Select the Drawing Units in AutoCAD
In this tutorial, you learn how to set the drawing unit and the scale for a drawing. Before you start a drawing, y ou must first decide what drawing units to use.In AutoCAD, distances are measured in drawing units. In a drawing, one drawing unit may equal one inch, one millimeter, one meter, or one mile. Before you begin drawing, you decide what one drawing unit will represent. AutoCAD does not include a setting that determines the length of a drawing unit. After you decide what drawing units to use, you can set the format of the drawing units. The format settings available for linear units include. ■ Architectural. A length of 15.5 units displays as 1’-3 1/2” ■ Decimal. A length of 15.5 units displays as 15.5000 ■ Engineering. A length of 15.5 units displays as 1’-3.5” ■ Fractional. A length of 15.5 units displays as 15 1/2 ■ Scientific. A length of 15.5 units displays as 1.5500E+01 For example, a mechanical engineer who works in millimeters would set the format for linear units to de