Wiley Mastering AutoCAD for Mac
Contents
1. v d ua wh WEN e i a NUR Bm pan num a aa a i ganizing Objec Chapters Keeping i t 2 Your Fi Setting Up and mg orti 4 Chapter2 Creat T Or e e L e e y 7 L Chapter 4 Chapter 3 j Chapter1 Expl j jP 2 ad bs il l P Chapter 1 Exploring the AutoCAD Interface Before you can start to use AutoCAD for Mac you ll need to become familiar with the basics If you re completely new to AutoCAD you ll want to read this first chapter carefully It intro duces you to many of AutoCAD s basic operations such as opening and closing files getting a close up look at part of a drawing and changing a drawing If you re familiar with the latest Windows version of AutoCAD you should review this chapter anyway to get acquainted with the Macintosh version The AutoCAD Mac interface is quite different from the Windows ver sion so this chapter will help you find the tools you are familiar with Autodesk releases new versions of AutoCAD every year Part of this strategy is to introduce improvements that focus on a particular category of features This latest version AutoCAD for Mac includes several new features that are related to curves in both 2D drafting and 3D model ing There are also a number of enhancements that allow you to easily select similar objects in a drawing The ability to make objects appear transparent has2. Aliases are one two or three letter abbreviations of a command name As you become more proficient with AutoCAD you may find these aliases helpful As you work through this book the aliases will be identified for your reference Finally in typical Mac fashion you can find the command shortcuts in the pull down menus of the menu bar Shortcuts are multiple key presses that start a command or change a feature For example you can press 1 to open or close the Tool Sets palette If you choose Tools gt Palettes you ll see the keyboard shortcuts to the right of the command names x Workflow 1 Content a2 X4 Command Line 883 v Layers ae 4 v Properties Inspector 365 f Status Bar a 6 Reference Manager a7 Materials Browser sEB Picking Points in the Drawing Area Now that you ve seen the general layout of AutoCAD take a look at the drawing cursor to get a sense of how the parts of the AutoCAD screen work together CLICK A MOUSE OR TAP A TRACKPAD This book assumes that you are using a mouse If you are using a trackpad use the corresponding gestures to issue a click a click and drag ora right click For example a mouse clickis a one finger tap on a trackpad A right click is a two finger tap on a trackpad A click and drag requires a one finger double tap and drag on the trackpad 1 Place the cursor in the middle of the drawing area and click and hold Trackpad users should use a one finger double tap Move the mouse an
3. THE AUTOCAD INTERFACE s Launching AutoCAD If you have already installed AutoCAD see Appendix B on the book s website and are ready to jump in and take a look click the AutoCAD icon in the Dock AutoCAD opens and displays a blank default document named Drawi ng1 dwg If you re using the trial version you ll see the Product License Activation window after you click the AutoCAD icon This window shows you the number of days you have left in the trial version It also enables you to activate the product if you purchase a license Click the Try button to continue to the blank default document Now let s look at the AutoCAD application in detail Don t worry if it seems like a lot of infor mation You don t have to memorize it but by looking at all the parts you ll be aware of what is available in a general way The AutoCAD Application The AutoCAD program window is divided into seven parts Menu bar Layers palette Properties Inspector palette Tool Sets palette Drawing area Command Line palette 9 9 9 9 9 Status bar Figure 1 1 shows a typical layout of the AutoCAD application You can organize the AutoCAD palettes into any arrangement you want but while you re learning AutoCAD you may want to leave the default arrangement in place FIGURE 1 1 Tool Sets palette Menu bar Drawing area Layers palette A typical arrange ment of the Auto CAD application Command Line palette Status bar Properties Inspector palett
