Specify object placement using coordinates

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Coordinate entry in autocad allows designers to

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precisely place objects in their drawing.

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You're probably familiar with the term X and Y

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referring to the X and Y AX accesses of auto

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catt.

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But were you aware that there are three

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different methods for entering coordinates on the keyboard?

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These methods are

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absolute Cartesian,

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relative Cartesian

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and relative polar.

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These methods can be used in a variety of projects including but not limited to

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drawing parts for mechanical pieces where specific dimensions are entered

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or drawing parcels for legal descriptions

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in the civil survey world. Let's briefly go through an example of each

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absolute Cartesian coordinates are based on the distance in the

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X and Y axis from the origin point of zero,

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comma zero.

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If you want to input distances from the origin point, this is your best option.

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This option is probably the most widely used as it's relatively easy to understand.

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For absolute Cartesian coordinates,

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you type in the X coordinate followed by a comma

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and then the Y coordinate.

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For example,

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if I started the line command,

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when it prompts for the first point

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I can type in 10

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comma four

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and then press enter

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the resulting line would be started at 10 on the X axis

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and four on the Y axis.

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If I use the ID command

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to identify the endpoint

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of the line,

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you'll see that it shows 10 on the X axis

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and four on the Y axis.

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For relative Cartesian coordinates,

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the input is slightly different.

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Note that dynamic input automatically defaults to relative Cartesian.

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This method simplifies the distance of a point from the last point entered.

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This method can be useful if you are given a distance in the X and Y axis

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instead of distance and angle values,

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we'll take a look at this with and without dynamic input.

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In this example,

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we create a simple wedge part

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with dynamic input turned on,

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we'll create a line segment

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starting at zero comma zero

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from there.

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We'll create a segment

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up in the Y axis

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two units long

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from there

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to add a line that has an angle on it.

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We'll type in four

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comma

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This creates a line

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that goes four units to the right

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and is 1.75 units higher than the preceding end point

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from there.

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We can close the shape going in a downward direction

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And then

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we can close

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typing in C.

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Now let's turn off dynamic input and try relative Cartesian coordinates.

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Remember that without dynamic input turned on,

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you have to type in the at symbol before

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the coordinate values with the dynamic input turned on.

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The at symbol is automatically turned on.

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This method will create a start point measured from the last drawn point.

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Now, before we get started,

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I'm going to start the line command again

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from zero comma zero.

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Now

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I'll go ahead and start the line command.

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And this time I'll enter at

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comma 10

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and press enter,

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I'll make the end point go somewhere off to the right.

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Then I'll use the ID command to id, the endpoint

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and notice that the X and the Y are both 10

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because my last point drawn was at zero. Comma zero.

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So let's test our theory to make sure this is working as we discussed

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if we start the line command again

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and this time enter

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the end point

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shows up up here.

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And if we use the ID command,

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we can see that the X and the Y values are 20

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meaning they're 10 values away from the last drawn point.

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Next, let's use relative polar coordinates.

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This method is similar to relative Cartesian coordinates,

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but instead

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uses distance and angle from the last point.

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If you are given distance and angle information

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to design with this method can be useful.

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So before starting, I'll start the line command at zero comma zero

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to get my original point,

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then I'll start the line command again.

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And this time I'll type in

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at

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less than sign

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enter,

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notice the difference here is that we use a less than sign instead of a comma

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the at 10, less than 45 indicates

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the end point to be drawn 10 units away at

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an angle of 45

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use the distance command to measure the end point of this line.

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And you will see that it shows a distance of 10

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and an angle of 45.

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So if we take this line

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to zero, comma zero,

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if we use the distance command,

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you can see that the distance is 10 ft and the angle in the xy plane is 45 degrees.

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Relative coordinates can be useful when used with the move or copy command.

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In this example,

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I'll draw a circle

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if I wanted to copy it to be five units in the X and three units in the Y,

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I could start the copy command,

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select the circle

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for the base point. I could select the center,

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then

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I could type in

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at five comma three

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and hit enter

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and the circle is then copied

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five units over and three units up.

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If I use the distance command to measure

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from center to center,

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you'll notice that the delta X is five

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and the delta Y is three

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indicating the five comma three that was typed in.