The scale command in AutoCAD is uniform, and three ways to stretch one direction

The most searched question around the scale command in AutoCAD is not how to use it. It is how to make it stretch in one direction only. The blunt answer is that it cannot, by design.

This article measures four routes on AutoCAD 2027 at the Institute, shows which of them stretch one way, and explains why no add-on is needed for the job. For the full set of editing commands see our AutoCAD for Construction course.

The scale command in AutoCAD is uniform, and the prompt says so

The evidence sits in the question itself, copied verbatim from the 2027 release:

Specify scale factor or [Copy/Reference]:

One factor. There is nowhere to declare a horizontal value and a vertical value separately. That is why the command never distorts a shape, and also why it is no help when you need to stretch one way.

We measured it on real geometry: a 2000 × 1000 rectangle, scaled by a factor of 2.

Both sides doubled. The shape keeps its proportions and simply gets bigger.

This is intent, not an oversight. Autodesk's page on SCALE describes the command in a single line: "Enlarges or reduces selected objects, keeping the proportions of the object the same after scaling". Keeping the proportions is the job it was given, so asking it to distort is asking the wrong tool.

Where to start the command

Read straight out of the acad.cuix interface file of the 2027 release on the machine.

Two commands go with it in this article, read from the same file:

The prompts, step by step, and the reference option

The middle column is copied verbatim from AutoCAD 2027.

Step 2 is the one people skim. The same Autodesk page puts it plainly: "The base point you specify identifies the point that remains in the same location as the selected objects change size". Everything else moves towards it or away from it. Pick the wrong base point and the shape is the right size in the wrong place.

A small habit worth forming: if the shape will later have to meet something else, make the base point the point it will meet at. Then scaling also puts it in position, and there is no second move to make.

The Copy option keeps the original and scales a new copy out of it, which is handy when you want both sizes side by side.

The reference option is the one worth learning, because it takes real measurements instead of a factor. Its questions:

Specify reference length <1.00>:
Specify new length or [Points] <1.00>:

We tried it on the 2000 × 1000 rectangle, giving an old length of 2000 and a new length of 3000. Measured afterwards: 3000 × 1500. Exactly as expected, and still uniform.

Scaling one direction: three routes, no add-on needed

This is what most people actually come looking for. There are three routes, and we measured all of them.

The first is the stretch command. Type S, select with a crossing window across the part you want to pull, press Enter, then click two points for direction and distance. The prompts, verbatim:

Select objects to stretch by crossing-window or crossing-polygon...
Specify base point or [Displacement]:
Specify second point or <use first point as displacement>:

Our test: the same 2000 × 1000 rectangle, pulled 2000 horizontally. Result 4000 × 1000 — the width changed, the height did not.

The whole trick is in how you select. It must be a crossing window, and it must cover only the corners you want moved. Cover the whole shape and the command turns into a move: the shape travels without stretching at all.

One more thing about that selection: drag from right to left to get a crossing window. Dragging left to right gives an ordinary window, which only takes objects fully inside it, and again you get a move.

The second route is block scale factors. Few people know it because AutoCAD asks so quietly. Insert with -INSERT and it asks twice:

Enter X scale factor, specify opposite corner, or [Corner/XYZ] <1>:
Enter Y scale factor <use X scale factor>:

The second question defaults to use the X value, so almost everyone presses Enter past it. Answer 2 then 1 and the 2000 × 1000 rectangle appears as 4000 × 1000, measured back by machine exactly so.

This route beats STRETCH in one way: the block definition in the drawing is untouched, and the factors can be edited at any time in Properties. Creating and editing blocks is covered in our article on blocks in AutoCAD.

It has a drawback worth knowing first. Text inside the block is distorted along with everything else, so a title block inserted with X different from Y comes out with thin or fat lettering. For pure geometry that is fine; with text, think twice.

The third route is the one to avoid: downloading a lisp for it. The program already does the job two ways, so bringing unknown code onto your machine is risk for nothing. If you do want to understand how to load and read a lisp safely, see our article on sequential numbering.

Scaling to two points instead of a factor

People asking this are usually fitting a shape to two existing marks rather than looking for a number.

The first way is inside SCALE itself. Choose Reference, then at Specify new length or [Points] <1.00>: type P. From there the new length is given by clicking two points on the drawing, with no arithmetic at all.

The second way is the align command. It moves, rotates and scales in one pass. Its full sequence:

Specify first source point:
Specify first destination point:
Specify second source point:
Specify second destination point:
Specify third source point or <continue>:
Scale objects based on alignment points? [Yes/No] <N>:

That last line is the one that matters. Answer Y and the shape is scaled so the two source points land exactly on the two destination points. The default is N, so anyone pressing Enter to hurry gets a move and a rotation with no scaling.

To be clear: ALIGN also scales uniformly. It is not a route to stretching one direction.

Scaling for the right plot scale

One mistake is worth calling out, because it spoils a whole drawing set. Beginners scale the geometry in model space until it fits the title block, then plot. That ruins every number: dimensions no longer read the real size.

The rule is to build at full size in model space and set the scale in the layout viewport. How to do that is covered in our article on layouts in AutoCAD.

There is only one case where scaling in model space is right: a drawing that arrives in the wrong units, built in metres while your set is in millimetres. Scaling the whole drawing by 1000 once is correct there, because you are fixing units rather than plot scale.

Three things people say that are not true

Frequently asked questions

Which command scales one direction only?

No scale command does. Use STRETCH with a crossing window, or turn the shape into a block and insert it with an X factor different from the Y factor.

Is a lisp for one-directional scaling worth downloading?

No. Both routes in this article are built in, measured by machine and give the right result. Running unknown code on your own machine is a risk you do not need.

Why does STRETCH move the shape instead of stretching it?

Because the selection covered the whole shape. A crossing window must cross only the corners you want moved, leaving the rest of the shape outside it.

Do dimensions update after scaling?

Yes, if the dimension is associated with the geometry and you include it in the selection. Leave it out and the number stays while the shape changes, which is the hardest kind of error to spot.

Where should the base point go?

On a point you want to stay where it is, usually a bottom-left corner or the centre. Click an empty spot and the shape comes out the right size but flies off somewhere else.

Is there a two-directional scale command?

No command carries that name. SCALE already works in both directions at once, so the phrase usually just means SCALE itself.