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A title block and a page layout

 In this post, I explain how to create a title block and an example page layout as a template, so you can use it easily for any AutoCAD draft. In AutoCAD, there are several page sizes, print margins, and templates available, but not all fit your needs or company requirements. At this point, two options show up on the horizon: create your own or modify an existing one.

Here, we are going to create our own title block and a simple layout.

Title block and page layout?

You should remember that engineering diagrams and drafts of any kind are packets of condensed information passing from one department to another or from people around the world! Therefore, order and standardization are key so that receivers of that condensed information may comprehend it thoroughly. These are the reasons for a title block and a page layout.

The title block is a box or table that contains information about the draft, such as the company name, draft number, reviewer, date, draft title, and other important details. The page layout refers to the page size (which depends on what you are drafting), the location of the title block to maximize drafting space, and other features outside the printing margin that help locate parts of the draft within the drafting space.

Our page layout

In this case, we are going to consider page size A of 8.5" by 11.00" or A4, if you are using mm. Also known as a letter-sized page. Since the page is small and the things we are going to draft are not made of very small components, zonification on the page can be discarded from the layout.

Fig. 01, Number 16 on this sample page, refers to zonification so that the reader may locate something in the drafting space and refer to it elsewhere.

Also, it is worth mentioning that the page layout is affected by the printing margin and the available printer. For any of these cases, AutoCAD offers regular, expanded, and full bleed options. 

In this case, we chose the expanded printing page option, which is common on many printers. The further development is to be based on this choice.

The title block

...or table. The shape and location will depend on the amount of information and page size, and ultimately on your own creativity and style. In some cases, the title block is placed horizontally, while in others, vertically. 

To make a decision on the design and location, let us list the information we wish to annotate. This is as follows:

  • Logo of the company or something similar
  • Type of project to which the draft belongs
  • Date
  • Department
  • Engineer's name
  • Project
  • Area of the project
  • Reviewer
  • Content of the page
  • Consecutive number
You can change the type of information if you like, according to your needs.

Some dimensions to care about

Since the prepared document is to be kept alongside other documents in a folder or book-like binding, we choose the ISO A4 (297.00 x 210.00 mm) page size, which is landscape-oriented. 

Fig. 02 ISO A4 page, landscape oriented in AutoCAD

As you can see in Fig. 02, the horizontal margins are slightly larger than the vertical ones so that the document page number and bounding box fit. For ISO A4, the available printing area is about 281.00 x 169.00 mm. This means the title block should be located inside that printing box.

It is common practice to use a small font size for the title block information. In AutoCAD, rather than assigning a font size, you specify a font height. Therefore, a font height of 0.12" (3.05 mm) and a row height of 0.38" (9.65 mm) are to be used. 

Based on the information, you should update your title block configuration and location. Since vertical printing is reduced, placing the title block as a vertical ribbon on the right side seems like a good idea.

Organizing the information

You should remember that practicality and legibility for conveying information through the title block are the main goals, and prettiness and style come next. You are advised to sketch how you envision the title block, rather than designing it directly in AutoCAD.

Fig. 03 A sketch of the title block. You may change or add new information.

Of course, the sample sketch in Fig. 03 was made without knowing whether it would fit within the 169.00 mm available. Let us then make some calculations on this matter, considering a font height of 3.05 mm and row height of 9.65 mm. However, for at least 22 rows, a length greater than 169.00 mm is required so that some items in Fig. 03 must be discarded. Removing the reviewer and the two boxes at the bottom reduces the number of rows needed to 14, for a total length of 135.1 mm.

Fig. 04 Modified sketch for the title block.

Since we do not know the width of each font, the horizontal dimension of the title block is to be defined directly on AutoCAD.

The title block in AutoCAD

First, open AutoCAD and from here create a new drawing document. Since we'll be working with mm, you'd better set this up at the beginning.

Fig. 05 Settings for drafting the title block template.

Confirm in the AutoCAD/Drawing utilities/Units box that the length units are set to mm.

Do not forget to save your document. In this case, I am going to save it as TitleBlock4BlogA4.dwg. Store the document in a location that is easy to find on your computer. The look of our page layout is as follows,

Fig. 06 Page layout sketch guide to AutoCAD

Then, as a second step, draw a square with a height of 169.00 mm and a width of 281.00 mm. This should look as in Fig. 07.

