button to add the new drawing format

When the drawing format has been added, some format blocks were also possibly added at the same time. These blocks are required for the format and so cannot be deleted.

Adding a Format Block

  1. Enter the Drafting application and select Insert->Format Block...
  2. Select the category the block is in
  3. Select the block to add in the list
  4. Select the style and location to use
  5. Press the OK button to add the format block to the drawing

Editing a Drawing Format's Border or Size

  1. Enter the Drafting application and select Edit->Sheet...
  2. Change the border type and/or the drawing size
  3. Press the OK button to apply the changes

Editing a Format Block's Contents

  1. Enter the Drafting application and select Edit->Format Block...
  2. Make sure the selection mode is Edit Block Text
  3. Select the block to edit in the list
  4. Press the OK button to bring up the block's edit dialog
  5. Make the desired changes in the dialog and press the OK button