Expert: Bob - 12/31/2002

Question
This may seem like a stupid question but here goes. I have previously used TurboCAD and Imagination Engineer both of which I taught myself. I have gone through the AutoCAD Learning Assistance to teach myself AutoCAD LT 2002. Here's my problem. If I make a drawing in TurboCAD and save if as AutoCAD or .DXF my drawing shows the feet and inches that it should when I open it in AutoCAD LT 2002. If on the other hand, I start from scratch in AutoCAD LT 2002, I can't seem to make a line any longer than about 4 feet long, even when I zoom out as far as possible. I have the drawing units length setting set to Architectural. I'm sure this is a simple fix but I can't find the answer in the AutoCAD HELP files.

Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Tom Koll

Answer
I know nothing about TurboCad. I don't use LT, but: I am assuming that the 4' is wider than your drawing window. Type LIMITS --It will prompt you for the lower left corner, which should be (0,0), then the upper right, which you should set to something like (500',300') if you are doing architectural, smaller if doing small mechanical items. The idea is to have the drawing window large than the items you draw. How are you drawing the line in Autocad? Maybe that's it, if not the limits, so please describe EXACTLY what you do to draw a line. You may be trying a method suited to a different program. Bob PS-- no question is stupid, but yours was unclear because too much was about history, not enough on describing what you are doing now.