AutoCAD For Dummies, 17th Edition

Chapter 7

Dangerous Curves Ahead

IN THIS CHAPTER

Rounding the curves with circles, arcs, splines, and clouds

Employing eccentric ellipses

Dunking for donuts

Making your points

Although straight-line segments predominate in many CAD drawings, even the most humdrum, rectilinear design is likely to have a few curves. And if you’re drawing Audi car bodies or Gaudí buildings, those drawings will contain a lot of curves! In this chapter, I cover the AutoCAD curve-drawing commands. Your drawings should also have a point; in fact, they may have several points, so at the end of this chapter, I fill you in on creating point objects in AutoCAD.

(Throwing) Curves

Curves are used to represent many different types of features in a drawing. A circle is used to show a hole in a steel beam, but can also be used for a bicycle tire. After circles, the next most commonly used curve objects are arcs. Arcs can be found in drawings where two pieces of steel meet to show fillets or even in curved lips on countertops. The design of the ark probably included arcs. Other curve types that you can create are filled circles, ellipses, and splines.

AutoCAD supports the following curve commands, all of which can be found on the Draw panel of the Home tab:

• Circle: Draws circles. (You were expecting hyperbolic paraboloids?)
• Arc: Draws circular arcs with center points and fixed radii, not arcs cut from ellipses, ...