CHAPTER 3: PRECISION DRAWING (25/02/2015)

BY: NUR SYAHIDA MOHD ARIF

REFERENCE: NG WAI TUCK

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
a. TO PRACTICE SETTING LIMITS IN AUTOCAD
b. TO DISTINGUISH THE PRECISION DRAWING STYLE IN AUTOCAD
c. TO FAMILIARIZE WITH THE DRAFTING SETTING IN AUTOCAD

HOW TO DISPLAY THE GRID

ON THE STATUS BAR, CLICK THE GRID DISPLAY BUTTON

TO TURN IT ON. YOU CAN ALSO HIT F7 ON YOUR
KEYBOARD

A GRID IS DISPLAYED IN THE DRAWING AREA. NOTICE

THAT IT COVERS A LIMITED AREA, THE GRID LIMITS.

SETTING THE GRID SPACING

ON THE STATUS BAR, RIGHT-CLICK THE GRID BUTTON.
CLICK SETTINGS

1. IN THE DRAFTING SETTINGS DIALOG BOX, SNAP AND

GRID TAB, ENSURE THAT GRID ON (F7) IS SELECTED.
2. UNDER GRID SPACING, DO THE FOLLOWING:
■ IN THE GRID X SPACING BOX, ENTER 0.050 TO SET
THE HORIZONTAL GRID SPACING IN UNITS.
■ IN THE GRID Y SPACING BOX, ENTER 0.050 TO SET
THE VERTICAL GRID SPACING IN UNITS.

3. CLICK OK. THE SPACING BETWEEN THE GRID IS NOW

SMALLER.
Figure 1: Grid spacing

Figure 2: Drafting setting dialogue box Figure 3: Grid spacing adjusted

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TO SET THE GRID LIMITS

Figure 4: limits command Figure 5: Adjusting the limit on the workspace

1) THE LIMITS COMMAND CONTROLS THE DRAWING AREA COVERED BY THE GRID. AT THE COMMAND
PROMPT, ENTER LIMITS AND PRESS ENTER.

2) AT THE COMMAND PROMPT, PRESS ENTER TO ACCEPT THE DEFAULT COORDINATE VALUE OF 0,0. TO
SPECIFY THE LOWER LEFT CORNER OF THE DRAWING LIMITS

3) AT THE COMMAND PROMPT, ENTER 480,360 AND PRESS ENTER TO SPECIFY THE UPPER-RIGHT CORNER OF
THE GRID LIMITS. THE GRID EXPANDS TO COVER A LARGER SECTION OF THE DRAWING AREA.

HOW TO TURN ON THE SNAP MODE

YOU CAN ALSO HIT F9 TO TURN THE SNAP MODE ON

RIGHT CLICK AND CHOOSE SETTING

1. IN THE DRAFTING SETTINGS DIALOG
BOX, SNAP AND GRID TAB, ENSURE
THAT SNAP ON (F9) IS SELECTED.

2. UNDER SNAP SPACING, DO THE

FOLLOWING:

3. ■ IN THE SNAP X SPACING BOX,

ENTER 0.500 TO SET THE HORIZONTAL
SNAP SPACING VALUE IN UNITS.

■ IN THE SNAP Y SPACING BOX, ENTER

0.500 TO SET THE VERTICAL SNAP
SPACING VALUE IN UNITS.

4. CLICK OK.

Figure 6: Drafting setting

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OBJECT SNAP/OSNAP (F3)

AT ANY PROMPT THAT REQUESTS

A POINT, YOU CAN SPECIFY A
SINGLE OBJECT SNAP BY HOLDING
DOWN SHIFT, RIGHT-CLICKING,
AND CHOOSING AN OBJECT SNAP
FROM THE OBJECT SNAP MENU.

Figure 7: Drafting setting

OR YOU CAN ALWAYS GO TO TOOLS > DRAFTING SETTING > OBJECT SNAP

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Figure 8: Osnap setting

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ORTHO (F8)

YOUR F8 KEY WILL TOGGLE ORTHO ON AND OFF.

LETS SAY YOU WANT TO DRAW A LINE FROM ONE POINT DIRECTLY TO THE RIGHT 10 UNITS.

Figure 9: Drawing a line with ortho mode on

START THE LINE COMMAND AND CLICK ON THE SCREEN ANYWHERE, THEN MOVE YOUR CURSOR TO
THE RIGHT OF THAT POINT. IF ORTHO IS TURNED ON, THE LINE SHOULD ONLY POINT DIRECTLY TO
THE RIGHT AND NOT AT AN ANGLE. NOW TYPE IN 10 <ENTER>. PRESS <ENTER> AGAIN TO EXIT THE
COMMAND. YOU NOW HAVE LINE THAT IS 10 UNITS LONG.

POLAR TRACKING (F10)

Figure 10: Drawing with polar tracking

TO DRAW SOMETHING LIKE THE ABOVE CROSS LINE, FIRST

YOU NEED TO MAKESURE POLAR TRACKING IS ON. GO TO
TOOLS > DRAFTING SETTING

POLAR TRACKING IS ALSO USEFUL WHEN IT COMES TO

DIMENSIONING A CIRCLE

WHEN YOU NEED TO SPECIFY A POINT, SUCH AS WHEN

YOU CREATE A LINE, YOU CAN USE POLAR TRACKING TO
GUIDE THE MOVEMENT OF YOUR CURSOR IN CERTAIN
DIRECTIONS.
FOR EXAMPLE, AFTER YOU SPECIFY THE FIRST POINT OF
THE LINE BELOW, YOU MOVE YOUR CURSOR TO THE
RIGHT, AND THEN ENTER A DISTANCE IN THE COMMAND
WINDOW TO SPECIFY A PRECISE HORIZONTAL LENGTH
FOR THE LINE.
Figure 11: Drafting setting (polar tracking)

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 Figure 12: Drawing with polar tracking

BY DEFAULT, POLAR TRACKING IS TURNED ON AND GUIDES YOUR CURSOR IN A HORIZONTAL OR VERTICAL
DIRECTION (0 OR 90 DEGREES).

DYNAMIC INPUT

TURN ON DYNAMIC INPUT BY CLICKING ON THE STATUS BAR (TOGGLE WITH F12):

DYNAMIC INPUT WILL LET YOUSEE THE

COMMANDINPUTTO YOUR WORKSPACE

Figure 13: Dynamic input