Arcs in AutoCAD

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In AutoCAD, you can create arcs in several ways.

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From the Home ribbon, Draw panel, expand the Arc drop-down to access the variety of methods available to create an arc.

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By default, the 3-Point method is selected.

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You can choose from the other methods by specifying various combinations of center, endpoint, start point, radius, angle,

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chord length, and direction values.

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Note that the Continue method is the only one that does not specify three points and instead,

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an arc is created tangent to the last line or arc drawn.

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Once you specify an option from the Arc drop-down, it will become the default selected option for the arc command.

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From the menu, select Start, Center, Angle.

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Notice the Arc command displays the Start, Center, Angle option.

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Now, select 3 Point from the Arc menu.

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The command prompts you to specify a start point for the arc.

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Click once in the drawing area to specify the first point.

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Click a second time to specify the second point.

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Finally, specify the end point of the arc.

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Begin the Arc 3 Point command again.

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Notice that the dynamic input tooltip prompt ends with the word “or” and a small down arrow.

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On your keyboard, press the Down Arrow key.

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An option to select a Center point displays.

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Select this option, and then pick in the drawing area to specify a center point for a new arc.

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Next, specify the start point of the arc.

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Before specifying the end point, press the Down Arrow again.

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Notice you can now choose to complete the arc based on angle or chord length.

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Click chord Length.

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The length of the chord of the arc determines the included angle.

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Click a point to create the arc.

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Arcs are one of the most frequently used geometry in AutoCAD drawings for creating curves.

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With so many options available for arc creation, you can choose the best method that suits your workflows.