How to Draw in Feet in AutoCAD: Step-by-Step Guide
If you deal with architectural, construction, interior design, or engineering projects, learning how to draw in feet in AutoCAD is a great idea. AutoCAD is perfectly suited to working in millimeters, inches, meters, centimeters, and other units — the primary choice is always made by you, the designer. Feet and inches are popular in the American and other construction industries.
AutoCAD offers a wide range of customizable drawing units. It doesn’t impose any specific ones. You can set your units per drawing or per project basis, and create objects using real-world sizes.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the basics of drawing in feet in AutoCAD. We’ll show you how to set up your drawing units, add dimensions in feet and inches, draw lines and walls, use objects, check measurements, and print your drawing.
What Does Drawing in Feet Mean in AutoCAD?
Before we learn how to draw in feet in AutoCAD, let’s talk about units in general.
Technically, AutoCAD doesn’t have them — when you draw a line that is 10 units long, it can be 10 millimeters, 10 feet, 10 meters — it doesn’t matter to the program itself.
The main reason is that you, as the designer, decide what these 10 units mean. If you want to draw in millimeters, make every AutoCAD unit equal to 1 millimeter in real life.
The same goes for inches, feet, and any other unit of length.
It doesn’t mean that you have to change every drawing to match the units. If you want to create a 20-foot wall, you can simply enter 20 feet in the prompt — and AutoCAD will create a 20-foot-long line (or any other shape you want).
The alternative way is to use architectural units — in other words, feet and inches.
How to Set AutoCAD Drawing Units to Feet?
Let’s cover how to draw in feet in AutoCAD basics first — setting the units in AutoCAD to feet and inches.
Step 1: Open the Units Command
Open your AutoCAD drawing and enter the following command in the command prompt:
UNITS
And press Enter. The Drawing Units window will appear.
Step 2: Set Architectural Units
In the opened window, go to the Length section and look at the Type dropdown.
Depending on your AutoCAD version, you may see something like this:
We recommend selecting Architectural if you want to work with architectural units (feet and inches).
Note: This is just an example — your options will vary depending on the AutoCAD version. Make sure to select Architectural if it’s available.
Step 3: Set Your Precision
Next, set the precision based on your needs. For instance, 0’-0 1/16” will set the precision to 1/16 of an inch.
It all depends on what you want to do — for most architectural drawings, the precision needed is typically based on documentation and presentation standards.
Step 4: Set OK
After setting the units, click OK.
Your drawing is now set to architectural units (inches and feet).
Note: Changing units doesn’t change the geometry of your drawing. Units and geometry are independent of each other.
How to Draw a Line in Feet?
Let’s examine the process of actually drawing in feet and inches.
Let’s start with the simplest option — drawing a line that is 20 feet long.
Method 1: Type 20 Feet
Type the following command in the command prompt:
LINE
And press Enter. Set your starting point (you can specify it by clicking in the drawing area), and move to the desired direction (you can use your mouse or press Enter to set the direction). Finally, type the following in the command prompt:
20’
And press Enter. That’s all you need to do to draw a line that is 20 feet long.
Method 2: Type Feet and Inches
Let’s say you want to draw a line that is 15 feet and 6 inches long.
Type the following in the command prompt:
15’6”
And press Enter.
This is especially useful if you want to design residential buildings, as most residential blueprints use feet/inches measurements.
How to Draw a Rectangle in Feet?
Drawing rectangles is useful for many architectural projects, ranging from residential buildings to furniture.
Let’s say we want to create a rectangle that is 12 x 15 feet.
Type the following command in the command prompt:
RECTANG
And press Enter.
Next, set the first corner of the rectangle by clicking in the drawing area.
Finally, type the following in the command prompt area:
@12’,15’
And press Enter.
That’s all it takes to create a 12 x 15 feet rectangle.
Note: We’re using the architectural units (feet and inches), but you can also use decimal units. Simply enter values such as 15.5 instead of 15’6” if you want to use decimal feet.
How to Draw Walls in Feet?
One of the most common applications of drawing lines in feet is walls.
Let’s imagine that we need to create a simple house layout with the following dimensions:
House length: 40 Feet
House width: 30 Feet
Bedroom size: 12 x 14 Feet
Living room size: 16 x 18 Feet
Hallway size: 4 Feet
You can use lines, plines, rectangles, or other tools to create the house layout. It’s up to you: if you want to do it the hard way, start by creating the house perimeter (40 Feet x 30 Feet).
Use lines or plines to create the exterior walls of the house. Again, it’s up to you to choose the right tool for the job.
The key point here is to make sure that you’re entering the right values. Don’t make the house smaller than specified just because it would look better on your screen. Always use actual sizes.
