Specifying Relative Cartesian Coordinates

Specifying Relative Cartesian Coordinates
For the next line segment, let’s try another method for specifying exact distances:
1. Enter @0,0.15↵. Metric users should enter @0,0.5↵. A short line appears above the endpoint
of the last line. Once again, @ tells AutoCAD that the coordinate you specify is from the last
point picked. But in this example, you give the distance in X and Y values. The X distance,
0, is given first, followed by a comma, and then the Y distance, 0.15. This is how to specify
distances in relative Cartesian coordinates.


TIP Step 1 indicates that metric users should enter @0,0.5↵ for the distance. Instead, you could
enter 0,.5 (zero comma point five). The leading zero is included for clarity. European metric users
should be aware that the comma is used as a separator between the X and Y components of the
coordinate. In AutoCAD, commas aren’t used for decimal points; you must use a period to denote
a decimal point.
2. Enter @-3,0↵. Metric users should enter @-9,0↵. This distance is also in X,Y values, but here you
use a negative value to specify the X distance. The result is a drawing that looks like Figure 2.5.
Positive values in the Cartesian coordinate system are from left to right and from bottom to
top (see Figure 2.6). (You may remember this from your high school geometry class!) If you
want to draw a line from right to left, you must designate a negative value. It’s also helpful
to know where the origin of the drawing lies. In a new drawing, the origin, or coordinate 0,0,
is in the lower-left corner of the drawing.
3. Type C↵. This C stands for the Close command. It closes a sequence of line segments. A line
connecting the first and last points of a sequence of lines is drawn (see Figure 2.7), and the Line
command terminates. The rubber-banding line also disappears, telling you that AutoCAD has
finished drawing line segments. You can also use the rubber-banding line to indicate direction
while simultaneously entering the distance through the keyboard. See the upcoming sidebar “A
Fast Way to Enter Distances.”
TIP To finish drawing a series of lines without closing them, you can press Esc, ↵, or the spacebar