4. also been improved Autodesk has discovered that the number of 3D users is on the upswing so with this version you ll see some new 3D features that will give you more freedom to create 3D shapes These features include some new ways to create surface forms and the editing tools that enable you to easily manipulate 3D solids and surfaces You ll get a chance to explore these new features and many more as you work through this book Before you begin the exercise later in this chapter make sure that you have loaded the sample files from this book s companion website www sybex com go masteringautocadmac See the introduction for details In this chapter you ll learn to do the following Use the AutoCAD application Geta closer look with the Zoom command Savea file as you work Make changes and open multiple files Taking a Guided Tour In this section you ll get a chance to familiarize yourself with the AutoCAD application and how you communicate with AutoCAD As you do the exercises in this chapter you ll also get a feel for how to work with this book Don t worry about understanding or remembering everything you see in this chapter You ll get plenty of opportunities to probe the finer details of the program as you work through the later chapters To help you remember the material you ll find a brief set of questions at the end of each chapter For now just enjoy your first excursion into AutoCAD 4 CHAPTER 1 EXPLORING
5. and then click Now as you move the cursor a rectangle appears with one corner fixed on the point you just picked the other corner follows the cursor FIGURE 1 23 Placing the zoom window around the clip First click here then click here GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD 19 3 The Dynamic Input display now shows Specify opposite corner Position the other corner of the zoom window so it encloses the lower image of the clip as shown in Figure 1 23 and click again The clip enlarges to fill the screen In this exercise you used a window to define an area to enlarge for your close up view You saw how the Dynamic Input display gave you messages to help you decide what to do These messages are helpful for first time users of AutoCAD Getting a close up view of your drawing is crucial to working accurately but you ll often want to return to a previous view to get the overall picture To do so you can use the Zoom shortcut menu Figure 1 24 1 Click the Zoom tool in the status bar again 2 With the cursor in the drawing area right click and select Previous FIGURE 1 24 The Zoom Previous option Enter Cancel All Center Dynamic Extents Previous Scale Window i EE d Object 5nap Overrides p Pan F Zoom You can quickly enlarge or reduce your view by using the Zoom Realtime option of the Zoom command Follow these steps to change your view with Zoom Realtime 1 Right click in th
6. the different cursor shapes and what they mean in Chapter 2 Ean ED iret rai ries Click here to finish it Click here to start the rectangle 24 CHAPTER 1 EXPLORING THE AUTOCAD INTERFACE 4 FIGURE 1 29 i The Zoom All option gives you an overall view of your drawing 10 11 5 Let s try copying objects between these two files Click in the window with the clip draw ing to make it active You can also choose Window Clip dwg Click the Zoom tool in the status bar right click and select All from the shortcut menu to get an overall view of the drawing see Figure 1 29 HWHiTop RO Wireframe Click the 2D version of the clip at the bottom of the drawing to select it A series of squares and arrows appears on the drawing These are called grips see Figure 1 30 and you ll learn more about them in the next chapter Right click and select Clipboard gt Copy or press C Click inside the other drawing window Drawing 2 dwg to make it active Right click and select Clipboard gt Paste or press V The clip appears at the cursor in the new drawing Position the clip in the middle of the rectangle you drew earlier and left click Figure 1 31 The clip is copied into the second drawing Save the new file as My Clip and then exit AutoCAD You don t have to save the clip dwg file You can have as many files open as you want as long as your computer has adequate memory to ac
7. LINE PALETTE The Command Line palette Figure 1 8 located just below the drawing area gives you feedback about AutoCAD s commands as you use them You can move and resize this palette just as you move and resize other palettes and windows on the Mac For example you can click the disclo sure triangle more commonly called the disclosure triangle which is the term I ll use through out this book on the right side to expand and contract the palette FIGURE 1 8 qs lt Disclosure triangle The expanded Eear emis utilities loaded Command Line THE STATUS BAR To the right of the Command Line palette is the status bar Figure 1 9 The tools in the status bar offer aids to the drafting process You ll find tools to turn on the grid and snap functions as well as tools to help you control the scale of text and symbols FIGURE 1 9 a EM c m The status bar 9 10 CHAPTER 1 EXPLORING THE AUTOCAD INTERFACE TOOLS VS THE KEYBOARD Throughout this book you ll be told to select tools from the Tool Sets palette to invoke commands For new and experienced users alike the Tool Sets palette offers an easy to remember method for accessing commands If you re an experienced AutoCAD user though you can type commands directly from the keyboard The keyboard commands you know and love still work as they do in the Windows version of AutoCAD but with the 3 key used in place of the Windows Control key Many tools and commands have aliases
