Convert inches to meters - preserve length in other units

[Anonymous]

I have a drawing that had wrong input measurements. Instead of inches (that is default) I want to have meters.

Example:

I have a line that has 452.906inches. Now I want that line to have 452.906meters (exactly this length). Changing units of drawing doesn't do what I want. 

How should I scale my drawing to obtain 452.906m from 452.906"?

[Alfred.NESWADBA]

Hi,

welcome @Anonymous!

>> I have a line that has 452.906inches. Now I want that line to have

>> 452.906meters (exactly this length)

In AutoCAD a line can be 452.906 long, independent of your units-setting. Even if you use command _UNITS and set it to "unitless" the line will be 452.906 long, when you use e.g. command _DIST or if you create a dimension for that object.

>> Changing units of drawing doesn't do what I want.

What are you expecting? What do you think should AutoCAD do with the line?

Using command _UNITS from inch to meter is only a modification for a drawing setting, not for your objects in the drawing.

This setting is only used when you insert this drawing into another drawing so AutoCAD knows how to scale the objects in the modelspace.

- alfred -

[Anonymous]

So, should I create new drawing with units set from the beginning to meters and copy-paste from old drawing?

EDIT: I made it like I wrote and it looks credible but is that correct way to do it? 🙂

[Alfred.NESWADBA]

Hi,

>> So, should I create new drawing with units set from the

>> beginning to meters and copy-paste from old drawing?

By default setting the units to the correct value (or starting with the template that already has the correct settings is the best to do.

Because then all linetypes, hatches, ... have the correct distance settings (as they differ between metric and imperial, controlled by sysvar MEASUREMENT)

For the current drawing, you just need to change the units as your statement was the absolute length value of "452.906" should stay at that value.

You might (to make more sure when exchanging objects between drawings and especially in case vertical products like AutoCAD Architecture, MEP, Civil 3D are used you can start command -DWGUNITS (with a leading dash) and set the units to 6 here too.

But you an stay in your current drawing after changing the units.

- alfred -