Let’s say that you add some text in your drawing, but then decide that the text should really be in a Notes box in your title block.
Or, you add some text in your title block and then think, “No, it should be part of the drawing.”
You can move objects from model space to paper space and vice versa, with the CHSPACE command. It’s quite simple:
- Click a layout. You need to be on a layout tab to use the command.
- Make sure that you’re in the space you need to be in to select the object you want to move.
- If you want to move an object from paper space to model space, you need to be in paper space to select that object. If you aren’t in paper space, double-click outside the viewport to enter paper space.
- If you want to move an object from model space to paper space, you need to be in model space to select that object. If you aren’t in model space, double-click inside the viewport to enter model space.
- Go to Home tab > Modify panel (expanded)> Change Space to start the CHSPACE command.
- At the prompt, select one or more objects to move.
- Press Enter to end selection and the command. AutoCAD moves the selected objects to the other space.
Tip: You can select the objects before starting the command. Then the command moves them without further input from you. It’s very quick.
On the command line, you’ll see to messages like these:
1 object(s) changed from PAPER space to MODEL space.
Objects were scaled by a factor of 1.31642071267405 to maintain visual appearance.
The command scales your objects! According to the Help listing for CHSPACE, the command scales the objects “appropriately.” I haven’t figured out exactly what this means and how the scale factor is calculated. If you know, please leave a comment!
Do you use this command? Why? I’m especially curious about why people might use it for objects other than text.
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I have used it to convert entire details to a 1:1 scale or other scales from 1:1 in paper space. 1 quick tip, if the object you are moving from paper space is annotative, make sure that it has the annotation scale that you are sending it to in model space, else it disappears.
I use it all the time when I’m doing legends on my titleblocks…especially finish plans that are hatched. I’ll copy the hatch I need in model space and then bring it to paperspace with chspace. Now there is no guessing what the hatch scale is to match the model space hatch. Also great for symbols you need to copy from model space for your legends.
We have a (lunatic?) customer who insists that the drawing sheet always be at its actual size in modelspace, regardless of the size of the model, so he can always plot at 1:1. (Why he cannot print to fit, and let the printer work out the scale is anyone’s guess.) If we follow his rules we cannot add to a model by pasting part of another model into it, without juggling the scales to match, so we do what the rest of the world does and draw everything at 1:1, and adjust the scales to his silly system before we send the drawings off. chspace would be perfect for this if i could only get it to work…
I HAVE AUTOCAD 2013 AND WHEN I TYPE CHSPACE INTO THE COMMAND LINE IT SHOWS AS IF IT DOESN’T RECOGNIZE THE COMMAND….. IS THIS A 2013 ISSUE? I JUST SWITCHED AND NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH CHSPACE IN PREVIOIUS VERSIONS……….
I have downloaded Autocad LT trial version, and when I move a line, it selects other parts of the drawing as well and pulls it across the screen and messes up the whole drawing. This also happens when stretching objects . I don’t want to purchase the product and the same thing happens, what could the problem be?
Candice,
Are you trying to move objects between model and paper space? Or just move a line within your model space drawing? Or on you on a layout tab?
Ellen, I just used this command as a “quick and dirty” way to fix a drawing where there was messy combination of paper space and model space entities in a layout that needed to be copied to another file. Instead of having to export both model and paper space entities to the other DWG file, I made sure everything was in the layout’s paper space. Then I simply copied the layout from one drawing to the next.