Western Mindanao State University

College of Engineering
Electrical Engineering Department
Zamboanga City

BES 114 – Computer-Aided Drafting

Exercise and Activity 5

Layers, Text, Dimension, and Scale

Now that you have learned a lot of the drawing and modifying commands, it is
time to go to the next level. This lesson will introduce you to text, dimensioning and
the concept of layers. What you will do is take one of your previous activities, save
it to a new name and then add text and dimensions to it.

Command Alias Icon Location Description

Used to create a new
Layer LAYER/LA Home > Layers layer and modify its
properties
Home > Used to enter text in the
Text TEXT
Annotation > Text drawing
Creates multiple
Home >
dimensions and types of
Dimension DIMENSION/DIM Annotation >
dimensions with a single
Dimension
command
Used to increase or
Home > Modify >
Scale SCALE/SC decrease the size of a
Scale
drawing
 Exercise #5 – Layers, Text, Dimension, and Scale

Begin by using your previous exercise (FamilyName-Exercise-4). Then using

the SAVE AS option under the Application Menu Bar, immediately save it with
new file name (FamilyName-Exercise5).

LAYER COMMAND
Layers are used to organize drawings. Imagine a large project for a high-rise
tower. The designers would create layers for the electrical, plumbing, landscape and
more. It is necessary to control the drawing and turn some layers off and view only
the ones you want. This is one reason why layers are needed.
You will be creating three layers: a layer for the dimensions, one for the objects
and another for the text. Start the LAYER command. This will bring up the Layer
Properties Manager, as shown below. We will only cover the basics in this lesson.

The components of the Layer Properties Manager are the Tree View and the
List View, as shown in the figure. The Tree View section is used for displaying
layer filters, group, or state information. The List View section is the main body of
the Layer Properties Manager. It lists individual layers that currently exist in the
drawing.
 The List View section contains various properties. You can set layer properties
and perform various operations in this section. A brief explanation of each layer
property is given below.

• Status – indicates if the layer is set to current or not. A green check is

when the layer is set as current layer.
• Name – shows the name of the layer.
• On – used to turn on/off the visibility of a layer. When a layer is turned on, it
shows a yellow lightbulb. When you turn off a layer, it shows a grey lightbulb.
• Freeze/Thaw – it is used to freeze the objects of a layer so that they cannot
be modified. Also, the visibility of the object is turned off.
• Lock/Unlock – it is used to lock the layer so that the objects on it cannot be
modified.
• Color – it is used to assign a color to the layer.
• Linetype – it is used to assign linetype to the layer.
• Lineweight – it is used to set a lineweight or thickness to the layer.
• Transparency – it is used to set transparency to a layer. You set a
transparency level from 0 to 90 for all objects on a layer.
• New VP Freeze – It is used to create and freeze a layer in any new viewport.
• Description – it is used to enter a detailed description about the layer.

At this point, you want to be concerned with the 'Name', 'On' and 'Color'
columns as well as the 'New Layer' button.
Now you have the dialog box on your screen, click the 'New Layer' icon
or type in Alt+N. This will create a new layer and give you an opportunity to name
it. Name this layer TEXT and select blue for the color. Create another layer and call
this one DIM (for dimensions), and make its color red. Finally, create a third layer
and call it OBJECT and make its color black. You have just created three new
layers in your drawing. Click the TEXT layer and then click the 'Set Current' icon
or type in Alt+C. This makes the TEXT layer current and anything you draw
will be placed on this layer.
TEXT COMMAND
TEXT layer is now your current drawing layer, so what you will be doing is
enter some text on your drawing. Type in TEXT on the command line. Look at the
command line.

You need to specify the starting point of your text. Type 0.75,0.3 as your
starting point. Notice that there are other options you could make but ignore them
for now. Next, AutoCAD wants you to specify the height of your text. For this
activity, you want them to be 0.25 tall. Type in 0.25 at the Height prompt.

One more thing before you start typing in text, tell AutoCAD if you want to
have your text rotated. Not this time, so press <ENTER> to accept the default of 0
degrees. Finally, you can type in what you want to put on the drawing. At the prompt,
type your NAME - EXERCISE #5 (sample: EZ MIL – EXERCISE #5) then press
<ENTER> twice.
You will see that AutoCAD has placed your name in the bottom left corner at
0.25 high and in blue on the 'Text' layer.

DIMENSION COMMAND
Now it is time to start dimensioning your drawing. Bring up the
Layer dialog box and make DIM your current layer.
There are various types of dimension tools. Each of the icons
gives you a quick clue as to which type of dimension it will create.
The figure shows you the standard dimensioning icons.

We will start with the most common (and easiest): Linear

Dimension. You will use this tool to add dimensions to the rectangle
in the bottom left of your drawing. Pick on the icon and then look at
the command line.

You are task to specify the first extension line origin (starting
point) or select object. Press <ENTER> to select a particular line or
pick the top left corner of the rectangle as your starting point. AutoCAD then asks
for the second extension line origin. Pick the top right corner. You will then see the
dimension appear and AutoCAD asks for the Dimension line location. Move your
cursor somewhere just above the line where you think it fits well. Now put dimension
on the line that is on the left side of the rectangle using the same method.
Now if you want to modify the dimension style including the text size, enter
DIMSTY in the command line. A dialog box will pop up, as shown below.

Select Standard and set it as current style. Now click the modify button and
look for the text, as shown below. Not set the text height to 0.20 and click ok then
close. You may explore the setting to change other parameters such as the unit format
and the number of decimal places.

Next you want to dimension the radius of the fillet on the rectangle with round
corners. Pick the icon for radius dimension. AutoCAD asks you to select an arc or
circle. Pick the arc on the top left corner of the rectangle. Again, AutoCAD then
wants you to pick the dimension line location. Pick anywhere outside the arc where
the dimension fits well.
 Next you want to dimension the top rectangle object (with angled corners) with
linear, aligned, and angular dimensions. Use Linear Dimension to add dimensions
to the left vertical line and lower horizontal line of the rectangle.
At the top right angled line, you want to add an Aligned dimension. Pick the
icon for this. As with the linear dimensions, pick the two endpoints of the top right
angled line. When you are asked to place the dimension, you will see that you can
only move parallel to the line that you picked. Place the dimension line somewhere
outside the object.
Now you are going to dimension the angle on the bottom right corner of the top
left object. Pick the Angular dimension icon. Pick the bottom line and then the
angled line in the bottom right corner. Place the dimension inside the box.
Now it is time to dimension the circle. Pick the icon for the Diameter
dimension. AutoCAD then wants you to select the arc or circle. Pick anywhere on
the circle (circles in the rectangular, path, and polar arrays). Then place the
dimension line somewhere outside the circle.

SCALE COMMAND
Next you need to copy everything and place in 12mm to the right. What you
want to do next is to scale the duplicate copy to double its existing size. Start the
SCALE command. When asked to select objects, select the duplicate copy and press
<ENTER>. Select the bottom left corner as your base point. Now you are asked to
specify the base scale factor, enter 2. Your command history should look like this:

Save your drawing as “FamilyName-Exercise-5”.

Kindly check if your work looks like the figure below.
 ACTIVITY- 5

Draw the figure below including text and dimensions. Create at least three layers (Objects,
Text, and Dimension) with different colors. Use the drawing tools you have learned in the previous
lessons. (save your drawing as “FamilyName-Activity-5”)

Name: _____________________________________ Date: _________________

Year & Section: ___________________________ Remarks: _____________

References
CADFolks (2020). AutoCAD 2021 beginners guide (8th Edition).
Evangelista, A. (2006). Engineering drawing 2 computer aided design manual