Welcome to the AutoCAD Gazette!

Off the Grid!

AutoCAD 2012 introduced a new style grid reminiscent of the old grid paper that I use to use before the days of computers.  I spent many hours calculating and plotting out coordinates on a large piece of this paper affectionately called a “Chord Sheet” in the civil/survey industry.  But I digress.

The solid lines worked well for that purpose but in AutoCAD if you have the grid on and use Polar Tracking, it sometimes is difficult to see. There is a command (SETVAR) that allows us to change the “look” of the grid.  It is called GRIDSTYLE.

GRIDSTYLE has 4 settings from 0 to 4. Before you say that 0 to 4 is 5 settings, there is no number 3 setting. Here’s what they do:

0:            Displays lined grid for 2D model space, Block Editor, 3D parallel projection, 3D perspective projection, and Sheet and Layout.

1:            Displays dotted grid for 2D model space.

2:            Displays dotted grid for Block Editor

4:            Displays dotted grid for Sheet and Layout.

These settings are saved in the Registry so they are system wide not drawing specific.

Till next time.

Bob