8. an also resize the palette for a better view using the resizing handle in the lower right corner of the palette And you can close or open the Command Line palette by pressing 3 3 or by choosing Tools gt Palettes gt Command Line Chapter 2 discusses these components in more detail Now let s look at AutoCAD s window components in detail Do I REALLY NEED THE COMMAND LINE The Command Line palette and the Dynamic Input display allow AutoCAD to provide text feedback on your actions You can think of these features as a chat window to AutoCAD as you enter com mands AutoCAD responds with messages As you become more familiar with AutoCAD you may find you don t need torely on the Command Line palette and Dynamic Input display for feedback If you re an experienced Mac user you might think of the Command Line palette as a kind of terminal window that lets you get deeper into the inner workings of AutoCAD Experienced users can take advantage of the Command Line palette to query the program create macros or enter commands and command options For new and casual users however the Command Line palette and Dynamic Input display can be helpful in understanding what steps to take as you work Getting Familiar with AutoCAD Now that you ve been introduced to the AutoCAD application you re ready to try using a few AutoCAD commands First you ll open a sample file and make a few modifications to it In the process you ll become familiar with som
9. commodate them You can control the individual document windows as you would any window using the window control buttons in the upper left corner of the document window GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD 25 This concludes your introduction to the AutoCAD application In the next chapter you ll try your hand at drawing a few simple shapes and using some of the other drafting tools that AutoCAD offers FIGURE 1 30 Grips shown in the 2D drawing mn ES IlITepl ED Wirefraeng q Y X FIGURE 1 31 al LIPS dw Pasting the clip Top 2D Wireframee drawing into the new drawing 26 CHAPTER 1 EXPLORING THE AUTOCAD INTERFACE The Bottom Line Use the AutoCAD application AutoCAD is a typical Windows graphics program that makes use of the menu bar and tools If you ve used other graphics programs you ll see at least a few familiar tools Master It Name the components of the AutoCAD application you can use to select a function Get a closer look with the Zoom command The Zoom command is a common tool in graphics programs It enables you to get a closer look at a part of your drawing or to expand your view to see the big picture Master It Name at least two ways of zooming into a view Save a file as you work Nothing is more frustrating than having a power failure cause you to lose hours of work It s a good idea to save your work frequently AutoCAD offers an Automatic Save feature that can be a lifesa
10. d a rectangle follows This is a selection window you ll learn more about this window in Chapter 2 You also see Specify opposite corner in the Command Line palette Figure 1 10 FIGURE 1 10 Command Specify opposite corner The Command l Line palette shown un docked TAKINGAGUIDEDTOUR 11 2 Release the mouse button Trackpad users should use a one finger tap The window selec tion disappears 3 Try the click and drag motion with the mouse or double tap tap gesture for trackpads again in the drawing area Notice that as you click and drag a window appears and as you release the mouse the window disappears If you happen to right click or click or use a two finger tap on a trackpad a shortcut menu appears A right click frequently opens a menu containing options that are context sensi tive This means the contents of the shortcut menu depend on the location where you right click as well as the command that is active at the time If there are no appropriate options at the time of the right click AutoCAD treats the right click as a J You ll learn more about these options as you progress through the book For now if you happen to open this menu by accident press the Esc key to close it Understanding the UCS Icon In the lower left corner of the drawing area you see an L shaped line Figure 1 11 This is the User Coordinate System LICS icon which tells you your orientation in the drawing This icon becomes help
