pen assignment in autocad standard

Lineweights and colours in Autocad can be a bit of a minefield when you first start out. It is difficult to find standard colour/weight assignments and therefore you find yourself wondering if you are doing things correctly and have set things up ok.

We had really good AutoCad training at uni and were given useful information on standards of practice. However, as soon as you get out into the workplace this can fall apart. Generally, offices have their own standards and practices, which will vary from one organisation to the next, which adds to the confusion. I will give you the standards I have come across the most and that seem to be more commonplace.

One thing that is key to know is that in Autocad you can save your own plot styles (ie, line weights assigned to colours) so that wherever you go you can use your own system. Not ideal in the workplace as you should conform to office standards, but very useful when you are going between different computers, at home, uni, library, laptop and so on.

It is also useful to set up a standard dwg file, that has all your standard layers and colours so that you can copy and paste into any new dwg without having to recreate your layering system all over again. I will go into more detail about layering in a future post, just to make your AutoCad life, a little easier!

Just remember, everyone has their own way of doing things, so take from this what you will and find a way that works best for you.

Generally, it is easiest if you only use the basic colours, 1-10 for your general drawing. Then use the other colours as and when they are required and assign specific line weights as you need them. With that in mind these are the basic colour assignments.

Autocad Colour / Pen Width

1. 0.18mm – Red

2. 0.25mm – Yellow

3. 0.35mm – Green

4. 0.35mm – Cyan

5. 0.50mm – Blue

6. 1.00mm – Magenta

7. 1.40mm – Black

8. 0.35mm – Dark Grey

9. 2.00mm – Light Grey

10. 0.18mm – Red

I have found that sometimes it is useful for all your pens to plot in black and white, but to have red plot as red for a site boundary for example. It is also useful to have greys plot as grey for hatching and shading and so on. With this in mind I tend to create a completely monochrome pen set, and a monochrome with red and grey pen set. This usually covers everything, however, you can assign pen colours as and when you need them. This is done in the plot styles menu, select your pen, then choose the colour – often the default is set to black.

This is a basic introduction to the idea of pen sets, line weights and so on. Click below for our video tutorials that covers this in more detail, and shows you how to assign line weights and create plot styles.

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14 Comments

Sir i need pen width & color standard for architecture drawing

with item for example which color for wall,window,door,dimension etc.

Hello, we will get a post containing line weight / colour details and standards out by the end of the week. Sorry it won’t be sooner but we are on summer break at the moment! – First in Arcitecture Team

am also same doubt, if u get these things pls post here. and also which line weight used for wall,window,doors, Thanking you

Autocad is nightmarish software, any and everyone customizes it as they see fit with according chaos. In my own case I generally agree with above and particularly keep it simple.. only customize pens 1-8, that is more than enough lineweights or colours, leave all the others in medium width. I have to say I hate Autocad and Autodesk,, 20 years of such arcane outrageously priced software, Me I use Draftsight [free] and Sketchup. I have no desire to support companies like Autodesk.

I with you 100%, I’m over autodesk and a hole lot of other platforms. Mostly just price gouging and change for sake of change. Good luck.

Thank You so much!!

How can I obtain a copy of your monochrome pen set. I do all my work in black & white. I want to review my design just as the contractor sees on the bidding set. Thank you

Hi Raymond, I have plot style that you can download here: https://www.firstinarchitecture.co.uk/autocad-standard-line-weights-no-2/

Why do you have two of the same color and lineweight? (color 1 and 10)

I set colour 10 to be a red that will print out in red, not black. This is useful for boundary lines, marking out important items and so on.

Hi, Could you kindly please confirm what line weights/colours should be used for what part of the drawing. I am an interior design so need to be able to produce simple furniture floor plans.

So need the line weight/colour for the following;

Interior Walls External Walls Doors Windows Furniture Lighting Dimensions Text

I have looked online everywhere and can’t seem to find the answer anywhere!

Thanks so much.

I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

I would also like to ask the same question as Georgie. What line weights and colors should be used for what part of the drawing? I am also an interior designer.

Hello Yoana, There have been a few updates since this blog post that should be more useful to you: https://www.firstinarchitecture.co.uk/architectural-line-weights-and-plotstyles/ Check out that one, and there are some links to some other useful posts within in that. All the best, Emma :)

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Where should I place Plot Style (Pen Assignments) so my AutoCAD can find them.

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Standard colors and line weights in CAD

March 6, 2021 Leave a Comment

Complied by Allan.

Color your judgment

In a CAD system, colors are most commonly used to represent line weights. Selecting different colors is just like picking up pens with varying line thickness. We then tie these colors into layers to control the visibility of drawing components.

There are no right and wrong coloring systems — but there are some that have become more prevalent than others. Drafting managed quite well for centuries before CAD came onto the scene. It’s hardly surprising then that the most common color system has its roots in a well-established manual drafting system. Many offices have adopted the ISO/DIN line weight color coding system commonly seen in the identification the bands of drafting pens. Changes to this system have, in the main, come about as a result of preference for light or dark screen background within CAD. Naturally, yellow doesn’t work well on a light background and brown’s difficult to see on a dark background.

AutoCAD Tip : Use the OPTIONS or CONFIG commands to change the background color

The system below is simple and it works – but – with most CAD packages offering 256 colors plus, many companies have adopted a more complex systems that allocates groups of colors to line weights.

ISO/DIN line weight color coding system

• 0.18mm Magenta
• 0.25mm White
• 0.35mm Yellow
• 0.50mm Red/Brown
• 0.70mm Cyan/Blue
• 1.00mm Green

For sample structural drafting applications review the article  What Line Width Where?

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