AutoCAD is a computer aided design, or CAD, package most commonly used by architects and engineers to create plans for structures and circuits. AutoCAD can be use to make 2-D plans or 3-D models, and in either case, objects within the file can be made larger or smaller using the built-in Scale tool. The Scale tool can make individual components bigger as well as the overall model and can be applied to any given dimension of the object.
Using the Mouse
Load up AutoCAD. Click “File,” “Open,” then navigate to the location of your file.Click the “Scale” button in the Modify toolbar. The icon has the image of a square, with a smaller dotted square inside it. A window appears, instructing you to select the object you want to scale. Click on any edge of the object you want to make bigger, then press "Enter."
Click anywhere in the object, and hold down the mouse key. The place you click is important and is known as the base point. The object is scaled from the point that you click. If you click directly in the center of the object, it remains in exactly the same place, but simply changes size. If you click anywhere else in the object, it scales from that point and therefore moves.
Drag the mouse away from the base point. As you do this, the size of the object changes.
Using the Keyboard
Load up AutoCAD. Click “File,” “Open,” then navigate to the location of your file.Click the object you want to enlarge.
Type “scale” in the command prompt at the bottom of the screen, then press "Enter."
Type in the coordinates of the base point you want to use. For example, “0, 0” (without quotations) would be bottom left. Then press "Enter."
Type in the scale factor by which you want to enlarge the object. For example, “2” would double the size of the object or “1.5” would increase the size by 50 percent.
