Can I change the drawing units after the drawing is already finished in BricsCAD?

ByCADbrief Staff

Short Answer

Yes — you can change drawing units after a drawing is finished in BricsCAD, but the professional method is to use -DWGUNITS so the file can be rescaled correctly instead of only changing unit display settings. This updates the drawing more reliably. Limitation: locked or external content may not scale as expected.

What You Need to Know Before

Warning: Changing units in a completed drawing can unintentionally scale geometry, dimensions, hatches, and inserted blocks if the original file was drawn inconsistently. A common failure is updating the unit setting only, while leaving model space objects at the wrong real-world size.

How to Change Drawing Units After the Drawing Is Finished

  • Command: -DWGUNITS

  • Shortcut: No default shortcut

  • Quick Steps:

    1. Type -DWGUNITS in the command line and press Enter.
    2. Choose the correct current drawing unit and then the new target unit when prompted.
    3. Accept the scaling options, including the option to scale objects in the current drawing, and confirm related settings such as insertion scale if prompted.

Variables & Settings

  • System Variable: INSUNITS (Default: 0)

  • Expert Setting: This controls the drawing’s insertion scale for blocks and external content. If INSUNITS is wrong after conversion, future inserts, xrefs, or copied content may come in at the wrong size even if existing geometry looks correct.

Why it Fails

  • Cause 1 (Geometry): The drawing was created 1:1 in the wrong assumed unit, so changing display units alone does not resize the actual geometry.
  • Cause 2 (layers/Locks): Objects on locked layers may not scale during the unit conversion workflow, leaving part of the file inconsistent.
  • Cause 3 (Command/Logic): Users often run UNITS instead of -DWGUNITS; UNITS mainly changes format and insertion settings, not full drawing conversion behavior.

Quick Fix & Best Practice

  • Quick Fix: Run -DWGUNITS again and make sure you answer Yes to the option to scale objects in the current drawing.
  • Manager’s Verdict: Use this method only when the entire drawing was created consistently in the wrong unit. Avoid it on mixed-source files with xrefs, custom blocks, or annotative content until you verify scale behavior first.

FAQ

Does UNITS change the actual size of objects?

No — it mainly changes unit format and insertion settings, not object size.

Will dimensions update automatically after changing units?

Not always — dimensions may need review if dimension style scaling or annotation behavior was set incorrectly before.

Can xrefs be affected by changing drawing units?

Yes — xrefs can display at the wrong scale if host and referenced drawings use different or incorrect INSUNITS values.

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