Getting a Visual Reference with the Grid Mode
Getting a Visual Reference with the Grid Mode
If you're a CAD
AutoCAD's Grid mode displays an array of nonprinting dots within the drawing area. These dots can give you a reference for distance or location. You can set the spacing of the dots and easily
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Click the Grid button in the status bar.
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Press F7 or Ctrl+G.
You can also enter Grid ↲ on ↲ . An array of dots appears in the drawing area, as shown in Figure 2.11.
Figure 2.11:
An AutoCAD grid
You can turn off the grid by repeating the operation you used to turn the grid on, or you can enter Grid ↲ off ↲ at the command prompt.
You might also see a grid that appears only in a small area, as shown in Figure 2.12. This happens when the Display Grid Beyond Limits grid setting is turned off. You'll learn about the grid settings in the
Figure 2.12:
The grid as it appears when the limits of the drawing are smaller than the current display
As described in "Using Limits to Set Up the Drawing Area," you can choose View
Zoom
All to adjust the display so that the limit of the drawing
You can make a wide range of settings for the way grids display. See "Changing the Grid and Snap Settings" later in this chapter for more information.
Snapping to the Grid or Other Regular Intervals
Depending on the type of drawing you are doing, it can be helpful to have the cursor "snap" to the grid. Snap mode in AutoCAD forces the cursor to "snap" to regular intervals. For example, if you are drawing an object whose dimensions fall exactly within 1-unit
Units can be inches, metric measurements, or any unit of measure you choose.
To control Snap mode, do one of the following:
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Click the Snap button in the status bar.
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Press F9 or Ctrl+B.
You can also turn on Snap mode by entering Snap ↲ on ↲ at the command prompt.
To turn off the Snap mode, repeat the operation you used to turn it on. You can also enter Snap ↲ off ↲ at the command prompt.
By default, the grid and snap spacing are the same; so if you turn on the grid and snap at the same time, the cursor appears to snap to the grid points. It is possible to set the grid and snap spacing to different values. For example, you might want the grid to show at a 12-inch interval while the snap spacing is set to 1 inch.
If Snap mode does not seem to have an effect, the snap spacing might be set to a value too small to be noticeable in relation to your current view. For example, if your view encompasses an area the
In a new drawing, the snap interval is set to 0.5 units. (This is 0.5 inches if you are using the Architectural or Engineering unit type in the Drawing Units dialog box.) The snap spacing can be anything you want, plus you can rotate the snap interval orientation, have a different X and Y snap spacing, or set the snap intervals to align with a specific location such as the corner of a box or the center of a circle. You'll learn how to make these adjustments in the
