Importing DWGs with Pspace & Mspace into Visio Technical

If you try to convert a DWG that contains both paper space and model space objects with Visio Technical’s AutoCAD file converter, only part of the drawing is converted. However, with a little bit of preparation in both the DWG and in Visio, Visio will be able to convert the entire DWG file, scaling the objects correctly. This document shows you how to prepare the DWG and Visio for a successful conversion.

Preparing a DWG with model space and paper space objects for Visio Technical conversion

In AutoCAD or IntelliCAD:

• Open the DWG containing both model space and paper space objects.
• Make paper space current.
• Issue the command
  WBLOCK<enter>PSDWG<enter>0,0<enter>ALL<enter><enter>
  This will extract all of the paper space objects into a new DWG file called PSDWG.DWG.
• Issue the command
  MSPACE<enter>
  This will activate the model space viewports from within the paper space environment.

For each object’s viewport:

• Select the viewport and issue the following sequence of commands:
  WBLOCK<enter>VPIMGn<enter>(getvar "EXTMIN")<enter>ALL<enter><enter>
  This will extract all of the model space objects shown in the selected viewport into a new DWG file called VPIMGn, where n is the number of the viewport you’ve selected (sequentially).
• Issue the command
  QUIT<enter>
  and click No on the prompt asking to save changes. The above steps create all of the necessary DWG files to generate the Visio composite drawing.

Converting the DWG that contains model space and paper space objects to a Visio Technical drawing

Once in Visio, before running the AutoCAD file converter, you will need to set up a foreground page and a series of background pages—one page for each file you created in the steps above.

For this example, the AutoCAD drawing consists of paper space containing a title block, and one viewport named “Building.” In Visio this will require one foreground page and one background page. To convert this drawing:

• Open a new blank Visio drawing, and choose Drawing Page > Size & Scale from the Edit menu. Set the drawing page size to 36" wide by 24" tall and the drawing scale to No Scale (1:1). Then click OK.
• Choose Drawing Page > Properties from the Edit menu. In the Name section, enter the name “TitleBlock.”
• Choose Page from the Insert menu, and set up a new background page. Name this page “Building.”
• In the Page Properties dialog box, click the Size/Scale button, and set the drawing page size to 36" wide by 24" high and the drawing scale to Architectural 1/8"=1'-0". Then click OK twice to return to the drawing page.
• Choose Go To from the Edit menu, and go to the TitleBlock page
• Choose Drawing Page > Properties from the Edit menu, and in the Background section, set the background to the Building page you created above, and click OK.
• Choose Run Add-on from the Tools menu, select Visio Extras and and run the Insert AutoCAD Drawing add-on. Insert the paper space DWG into the TitleBlock page. This is the file called PSDWG.DWG you created in the “Preparing a DWG drawing…” section above.
• When the conversion is complete, choose Go To from the Edit menu, and go to the Building page.
• Run the Insert AutoCAD Drawing add-on again, and insert the model space DWG into the Building page. This is the file called VPIMGn you created in the “Preparing an AutoCAD drawing containing model space and paper space objects” section above.

When the second conversion is complete, you will have a complete composite representation, which is the functional equivalent of a paper space/model space AutoCAD or IntelliCAD drawing.

If the drawing you want to convert includes additional model space objects, create a background page for each file you created in step 5 from the “Preparing a DWG…” section above, then open each file in its corresponding Visio background page.