13.2. Setting Up an External Reference

When you set up an external reference, you go through a process similar to that of inserting a block into a drawing, as you did in Chapter 7. You select the drawing to be referenced and specify the location of its insertion point. There are options for the X scale factor, Y scale factor, and rotation angle, as there are for inserting blocks. Here, as with blocks, you can set up the command so that it uses the defaults for these options without prompting you for approval.

13.2.1. Using the External References Palette

You can run all external reference operations through the External References palette, which you can open by clicking the Insert tab and then clicking the External References button (small arrow in the lower-right corner) on the Reference panel, or by entering XR. The External References palette is capable of referencing a wide assortment of file types in addition to AutoCAD drawing (DWG) files. Popular raster image formats such as JPG and TIF can be referenced as images in addition to DWF, DGN, and PDF files. DWF files are vector image files produced by several Autodesk products and are similar to Adobe PDF files. Files that have the .dgn extension are drawings created with the MicroStation CAD software from Bentley Systems.