How to enter coordinates in AutoCAD means typing figures to specify a point instead of moving the mouse and clicking. A construction drawing has to be right to the millimetre, so this is the skill to settle before any drawing command.
AutoCAD accepts four kinds of figures at a point prompt, plus a fifth route that needs no coordinates at all. Most beginners learn one of them and then get stuck the first time a plan contains a wing set at an angle. To learn modelling and documentation end to end, see the AutoCAD for construction course.
How to enter coordinates in AutoCAD: four ways to the same point
Every drawing command asks for points, through prompts such as Specify first point: and Specify next point:. Four kinds of figures are valid there.
| Method | Form | What the figures mean |
|---|---|---|
| Absolute | 3600,2400 | 3600 along X and 2400 along Y from the drawing origin |
| Relative | @3600,0 | 3600 along X and 0 along Y from the previous point |
| Absolute polar | 4330<33.7 | 4330 from the drawing origin, in the direction 33.7 degrees |
| Relative polar | @2400<90 | 2400 from the previous point, in the direction 90 degrees |
Two symbols carry the whole table. @ means "measured from the previous point". < means "in the direction of".
The image at the top of this article puts all four side by side, each drawing the same L: 3600 right, then 2400 up. The four sets of figures share nothing, yet the lines land on top of each other. Choosing between them is a question of which is least work, not which is correct.
Absolute and relative coordinates in AutoCAD
Absolute coordinates are measured from the drawing origin, the point 0,0. Relative coordinates in AutoCAD are measured from the point just entered.
That difference decides how you work. The start of a wall already sits somewhere in the middle of the drawing. Giving the second point in absolute terms means doing arithmetic in your head. Typing @3600,0 means doing none.
So on a building plan, relative coordinates get used many times more often than absolute. Absolute is for the first point of the drawing, and for anything that has to land on a predetermined mark.
Try a room 4200 by 3600. Call LINE, pick the bottom left corner, then type these four things in turn:
| Step | Type | Line drawn |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | @4200,0 | 4200 to the right |
| 2 | @0,3600 | 3600 up |
| 3 | @-4200,0 | 4200 to the left |
| 4 | C | Closes back to the first point |
The minus sign in step 3 is the part worth remembering. Relative figures follow the direction of the axes, so travelling against X takes a negative number. The last step types C rather than another coordinate: the command closes back onto the start point exactly, with no chance of being a millimetre out.
With the two polar forms, the direction that angles are measured in is a common slip. Autodesk states that angles increase counter-clockwise; see About Entering 2D Polar Coordinates. So 90 degrees is up, 180 is left and 270 is down. Both @2400<-90 and @2400<270 go down 2400.
One example shows that the two forms are not interchangeable. A 1-in-12 ramp that runs 6000 horizontally rises 500:
@6000,500— runs exactly 6000 across and exactly 500 up. The line is 6021 long.@6021<4.76— a line exactly 6021 long at 4.76 degrees. This is the same line as above.@6000<4.76— a line only 6000 long, whose horizontal projection is 5979, not 6000.
Polar coordinates in AutoCAD give the length of the line, not the horizontal run. When you know the run and the rise, type @x,y. When you know the length and the angle, type @d<a.
The comma separates, the dot is the decimal point
This is the mistake that costs beginners the most time, and it hits anyone whose computer is set to a locale that uses the comma as its decimal mark.
In much of the world, 3,5 reads as three point five. AutoCAD works the other way round. In AutoCAD the comma separates two numbers and the dot is the decimal point.
| Typed | What AutoCAD reads |
|---|---|
3600,5 | Two numbers: X is 3600, Y is 5 |
3600.5 | A single number: three thousand six hundred point five |
3600.5,2400 | X is 3600.5 and Y is 2400 |
Type 3600.5 at a point prompt and the command simply waits, because it has one number and needs two. People then press Enter again, the command ends, and the line either never appears or lands somewhere strange. That is where vanishing points come from.
There is a quick way to check your own work. A millimetre-based building drawing almost never needs a decimal at all. So a dot inside a coordinate is worth a second look.
The # prefix when dynamic input is set to relative
Dynamic input is the pair of small figure boxes that follow the cursor, toggled with F12. Typing into them is quicker than looking down at the command line, so most people leave it on.
The boxes have a habit of their own. From the second point prompt onwards they read figures as relative, even without an @. To force absolute, add a hash # in front, giving #3600,2400. In polar form, #4<120 is absolute polar and @3<45 is relative polar.
