2.5. Snapping to the Grid or Other Regular Intervals

Depending on the type of drawing you are doing, it can be helpful to have the cursor snap to the grid. Snap mode in AutoCAD forces the cursor to snap to regular intervals. For example, if you are drawing an object whose dimensions fall exactly within 1-unit increments, you can turn on Snap mode and set it to 1 unit. When you then start to draw, the cursor jumps to 1-unit increments.

To control Snap mode, do one of the following:

• Click the Snap Mode tool in the status bar.

• Press F9 or Ctrl+B.

You can also turn on Snap mode by entering Snap on at the command prompt.

To turn off the Snap mode, repeat the operation you used to turn it on. You can also enter Snap off at the command prompt.

By default, the spacings in grid and snap are the same; so if you turn on the grid and snap at the same time, the cursor appears to snap to the grid points. It is possible to set the grid and snap spacings to different values. For example, you might want the grid to show at a 12-inch interval while the snap spacing is set to 1 inch.

If Snap mode does not seem to have an effect, the snap spacing might be set to a value too small to be noticeable in relation to your current view. For example, if your view encompasses an area the size of a football field and your snap spacing is set to ½ inch, you won't notice the effects of the Snap mode.

In a new drawing, the snap interval is set to 0.5 units. (This is 0.5 inches if you are using the Architectural or Engineering unit type in the Drawing Units dialog box.) The snap spacing can be anything you want, plus you can rotate the snap interval orientation, have a different X and Y snap spacing, or set the snap intervals to align with a specific location such as the corner of a box or the center of a circle. You'll learn how to make these adjustments in the next section.