A problem in choosing length units

[mohammad_mohammad3D7VG]

I have a problem in choosing length units .. i want to draw in meters and even if i changed it from millimeters to meters .. the line is drawn in milimeters

[cadffm]

Hi,

it is all in your head, in AutoCAD you draw without real units.

Drawa line with length 1, say it is one meter, or take as Millimeter and if you need a length of one Meter, draw a line with length 1000.

If you are a beginner, it is easier to draw in Millimeter, because some features are predefined for Millimeter use.

[paullimapa]

I assume when you say you changed it to Meters you're doing this in the Drawing Units window.

But notice that the Length Type is set on top. No where does it state Millimeters vs Meters here.

The Insertion scale drop down list setting is where you do see Millimeters vs Meters which is only reference by another drawing when Inserting/Referencing this current drawing.

So as @cadffm very clearly explained the Length Type is basically determined by you. You can say the 1 unit you drew is 1 Meter or 1 Millimeter. But once you start with for example 1 Meter then if you now want it to be 1 Millimeter then you'll have to manually use AutoCAD's built-in Scale command to scale everything by 1,000 times.

[mohammad_mohammad3D7VG]

Sorry i have another question..what if i want to make it bigger..i mean for example when i draw a line with 20 length units the line is so small and i should zoom in to see it clearly ..

also if i consider lengths in millimeters and i want to draw a 20 meters line ..when i insert 20,000 it draw a very long line 

i hope this video shows what i want to ask about

[cadffm · Accepted solution]

Hi,

> for example when i draw a line with 20 length units the line is so small"

The line is 20units long.

>and i should zoom in to see it clearly ..

If your previous view is far out, yes.

Do this

Type in ZOOM<enter>0,0<enter>100,50

and try it again, draw a line, 20units long

If you far away from a Skyscaper, it looks not so heigh, Go to the door and look to the top again..

or much more impressiv - go to the top one the edge and lok down.. High enough?

-

>also if i consider lengths in millimeters

Is this what you tried to show in your Video? Again: This dialog has nothing to do with real units of your lines in this file!

This setting is to say "Yes, I  am working in Millimeters" and if you insert this File into another File via INSERT oder XREF command, AutoCAD can scale it the correct way for you (if in your target file, the units also set well).

>and i want to draw a 20 meters line ..when i insert 20,000 it draw a very long line

If you want to have a 20meter long line and you are drawing all in millimeters*, enter 20000 as line length,

if you want to have a 20meter long line and you are drawing all in meters*, enter 20 as line length.

...it is in your head only.

Set the "insertion units" in Units dialog well in all files, because it because the time will come when you want to insert one file into the other (as a block or as an xref)
and then AutoCAD can scale properly for you.
But while you're working in one file and not inserting other files, the setting is theoretically unimportant,
because it doesn't change anything for your input!

[jtohillVY4VS]

Just want to tell you something about metric drawings, if you choose millimeter as your unit of measure you rid yourself of the decimal place for all your drawings. 1,000 is a meter, in most construction you are not interested in distance smaller than a millimeter.