11. e TAKING A GUIDED TOUR 5 THE MENU BAR Like a typical Mac application AutoCAD displays a menu bar where you can select a command to perform a task As you work through this book you ll be directed to choose commands from the menu bar where appropriate Often commands in the menu bar are repeated as tools in the Tool Sets palette so I ll direct you to select a tool from the Tool Sets palette or a command from the menu bar and you can decide which method you prefer You ll learn about the Tool Sets pal ette a bit later THE LAYERS PALETTE The Layers palette Figure 1 2 displays the layer information in the current drawing Layers help you organize your drawing If you ve used Photoshop or other drawing programs that employ layers you re probably familiar with the basic concept of layers You can separate parts of a drawing into layers and then control the display of those parts by adjusting layer properties You ll learn more about layers in Chapter 5 Keeping Track of Layers and Blocks FIGURE 1 2 The Layers palette L m LS m LL 2 7 Click the disclosure a ae contract the Layers palette THE PROPERTIES INSPECTOR PALETTE The Properties Inspector palette Figure 1 3 displays information about the layers and objects in your drawing When you select a layer name from the Layers palette the layer s properties are displayed in the Properties Inspector palette When yo
12. e Let s take a look at a few more ViewCube options as well as some other view related tools Try the following to see how you can control the AutoCAD display 1 Click the lower left corner of the ViewCube Figure 1 18 The view changes back to the 3D view you saw earlier Note that you can now see the corner of the ViewCube you clicked as the corner that intersects the left front and top sides of the ViewCube FIGURE 1 18 Click the lower left corner of the ViewCube Wi gt NOR 4 E Click this corner LZ p of the ViewCube 2 Click the 2D Wireframe option from the Viewport controls in the upper left of the draw ing area A pop up menu appears Figure 1 19 3 Select Realistic from the pop up menu Your view changes to show the 3D part of the drawing with a more realistic shading Figure 1 20 4 Click the Realistic option in the upper left of the drawing area and select 2D Wireframe from the pop up menu The drawing changes back to the view you started with GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD FIGURE 1 19 The 2D Wireframe pop up menu 2D Wireframe Conceptual Hidden Shaded Shaded with edges Shades of Gray Sketchy FIGURE 1 20 The drawing ina shaded view 5 Click the SW Isometric option from the Viewport controls in the upper left of the draw ing area then select Top from the pop up menu Figure 1 21 The view changes to a top down view of the drawing similar to the view you saw when y
13. e aware that a thumbnail may not show for files from older releases of AutoCAD 5 Click the Open button at the bottom of the Select File dialog box AutoCAD opens the clip dwg file which is shown in Figure 1 14 The clip dwg file opens to display a layout view of the drawing A layout is a type of view in which you lay out different views of your drawing in preparation for printing You can tell you are in a layout view by the white area over the gray background This white area represents your drawing on a printed page This view is like a print preview See the following section for more on the layout views FIGURE 1 14 The Layout1 view of the clip dwg file GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD 15 Also note that the drawing area s title bar displays the name of the drawing This offers easy identification of the file This particular file contains both 2D drawings and a 3D model of a typical locking clip The layout view shows a top front and right side view as well as an isometric view Using the Model Space and Layout Views AutoCAD offers a number of ways to view your drawing You have the typical zoom and pan tools but you also have different modes of viewing your drawing The two main viewing modes are Model Space and layout views Within these two modes are options to display your model in 3D and shaded views Try the following exercise to see these modes and view options firsthand You ll start by switching to a Model Space vi
14. e common methods of operation in AutoCAD Opening an Existing File In this exercise you ll get a chance to see and use a typical Select File dialog box Before you start make sure you have installed the sample files for this book from the accom panying website See the introduction for instructions on how to find the sample files To start you ll open an existing file 1 Click the red close button in the upper left corner of the drawing area An alert message appears asking whether you want to save the changes you ve made to the current drawing Click No 2 Choose File gt Open to open the Select File dialog box This is a typical Finder dialog box You can preview a drawing before you open it by switching to a column view thereby saving time while searching for files see Figure 1 13 14 CHAPTER 1 EXPLORING THE AUTOCAD INTERFACE FIGURE 1 13 LO Select File The Select File a Es sug Gu Chapter 01 Q dialog box DEVICES cli p duwg F Preview E Macintosh HD E Extra Samples El iDisk SHARED toshiba m45 F PLACES Ki Desktop ay AE sue eee Name clip dwg J Applications di A Kind AutoCAD DWG oc LI nt LIE File Format Drawing dwg Read only k E A a Cancel 3 In theSelect File dialog box navigate to the Chapter 01 folder of the sample files you downloaded 4 Select clip dwg The Preview column now shows a thumbnail image of the file B
