Lock Those Viewports

Have you ever had a layout set up perfectly, only to have the scale and orientation of the viewport destroyed by someone (maybe even you) using a pan or zoom command while the viewport is active? I know, it’s not the end of the world, but it is very annoying, and it can be prevented. The secret here is a new option that came along in AutoCAD 2000 that allows you to lock your viewports. When a viewport is locked you are still allowed to pan and zoom. But if you pan or zoom while the viewport is acitive, or while you are working in the model space viewport, then the pan or zoom actually takes place in paper space.

Now let’s look at the process. As with most things in AutoCAD there are several ways to lock a viewport. I won’t try to list all of them here but I will show you three of the most common.

Right-Click
1. Select the Viewport
2. Right-click
3. Select Display Locked >> Yes
Use the Properties Command
1. Select Modify >> Properties to open the Properties window
2. Select the Viewport
3. Change the Display Locked property of the viewport to Yes

Note: You can also set the scale of the viewport in the Properties window

Use the Command Line
1. Type MVIEW or -VPORTS at the command line
2. Then type L for the option Locked
3. Next type ON to turn locking on
4. Finally you will be prompted to select the viewport you wish to lock

You can unlock the viewport if you need to by using the same procedure and just setting the lock option to No. The hardest part seems to be just getting in the habit of remembering to use the lock option. Other than that it is an easy thing to do and it can be a big time saver.

Author

Rick Ellis, president of CADapult Software Solutions, Inc, has worked with and taught Autodesk Civil 3D, along with Map 3D and other Autodesk products since the mid-90s. He is the Author of several critically acclaimed books on Autodesk Civil 3D, AutoCAD Map 3D, Land Desktop and Carlson Software; including the Practical Guide series.

Rick continues to use Autodesk Civil 3D on projects in a production environment, in addition to teaching classes to organizations both large and small around the country, helping them get the most out of their design software investment.

This practical background and approach has made him an award winning speaker at Autodesk University and a sought after instructor by organizations around the world.