I'm a new StarDraw Lighting user. I have converted some AutoCad floorplans to AutoCad 2004, and can open them in StarDraw. The problem is that no matter what I select at the "units" prompt, the drawing is really really small in my workspace. I can zoom and work on the drawing, but then in the print setup, it only occupies a small corner of a D size drawing. How can I open .dwgs at the proper scale? Thanks in advance for any help.

Stardraw's default print setting is "Fit to Page" - this means that it will size the printout so that all the objects in the drawing will fit onto a single page.

It is therefore very likely that there is an object or collection of objects in the opposite corner of the drawing to the objects that make up what you assume is the full drawing.  It is common to find symbols (or 'blocks' in AutoCAD terminology) offset by a significant distance from the main contents of the 'modelspace'.

The quick and dirty fix would be to open the drawing, drag a selection rectangle around the corner opposite to the main drawing and delete whatever is selected (you should see selection handles when the offending objects have been selected).  The objects may not be visible, even at very close zoom, because of color or their nature - it might be a single 'point'.

Alternatively you could copy the objects you do want, i.e. the main drawing, and paste them into a new drawing.

I hope this is helpful.

Kind regards,
Rob Robinson
Stardraw.com

Thanks, Rob. I found the little culprit exactly where you said it would be. Mission accomplished. Now, with a full-size drawing to work with, is there a shortcut to scaling Stardraw's title blocks around the drawing properly and then grouping the two elements?

Tips for using title blocks can be seen at http://www.stardraw.com/forums/Topic4566-5-1.aspx

I wouldn't recommend grouping the title block to the drawing as this will create a single uneditable group, but if it's something you really need to do simply select everything (Ctrl+A) and hit the Group button in the Snap toolbar.

Kind regards,
Rob Robinson
Stardraw.com

Thanks, Rob. Everything's working out well. Final question re: title blocks. I can't seem to edit the field on the title block where the company (ours) information (company, street, city, etc.) Does this refer to an external source or should I just insert text over it?

Is there a way for me to insert our logo (JPEG, bitmap, or EPS) in this area?



Thanks in advance.

You can edit the original Title Block by doubleclicking on it in the Library List.  If you do this it is generally a good idea to save the edited version with a new filename under your 'My Symbols' folder (check the location of this folder by selecting Options | Library Directories - it is shown under My Libraries.  Note that the folder and file structure is exactly what is displayed in the Library List under My Libraries).

To insert logos etc, see the FAQ How do I include a logo, image or other file in a Stardraw Document?

Kind regards,
Rob Robinson
Stardraw.com