POLYGON Command in AutoCAD

The POLYGON command in AutoCAD has a function to create an equilateral closed polyline. The number of sides you can create is from 3 to 1024.

In the default method, to create a polygon, we need to specify the center point and the radius of the circle. In this method, there are two types of polygons: inscribed-in-circle and circumscribed-about-circle. The difference between these two types can be seen in the image below.

In the image above, we can see that for the inscribed-in-circle type, the radius is calculated from center point to the endpoint of the polygon’s side. Meanwhile, for the circumscribed-about-circle type, the radius is calculated from center point to the midpoint of the polygon’s side.

So, with the same radius value, the inscribed-in-circle type polygon will be smaller.

Apart from drawing polygon objects by determining the center point and radius value, we can also create polygons by determining the length of the sides.

Command	POLYGON
Function	Create an equilateral closed polyline
Icon
Shortcut	POL

The POLYGON command belongs to the DRAW command group.

We can find and activate the POLYGON command from the DRAW panel in the Ribbon Panel under the Home tab. We can also find this command in the Draw menu on the Menu Bar.

If you want to activate the command from the command line, type POLYGON in full or just type POL then Enter.

A. How to Make a Polygon

First, I’ll explain how to create a polygon using the default method, by specifying a center point and a radius value. Follow these steps:

1. Activate the POLYGON command
2. Type the number of sides of the polygon > Enter
3. Specify the center point of the polygon
4. Select one of the options that appear in the command line: inscribed-in-circle or circumscribed-about-circle
5. Specify the radius of the circle. You can click directly on the work screen, or type the radius value in the command line and then press Enter.

Meanwhile, if you want to make a polygon by determining the length of the side, follow the steps below:

1. Activate the POLYGON command
2. Type the number of sides of the polygon > Enter
3. Select the Edge option from the command prompt
   • Specify first point of edge
   • Specify second point of edge. The first point and the second point will become one side of the polygon. The other sides will automatically adjust.

B. Prompts and Options

When running the POLYGON command, several prompts and options will appear on the command line, including:

• Enter number of sides: You have to type the number of sides of the polygon in the command line, then Enter
  
• Specify center of Polygon: You have to determine the center point of the polygon. You can click directly on the work screen
• Enter an option [Inscribed in circle / Circumscribed about circle] : Select one type of polygon according to your needs
• Edge: option to create polygons by specifying the length of their sides
  • Specify first endpoint of edge: You can click directly on the work screen
  • Specify second endpoint of edge: You can click directly on the work screen or you can also use another method to specify point location
• Specify Radius of circle: You can click directly on the work screen, or type the radius value in the command line and then press Enter.

C. Examples

First, I will give an example of drawing a polygon of the circumscribed about circle type with 6 sides as shown in the image below:

To create a polygon like the image above, follow the steps below:

1. Activate the POLYGON command
2. Enter the number of sides: type 6, then press Enter
3. Specify the center point of the polygon: click directly on the workspace
4. Select the Circumscribed about circle option from the command line
5. Specify the radius of the circle: type 15, then press Enter

Next, I will give an example of drawing a polygon with 5 sides and the length of each side is 15 as shown in the image below:

To create a polygon like the image above, follow the steps below:

1. Activate the POLYGON command
2. Enter the number of sides: Type 5, then Enter
3. Select the Edge option from the command prompt
4. Specify the first endpoint of the edge: Click directly on the workspace
5. Specify the second endpoint of the edge: Move the cursor to the right, type 15, then Enter