Michael’s Corner

Michael's Corner is a monthly publication written by Michael E. Beall, Autodesk Authorized Author and peripatetic AutoCAD trainer. Michael travels all over the USA, bringing his fantastic experience and great understanding of AutoCAD to his clients. Michael's Corner brings together many of the tips, tricks and methods developed during these training sessions for the benefit of all users.

Michael's Corner provides something for every AutoCAD user. Every month, a number of articles cover a wide range of topics, suitable for users at all levels, including "The Basics" for those just starting out. Essentially, the aim of Michael's Corner is to help all AutoCAD users work smarter and faster.

This month…

From the Vault

Originally published December 2009

The Lowly Rectangle

Using the Rectangle command is a much more effective method of creating rectangles than using Polyline, so let's look at the two approaches to creating that rectangle. In each of the following procedures, you will create a rectangle that is 12′ x 4′ (…about the size of your Thanksgiving table if all the leaves are in).

Instructions to Create a Rectangle - Old School

1. Launch the Rectangle command (Ribbon: Home tab, Draw panel), then specify the first corner.

2. At the prompt to "Specify other corner point…", type @12′,4′ then press [Enter]. The command is now complete and you have a rectangle.

Note: Whenever AutoCAD is ‘asking’ for the placement of the next point - such as the placement of the second corner of the rectangle - you can enter the location of that next point in the format of @X,Y. Think of the @ sign as going from where you're ‘at’, then enter how far over in X (the horizontal direction) and Y (the vertical direction).

A negative values for X will go to the left, a negative value for Y will go down. In step 2, above, if you entered @4′,12′, your rectangle would be vertically oriented; try it.

Instructions to Create a Rectangle - "Dimensions" Option

1. Launch the Rectangle command, then specify the first corner (the location of the dot in the illustration).

2. At the prompt to "Specify other corner point…", enter D for the Dimensions option. (When using the Dimensions option, you need not specify a positive or negative direction, simply the physical dimensions of the rectangle.)

   

3. When prompted to "Specify length for rectangles…", enter 12′.

   When using the Dimensions option, the first prompt is always for the Length and the value entered will be for the dimension of the rectangle horizontally (in the X axis).

4. When prompted to "Specify width for rectangles…", enter 4′.

   When using the Dimensions option, the second prompt is always for the Width and the value entered will be for the dimension of the rectangle vertically (in the Y axis).

5. Now, since you did not need to numerically specify a direction for that rectangle, you have the opportunity to move your cursor into any one of the four quadrants adjacent to the first corner specified (the dashed rectangles in the illustration).

6. Position your cursor in the desired quadrant, then click to place the rectangle and complete the command!

Also, you will find additional coverage on graphically specifying points for the Rectangle command in Michael's Corner, September 2005.

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