Before you start to
draw, you must decide what one drawing unit represents based on
what you plan to draw. You can convert a drawing between systems of
measurement by scaling it.
Every
object you create is measured in drawing units. Before you start
to draw, you must decide what one drawing unit will represent based
on what you plan to draw. Then you create your drawing at actual
size with that convention.
For example, the objects
in the illustration might represent two buildings that are each
125 feet long, or a section of a mechanical part that is measured in
millimeters.
Convert Drawing Units
If you start a drawing in one system of measurement
(imperial or metric) and then want to switch to the other system,
use SCALE to scale the
model geometry by the appropriate conversion factor to obtain correct
distances and dimensions.
For example, to convert a drawing created in
inches to centimeters, you scale the model geometry by a factor
of 2.54. To convert from centimeters to inches, the scale factor
is 1/2.54 or about 0.3937.
To convert a drawing from
inches to centimeters
- At the Select Objects prompt, enter all.
All objects in the drawing are selected for
scaling.
- Enter a base point of *0,0.
Scaling will be relative to the world coordinate
system origin and the location of the drawing origin will remain
at the WCS origin.
- Enter a scale factor of 2.54 (there
are 2.54 centimeters per inch).
All objects in the drawing are now 2.54 times
larger, corresponding to the equivalent distance in centimeters.
To convert a drawing from
centimeters to inches
- At the Select Objects prompt, enter all.
All objects in the drawing are selected for
scaling.
- Enter a base point of *0,0.
Scaling is performed relative to the world coordinate
system origin, and the location of the drawing origin will remain
at the WCS origin.
- Enter a scale factor of 0.3937 (the inverse
of 2.54 centimeters per inch).
All objects in the drawing are now smaller,
corresponding to the equivalent distance in inches.
CommandsUNITS
Controls coordinate
and angle display formats and precision.
SCALE
Enlarges or reduces
selected objects, keeping the proportions of the object the same
after scaling.
System VariablesLUNITSLUPREC
Sets the display precision
for linear units and coordinates.
MEASUREINIT
Controls whether a drawing
you start from scratch uses imperial or metric default settings.
MEASUREMENT
Controls whether the
current drawing uses imperial or metric hatch pattern and linetype
files.
UNITMODE
Controls the display
format for units.
