Let’s dive into the details of the ZOOM command in AutoCAD.
The ZOOM command allows you to adjust the magnification of your view within the current viewport. Here are the different options available:
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All: Zooms to display all visible objects and visual aids. It adjusts the magnification to accommodate the extents of all visible objects in the drawing or visual aids like grid limits. Note that it always regenerates the drawing.
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Center: Zooms to display a view defined by a center point and a magnification value or height. A smaller height value increases magnification, while a larger value decreases it. This option is not available in perspective projection.
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Dynamic: Pans and zooms using a rectangular view box. The view box represents your view, which you can resize and move around the drawing. Positioning and sizing the view box pans or zooms to fill the viewport with the view inside it. Also not available in perspective projection.
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Extents: Zooms to display the maximum extents of all objects. It calculates the extents of each object in the model to determine how the model should fill the window.
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Previous: Zooms to display the previous view. You can restore up to 10 previous views.
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Scale / Scale factor: Zooms to change the magnification using a scale factor. You can specify the scale relative to the current view, paper space units, or grid limits. For example, entering
.5x displays objects at half their current size on the screen. -
Window: Zooms to display an area specified by a rectangular window. You can define an area of the model to fill the entire window.
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Object: Zooms to display one or more selected objects as large as possible and centred in the view.
To use the ZOOM command, follow these steps:
1. Click the Home/Draw/Line command from the Ribbon and choose the first point.
2. Right-click on the drawing window and select Zoom. You’ll receive the Zoom Realtime cursor, allowing you to zoom in or out interactively.
Remember that using ZOOM does not change the absolute size of objects in the drawing; it only changes the magnification of the view within the viewport. Feel free to explore these options in AutoCAD to enhance your workflow!