15. e drawing area and select Zoom from the shortcut menu You can also click the Zoom tool in the status bar then press the spacebar or 2 Place the Zoom Realtime cursor slightly above the center of the drawing area and then click and drag downward Your view zooms out to show more of the drawing 3 While still holding the mouse button move the cursor upward Your view zooms in and enlarges When you have a view similar to the one shown in Figure 1 25 release the mouse button Don t worry if you don t get exactly the same view as the figure This is just for practice 4 You re still in Zoom Realtime mode Click and drag the mouse again to see how you can further adjust your view To exit right click and choose Exit from the shortcut menu You can also press the Esc key 20 CHAPTER 1 EXPLORING THE AUTOCAD INTERFACE FIGURE 1 25 Ann dese ay The final view you a Z want to achieve in Cfo roe step 3 of the exercise In these exercises you used the Zoom tool on the status bar as well as the Zoom option in the right click shortcut menu A third option is to use the View gt Zoom options in the menu bar You ll get a chance to try the Zoom menu bar options in Chapter 2 As you can see from this exercise you have a wide range of options for viewing your drawings just by using a few tools These tools are all you need to control the display of 2D drawings USING MULTI TOUCH TO ZOOM AND PAN If you are using a Magic Mou
16. ew of the drawing The Model Space view places you in a workspace where you do most of your drawing creation and editing Follow these steps 1 In the status bar click the option labeled Layoutl This opens a pop up menu that lets you switch between layout views and the Model Space view see Figure 1 15 FIGURE 1 15 Click the Layout1 oo uyur HL GT f Drawing dwa option in the sta Rc Ei tus bar and select AU m EE MoA OMRE Click the Layout1 option O Show Drawings amp Layouts Popup MENU in the status bar Eee sin 2 Click Model on the pop up menu Figure 1 15 Your view changes to show the full 3D model with the 2D representations of the model Note the option in the upper left corner of the drawing area that shows SW Isometric This tells you your view orientation and offers other options as you ll see in the next exercise 3 Go to the ViewCube and click the part labeled Top Figure 1 16 Your display changes to a two dimensional view looking down on the drawing as shown in Figure 1 17 Note that the option in the upper left portion of the drawing area now shows Top FIGURE 1 16 3D model with 2D representations of the model Click Top on the ViewCube 16 CHAPTER 1 EXPLORING THE AUTOCAD INTERFACE FIGURE 1 17 rel a The Top view of the drawing You ve just seen how you can get into the Model Space view from a layout view and then switch from a 3D view to a 2D view using the ViewCub
17. flow You can open the other workflows by clicking the tool in the Tool Sets palette title bar This opens a pop up menu offering the Drafting Annotation and Modeling options You ll use these other sets of tools in later chapters Another feature you ll want to know about is the Tool Sets palette tool group arrow A tool group arrow is similar to a menu bar option because you can click a tool group arrow to expand a panel of additional options A tool group arrow appears to the right of a group of tools that can be expanded to a tool group panel Clicking the tool group arrow expands the palette to reveal a panel with more tools Figure 1 5 A tool group arrow gives you access to a set of addi tional tools that are similar to the set of tools the tool group arrow is attached to TAKING A GUIDED TOUR FIGURE 1 4 The Tool Sets palette Tool Sets icon Select Select Similar m lt Open Shapes a lt Closed Shapes BE Block Explode Erase Move Rotate Scale Stretch Copy Array Mirror Offset A Modify at I Parametric Distance Area a Coordinates FIGURE 1 5 A Tool Sets tool group and tool roup arrow aes Click a tool group arrow d Atool group panel appears Some of the tools in the Tool Sets palette contain more than one option For example if you click and hold the Circle tool labeled as Center Radius on it
