Mastering Wipeouts With AutoCAD

Wipeouts are a simple but powerful tool in the AutoCAD tool box. By learning how to use them effectively, you can significantly increase the clarity and readability of your drawings, resulting in a more professional look. In this guide, we will explain what Wipeouts are, when and how to use them, and some tips and tricks for keeping things clean when the time comes to plot your drawings.

What is a Wipeout?

Wipeouts are an AutoCAD feature that allows you to hide or cover objects in a drawing, making your sheets cleaner and easier to read. Think of them like digital sticky notes you can add and remove anytime.

The Wipeout command creates a mask over your selected area, allowing you to cover distracting information without deleting it from your model. Wipeouts can be placed as squares, rectangles, or custom polygons to best suit your drawing needs.

When to Use Wipeouts in AutoCAD

Various situations call for Wipeouts. Here are three of their most common uses.

• You Want to Make Your Schedules and Tables More Legible: Wipeouts can be used to obscure the complex linework behind schedules and tables, ensuring that the text is readable and stands out against busy backgrounds.
• You Want to Hide Objects That You Don’t Want to Plot: Wipeouts are perfect for masking parts of your drawing that are unnecessary in your final plot, such as preliminary notes or reference lines.
• Creating Blocks: You can use Wipeouts to create blocks that won’t interfere with details behind in the draw order. For example, Wipeouts can be used when creating furniture blocks, allowing you to move them around without disturbing flooring hatch patterns.

Getting Started with Wipeouts

Now that we’ve established what Wipeouts are and when to use them, let’s get into how to create your first Wipeout.

Accessing the Wipeout Command

There are two ways to activate the Wipeout command in AutoCAD. The easiest way is to simply type “WIPEOUT‘ into the command line and hit “ENTER” when in model space. You can also access the Wipeout command from the Ribbon. Find and select the “Annotate” tab. On the right side of the Ribbon, you will find the Wipeout tool within the Markup Panel.

Creating Your First Wipeout

After you activate the Wipeout tool, AutoCAD will ask you to specify your boundary points. By default, AutoCAD including specialized toolsets will start to create a polygonal shape. Now, simply draw a polyline surrounding the objects you want to mask with a Wipeout, and then hit ENTER to terminate the command. You will see the covered objects disappear, and a frame in the shape of your polyline will take its place. Congrats, you’ve just created your first Wipeout!

Advanced Techniques

Creating basic Wipeouts is a simple process. However, there are times when you will need to tailor your Wipeout further to fit the needs of your project. In this case, here are a few advanced techniques to remember.

Creating Wipeouts Using Existing Polygons and Polylines

Though AutoCAD allows you to create new Wipeouts, you can also create them using existing shapes and polylines. This may be useful when working with intricate shapes or pre-existing room boundaries.

To create a Wipeout from an existing shape, follow these steps:

1. Ensure you are working with a closed polyline. If you are unsure how to do this, you can refer to this guide on AutoDesk’s Website.
2. After you have made sure that your polyline is closed, initiate the Wipeout command.
3. Now, instead of starting to draw, navigate down to the command line. Here you will see a message saying, “Specify first point or [Frames/Polyline].”. Click on Polyline.
4. At this point, you will be asked to “select a closed polyline.” Once you’ve picked your existing polyline, you will be presented with one final option: Erase polyline. Yes or No.
5. If you click “Yes”, your shape will be deleted and replaced with the Wipeout boundary. If you select “No”, your shape will remain, but the Wipeout will be laid over it.

Editing and Managing Wipeouts

There are a few different methods you can use to make adjustments to your Wipeout. To change the layer or line type, select your Wipeout, type PROPERTIES into the command line, and hit ENTER. If you want to change the shape of your Wipeout, select it, right-click, and choose edit from the dropdown menu. Now, you will be able to move, resize, and adjust the shape of your Wipeout using the grips.

Tips and Best Practices

Wipeouts can work wonders for keeping your plans neat and tidy. However, if they are created incorrectly, they can look a little sloppy when you see them on paper. Here are a few tips and best practices for keeping your drawings clean with Wipeouts.

• Turn Off Wipeout Frames Before Printing: Wipeout frames are helpful during the editing process as they show the boundaries of the Wipeout areas. However, if left visible, these frames can clutter the final print. Before printing or sharing your drawings, make sure that all your Wipeout frames are turned off. This can be done by setting the system variable FRAME to 0, which hides the frames while keeping the Wipeout functionality intact.
• Utilize the Draw Order Function: If not managed correctly, wipeouts can sometimes obscure essential parts of your drawing. To prevent this, use the draw order function to send Wipeouts to the back of the drawing order. This guarantees that all other drawing elements, such as text and lines, remain visible and are not masked unintentionally by the Wipeout.
• Check Wipeout Visibility in Different Viewports: If you’re working with multiple viewports in model space or paper space, Wipeouts might behave differently in each viewport. Check to see if Wipeouts are correctly configured and visible in all relevant viewports to ensure consistent visibility across the different views of your project.

Explore Other Useful AutoDesk Tools

Once you discover Wipeouts, they can be an absolute game-changer for your AutoCAD workflow. However, they are just one tool in an extensive library of commands that can boost your productivity in your specific discipline. If you want to learn about specific toolsets for architects, mechanical engineers, and electrical designers, click here for more information.