Creating Your First Drawing - Mastering AutoCAD for Mac - page 57

To do this, you can use the Rotate command's Reference option as follows:

1. Open the Circlehex.dwg file from the sample files on this topic's accompanying website.
You'll use this file to practice using the Reference option.

2. Click the Rotate tool in the Tool Sets palette, select the circles inside the hexagon, and press ↵.

3. At the Specify base point: prompt, use the Center osnap to select the center of the
hexagon as represented by the central circle (Figure 2.28). Once you do this, the objects
rotate around the selected point as you move your cursor.

FIGURE 2.28
Rotate using the
Reference option.

Type R ↵ and select the center
of the hexagon again.

Select the center of the
hexagon for the base point.

Select the center of one
of the circles you want
to align with a corner.

Select a corner of the
hexagon to align the
circles with the corners.

4. At the Specify rotation angle or [Copy/Reference]: prompt, enter R ↵.

5. At the Specify the reference angle <0>: prompt, use the Center osnap to select the
center of the hexagon again. You can also enter @ ↵ since the last point you selected was
the center.

6. At the Specify second point: prompt, use the Center osnap to select the center of one
of the circles you want to align with the hexagon. Now as you move the cursor, the circle
whose center you selected is aligned with the cursor angle.

7. At the Specify the new angle or [Points] <0>: prompt, use the Endpoint osnap to
select one of the corners of the hexagon. The circles align with the corners.

8. Close Circlehex.dwg without saving it.

You can also use grips to align objects. Here's how:

1. Select the object or set of objects and then click a grip. The grip you select becomes the
rotation point, so select this first grip carefully.

2. Right-click and select Rotate.

3. Type R ↵ and select the grip you just selected and another point to determine the refer-
ence angle.

4. Finally, select the new angle for the object or set of objects. If you want to rotate about a
point other than the first grip, use the grip's Base right-click option.