In this lesson I’ll show you how you can display the basic features of linked CAD files. To that end, I have already opened a suitable example, so I can immediately draw your attention to the part that comes from the linked CAD drawing. So in the Insert section I will look for the Manage Links function and immediately go to the segment reserved for CAD files. Now it can be clearly seen that within this project there is also data that originates from AutoCAD, so I have no choice but to return to the previous view by selecting the OK button.

Since I know that the elements representing dimension lines come from AutoCAD, it won’t be difficult for me to select the entire drawing with one click and automatically display its features. These data are located on the Properties palette, and already at first glance it can be concluded that the selected element belongs to the inserted object (Import Symbol). In addition, I have information available that it belongs to the ground level (Base Level 00-Ground) and that it is not even a millimeter separated from it (Base Offset 0.0). Right below this parameter, there is data indicating the scale factor (Instance Scale), and since its value is equal to one, it means that the inserted drawing was created in the same measurement system. Then follows the exact name of the linked file (Identity Data) as well as information on the possible use of shared coordinates (Shared Site).

If there are several related files on a project, you can display their characteristics by clicking on the field at the top of the panel. This is not the case with me, so only one item will appear on the screen, namely the name of the connected AutoCAD drawing.

Now that I’ve displayed all the properties of the linked drawing in this way, I can press the Esc key and return to normal work mode.