Dive into this comprehensive AutoCAD tutorial to master key concepts such as Ortho Tracking and Additional Polar Angles, sharpen your skills with practical exercises, and enhance your CAD proficiency.
This exercise is excerpted from Noble Desktop’s past AutoCAD training materials and is compatible with Photoshop updates through 2020. To learn current skills in AutoCAD, check out AutoCAD Bootcamp and AutoCAD classes in NYC and live online.
Topics Covered in This AutoCAD Tutorial:
Ortho Tracking, Additional Polar Angles
Exercise Preview
In AutoCAD’s Start tab, press Start Drawing to create a new drawing.
Enable Ortho Tracking in the Status Bar
or press F8.Start the Line command, and enter a first point of 5,5.
Pull the cursor upward or to the right. The line will follow the cursor, but will stay vertical or horizontal along an Ortho Tracking line. As long as it’s pointing in the right direction, you can type in a distance and press Enter, regardless of where the cursor is. Pick either direction and draw the outer perimeter as demonstrated in the image at the beginning of the exercise. Remember, you can use the Close option for the last segment. You will not need to move the cursor as much as you would without Ortho tracking. You may be able to complete a few segments without moving the cursor at all. It’s a very fast and efficient way to draw.
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Enable Polar Tracking in the Status Bar
or press F10. Expand the Polar Tracking menu by clicking the arrow next to the Status Bar button and set 30˚ as the incremental polar angle.
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In the Polar Tracking menu click Tracking Settings. Click the New button, and add the additional angles of 50 and 230. These are opposite angles, so you will be able to track in both directions on the 50˚/230˚ tracking line.
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Start the Line Command and enter the first point at 12,8. Pull the cursor to the right and snap to the 0˚ horizontal tracking line. Enter a distance of 8. Pull the cursor upward and snap to the 50˚ additional tracking line. Make sure you don’t accidentally snap to the 30˚ or 60˚ tracking line, which are both close to the 50˚ line. Enter 5 for the distance.
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Pull the cursor up and snap to the vertical tracking line and enter a distance of 3. Pull up and to the left to snap to the 30˚ (150˚ absolute) incremental tracking line and enter a distance of 2. Make the next line segment 8 units to the left along the horizontal tracking line. Pull the cursor down and to the left and snap to the 230˚ Additional tracking line and enter a distance of 5.
Pull the cursor down to snap to the vertical tracking line and enter a distance of 3. Press C and then Enter to activate the Close option of the Line tool and finish the inner perimeter. Delete the Additional Angles in the Tracking Settings dialog box and close the file.