This next point is the one worth the whole article. Autodesk's About Entering 2D Cartesian Coordinates states plainly: "If you enter coordinates on the command line instead of in the tooltip, the # prefix is not used." The # belongs to dynamic input. On the command line it is not needed, because figures typed there without an @ are already absolute.
In short: @ forces relative on the command line, # forces absolute in dynamic input. Two symbols doing opposite jobs in two different places.
The ID command in AutoCAD, and DIST
People often look for a single command that enters coordinates. There is none. Coordinates go straight into the point prompt of whichever command is running, be it LINE, MOVE, COPY or `RECTANG`.
There are, though, two commands that read coordinates, and both are worth knowing.
ID reports the coordinates of an existing point. Type ID, snap to the point in question, and the command line prints X, Y and Z. It draws nothing. What makes it useful is that it stores the point it just picked, so typing @ at the next command's point prompt starts right there. See the ID page.
DIST measures the distance between two points and reports the angle with it. It offers a Multiple points option for picking several points in a row. There is a genuine trap here: the figure reported is a running total, not the length of each segment.
| Point picked | Segment added | Command reports |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd point | 7200 | 7200 |
| 3rd point | 3600 | 10800 |
| 4th point | 3600 | 14400 |
Reading 10800 as the length of the second segment is wrong. To get each segment, measure the pairs separately, or subtract each reported figure from the next.
The UCS command in AutoCAD: rotating the axes
A plan has a wing turned 30 degrees to everything else. Drawing it with relative coordinates means adding 30 degrees to every angle. Rotating the axes themselves is tidier.
UCS is the user coordinate system, as against the world system usually called WCS. See the UCS page.
| Type | What it does |
|---|---|
UCS then pick a point | Moves the origin to that point, axis directions unchanged |
UCS then Z then an angle | Rotates the axes about the Z axis by that angle |
UCS then W | Returns to the world system |
UCSICON | Turns the axis icon on or off, or moves it to the origin |
Once the axes are rotated, every coordinate typed is measured against the new axes, and ORTHO follows the new directions too. The wing at 30 degrees becomes a wing drawn square, worked exactly as normal.
Two things need care. First, type UCS then W when the wing is finished, or every later command will be skewed with it. Second, text and dimensions created while the axes are rotated are tilted with them. Many people therefore build the geometry in a rotated UCS and return to the world system before annotating.
Resetting the origin is worth doing early as well. Put 0,0 on the intersection of grid 1 and grid A and every coordinate you read off means something, which makes checking against a schedule of coordinates far quicker.
What you know decides how you type it
Beyond the four coordinate forms there is a fifth route, and it is the one people use for most of a working day: move the cursor in the direction you want and type the length. This is direct distance entry.
Turn on ORTHO with F8 and the cursor will only travel horizontally and vertically. Push the mouse to the right, type 3600, press Enter. No @, no comma, nothing to get wrong. Horizontal and vertical walls make up most of a plan, so this saves the most time of anything here.
Knowing how to enter coordinates in AutoCAD really means knowing which of these five to reach for without stopping to think. On real documentation work the order of preference usually runs like this. Horizontal or vertical lines: F8 and the length. Lines where you know both axis distances: @x,y. Lines where you know a length and an angle: @d<a. The first point of the drawing, and anything that must sit on a fixed mark: absolute.
Frequently asked questions
How many ways are there to enter coordinates in AutoCAD?
Four coordinate forms: absolute x,y, relative @x,y, absolute polar d<a and relative polar @d<a. Plus direct distance entry, which needs no coordinates: turn on F8 and type the length.
What does the @ symbol mean in AutoCAD?
It means "measured from the point just entered". Typing @3600,0 means 3600 to the right of the previous point, with no reference to the drawing origin.
My point lands in the wrong place. Why?
Most often a comma has been typed where a dot belongs. In AutoCAD the comma separates two numbers and the dot is the decimal point, so 3600.5 is one number, not a coordinate.
When do I need the # prefix?
When dynamic input is on and you want an absolute coordinate, such as #3600,2400. Autodesk states that the prefix is not used when you type on the command line.
Which command reads the coordinates of an existing point?
ID. Type ID and snap to the point. It prints X, Y and Z, and remembers the point, so typing @ in the next command starts there.
How do I rotate the coordinate axes?
Type UCS, then Z, then the angle. When the angled part is finished, type UCS then W to return to the world system.
Related articles
- Object snaps in AutoCAD — thirteen snap modes and how they combine with typed coordinates
- How to draw a rectangle in AutoCAD — the REC command, eight options and the settings that persist
- How to draw an arc in AutoCAD — eleven construction methods and the radius trap
- What is AutoCAD — a handbook for people working in construction