18. ful as you start to work with complex 2D drawings and 3D models The X and Y indicate the X and Y axes of your drawing Chapter 20 discusses this icon in detail For now you can use it as a reference to tell you the direction of the axes FIGURE 1 11 T The UCS icon x IF YOU CAN T FIND THE UCS ICON The UCS icon can be turned on and off so if you re on someone else s system and you don t see the icon don t panic If you don t see the icon or it doesn t look as it does in this chapter see Chapter 20 for more information Using the Command Line Palette and the Dynamic Input Display AutoCAD is the perfect servant It does everything you tell it to and no more You communicate with AutoCAD by using tools and menu bar options to invoke AutoCAD commands A com mand is a single word instruction you give to AutoCAD telling it to do something such as draw a line the Line tool in the Tool Sets palette or erase an object the Erase tool in the Tool Sets palette Whenever you invoke a command by either typing it or selecting a menu option or tool AutoCAD responds by presenting messages to you in the Command Line palette and the Dynamic Input display or by displaying a dialog box 12 CHAPTER 1 EXPLORING THE AUTOCAD INTERFACE The Dynamic Input display allows you to enter dimensional data of objects as you draw them Besides echoing the Command Line palette messages the Dynamic Input display shows temporary dimensions coordi
19. ing the same options that are listed in the Command Line palette plus some additional options As mentioned the Command Line palette is located in the bottom left of the AutoCAD appli cation By default it shows a single line of text You can expand the Command Line palette by clicking the disclosure triangle which as mentioned earlier is the triangle icon on the right side of the palette The expanded Command Line palette shows several lines The bottom line shows the current messages and the top lines show messages that have scrolled by or in some GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD cases components of the current message that don t fit in a single line Right now the bottom line displays the message Command see Figure 1 8 earlier in this chapter This prompt tells you that AutoCAD is waiting for your instructions When you click a point in the drawing area you see the message Specify opposite corner At the same time the cursor starts to draw a win dow selection that disappears when you click another point The same message appears in the Dynamic Input display at the cursor As anew user pay special attention to messages displayed in the Command Line palette and the Dynamic Input display because this is how AutoCAD communicates with you Besides giving you messages the Command Line palette records your activity within AutoCAD You can use the scroll bar to the right of the expanded Command Line palette to review previous messages You c
20. ite for information on how to locate hidden files and specify a location for your files Making Changes You ll frequently make changes to your drawings One of AutoCAD s primary advantages is the ease with which you can make changes The following exercise shows you a typical sequence of operations involved in changing a drawing 1 Use the Save As option in the File menu to save the current clip dwg file under the name MyFirst For convenience you can save your files in the Documents folder 2 Make sure you are in the Drafting workflow then from the Tool Sets palette click the Erase tool the one with a pencil eraser touching paper This activates the Erase command Notice that the cursor has turned into a small square This square is called the pickbox You also see Select objects in the Command Line palette and the Dynamic Input dis play This message helps remind new users what to do 3 Place the pickbox on the crosshatch pattern of the clip see Figure 1 26 and click The crosshatch changes in appearance to a light highlight The pickbox and the Select objects prompt remain indicating that you can continue to select objects 4 Right click and select Enter or press J or the spacebar The crosshatch disappears You ve just erased a part of the drawing 22 CHAPTER 1 EXPLORING THE AUTOCAD INTERFACE FIGURE 1 26 Click here Erasing a portion of the clip In this exercise first you issued the Erase command and then
21. nates and angles of objects you re drawing and editing As you enter coordinate or angle values through the keyboard they appear in the Dynamic Input dis play which is connected to the cursor Figure 1 12 FIGURE 1 12 eon A sample of how Litroni D wireframe the Dynamic Input display looks ms You can easily turn the Dynamic Input display on or off by clicking the Dynamic Input tool in the status bar When the Dynamic Input display is turned off responses to your keyboard input appear only in the Command Line palette The messages in the Command Line palette or in the Dynamic Input display often tell you what to do next Commands may also display a list of options in the Command Line palette A single command often presents a series of messages which you answer to complete the com mand These messages serve as an aid to new users who need a little help If you ever get lost while using a command or forget what you re supposed to do look at the Command Line pal ette for clues As you become more comfortable with AutoCAD you ll find that you won t need to refer to these messages as frequently As an additional aid you can right click to display a context sensitive shortcut menu That is if you re in the middle of a command the context sensitive menu displays a list of options spe cifically related to that command For example if you right click before picking the first point for the Rectangle command a menu opens display