Fig. 07 Square to serve as a frame to place the title block and drafting area.

Another thing you can do is to write the text to be placed in the title block. Remember that the font height is 3.05 mm. Once this is done, you can also draw a vertical line to have the title block. In this case, this vertical line can be drawn at 30 mm from the previous border, as shown in Fig. 08.

Fig. 08 Text for the title block, along with a vertical line to divide from the draft area.

Let us now order the text into rows (9.65 mm each), without forgetting to leave the row space for the corresponding information.

Fig. 09. In this step, the title block text has been ordered, and smaller boxes have been set to ease reading.

Notice that individual rows are indistinguishable in Fig. 09, but the important thing here is to have reasonable proportions for future filling out with the corresponding information. For example, the author's box is larger than the date box to accommodate two authors' last names. From here, you can add other features to the title block, but note that the price to pay is a reduced draft area.

Automated fill out

One interesting feature of AutoCAD is that it lets you populate the title block with information from your document properties. Also, in the properties box of your DWG document, you can add user-defined fields to link later to the title block.

Let us first give some completeness to the document, then go to AutoCAD/Drawing Utilities/Drawing Properties and take a look at the pop-out box. Fill the boxes with the information you have.

Fig. 10 Document properties box.

In this case, we are going to take Title as the Project name, Subject as the Content of the draft area, and add a new property called Area to link the draft to a specific category (Mechanics in this case). Click Ok and let us proceed to link this data into the title block.

Add self-populating fields in the corresponding boxes of the title block by typing the command FIELD. This will open a small window, as in Fig. 11.

Fig. 11. Field box to capture relevant data to be automatically passed into the title block.

You will have to take every field-data one at a time. Search for the field, select it, and click Ok. Then, place it in the title block. The result looks as in Fig. 12.

Fig. 12 Final look of the title block before deploying to layout.

You have already noticed that the consecutive number was not set to self-populate because a single DWG file can store more than one draft. In other words, the number field is to be filled in manually in a subsequent step.

Creating the title block template

The pseudo-title block in Fig. 12 cannot yet be used as a template. For this purpose, a special DWG file needs to be created: a DWT file. First, go to one of the layout tabs. In Fig. 12, you will see a blank page with the printing area marked by dashed lines and a centered rectangle showing the already prepared pseudo-title block.

Right-click the tab, then click Page Setup Manager. Next, choose Modify, then navigate to the pop-up window under Paper Size and select our ISO A4 paper (remember to choose the landscape orientation). Click Ok and then Close, to return to the layout tab. 

You will need to delete the printing area rectangle. Just click the rectangle border to highlight it, then hit delete. You will get something as in Fig. 13.

Fig. 13 White page ready to receive the title block.

Next, go to the model tab and select the whole drawing you just made, hit Ctrl+C to copy it, and go to the layout tab. Hit Ctrl+V to paste the drawing and center it inside the printing area, as shown in Fig. 14.

Fig. 14 Page with the created title block. Notice that the fields to be self-populated are highlighted in gray.

Next, you need to bring the printing draft area to life in the page layout. In other words, you need to set a rectangle (as the one you delete) to bring any draft from the Model tab. Go to the top ribbon menu, then under Layout/Layout Viewports, click Rectangular. Draw the rectangle so that it fits inside the draft printing area of the title block.

Once this is done, go to the Model tab and delete the title block (yes, erase it). Next, save as a template by selecting AutoCAD > Save As > Drawing Template. Save it in a location you can easily find, since the template will be used frequently.

Using the title block template

You can use the template by calling it from a layout tab in a different DWG file. In my case, I had a drawing of a Rushton impeller, and all I had to do was right-click on the layout tab and select From Template. Once there, navigate your directory to your template, select it, and that is all. A new layout tab with the corresponding information for your file will be created.

From the new layout tab, inside the already existing viewport, center the draft you want to print. I print out my impeller, and the result is shown in Fig. 15.

Fig. 15 A picture of the PDF file output from another DWG file using the created title block DWT file. Notice that the self-populating fields have wrong information, but that is because I did not want to modify the DWG file properties.

If you hate to read, I have prepared a video to explain all the stuff in this post:



Also, you can use the DWG and DWT files if you like by downloading them.

TitleBlock4BlogA4.DWG

TitleBlock4BlogA4.DWT

This is the end of the post. I hope you find it useful.

Any questions? Write in the comments, and I shall try to help.

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