LT Unlimited

Control Reference Frame (aka Border) Visibility

When you bring an underlay into an AutoCAD -- an image, DWF, DGN, or PDF -- it comes with a frame or border around it. (Clipped references, DWG or otherwise, have frames too.) You have three choices for this frame's visibility and plotting:

• 0 -- Off. You can't see the frame, so it won't plot, but you can't select the underlay or modify it either.
• 1 -- On. The frame plots, and you can use it to select the underlay, resize it, move it, etc.
• 2 -- On, but non-plotting. The best of both worlds. You can see the frame, and use it to select and modify the underlay, but it won't plot.

Each reference/underlay type has its own frame variable.

• IMAGEFRAME (Default: 1)
• DWFFRAME (Default: 2)
• DGNFRAME (Default: 0)
• PDFFRAME (Default: 1)
• XCLIPFRAME (Default: 2)

But you can also globally control the frame visibility/plotting with the FRAME system variable. FRAME can be set to 0, 1, 2 or 3. 0, 1, and 2 correspond to the regular off/on/non-plotting states, and 3 means that the individual frame variables control instead of the global setting. (FRAME is set to 3 by default.)

Clip Referenced Files

Okay, so you can't clip externally referenced drawings in LT 2009 (although you can modify the boundary of a clipped xref), but you CAN clip every other type of referenced files, including DWF, and DGN, and images.

The commands are DWFCLIP, DGNCLIP, and IMAGECLIP, and they're all handily grouped on the Blocks & References tab of the Ribbon.

To show you how it works, I'm going to clip a pictures I took a few months ago in San Francisco (I still can't get over how steep some of those streets are.)

When you start the command, you're asked to pick the image to clip, then whether you want to turn an existing boundary on or off, delete the existing boundary (if there is one), or create a new one. I entered N for new, then P for polygonal. (It's more interesting than rectangular.) You can then pick points to create a polygonal boundary. The boundary will always be closed, similar to defining a polygonal selection window, and it can't be bigger than the image itself. When you're done, press enter, and the image will be cropped to your boundary.

Chances are you'd crop your images in a more logical and less random way, but this at least will introduce you to the possibilities.

Attach Images with LT 2009

Among the great new features in LT 2009 is the ability to use image files as external references just like you'd use a drawing. If you visit the Blocks & References tab of the Ribbon, you'll see that the References panel includes images in the attachment types, along with DWG, DWF, and DGN.

Even better, you can now detach images too, for those times when someone sends you a file with an image you just don't want, or with a broken reference to a moved or deleted image.

If you're not on LT 2009 yet, check out this post for alternative ways to get an image file into your drawing.

Images in LT

Well, it's the last day of work before a nice four-day holiday weekend, followed by a three-day week, and another four-day holiday weekend, and another three-day week...the only thing that will save the next two weeks from unproductivity is that everyone *else* will be on vacation. Occasionally it's nice to have some peace and quiet to work in. :-)

You probably already know that you can't attach an image to a drawing in LT the way you can with full. (At least, not yet -- I live in hope.) In the meantime, you have a couple of options.

First, you can cut and paste from your favorite image editor (like Paint or Photoshop). This has the advantage of actually embedding the image in the drawing file, so you don't have to worry about including it when you send the drawing to someone. Manipulating these images (actually OLE objects) can be a little tricky, though, so I tend to avoid it.

Second, you can get somebody with full to attach it for you. :-) Once it's in there, you have all the same commands available as in the full version, except detach. You can move, scale, rotate, etc. as much as you want.

Don't have a buddy or co-worker with full? It's okay -- as long as you have a drawing with an image already in it (several people have posted them to various newgroups & sites), simply modify the name and path to point to the image you want. If you want more images than are in the drawing you started with, though...either find a new template, or use one of the two methods mentioned above.

Image Frames/Borders

Images that are referenced into AutoCAD often show up with a line around their edge – one that you often don’t want to be visible when you print. The variable that controls this border is IMAGEFRAME, and it can be set to 0, 1, or 2. (In AutoCAD 2005 and below, the only options are 0 and 1.)

0: The image border not displayed or plotted
1: The image border is displayed and plotted
2: The image border is displayed, but not plotted

I like setting IMAGEFRAME to 2, because I rarely want images to have borders, but you can’t scale, move, or otherwise manipulate images if you can’t see their edges.