LTSCALE, PSLTSCALE, CELTSCALE and MSLTSCALE

LTSCALE has been around forever. There are now several “SCALE” issues surrounding your linetypes. We now have LTSCALE, PSLTSCALE, CELTSCALE and MSLTSCALE.

LTSCALE – LineType Scale – Controls overall linetype scaling of objects displayed.

Sets the global linetype scale factor. The linetype scale factor cannot equal zero. This system variable has the same name as a command. Use the SETVAR command to access this system variable.

The initial value of LTSCALE is 1.

Use LTSCALE to change the scale factor of linetypes for all objects in a drawing. Changing the linetype scale factor causes the drawing to be regenerated.

PSLTSCALE – Paper Space LineType Scale – Controls linetype scaling of objects displayed in paperspace viewports.

When you change PSLTSCALE or use a command such as ZOOM with PSLTSCALE set to 1, objects in viewports are not automatically regenerated with the new linetype scale. Use the REGEN or REGENALL command to update the linetype scales in each viewport.

The initial value of PSLTSCALE is 1.

MSLTSCALE – Model  Space LineType Scale – Scales linetypes displayed on the model tab by the annotation scale

For model space or a layout viewport, you can display all the annotative objects or only those that support the current annotation scale. This reduces the need to use multiple layers to manage the visibility of your annotations.

When the MSLTSCALE system variable is set to 1 (default), linetypes displayed on the model tab are scaled by the annotation scale

Note: MSLTSCALE is set to 0 when you open drawings created in AutoCAD 2007 and earlier.

The initial value of MSLTSCALE is 1 (after 2008)

CELTSCALE – Current Element LineType Scale – Sets the current object linetype scaling factor. You can force an individual elements LTSCALE with this setting.

The Global Scale Factor value controls the LTSCALE system variable, which changes the linetype scale globally for both new and existing objects.

The Current Object Scale value controls the CELTSCALE system variable, which sets the linetype scale for new objects.

The CELTSCALE value is multiplied by the LTSCALE value to get the displayed linetype scale. You can easily change linetype scales in your drawing either individually or globally.

Sets the linetype scaling for new objects relative to the LTSCALE command setting. A line created with CELTSCALE = 2 in a drawing with LTSCALE set to 0.5 would appear the same as a line created with CELTSCALE = 1 in a drawing with LTSCALE = 1.

CAD Standards Issues:

Define what you will allow or demand in these settings.  The application of differing settings to these will make you files hard to decipher when used by others.  It will also make it hard to figure out goofy looking linetypes if you let CELTSCALE be used too often.

Specifically define your LTSCALE and verify that it is always the same on every file.