There are a couple of interesting threads going on about Layout in Rhino but I notice they’re all focused on expanding functionality (which I support). I think some attention should also be given to organization.
I’m a new user so some (most?) of my confusion can be laid at that door, but I think not all. Right now Layout in Rhino appears to me to be a confusing realm of overlapping functions, different control panels in different locations, numerous layers and no clear guide to where they are, how they function. There’s Display Options, Viewport Properties, Print, controls in the Layers panel and probably several others that I haven’t run into yet.
Along with expanding the functionality of Layout I’d also like to argue for a radical simplification of bureaucracy, with an eye to being able to control all aspects of a viewport from one location.
The attachment explains what I mean - the image that is about to be printed is not 1" = 1’0" as the panel says, it’s some unknown scale that is nowhere evident in the print control, the viewport is actually set at 1-1/2" = 1’0" but that was done from an entirely different location. I was able to get the background to turn white but only at the expense of changing the global characterisits of the Shaded mode. But even though the background was white I was left with a grey border and I still don’t know ‘where’ that border is - or from where it’s controled.
[quote=“arail, post:1, topic:1068”]
The attachment explains what I mean - the image that is about to be printed is not 1" = 1’0" as the panel says, it’s some unknown scale that is nowhere evident in the print control, the viewport is actually set at 1-1/2" = 1’0" but that was done from an entirely different location.[/quote]
The scale options shown in the print dialog when printing from layout space I find are a little misleading, and lead to misconceptions as your experience indicates. In general, you always want to print layout space at a scale of 1:1. This allows you to have details at different scales, and all your annotations print the size they are. The exception is when you are trying to print to a sheet size that you didn’t format for. For instance you set up your layout as 30"x42", but you want to print it at 11"x17".
At times I wonder if removing the inch equals a foot scales from the print dialog when printing from layout would help clarify this, but I am reluctant to make that recommendation because as soon as they remove it, I know I will need it. And I think that is one of the great challenges when users ask for simplification, the reason it is complex is because it gives you a lot of flexibility. It would be impossible to control everything from one location because each detail needs to have the ability to set everything about it, it’s scale, its display mode, it’s linetype and weight overrides.
When you print, if you scroll down in the option in the print window, under Visibility, if you uncheck Background Color, the layout should print white, and ignore the background color of the display mode that any detail is set to. If you want to change the color of the layout, that can be found in Rhino Options->Appearance->Colors.
