How to Create a Drawing Title Border in AutoCAD

Introduction:

Having a border with appropriate details pertaining to the drawing is a necessity when using AutoCAD to create
sketches. The main point of a border is to enclose and label the drawing, and to properly scale the drawing for
printing/plotting purposes. This title border instruction set will focus on creating a border that can be used for
printing on standard 8-½” x 11” pieces of paper. In the engineering world this paper size is never used, but for
beginning purposes, it’s a good place to learn the basics of AutoCAD and create a border for simple sketches.

Who?

Entering engineering students who have little to no AutoCAD experience. More specifically, entering CE 310
Surveying students, for this is the standard border used in that course.

What?

A fairly new computer that is capable of running the AutoCAD software and the AutoCAD software itself.

Where?

Anywhere that you have access to a computer with the Software.

How?

Follow the numbered set of directions below to learn how to draw a simplistic border in AutoCAD. Each step
will provide screen shots of what is being done in each step to better help the reader follow and understand the
process.
Basic AutoCAD Commands

Line

The line command allows you to draw a straight line on the screen and it can be done using different methods.
The most common way to draw a line is simply by selecting the line command and then picking points on the
screen using the cursor. Another way to draw a line is by typing in the coordinates of the starting point and the
end point of the line. The third way you can draw a line is by picking a start point and then specifying the length
of the line along with the angle at which you want to draw it. Angles are measured counter-clockwise from the
horizon. The lines can be modified using different thickness, colors, and line types (such as dashed or centerline).

Text

The text command allows you to insert text anywhere on the drawing. The text can be modified using different
font types, colors, text heights, rotation angles, and more. Text is very useful in CAD drawings because it
provides details about the drawing to enhance the clarity.

Scrolling and Panning

The

Enter and Escape

Undo
Step-By-Step

1. Open Autodesk’s AutoCAD 2011 – Find Autodesk’s AutoCAD 2011 by navigating from Windows Start to
All Programs to Math & CAD & Engineering to AutoCAD 2011 and finally to AutoCAD 2011 – English. See
Figure 1.

Figure 1 – AutoCAD Software Path Location

2. Begin/Open New Drawing – The default settings and default model that AutoCAD brings up works fine
for the border we are creating. Figure 2 displays the basic layout of the starting drawing.
Note: The default units are English with a base of inches

Figure 2 – Starting AutoCAD Overview

3. Begin Outside Border – Type “line” in the command line and press enter. This begins the line drawing
command. Then type “0,0” and press enter; this will place the starting point of the line at the origin of
our drawing (the lower left corner of the border). See Figure 3 for command line prompt.

Figure 3 – Command Line Prompt for Step 3

4. Create Outside Border – Move the cursor directly horizontal to the right of the origin (as shown in
Figure 3) and type “10.5” and press enter. This will be the bottom of the border.
5. Continue Outside Border – Similarly to the previous step, place the cursor vertically above the point you
just ended on (the line command should still be active). Type “8” and press enter. This will be the right
side of the border.
Note: “10.5” and “8” are the dimensions of the border to leave ½” margins for the drawing.
6. Finish Outside Border – Repeat Steps 4 and 5 in a reverse fashion. Place cursor directly horizontally left
of last point, type “10.5” and press enter. Then, place cursor directly vertically below last point, type “8”
and press enter. See Figure 4 for visual of completed outside border.

Figure 4 – Completed Outside Border

7. Begin Inside Border – Similar to step 3, type “line” in the command line and press enter. Then type
“0,1.5” and press enter; this will place the starting point of the line 1.5” above the origin of the drawing.
8. Create Inside Border – Move the cursor horizontally to the right and click on the right side of the outside
border (as shown in figure 5) so that the line is parallel with the top and bottom lines of the outside
border and press enter.
Note: You could also just drag the cursor horizontally to the right, type 10.5 and press enter as you did in
step 4.

Figure 5 - Command Line Prompt for Step 8

9. Continue Inside Border – Type “line” in the command line and press enter. Then type “3.25,0” and press
enter; this will place the starting point of the line 3.25” to the right of the origin. Move the cursor
directly vertical and click on the line that was drawn in the previous step. This will be the divider
between the first and second text box. Repeat this step using coordinates “6.5,0” and “8.5,0” as the
starting points. See figure 6 for visual of completed inside border. Hit escape or enter to exit the
command.
 Figure 6 – Completed Inside Border

10. Text Box 1: Assignment Title – Type “text” in the command line and press enter. Then type “0.25,0.7”
and press enter once; this creates the starting point for the text. Whenever you insert text you also have
to enter the height and rotation angle. For height, type “0.3” and press enter, and for rotation angle,
type “0” and press enter. Now type “Instruction Set”, press enter, type “AutoCAD 2011”, and press enter
twice to close the text command. See figure 7 for visual of the text.

Figure 7 – Assignment Title Text Box

11. Text Box 2: Name, class, and section number –Similar to the previous step, type “text” in the command
line and press enter. Then type “3.5,0.7” and press enter three times (AutoCAD will automatically
remember the values you used in the previous step so height and rotation angle will already be at “.3”
and “0”). Now type your name, press enter, type “ENGL 202c sec. 1”, and press enter twice to close the
text command. See figure 8 for visual of the text.

Figure 8 – Name, Class, and Section Number Text Box

As you can see, the text does not fit within the dividers. In order to fix this, click anywhere on “ENGL
202C sec. 1”. This will open the quick properties menu, which will appear above to the right (Figure 9).
Then move the cursor over the menu to expand the list and edit the height to “0.25” (Figure 10). The
same process can be done for your name if that does not fit within the dividers either.

Figure 9 – Quick Properties Figure 10 – Edit Height

12. Text Box 3: Scale – Type “text” in the command line and press enter. Then type “6.75,0.45” and press
enter three times. Remember, AutoCAD will automatically remember the values you used the previous
time you used that command, so height and rotation angle will still be at “.3” and “0”). Now type “Scale:
1”=1””, and press enter twice to close the text command. Once again, you will have to edit the text since
it does not fit within the dividers. Refer to the previous step to adjust the text height.

13. Text Box 4: Page Number and Date – Type “text” in the command line and press enter. Then type
“8.75,0.7” and press enter three times. Now type “1 of 1” which represents the page number, press
enter, type today’s date (MM/DD/YY) and press enter twice to close the text command.
 14. Reposition Text – To move the text around, pick anywhere on the text and a blue square will appear in
the lower left corner of the text, which can be seen in figures 9 and 10. Then move the cursor directly
over that square so it turns red, and then click. Now you can move that square (which also moves the
text as a whole) to a new location. Your finished drawing should look something like figure 11.

Figure 11 – Completed AutoCAD Border

Congratulations! You just learned how to use some of the basic functions of AutoCAD. Now you can use this
border for all of your future AutoCAD assignments.