Learning Basic Commands to Get Started - AutoCAD 2011 and AutoCAD LT 2011: No Experience Required - page 58

s peCIFyIng d I s t a n C e s F o r t h e OFFSET C o M M a n d

The prompt you see in the command window after starting the OFFSET
command is
Specify offset distance or [Through/Erase/Layer] <Through>:
This prompt describes several options for setting the offset distance:
Enter a distance from the keyboard.

Select two points on the screen to establish the offset distance as the

distance between those two points.
Press

↵ to accept the offset distance or option that is displayed in the
prompt in the angle brackets.
Enter T ↵ to use the Through option. When you select this option, you're

prompted to select the line to offset. You're then prompted to pick a
point. The line will be offset to that point. When you pick the next line to
offset, you then pick a new point to locate the position of the new line.
The Through option allows each line to be offset a different distance.
Enter E ↵ , and then enter Y ↵ to tell AutoC AD to erase the original

line that was offset. (After doing this, however, AutoCAD continues
erasing offset lines until you reset it by typing E ↵ N ↵ at the beginning
of the OFFSET command.)
Enter L ↵ to use the Layer option. (I'll discuss this option in Chapter

6, “Using Layers to Organize Your Drawing.”)

As you become accustomed to using OFFSET , you'll find uses for each of
these options.

using the Fillet Command

The FILLET command lets you round off a corner formed by two lines. You con-
trol the radius of the curve, so if you set the curve's radius to zero, the lines form
a sharp corner (without a curve/arc). Thanks to this behavior of the FILLET com-
mand, it is commonly used to clean up corners such as the ones formed by the
lines inside the box. You must pick points on the filleted lines on portions that