Of course, even the best template file needs to be reviewed and updated periodically. Ideally, the designer will have a custom AutoCAD template (DTE file) where all of these decisions will be stored for use in the next project. These are the kind of unit-related considerations that the designer needs to address when setting up units for a project. Now tell me - how many decimal places do you want to see in the properties box? In the dimensions? And do you want the building’s concrete foundations laid out-and dimensioned-to the same level of precision as the kitchen cabinetry? Probably not. If you choose Architectural units as your type, AutoCAD will help you out by displaying an apostrophe or double quotation marks after the unit quantity in the Properties. Again, it’s up to the designer to keep track of the type of metric unit that she intends to be the default unit in the drawing. It’s important to note that AutoCAD will not automatically append “cm” (meaning centimeters) or “mm” (millimeters) onto the units’ display. You say you want your house’s walls laid out using meters as a measurement system? Great. Within the definition of the project’s units, there are two main settings for us to consider: Choosing Unit Type and Precision Settings I’ll address setting up units in Dimension Styles in an upcoming post. These dimensions appear in the printed documents and tell the builder what sizes we expect them to produce in the physical objects. Very importantly, this Drawing Utilities setting controls the default unit which is assumed by AutoCAD when you type in a number (like 36) for a distance or length.ĭimension Styles is where we control how units appear in our dimensions. The Area and Volume displays are affected by the type of length unit setting. The LIST command’s output is another place where the unit settings in Drawing Utilities affect the display of lengths. When you check the properties of a line or other object, how does the length appear? Does it show up with feet, inches and fractions? Or does it appear as simply a number, possibly with decimals?
The Properties dialog box is the main place that AutoCAD software “talks” to us, the designers. The builder or manufacturer who receives the drawings sees the results of the unit settings that the designer makes in the Dimension Styles dialog box.ĭrawing Utilities is where units get defined for the direct, two-way communication between the AutoCAD software and us (the designers). The designer sees the results of the unit settings made in the Drawing Utilities dialog box. The two roles are aimed at different audiences. What works well in the first may not be appropriate in the second, and vice versa. The setting of one has no effect whatsoever on the other. These two roles, while related, are really quite separate. There are two critical places in an AutoCAD project where we need to carefully set up the units: It’s really up to us, as designers, to be clear, and to stay consistent, on the nature of the units as they’re used in our project.
The actual real-world length measurement of a unit is only of secondary importance to the software. It’s our job as designers to be clear and consistent about units as they’re used in our project.
Do you like inches? Millimeters? Cubits? Furlongs?Light years? Whatever, says ACAD. This origin point is literally the center of the universe to AutoCAD, even though, as a designer, I may usually be unaware of its location relative to my work.ĪutoCAD doesn’t much care what real-world units that you (the designer) have in mind for your project. 17th-Century map of the universe with Earth at the center