This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
1-9 Grid and Snap
The Grid command is used to place a grid background on the drawing screen. This background grid is helpful for establishing visual reference points for sizing and for locating points and lines. The grid may appear as lines or dots. You can specify the type of grid in the Drafting Settings dialog box.
The Snap command limits the movement of the cursor to predefined points on the screen. For example, if the Snap command values are set to match the Grid values, the cursor will snap from intersection to intersection (or dot to dot) on the grid.
The default Grid and Snap setting for the acad template is .50 inch, and the default setting for Grid and Snap for the acadiso template is 10 millimeters.
Setting the Grid and Snap Values
Start a new drawing and select the acadiso template (where values are in millimeters).
Right-click the Snap tool located at the bottom of the screen and click Snap Settings (Figure 1-27).
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The Drafting Settings dialog box appears (Figure 1-27). If it is not already selected, click the Snap and Grid tab.
Click the Grid On and Snap On checkboxes. A check mark appears in each of the boxes.
Place the cursor in the Snap X spacing text box to the right of the given value under the Snap On heading.
A vertical flashing cursor appears.
Backspace out the existing value and type in 5.
Click the Snap Y spacing box.
The Y spacing automatically equals the X spacing value. You can create rectangular grid spacing by specifying different X and Y spacing values.
Select the Grid X spacing text box under the Grid spacing heading.
Backspace out the existing value and type in 10 if needed.
Click the Grid Y spacing box to make the X and Y values equal.
Click OK.
Figure 1-28 shows the result. Since the Snap values have been set to exactly half of the Grid values, the cursor can be located either directly on grid intersections or halfway between them.
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You can turn the grid on and off either by double-clicking the Grid icon at the bottom of the screen or by pressing the F7 key on the keyboard. Turn Snap on and off by double-clicking the Snap icon at the bottom of the screen or by pressing the F9 key on the keyboard. You can also turn Grid and Snap off and on by clicking their respective buttons on the status bar located at the bottom of the screen.