Circle

The circle command draws a circle defined by a center point and a radius. After the center is clicked you can set the radius either by clicking a second point on the canvas or by typing an exact number — both options are live at the same time.

Drawing a circle

1. Type circle in the terminal or click the Circle toolbar button.
2. Click the center point, or type X,Y and press Enter for an exact coordinate.
3. Set the radius — either:
   • Click any point on the canvas — the distance from the center becomes the radius, or
   • Type the radius and press Enter for an exact value.

The circle is placed immediately and the command exits.

  center ●
          \  radius line preview
           \
            ● ← click here, or type a number

While in the radius phase, the live preview shows the circle at the current cursor distance and also draws a radius line from center to the current point.

Center coordinate entry

Instead of clicking, you can type the center position:

1. Type the X value.
2. Press , — the terminal shows [X], [Y{cursor}].
3. Type the Y value.
4. Press Enter to place the center and advance to radius input.

Typed radius input

After the center is placed, typing immediately builds up a radius value:

Key	Action
0–9, .	Append digit to the radius value
Backspace	Delete the last typed character
Enter	Place the circle at the typed radius

The accumulated value is shown in the terminal prompt (e.g. enter radius of circle: 25). The preview updates to show the typed radius while the cursor controls the direction of the radius line marker.

Keyboard reference

Key	Action
0–9, ., -	Start X coordinate entry (center phase), or radius digit (radius phase)
,	Lock X and move to Y entry (center phase)
Backspace	Delete last typed character
Enter	Confirm typed coordinate or radius
Escape	Cancel and reset

Grip editing — resizing the radius

A selected circle exposes five grips:

Grip	Position	What it does
Center	Center point	Moves the whole circle; radius stays unchanged
Left	Leftmost point (center − radius)	Drag to set a new radius = distance to center
Right	Rightmost point (center + radius)	Drag to set a new radius = distance to center
Top	Topmost point	Drag to set a new radius = distance to center
Bottom	Bottommost point	Drag to set a new radius = distance to center

All four cardinal grips behave identically — the new radius equals the distance from the center to the drag position. The center stays fixed.

Selecting circles

Method	Behaviour
Click	Selects if the click lands near the circumference
Drag right (strict)	The entire bounding square (center ± radius) must lie inside the box
Drag left (crossing)	Any part of the circumference that crosses or touches the box boundary selects the circle

Supported edit commands

Command	What happens to the circle
Move	Translates the center; radius unchanged
Copy	Creates an identical circle at a new center
Rotate	Rotates the center around the base point; radius unchanged
Mirror	Reflects the center across the mirror axis; radius unchanged
Scale	Scales the center position and multiplies the radius by the scale factor
Offset	Creates a concentric circle at a larger or smaller radius
Delete	Removes the circle

Properties

General

Property	Default	Meaning
Color	256 (ByLayer)	ACI color index
Layer	0	Layer assignment
Linetype	ByLayer	Named linetype pattern
Linetype Scale	1	Scale factor on the linetype pattern
Thickness	0	Extrusion thickness

Geometry

Property	Meaning
Center X / Center Y	Coordinates of the center point
Radius	Circle radius in drawing units

Circle vs Arc — when to use which

	Circle	Arc
Span	Full 360°	Partial — defined by start and end angle
How to draw	Center + radius	Three points on the curve
Typed input	Radius value	None — click-only
Resize grip	4 cardinal points	Start and end points (angle + radius)
Dimensioning	Radius: Dim Radius · Diameter: Dim Diameter	Dim Radius
Best for	Full holes, bolt circles, round features	Fillets, partial curves, arched paths

DXF — CIRCLE entity

Circles are saved as CIRCLE entities in the DXF file. Center coordinates, radius, color, layer, linetype, linetype scale, and thickness all round-trip without loss. Any DXF-compatible application reads these as standard circles.