Western Mindanao State University

College of Engineering
Electrical Engineering Department
Zamboanga City

BES 114 – Computer-Aided Drafting

Exercise and Activity 1

Exercise #1 – Drawing lines using an exact points

Your first drawing activity will use the drawing commands in conjunction with the
different coordinate system. This is a basic activity, but it is very important to understand how to
give the program accurate information. You will use the following commands:

Command Alias Icon Location Description

Line Line/L Draw > Line Used to create line

Circle Circle/C Draw > Circle Used to create a circle

Modify >
Erase Erase/E Used to erase objects
Erase
Quick Access Used to undo the last
Undo Undo/U
Toolbar operation
Navigation Used to zoom in or
Zoom Zoom/Z
Bar out of a drawing
Start AutoCAD and click the large Start
Drawing button or you may click the Template
on the lower part of the Start Drawing button.
When a dialog box appears, you may select acad
or acadiso and click the Open button to begin a
new drawing window, as shown below. You may
also open a new drawing window by using the
menu options New.

For better display, type in Z <Enter>, then type

E <Enter>. This enables magnification of the
drawing area to contain the extents of all visible
objects in the drawing. Note: Do not forget to watch the command line as you type to facilitate
faster learning. Different options for zoom Z command are shown below.

1. Line Command

1.1 Absolute Coordinate System

Start the LINE command by clicking the line icon on the Draw panel or simply type LINE or L
then <Enter>. Draw a line from (1,1) to (5,1) to (5,5) to (1,5) to (1,1) by clicking <Enter> after
each point. The default unit of AutoCAD using acad template is inches while meters for acadiso.
Good job! You have just drawn a 4” or 4 m square using absolute coordinates.

This is what you will see in your Command Line:

If you want to view the command history, press F2 or click the arrow up on the right-end corner
of the Command Line. If you make a mistake, you can use the undo icon on the Quick Access
Toolbar, type U then <Enter>, or press Ctrl+Z.
1.2 Relative Coordinate System

Next draw a similar box using relative coordinates. Start the LINE command and begin at point
(7,1). From this point, draw a line four units to the right by typing @4,0, i.e., 4 units in the + x
direction, 0 units in the y direction). Next type @0,4, then @-4,0, then @0,-4. (Remember to press
enter after each point)

This is what you will see in your Command Line:

1.3 Polar Coordinate System

Draw a box similar to the previous box using polar coordinates. Start the LINE command and
begin at point (13,1). Type @4<0, @4<90, @4<180, then @4<270 or type C to close the box.
(Remember to press enter after each point)

This is what you will see in your Command Line:

Now, draw a different object using the same coordinate system. Start the LINE command and
begin at point (1,7). Type @5<36, @5<180, @5<-36, @5<108, then @5<252. What you have just
drawn is a five-pointed star. (Remember to press enter after each point)
This is what you will see in your Command Line:

2. Erase Command

To learn how to erase object(s) in AutoCAD, start the ERASE command by clicking the erase
icon on the Modify panel or simply type ERASE or E then <Enter>. Select the line(s) that you
want to erase then press <Enter>. You may also erase object(s) by selecting it then right click, then
choose erase. Now you may undo the actions that you have just done to retain the original objects.

3. Changing Linetype (Creating Broken Line)

Start the LINE command and begin at point (7,9). Using relative
coordinates, extend the line 5 units to the right. To do this, type
@5,0 then enter. To change the linetype property of the line that
you have just created, go to the Properties panel on the ribbon
and click the downward arrow that corresponds to the linetype
and then select Other. You will see a dialog box as shown below.
Click Load and select ACAD_ISO08W100 (ISO long-dash
short-dash), and then click OK. You then need to click the
ACAD_ISO08W100 again, then OK.

Next you need to change the Linetype Scale to 0.02. To do this,

select the line then Right-Click, a dialog box will pop up, then
select Properties. Look for the Linetype Scale and change 1 to
0.02. Now, you have just drawn a broken line. If the broken line
does not appear, select the line and reload again the
ACAD_ISO08W100 on the Properties panel.

4. Circle Command

Start the CIRCLE command by clicking the circle icon on the Draw
panel or simply type CIRCLE or C then <Enter>. Type 15,9 as the center
point of the circle then <Enter>. After specifying the center point, type
2.5 as radius of the circle. If you want to input diameter instead of radius,
type d or D then press <Enter>. You may now enter the diameter of the
circle. For other options on how to draw a circle, click the arrow on the
Circle icon then select any of the options (as shown).

To finish the exercise, draw a 18x13 (length x width) border around the
objects that you created starting at 0,0 using any methods you want.
Saving Drawing File
To save your drawing, go to the Menu Bar and select Save or simply press Ctrl+S, a dialog box
will pop up then. Select where you want to save the file and name it using “FamilyName-Exercise
1”.

Note: Your work must look like the figure shown below.
 ACTIVITY-1

Complete the drawing that will test your knowledge of drawing accurately using different
types of precision input. Start at the bottom left corner. Use the drawing tools you have learned in
the previous exercise, do not include the dimensions. You will have to use a combination of
absolute, relative, and polar co-ordinate input. (save your drawing as “FamilyName-Activity-1”)

Name: _____________________________________ Date: _________________

Year & Section: ___________________________ Remarks: _____________