Autocad Set Drawing Unit to Feet
Setting Up the Drawing Units Autocad
When you draw lines of a precise length in AutoCAD, you use one of five kinds of linear units. Angular units can also be any of five types. The combination you choose will largely depend on the type of drawings you plan to prepare. Each of these linear and angular units is presented at the end of this chapter, but for now let's focus on getting ready to begin drawing our cabin.
When you first start a new drawing, AutoCAD displays a blank drawing called
Drawing#.dwg. By default, the linear and angular units inside this drawing are set to decimal numbers. The units and other basic setup parameters applied to this new drawing are based on a prototype drawing with default settings—including those for the units. This chapter covers some of the tools for changing the basic parameters of a new drawing so that you can tailor it to the cabin project or to your own project.
Begin by setting up new units:
1. With AutoCAD running, click the plus icon to the right of the drawing
tabs to open the New Tab.
2. Expand the Templates menu within the Start Drawing tool on the
Create page shown in Figure 3.1, and select the acad.dwt template.
F igu re 3 . 1 : Selecting the acad.dwt template from the Start Drawing tool
3. Choose Application menu ➢ Drawing Utilities ➢ Units to open the
Drawing Units dialog box (UNITS command) shown in Figure 3.2. In
the Length group, Decimal is currently selected. Similarly, in the
Angle group, Decimal Degrees is the default.
F igu re 3 . 2 : The Drawing Units dialog box
4. Within the Drawing Units dialog box, in the Length group, click the
arrow in the Type drop-down list and select Architectural (metric
users can leave this set to Decimal). These units are feet and inches,
which you'll use for the cabin project.
Notice the two Precision drop-down lists under the Length and
Angle groups. When you changed the linear unit specification from
Decimal to Architectural, the number in the Precision drop-down list
on the left changed from 0.0000 to 0′-0 1⁄16″. At this level of precision,
linear distances are displayed to the nearest 1⁄16″. Metric users
should set this to 0 because we won't be using units smaller than a
millimeter.
5. Select some of the other Length unit types from the list, and notice
the way the units appear in the Sample Output group at the bottom
of the dialog box. Then select Architectural again or leave it set to
Decimal for metric use.
6. Click the down arrow in the Precision drop-down list in the Length
group to display the choices of precision for Architectural units
(see Figure 3.3).
F igu re 3 . 3 : The Precision drop-down list for Architectural units (left) and
Decimal units (right)
This setting controls the degree of precision to which AutoCAD displays
a linear distance. If it's set to 1⁄16″, any line that is drawn more
precisely, such as a line 6′-31⁄32″ long, displays a length value to the
nearest 1⁄16″ when queried (which, in the example, would be 6′-3
1⁄16″). However, the line is still 6′-31⁄32″ long.
If you change the precision setting to 1⁄32″ and then use the
DISTANCE command to measure the distance between two features,
you'll see that its length is 6′-31⁄32″.
7. Click 0′-0 1⁄16″ (0) to maintain the precision for display of linear
units at 1⁄16″ (nearest millimeter).
If you open the Type drop-down list in the Angle group, you'll see a choice,
among others, between Decimal Degrees and Deg/Min/Sec. Like so many settings
in AutoCAD, the correct setting here is often dictated by the types of
drawings you're preparing. Decimal angular units are the most popular choice
for individuals working in architecture (or its related disciplines). On the other
hand, Deg/Min/Sec is most popular in the civil engineering disciplines.
Because our project is a cabin (architectural), we'll use the default Decimal
Degrees throughout this book. However, the default precision setting is to the
nearest degree. This may not be accurate enough, so you should change it to
the nearest hundredth of a degree:
1. Click the arrow in the Precision drop-down list in the Angle group
2. Select 0.00 as the precision value for angles.
The Drawing Units dialog box now indicates that, in your drawing,
you plan to use Architectural length units with a precision
setting of 1⁄16″ (Decimal with a precision of 0 if using metric) and
Decimal angular units with a precision of 0.00ยบ (see Figure 3.4). This
doesn't restrict the precision at which you draw, just the values that
AutoCAD reports.
F igu re 3 . 4 : The Drawing Units dialog box for Architectural units (left), and
Decimal (metric) units (right) after changes
3. Change the Insertion Scale to Inches (Millimeters for metric). This
often-overlooked setting allows AutoCAD to scale drawings automatically
to the proper size when inserted or referenced into other drawings.
This behavior is common, as architects have to collaborate with
civil engineers on projects. Architectural drawings are generally
set up such that 1 unit is equal to 1 inch, whereas civil engineering
drawings are set up such that 1 unit is equal to 1 foot. As an architect
and engineer collaborate, their drawings must be scaled up by
12″ or down by 1⁄12, depending on whose drawing is being inserted.
AutoCAD can automatically do this conversion for you, provided the
Insertion Scale for your architectural drawings is set to Inches, and
for the civil engineering drawings is set to Feet.
Clicking the Direction button at the bottom of the Drawing Units
dialog box opens the Direction Control dialog box, which has settings
to control the direction of 0˚. By default, 0˚ is to the right (east), and
positive angular displacement goes in the counterclockwise direction.
(See Figure 2.9 in Chapter 2 for an illustration of the Cartesian
coordinate system.) These are the standard settings for most users
of CAD. There is no need to change them from the defaults. If you
want to take a look, open the Direction Control dialog box, note the
choices, and then click Cancel. You won't have occasion in the course
of this book to change any of those settings
4. Click OK to accept the changes and close the Drawing Units dialog
box. Notice that the coordinate readout on the left side of the status
bar now reads in feet and inches.
This tour of the Drawing Units dialog box has introduced you to the choices
you have for the types of units and the degree of precision for linear and angular
measurement. The next step in setting up a drawing is to determine its size.
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