Drawing Basics

Drawing Arcs
Experiment 1.6(using Direct Distance Entry)

An arc is a portion of a circle. The total angle of an arc will always be less than 360 degrees,
whereas the total angle of a circle is 360 degrees. AutoCAD provides you with many ways to
draw an arc. You can draw arcs in different ways by using the tools available in the Arcs drop-
down of the Draw panel. The usage of these tools will depend on your requirement. Some
methods to create arcs are explained in the following examples.

Example 1 (3-Point)
In this example, you will create an arc by specifying three points. The arc will pass through these
points.
Open the Line-example1.dwg file.
Expand the Draw panel in the Home tab and select the Multiple Points tool.
Type 100,120 in the command line and press ENTER. This places a point above the rectangle.
Click the down arrow next to the Object Snap icon on the status bar, and then select the Node
option from the menu.
Click Home > Draw > Arc > 3-Point on the ribbon. The message, “Specify start
point of arc or [Center]:” appears in the command line.
Select the top left corner of the rectangle.
Select the point located above the rectangle.
Select the top right corner of the rectangle; the three point arc will be created.
Example 2 (Start, Center, End)
In this example, you will draw an arc by specifying its start, center and end points. The
first two points define the radius of the arc and third point defines its included angle.
Click Home > Draw > Arc > Start, Center, End on the ribbon. The message,
“Specify start point of arc or [Center]:” appears in the command line.
The included angle of the arc is measured in the counter-clockwise direction. Press
and hold the Ctrl key, if you want to reverse the direction.
Pick an arbitrary point in the graphics window to define the start point of an arc.
The message, “Specify center point of arc:” appears.
Pick a point to define the radius of the circle. You can also type-in the radius value
and press ENTER; the message, “Specify end point of arc or [Angle/chord
Length]:” appears.
You will notice that, as you move the pointer, the included angle of the arc changes.
Pick a point to define the included angle of the arc. You can also type the angle
value and press ENTER.
Example 3 (Start, End, Direction)
Use the Line tool and create the drawing shown in figure below. The dimensions
are also given in the figure.
Click Home > Draw > Arc > Start, End, Direction on the ribbon.
Select the start and end points of the arc as shown in figure.
Move the pointer vertically downward and click to specify the direction.
Likewise, create another arc.

Steps

1. In this example, you will create a circle by specifying its center and radius value.
2. Click Home > Draw > Circle > Center, Radius on the ribbon.
3. Select an arbitrary point in the graphics window to specify the center point.
4. Type 20 as the radius and press ENTER.

Example 2(Center, Diameter)

1. In this example, you will create a circle by specifying its center and diameter value.
2. Click Home > Draw > Circle > Center, Diameter on the ribbon. The message,
3. “Specify center point for circle or [3P/2P/Ttr (tan tan radius)]:” appears in the command
line.
4. Pick a point in the graphics window, which is approximately horizontal to the previous
circle. Type 40 as the diameter and press ENTER; the circle will be created.
Example 3(2-Point)
1. In this example, you will create a circle by specifying two points. The first point is to
specify the location of the circle and the second defines the diameter.
2. Click down arrow next to the Object Snap icon on the status bar. A flyout appears.
3. Activate the Center option, if it is not already active.
4. Now, you will create a circle by selecting the center points of the previous circles.
5. Click Home > Draw > Circle > 2-Point on the ribbon. The message, “Specify first end
point of circle’s diameter:” appears in the command line.
6. Select the center point of the left side circle; the message, “Specify second end point of
circle’s diameter:” appears in the command line. Select the center point of the right side
circle; the circle will be created a shown below.

Example 4(3-Point)

1. In this example, you will create a circle by specifying three points. The circle will pass
through these three points.
2. Open a new file.
3. Use the Line tool and create the drawing shown in figure below. The coordinate
4. points are also given in the figure.
5. Click Home > Draw > Circle > 3-Point on the ribbon.
6. Select the three vertices of the triangle; a circle will be created passing through the
selected points.

Example 5 (Tan, Tan, Radius)

1. In this example, you will create a circle by selecting two objects, and then specifying the
radius of the circle. This creates a circle tangent to objects.
2. Click Home > Utilities > Measure > Radius on the ribbon. The message,
“Select arc or circle: “appears in the command line.
Select the circle passing through the three vertices of the triangle; the radius and
diameter values of the circle will be displayed above the command line.
3. Click Home > Utilities > Quick Calculator on the ribbon; the Quick Calculator
appears.
4. Type-in 57.7350 in the Quick Calculator.
5. Click the / button and then the 2 button on the Number Pad.
6. Click the = button; the value 28.8675 is displayed in the value box.
7. Click Home > Draw > Circle > Tan, Tan, Radius on the ribbon; the message,
8. “Specify point on object for first tangent of circle:” appears in the command line.
9. Select the horizontal line of the triangle; the message, “Specify point on object for
second tangent of circle:” appears in the command line.
10. Select anyone of the inclined lines; the message, “Specify radius of circle” appears
in the command line.
11. Click the Paste value to command line button on the Quick Calculator; the value
28.8675 will be pasted in the command line.
12. Press ENTER to specify the radius; the circle will be created touching all three
sides of the triangle.
13. Save and close the file.

Example 6 (Tan, Tan, Tan)

1. In this example, you will create a circle by selecting three objects to which it will be
tangent.
2. Click the Open button on the Quick Access Toolbar; the Select File dialog appears.
3. Browse to the location of Line-example3.dwg file and double-click on it; the file will be
opened.
4. Click Home > Draw > Circle > Tan, Tan, Tan on the ribbon.
5. Select the bottom horizontal line of the drawing.
6. Select the two inclined lines. This creates a circle tangent to the selected lines.
7. Save and close the file.