I have a question regarding how to define which portion of the model appears in a viewport, and would be grateful of any advice.

I have been provided with a drawing which for various reasons has very large bounds, such that when you "zoom bounds" none of the entities are visible. This is not a problem on the model tab, as I have "named views" to take me to the various bits that I need to see. However, when I come to create a Layout, with a viewport to show the drawing, I cannot specifiy which bit of the drawing I want to display. I have tried the following:

1) On the model tab, I have created a 'named view' showing roughly the area I want to display in the viewport. However, when I enter model space on the Layout tab, if I call up the named views menu, 'model' views are greyed out, so I cannot call up one of these views.

2) On the layout tab I have the 'properties' tab open. If I select the viewport then the Center X, Center Y, Height and Width boxes refer to the viewport, and any input into these boxes moves or resizes the viewport. If I enter model space, then the Center X, Center Y, Height and Width boxes update to reflect the current view within the viewport. HOWEVER, in this instance, any input into those boxes (ie to manaually set the view to the coordinates of the section of the model that I want to display) still moves or resizes the viewport, rather than the view within the viewport.

Am I missing something obvious here then? I would have thought that more than just trial-and-error could be used to specify which part of the model is displayed within the viewport.

Assume that the X-Ref drawing cannot be modified (eg to make the bounds much smaller), by the way.

Andy