Drawing tangent circles

You can construct a circle by its point of tangency with another geometric object, the center point of the circle and the diameter of the circle.

NOTE: The contextual edit bars, attributes and tabular presentation, as well as the procedures for modifying and repositioning of a circle are the same for all circle-drawing modes.

Control points

A circle defined by a point of tangency with another object has two control points: the point of tangency with another geometric object (it belongs to the circumference) and the center point. While you draw a tangent circle, the following pointers appear:

About to draw the first (tangent) point of a circle.

About to draw the center (point) of a circle.

To draw a tangent circle

1. Do one of the following:

• On the Objects toolbar, click Tangent Circle .
• On the menu, point to Circles, and then click Tangent Circle.
• Press CTRL+D+C+T.

2. In the graphical area, click to draw the tangent point of the circle.
3. To finish the circle, do one of the following:

• Snap the center point of the circle to another object or point.
• Point to where you want center point to be, and then click.
• (1) In the contextual edit bar, in Diameter enter the value that you need, (2) point in one of the two possible directions on one side of the tangent object, (3) press ENTER, and then (4) click anywhere in the graphical area.