Best Practices for North Arrows & Scale Bars in Viewports + (Free DWG Download)

Orientation and scale are the two most critical pieces of information on any plan. Using inconsistent or unscaled icons makes your drawing look amateurish. Furthermore, managing the North Arrow in a project where different viewports are rotated can be a major headache if not handled correctly.

A graphical scale bar is often preferred over a written scale because if the drawing is printed at a reduced size (e.g., 11×17 check set), the graphical bar remains proportional. Using standard, pre-drawn blocks for these elements ensures your documentation is legally and technically accurate.

Technical Guide: Best Practices for Icons

Icons communicate how to read the drawing. Ensure they work correctly:

• Annotative Behavior: Ideally, symbols like North Arrows and Section Cuts should be Annotative Blocks. This allows you to place them in Model Space, and they will automatically size themselves to appear readable in any Viewport.
• Viewport Linking: The best practice for site plans is to place the North Arrow in Model Space (pointing up) or use a dynamic block in Paper Space that you manually align to the viewport’s rotation angle.

For more on the importance of orientation in mapping and architecture, see North Arrow on Wikipedia.

Expand Your Standards Library

These icons act as the interface for your drawing. Make sure the rest of the drawing is up to par:

• Label your spaces with our Text Styles (A4).
• Organize your sheets with our Title Block Templates (A5).

Watch: Video Guide to Drafting Standards

Watch this video to learn more about drafting standards for architectural drawings and how to efficiently integrate these blocks and patterns into your daily workflow.

Download the General Icons Starter Pack (Free)

To help you work faster, we have created a professional AutoCAD General Icon Pack. It includes North Arrows, Scale Bars, Section Cuts, and Elevation Markers. It is fully layered, purgable, and ready to use.

[Image: Preview of the North Arrows and Scale Bars]

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