22. ou selected Top from the ViewCube In this exercise you used the ViewCube to change your view orientation to a 3D view called SW Isometric You also saw how you could change your view to one that shows the 3D object in a shaded mode using the Viewport controls pop up menu in the upper left of the drawing area These different modes of displaying your drawing are called Visual Styles You ll learn more about Visual Styles in Part 4 Modeling and Imaging 17 18 CHAPTER 1 EXPLORING THE AUTOCAD INTERFACE FIGURE 1 21 i The SW Isometric Model Views pop up menu Bottom SW Isometric SE Isometric NE Isometric NW Isometric Parallel Perspective c Using Zoom and Pan One of the most frequently used commands is Zoom which gives you a closer look at part of your drawing This command offers a variety of ways to control your view In this section you ll enlarge a portion of the clip drawing to get a more detailed look To tell AutoCAD which area you want to enlarge you use what is called a zoom window Now let s continue with a look at the Zoom command Try the following exercise to get a feel for moving around in the drawing 1 Click the Zoom tool in the status bar Figure 1 22 FIGURE 1 22 The Zoom tool in the status bar 2 At first the Dynamic Input display shows the Specify corner of window prompt with some options Move the crosshair cursor to the lower left location shown in Figure 1 23
23. riginal name choose File gt Save from the menu bar or under a different name choose File gt Save As from the menu bar thereby creating a new file By default AutoCAD automatically saves your work at 10 minute intervals under a name that is a combination of the current filename plus a number and that ends with the sv file name extension this is known as the Automatic Save feature Using settings in the Application Preferences dialog box or AutoCAD system variables you can change the name of the autosaved file and control the time between autosaves See the section The Look amp Feel Options in Appendix B on the accompanying website for details E Real World Scenario I CAN T FIND MY AUTOMATIC SAVES Asan IT manager at ELS Architecture and Urban Planning one of the most common questions get is Where does AutoCAD put the Automatic Save files By default the Automatic Save file is stored in the Macintosh HD Private tmp folder You can find the exact location for your system by typing Savefilepath in the Command Line palette The location is displayed in the Command Line palette and in the Dynamic Input display This file location is often set as a hidden folder but you can get to it using the Go To Folder command While in the Finder press Shift 3 G In the Go To Folder dialog box enter tmp and click Go You can also specify a different location for the Automatic Save files See Appendix B on the accompanying webs
24. s help tag you will see additional tools in a column below the tool Figure 1 6 This set of additional tools is called a flyout You can tell if a tool opens a flyout if you see a small triangle in the lower right corner of the icon Figure 1 6 Flyouts offer additional ways to use a tool For example the Circle tool flyout lets you draw a circle by specifying a center and radius a center and diameter 2 points 3 points two tangent points and a radius or three tangent points The flyouts often mimic the options in the menu bar If you click Draw Circle you will see the same options appear in the flyout menu 7 8 CHAPTER 1 EXPLORING THE AUTOCAD INTERFACE FIGURE 1 6 Click and hold the circle tool to open the flyout menu N a Fi Center Radius Center Diameter A triangle in the rem lower right of the 6t 3 Point tool tells you it Tan Tan Radius opens a flyout hdd ee a d THE DRAWING AREA The drawing area occupies the center of the screen Figure 1 7 shows it without the grid for clar ity You can turn the grid off and on by pressing 6 G Everything you draw appears in this area As you move your mouse around crosshairs appear to move within the drawing area This is the drawing cursor that lets you point to locations in the drawing area You ll get your first chance to work with the drawing area later in the section Picking Points in the Drawing Area FIGURE 1 7 Viewport controls Vie
