Millions of civil engineers around the world use AutoCAD to create visual representations of important objects. Buildings, bridges, and cityscapes come to life in AutoCAD and enable engineers, customers, and the public to better understand a particular design. AutoCAD is an essential visual communication tool for civil engineers.
The following instructions will guide you on how to properly set up AutoCAD. This setting is critical in order to make a drawing that makes sense and is visually appealing at the same time. Read each step carefully before performing the required steps.
Steps
Step 1. Open the AutoCAD program
This program is either present as an icon on your desktop, or you can find it in the Start menu in the lower left corner of your screen.
Step 2. Go to Model Space
There are two types of space in AutoCAD: Model Space and Paper Space. Your drawing should be done in Model Space, and the dimensions you add later should be represented in Paper Space. To switch between model space and paper space, look at the tabs at the bottom of the screen. One tab is named 'Model Space' and the other tabs are named either 'Sheet' or 'Outline'. The 'Sheet' or 'Outline' tabs mean paper space. If you are currently in Model Space mode, the screen background should be black. If you are in Paper Space mode, the background should be white.
Step 3. Set the units of measurement
Engineers set different units of measurement: feet, meters, etc. To ensure accuracy and avoid confusion, it is important that the drawing is done in the correct units. To set the units of measure, key in ‘UN’ and press the ‘ENTER’ key. A dialog box should appear that will allow you to specify the units and precision. The type options for units are as follows: Decimal, Scientific, Engineering, Architectural, Fractional. The 'Precision' section allows you to choose the number of decimal places for your dimensions. If you are doing a project for your teacher, he should have information regarding the specification of units of measure.
Step 4. Select the toolbars that will be used to create your drawing
To do this, hover your mouse over the blank space at the top of the screen, next to the toolbars. Right click and select AutoCAD. A long list should appear with different toolbars containing different commands. The most popular toolbars used for 2D drawings in AutoCAD are Draw, Editor, and Object Properties. Select these panels and they should appear on the screen. Move them aside to create space for your drawing. The Draw panel contains basic drawing tools. The Editor panel contains editing tools. Object Properties panel contains style and color controls
Step 5. Turn on the "Snap" mode
Snapping, which refers to snapping objects, is an essential property when creating a drawing. It allows you to see where the midpoint and end point of a line are, the tangent of a circle, and other useful information. To enable Snapping mode, press the F3 key on your keyboard. To make sure snapping is enabled, right-click on the ‘Snapping’ icon in the lower left corner of the screen. A dialog box should appear on the screen. Click on the 'Select All' button to enable all snapping options.
Method 1 of 2: Scaling the drawing
Step 1. Import the drawing, or browse to a drawing that is not scaled
It's okay if the Autocad drawing is not scaled if you know at least one dimension. Type "UN" followed by a space to change units. Make sure the unit is Architectural and the precision is 1/6 "(0.4 cm).
Step 2. Determine the segment in the drawing whose size you know exactly
This can be the length of a wall or the length of a building. Longer scaling in AutoCAD will be more accurate. You don't want to scale the entire drawing, for example, to fit the width of a door or the length of a piece of furniture.
Step 3. Measure the length of the segment you selected in the previous step
Click on this line, in the command line, type "properties" and a space. Scroll through the pop-up that appears until you find the length of the line. Make a note of this value. You can also draw a new line along which you will scale if this line is not actually in the drawing, for example, the building length line.
Step 4. Divide the length that should be this line by the length of this line in the drawing (Actual length) / (Length measured in the drawing)
You should have a decimal number. Make a note of this value.
Step 5. At the command prompt, type "scale" followed by a space
Then select the entire AutoCad drawing and press the space bar. Then click anywhere in the drawing. When you hover over your mouse, you will see AutoCad trying to scale the drawing. Do not press the mouse button. Instead, enter the number obtained in Step 5. on the command line. Then press the space bar. The drawing must be accurately scaled.
Step 6. Check the line you measured in Step 2 to make sure the scaling is accurate
If the value is slightly different, you may not have included enough decimal places when calculating the scaling. Just repeat steps 3-6 to get a new scaled drawing with higher precision. After the second scaling, the AutoCad drawing should be scaled exactly.
Method 2 of 2: Scaling to Reference Length
Step 1. Check the settings
Make sure all layers are on and unlocked before scaling.
Please note: Approximately the same procedure should be performed when rotating an object at an arbitrary angle
Step 2. Use the following steps
- Command: Line Draws a line of a specified length (for example, you have an object in your drawing and you want it to be 100 units long, so draw a line 100 units long). This will be the reference length.
- Command: Scale select the entire drawing except the reference length, press the spacebar.
Step 3. Select a base point
- Type "re" (link), press the spacebar.
- Select the first and last points of the object in the drawing, the size of which you want to set to 100 units.
- Type "po" (periods), press space.
Step 4. Select the first and last points of the reference line you drew
Step 5. Done
Instead of having to calculate and write down some numbers for you, AutoCAD will do everything for you, and the result will be a more accurately scaled drawing.
Advice
- The following are the most commonly used commands that can be useful when creating a drawing in AutoCAD:
- Cancel - cancels the command. ‘ESC’
- Undo - Undoes your last executed command. 'CTRL' + 'Z'
- Erase - removes an object, line, or other element. ‘E’ + ‘ENTER’
- Circle - Creates a circle of the specified radius. 'C' + 'ENTER' enter radius length + 'ENTER'
- Line - creates a line of a specific length. ‘L’ + ‘ENTER’ enter line length + ‘ENTER’
- Rectangle - Creates a rectangle of a specific size. ‘REC’ + ‘ENTER’ enter dimensions + ‘ENTER’
- Trim - trims the line at the earlier intersection point. ‘TR’ + ‘ENTER’ select the line to be trimmed + ‘ENTER’ select which side to trim from
Note: line must be intersected by another line in order for it to be trimmed