As architects and designers, measurement is the most basic and essential tool for us. Sometimes tackling the units of these measurements becomes a challenging task. Our mind is accustomed to the use of calculators for simple unit conversions like feet-metre, metre-inch and so on. When discussing drawings with the client or on-site workers, it becomes necessary to be able to switch between units promptly, without the use of any electronic media.

The units primarily used in any type of architectural drawings are Imperial units (feet - inches) and Metric units (metre - centimetre - millimeter). Here is a list of basic conversions necessary to learn, to convert a unit into the required unit rapidly!

1 Metre - 3.28 Feet (1m - 3.28’)

1 Metre - 39.37 Inch (1m - 39.37”)

1 Centimetre - 0.39 Inch (1cm - 0.39”)

1 Feet - 0.304 Metre (1’ - 0.304m)

1 Feet - 30.4 Centimetre (1’ - 30.4cm)

1 Feet - 12 Inch (1’ - 12”)

1 Inch - 0.0254 Metre (1” - 0.0254m)

1 Inch - 2.54 Centimetre (1” - 2.54cm)

1 Inch - 25.4 Millimetre (1” - 25.4mm)

1 Inch - 0.083 Feet (1” - 0.083’)

All students and young professionals often break a sweat when an AutoCad drawing in metric units needs to be converted into imperial units and vice-versa! Fret not, these conversion tricks will fulfill the job for you in seconds.

Let’s take an example that we need to convert our drawing in inches to millimeters. Here are the steps you need to follow:

Using -DWGUNITS Command

Enter the command “-DWGUNITS” on the command line and enter the unit number you want the drawing to be converted to.

Similarly from the next prompts select these options:

Linear display format <2>
Linear display precision <4>
Scale objects from other drawings upon insert? <yes>
Match INSUNITS to drawing units? <yes>
Scale objects in current drawing to reflect change in units? <yes>

Your drawing is now converted into Millimetres. You may see a blank screen after this, just enter the Zoom Extents command and you will have your drawing. You can check by measuring different sides.

Using block import method

Save the drawing that needs to be converted (eg. Sample1) to the desired units
Open a new drawing page (eg. Sample2) and set the desired unit
Type command “Insert” and attach the file (Sample1) that needs to be converted
Uncheck Specify On-screen radio button from insertion point, Scale and Rotation panels, also make sure the explode radio button is checked in the lower left corner of the Insert window.
You will see the factor of conversion as 25.4 (As seen above 1” - 25.4mm) to convert drawing from inches to millimeters
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We hope with time and practice, you have the unit conversions at the tip of your fingers, lessening your dependency on electronic media.

Do try out the drawing conversion tricks and let us know what suits you best. Share with us which method you prefer for the same in the comments section below.

Happy Converting!

Author : Ar. shriya Goyal

Toolkit for basic Unit conversions (Manually and AutoCAD)