AutoCAD Tip: Standardize Revision Clouds for Clear, Scalable, Audit-Ready Markups

Keep design changes unmistakable and audit-friendly by marking them with clear, consistent revision clouds.

Essential workflow

• Create a dedicated layer (for example, A-ANNO-REVC) with a standout color and lineweight (e.g., 0.35 mm). Lock its plot style conventions in your template to ensure consistency across teams.
• Type REVCLOUD.
  • Freehand: Sketch around the changed area for fast markup.
  • Object: Draw a closed polyline/rectangle first, then choose the Object option to convert it into a revision cloud with crisp corners.
• Control appearance with Arc length:
  • Choose minimum/maximum arc length values suited to your plot scale. As a rule of thumb, aim for a plotted arc size of ~3–5 mm.
  • Quick scale math: Plotted size × drawing scale factor (e.g., 0.004 m × 100 = 0.4 units for a 1:100 metric drawing).
• Place clouds where they belong:
  • Model space for changes to model geometry.
  • Paper space for sheet-only notes, views, or title block updates.
• Pair clouds with revision tags and a revision table. Use MLEADER with a standardized tag block, and drive the revision number/date via Fields or your Sheet Set properties for reliable updates.

Best practices for clarity and tracking

• One cloud per logical change area; keep spacing generous so leaders and dimensions remain readable.
• Use a dedicated layer state to toggle clouds on/off during internal checks and external submittals.
• After changes are incorporated, archive clouds by moving them to a non-plot layer or by freezing a dated revision layer (e.g., A-ANNO-REVC-2026-01) to preserve the audit trail.
• Leverage DWGCOMPARE when reviewing versions. Use revision clouds to call attention to areas the team must re-check after the comparison.
• When publishing PDFs, verify that lineweights and colors keep clouds visible without overpowering the drawing. Consider slight transparency if the view is dense.

Power-user accelerators

• Add a Tool Palette button or QAT macro that sets the layer, color, lineweight, and starts REVCLOUD with your preferred arc lengths, so every cloud complies with standards by default.
• Use MATCHPROP to normalize legacy clouds to your current style quickly.
• For sheet sets, drive the revision index and date via Fields tied to Sheet Set Manager so tags and title blocks update automatically when the revision changes.

Common pitfalls to avoid

• Using default arc lengths at vastly different plot scales, which results in clouds that look either jagged or too smooth to notice.
• Placing revision clouds in the wrong space (model vs paper), causing misalignment or duplication across multiple viewports.
• Allowing clouds to obscure critical dimensions or notes—route leaders around clouds and maintain legibility.

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