How Do I Separate Drawings in AutoCAD?

To separate drawings in AutoCAD, you typically select the parts of your drawing you want to isolate and save them as a new, independent DWG file.

One common method, as demonstrated in the provided reference, involves using the EXPORT function after selecting the desired objects.

Methods for Separating Drawing Content

There are several ways to "separate" parts of an AutoCAD drawing, depending on whether you want to create entirely new files or simply manage content within the same file.

1. Exporting Selected Objects to a New File

This is the method highlighted in the reference. It's useful for splitting a large drawing into smaller, more manageable files, or for sharing only specific parts of a design.

Here are the general steps:

1. Select the objects you want to separate and save into a new drawing file. This could be a specific detail, a floor plan for one building, or any other group of entities.
2. Access an Export command. In many AutoCAD versions, you can type EXPORT or use ribbon tools. Some specific commands like WBLOCK (Write Block) also effectively export selected objects or blocks to a new DWG.
3. Choose the file format as DWG.
4. Save the new file to your desired location.

Based on the reference: "Then we can press on export to save it as a new dwg file and we can change its..." This confirms that selecting elements and using an export function to create a new DWG is a direct way to achieve separation into a new file. The "change its" likely refers to changing the filename or location.

2. Using the WBLOCK Command

The WBLOCK (Write Block) command is a powerful tool specifically designed for writing objects, blocks, or the entire drawing model space to a new drawing file.

Steps using WBLOCK:

1. Type WBLOCK and press Enter.
2. In the Write Block dialog box, choose what you want to write:
   • Source: Select Objects.
   • Base point: Specify an insertion point for the new drawing.
   • Objects: Click the "Select Objects" button and pick the entities you want to save as a separate drawing.
3. Specify the Destination:
   • File name and path: Choose where to save the new DWG file and give it a name.
   • Insert units: Select the units for the new drawing.
4. Click OK. The selected objects are saved as a new DWG file.

3. Utilizing Layers and Layouts

While not creating separate files, layers and layouts help visually separate and manage different aspects of a drawing within a single file.

• Layers: Assign different types of objects (e.g., walls, dimensions, text, furniture) to different layers. You can then turn layers on or off to view only specific elements. This separates content logically.
• Layouts: Create different paper space layouts to show specific parts of the model space at various scales and with different annotations. Each layout can focus on a particular detail or area, effectively presenting separate "views" or "drawings" from the same model data.

4. External References (Xrefs)

External References allow you to link other DWG files into your current drawing. This keeps the content of the linked files separate while allowing you to see and plot them together in a master drawing.

• You can have separate drawings for different building floors, site elements, or standard details, and then combine them into a master plan drawing using Xrefs.
• This is excellent for collaborative work, as multiple people can work on different linked files simultaneously.

Choosing the best method depends on whether you need truly separate files for distribution, archiving, or project organization (Export, WBLOCK), or if you primarily need to manage complexity and presentation within a single file (Layers, Layouts, Xrefs).