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AutoCAD exercise: stairs in plan

Draw a straight flight of stairs in plan in AutoCAD: ten treads from one line and a rectangular array, the arrow going up and dimensions. Free, step by step.

Open in the editor

Draw a straight flight of stairs in plan, in centimetres: 280 long and 100 wide, ten treads of 28, and the arrow that shows the way up. The drawing's dimension scale is set for a plan in centimetres, so its dimensions read at this size. One tread's edge is drawn; a rectangular array places the others.

The drawing

A straight flight of stairs in plan, 280 by 100 centimetres, its arrow pointing up the flight.28010028
A straight flight of stairs in plan, 280 by 100 centimetres, its arrow pointing up the flight.

Step by step

The engine draws each step and writes its history as you would type it: the prompts in AutoCAD 2027's order, with the same option letters. After a command's first point, a typed point is measured from the last one, as dynamic input measures it, and the history writes it with @; # measures from the origin.

1. Draw the outline

On the Outline layer, RECTANG from 0,0 to 280,100: the flight's outline.

1. Draw the outline
  1. Command: RECTANG
  2. Specify first corner point or [Chamfer/Elevation/Fillet/Thickness/Width]: 0,0
  3. Specify other corner point or [Area/Dimensions/Rotation]: @280,100
1. Draw the outline

2. Draw the first tread

The first tread's edge, a LINE from 28,0, 0,100 up, and Enter.

2. Draw the first tread
  1. Command: LINE
  2. Specify first point: 28,0
  3. Specify next point or [Undo]: @0,100
  4. Specify next point or [Undo]:
2. Draw the first tread

3. Array the treads

ARRAYRECT copies it along the flight: pick the line and press Enter, then choose COUnt, 9 columns and 1 row, and Spacing, 28 between the columns and 1 between the rows, which does nothing with a single row. eXit keeps it as an associative array, which its grips edit later.

3. Array the treads
  1. Command: ARRAYRECT
  2. Select objects: 1 found
  3. Select objects:
  4. Type = Rectangular Associative = Yes
  5. Select grip to edit array or [ASsociative/COUnt/Spacing/COLumns/Rows/Levels/eXit]<eXit>: COU
  6. Enter the number of columns <4>: 9
  7. Enter the number of rows <3>: 1
  8. Select grip to edit array or [ASsociative/COUnt/Spacing/COLumns/Rows/Levels/eXit]<eXit>: S
  9. Specify the distance between columns or [Unit cell] <1>: 28
  10. Specify the distance between rows <150>: 1
  11. Select grip to edit array or [ASsociative/COUnt/Spacing/COLumns/Rows/Levels/eXit]<eXit>: X
3. Array the treads

4. Draw the arrow

PLINE from 14,50, along the flight to 226,0 further on; then Width, 10 at the start and 0 at the end, and a last segment of 24,0: the arrowhead. Enter ends it.

4. Draw the arrow
  1. Command: PLINE
  2. Specify start point: 14,50
  3. Current line-width is 0.00
  4. Specify next point or [Arc/Halfwidth/Length/Undo/Width]: @226,0
  5. Specify next point or [Arc/Close/Halfwidth/Length/Undo/Width]: W
  6. Specify starting width <0.00>: 10
  7. Specify ending width <10.00>: 0
  8. Specify next point or [Arc/Close/Halfwidth/Length/Undo/Width]: @24,0
  9. Specify next point or [Arc/Close/Halfwidth/Length/Undo/Width]:
4. Draw the arrow

5. Dimension it

On Dimensions, DIMLINEAR three times: the length below, the width on the right and one tread, 28, above.

5. Dimension it28010028
  1. Command: DIMLINEAR
  2. Specify first extension line origin or <select object>: 0,0
  3. Specify second extension line origin: @280,0
  4. Non-associative dimension created.
  5. Specify dimension line location or [Text/Angle/Horizontal/Vertical/Rotated]:
  6. Dimension text = 280
  7. Command: DIMLINEAR
  8. Specify first extension line origin or <select object>: 280,0
  9. Specify second extension line origin: @0,100
  10. Non-associative dimension created.
  11. Specify dimension line location or [Text/Angle/Horizontal/Vertical/Rotated]:
  12. Dimension text = 100
  13. Command: DIMLINEAR
  14. Specify first extension line origin or <select object>: 0,100
  15. Specify second extension line origin: @28,0
  16. Non-associative dimension created.
  17. Specify dimension line location or [Text/Angle/Horizontal/Vertical/Rotated]:
  18. Dimension text = 28
5. Dimension it

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