25. se or a Multi Touch trackpad you can use its Multi Touch feature to zoom and pan over your view On the Magic Mouse use a one finger vertical swipe gesture to zoom in and out or hold down the 3 key and use one finger to pan your view You can also hold down the spacebar and move the mouse to pan On a Multi Touch trackpad use two fingers to pan or hold down the 3 key and use a two finger vertical gesture to zoom in or out You can also use the pinch gesture to zoom in or out You may want to experiment with both the Zoom tool and the Multi Touch feature to see which works best for you If you are using a trackpad make sure Tap to Click and Dragging are enabled in the Trackpad settings in the System Preferences for your Mac If you re a new user you may find Multi Touch too sensitive You can turn off the Multi Touch Scroll and Zoom features through the mouse settings in the OS X system preferences Be aware that this will turn off the feature for all Mac applications so you may want to turn it back on when you exit AutoCAD If you re using a Magic Mouse you can gain much finer control by installing the free MagicPrefs preference pane application MagicPrefs can be found on the website that accompanies this book or you can go online to the Apple website to download it GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD 21 Saving a File as You Work It s a good idea to save your file periodically as you work on it You can save it under its o
26. tangle to see how AutoCAD behaves while drawing objects 1 Click the Rectangle tool in the Tool Sets palette as shown in Figure 1 27 Notice that the Dynamic Input display and Command Line palette now show the follow ing prompt Specify first corner point or FIGURE 1 27 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD 23 AutoCAD is asking you to select the first corner for the rectangle In the Command Line palette you see some additional text in brackets offering a few options that you can take advantage of at this point in the command Don t worry about those options right now You ll have an opportunity to learn about command options in Chapter 2 Note that you can view the command options at the Dynamic Input display by right clicking or by pressing the down arrow key on your keyboard Click the Rectangle tool in the Tool Sets palette Command RECTANG Jl Creates a rectangular polyline 2 Click a point roughly in the lower left corner of the drawing area as shown in FIGURE 1 28 Drawing the rectangle Figure 1 28 Now as you move your mouse a rectangle follows the cursor with one corner fixed at the position you just selected You also see the following prompt in the Command Line palette with a similar prompt in the Dynamic Input display Specify other corner point or Area Dimensions Rotation Click another point anywhere in the upper right region of the drawing area A rectangle appears see Figure 1 28 You ll learn more about
27. u draw lines circles and other objects you can use the Properties Inspector palette to display the properties of those objects You ll learn more about object properties in Chapter 2 Creating Your First Drawing 6 CHAPTER 1 EXPLORING THE AUTOCAD INTERFACE FIGURE 1 3 Properties Inspector The Properties e Inspector palette Essentials Color Layer Linetype Linetype scale Lineweight Transparency Text style Standard Dimension style Standard Multileader style Standard Table style Standard Annotation scale 1 1 Text height 0 2000 Plot style Plot style table Plot style attache Plot table type THE TOOL SETS PALETTE The Tool Sets palette Figure 1 4 contains tools you ll use to create and edit your drawings The tools in the palette give you a clue to their purpose and you can hover the cursor over a tool to see a tooltip showing a descriptive name of the tool The Tool Sets palette gives you a quick one click method for issuing commands You ll also find that many of the tools in the Tool Sets palette duplicate commands in the menu bar The Tool Sets palette is organized into groups of tools that serve similar functions Figure 1 4 shows the tool groups some can be expanded into panels which are described later in this section Though not obvious the Tool Sets palette offers three tool sets or workflow panels Drafting Annotation and Modeling see Figure 1 4 The one you see now is the Drafting work
28. ver if you happen to forget to save your files Master It How often does the AutoCAD Automatic Save feature save your drawing Make changes and open multiple files As with other Mac applications you can have mul tiple files open and exchange data between them Master It With two drawings open how can you copy parts of one drawing into the other
29. wCube The drawing area shown without the grid UCS icon palette TAKING A GUIDED TOUR Within the drawing area you see three items The UCS icon appears in the lower left corner You ll learn more about the UCS icon in a moment see the section Understanding the UCS Icon In the upper right corner you see the ViewCube The ViewCube is primarily for 3D mod eling and you ll learn more about it in Chapter 19 Creating 3D Drawings In the upper left corner you see the viewport controls In Figure 1 7 they show a plus sign and the words Top and 2D Wireframe The plus sign offers viewport options that you