Feet vs. Inches in AutoCAD
It’s important to differentiate between the following units:
• Decimal feet (10.5)
• Foot-inch (10’6”)
• Decimal inches (120”)
In most cases, architectural drawings use foot-inch units.
How to Check Dimensions in Feet?
Now, it’s time to learn how to check dimensions if you’re working in feet.
The easiest option is to use the DIST (distance) command.
Type the following command in the command prompt:
DIST
And press Enter. Pick two points to measure the distance between them.
You can also use the DIM (dimension) command to actually place a dimension on your drawing.
Let’s say that you need to make sure that a specific wall is 25 feet long. Double-check it with the DIM command and ensure that the length is correct — don’t assume that it will always be accurate.
How to Use Dimensions in a Feet-Based Drawing?
Dimensions are vital in any architectural blueprint or technical drawing.
Type the following command in the command prompt:
DIM
And press Enter. Pick the points for your dimension, and add the dimension to your drawing. If you’ve set your units to feet/inches, it will automatically use the units of your choice.
For instance, make sure that a 20-foot line is actually 20 feet long. If it is 20 units long in your drawing, it means that you either have the wrong units, or you didn’t set up the units correctly.
Note: Objects snap to units, so a line that is 10 feet long will always be 10 feet long (regardless of your units).
How to Draw Using Feet and Inches Accurately?
If you want to become proficient at drawing in feet and inches, precision is the key.
Let’s return to the first example — a 14’6” x 12′ room. Don’t do any calculations and simply type the following in the command prompt:
14’6”
To specify the room length, and
12’
To specify the room depth.
It seems simple enough, but many designers forget that they can add this type of dimension without converting it to inches. It saves time and reduces errors.
Common Mistakes When Drawing in Feet
Now, let’s take a look at some common mistakes that new AutoCAD users make when they’re learning how to draw in feet in AutoCAD.
Mistake #1: Forgetting that AutoCAD Doesn’t Know Whether a Specific Unit Is in Inches or Feet
AutoCAD doesn’t make assumptions about units, which is why you have to set your units to architectural, decimal, or engineering.
Mistake #2: Confusing Feet and Inches
It’s easy to type 10 instead of 10’ or 10”, resulting in a much larger or smaller drawing than you intended.
Mistake #3: Scaling the Drawing Inappropriately
Don’t randomly scale your drawing just because it looks big or small in model space. Always use the ZOOM command to change the scale in your drawing.
Mistake #4: Disregarding Standards
Many industries have standards for drawing units, layers, dimension styles, text, and other elements. Always follow the standards set by your organization or client.
Tips for Creating Accurate Feet-Based AutoCAD Drawings
Here are some general best practices for making precise architectural drawings or technical drawings in feet:
• Always pick an appropriate system of units.
• Use actual dimensions when drawing.
• Use architectural units when working with feet and inches.
• Use DIST or DIM commands to measure and set dimensions.
• Use object snapping to ensure that your lines, rectangles, and other objects are attached to specific objects.
• Make sure that you have the right settings for precision, drawing limits, and other objects.
• Use Ortho (ORTHO) to create straight vertical and horizontal lines.
• Use layers to manage and separate objects (walls, dimensions, notes, etc.).
• Don’t randomly scale your objects and drawings.
• Make sure that you review and double-check the drawing before you plot it.
• Save an appropriate drawing template with the units and drawing settings that you use most often.
How to Print an AutoCAD Drawing Made in Feet?
After you finish creating your architectural blueprint, you need to print it using an appropriate scale.
An architectural drawing typically uses a scale such as 1/4” = 1’-0”, 1/8” = 1’-0”, or 1/2” = 1’-0” — it all depends on the size of the drawing and the paper that you use to print it.
The modern approach to printing AutoCAD drawings in feet and inches is to create your model at full scale and change the plotted scale using the Layout and Viewports tools.
Double-check your options in the Print Preview window. Make sure that the final printed version of the drawing uses the correct scale, paper size, and orientation.
Verify that the line widths, dimension sizes, title block, and margins are also set correctly. Print Preview helps you review your options before you print the actual drawing.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can I draw directly in feet in AutoCAD?
Yes, you can. First, set AutoCAD to use architectural units (see the section above). Then, type 20 feet in the prompt instead of 20 inches or 20 millimeters. Just keep in mind that the units in AutoCAD are relative — it doesn’t matter if you draw in inches, feet, or millimeters unless you specify a conversion.
2. How do I convert an existing AutoCAD drawing to feet?
First, review the current units of the drawing, and make sure that you understand what AutoCAD will use (millimeters, centimeters, inches, or something else). Finally, use the SCALE command and enter the appropriate scale ratio to convert the drawing to feet.
Make sure that you save a backup copy of the file before you do any scaling operations.
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