Getting and Exchanging Data from Drawings - Mastering AutoCAD for Mac - page 484

4. Click the Add: Pick Points tool. The Hatch And Gradient dialog box temporarily closes to
allow you to select points in your drawing.
5. At the Pick internal point or [Select objects/remove Boundaries]: prompt,
click in the interior of the unit plan. The outline of the interior is highlighted.
6. Press ↵ to return to the Hatch And Gradient dialog box, and click Preview (see
Figure 18.2).
7. Right-click to complete the hatch.
8. Choose Tools  Inquiry  Area and press ↵, or type MEA ↵ AR ↵ O ↵ at the Command
prompt.
9. Click the hatch pattern you just created. Again, you get the following message:
Total area = 39570.00 square in. (274.7917 square ft), Perimeter = 76'-0”
10. Press X ↵ to exit the command.
FIGURE 18.2
After you click a
point on the inte-
rior of the plan
to place a hatch
pattern, an out-
line of the area is
highlighted by a
dotted line, and
a preview of the
hatch appears.
If you need to recall the last area calculation value you received, enter ' S E T VA R ↵ AREA ↵.
The area is displayed in the Command Line palette. Enter 'PERIMETER ↵ to get the last perim-
eter calculated.
The Hatch command creates a hatch pattern that conforms to the boundary of an area. This
feature, combined with the ability of the Measuregeom command to find the area of a hatch pat-
tern, makes short work of area calculations. Another advantage of using hatch patterns is that,
by default, they avoid islands within the boundary of the area you're trying to find.
The area of a hatch pattern is also reported by the Properties Inspector palette. Select the
hatch pattern whose area you want to find and then right-click and select Properties. Scroll
down to the bottom of the Geometry group and you'll see the Area listing for the hatch pattern
you selected. You can select more than one hatch pattern and find the cumulative area of the
selected hatch patterns in the Properties Inspector palette.