Tipster Maria Tzanetakou shares a trick she uses to help define a model space work area in AutoCAD.

"Where I work, we use just AutoCAD to design mechanical–electrical installations, so we use architectural drawings as backgrounds. We xref-attach the architectural drawings, and at layouts we create viewports to plot the drawings. While in paper space we click in model space and draw a rectangle, which outlines the limits of the viewport of each layout.

"This is a rectangular border within which we can design the desired installation. Outside of this border there is a note advising that all information is to be placed within the colored border. This prevents colleagues from designing outside of it, thereby ensuring that all necessary information appears within the plotted drawing. At the layout we prepare the page setup, and we then import the drawing with the Sheet Set Manager. After this we can plot using the Publish command."

Notes from Cadalyst Tip Reviewer Brian Benton: This can be a very helpful trick when many people work on the same file. It can also help new AutoCAD users understand how paper space and viewports work.