CadCraft™
Try it out
Menu

Tutorials CadCraft help Walkthroughs

Draw with coordinates

Draw an exact floor outline by typing absolute, relative and polar coordinates, and by direct distance entry.

Written for CadCraft 0.3. The same help is inside the app: press F1.

What you will make

The outline of an L-shaped room, 6000 by 4500 with a 2000 by 1500 notch, drawn exactly, plus a wall at 30 degrees. You will use all four ways of typing a point. Work in millimeters: one drawing unit stands for one millimeter.

The quick reference for every format is in Coordinate and distance entry.

Before you start

  1. Open CadCraft. If a drawing is open, click New first.
  2. Press EscEsc so that nothing is selected. The right panel reads Current settings.
  3. Set Units to Millimetres. Nothing is resized; this only tells sheets and plots what a unit means.

Absolute coordinates: the first point

An absolute coordinate is a position measured from the origin, typed as x,y.

  1. Type L and press ReturnEnter. The prompt reads Specify first point:.
  2. Type 0,0 and press ReturnEnter.

The line is now rubber-banding from the origin to the crosshair. The coordinates in the status bar show the distance and angle from the start point as you move.

Relative coordinates: @dx,dy

A relative coordinate is typed as @dx,dy: so far across, so far up, from the last point. Negative numbers go left or down.

  1. Type @6000,0 and press ReturnEnter. A 6000 line runs to the right.
  2. Type @0,3000 and press ReturnEnter.
  3. Type @-2000,0 and press ReturnEnter.
  4. Type @0,1500 and press ReturnEnter.

You should see four connected lines climbing up the right side of the room.

Direct distance entry: a bare number

When you type a single number, CadCraft goes that distance in the direction of the crosshair. Turn on Ortho so the direction snaps to horizontal or vertical.

  1. Press F8F8, or click Ortho in the status bar. The status bar says "Ortho on".
  2. Move the crosshair to the left of the last point. The rubber band stays horizontal.
  3. Type 4000 and press ReturnEnter. The line goes 4000 to the left.
  4. Move the crosshair below the last point.
  5. Type 4500 and press ReturnEnter. You are back at the start point.
  6. Press ReturnEnter on the empty prompt to end the command.

Mac

F8 may control media playback on a Mac keyboard. Hold fn and press F8, or click Ortho. See Keys, mice and trackpads.

You now have a closed L-shaped outline made of six separate lines.

  1. Click Extents to see all of it.

Polar coordinates: @distance<angle

A polar coordinate is typed as @distance<angle. Angles are in degrees, measured counterclockwise from the positive X direction: 0 is right, 90 is up, 180 is left, 270 (or -90) is down.

  1. Type L and press ReturnEnter.
  2. Type 6000,0 and press ReturnEnter to start at the lower-right corner.
  3. Type @2500<-30 and press ReturnEnter. A 2500 line leaves the corner, heading down and to the right at 30 degrees below horizontal.
  4. Press ReturnEnter to end the command.

A polar coordinate without @, such as 2500<30, is measured from the origin instead of from the last point.

The same outline as one polyline

Six separate lines are fine for many jobs, but a polyline is one object: it offsets, measures and selects as a whole. Use PLINE with the same input.

  1. Type PL and press ReturnEnter.
  2. Type 0,-6000 and press ReturnEnter to start below the first outline.
  3. Type @6000,0, then press ReturnEnter.
  4. Type @0,3000, then press ReturnEnter.
  5. Type @-2000,0, then press ReturnEnter.
  6. Type @0,1500, then press ReturnEnter.
  7. Type @-4000,0, then press ReturnEnter.
  8. Type C and press ReturnEnter. The polyline closes and the command ends.
  9. Click the new outline. The right panel shows "Polyline", its Vertices, Length and, because it is closed, its Area.

The area should read 24000000 (square millimeters, which is 24 square meters).

Options while drawing

  • In LINE and PLINE, type U and press ReturnEnter to take back the last segment without leaving the command.
  • In LINE, C closes back to the first point once there are at least two segments.
  • In PLINE, A switches to arc segments (each arc continues smoothly from the segment before), and L switches back to lines. In arc mode, the close option is CL.
  • Pressing ReturnEnter at Specify first point: in LINE starts from the last point you gave, so you can carry on where you stopped.

Common mistakes

  • Typing 6000,0 when you meant @6000,0. Without @, the point is measured from the origin, not from the last point, so the line shoots off somewhere unexpected. In CadCraft, x,y is always absolute. Press U and ReturnEnter to take it back.
  • A comma typed as a decimal point. Decimals use a period: 1250.5. A comma always separates X from Y.
  • The direct distance went the wrong way. A bare number follows the crosshair. Move the crosshair to the side you want before you press ReturnEnter, and turn on Ortho for straight lines.
  • "Point or option keyword required." CadCraft did not understand what you typed. Check for spaces inside the number or a missing comma, and type it again.
  • Feet and inches. CadCraft reads plain numbers only. Type 150 for 12'-6" in an inch drawing, or 12.5 in a foot drawing.