Wiley AutoCAD 2008 and AutoCAD LT 2008: No Experience Required
Contents
1. FIGURE 1 6 The Options dialog box 2 Click the Display tab which is shown in Figure 1 7 Focus on the Window Elements section If scroll bars are visible on the lower and right edges of the drawing area the Display Scroll Bars In Drawing Window check box will be selected AllOptions FIGURE 1 7 The Options dialog box open at the Display tab Introducing the AutoCAD Graphics Window 11 3 Click the check box to turn off the scroll bars Also be sure the check box for Display Screen Menu is not selected Don t click the OK but ton yet Another display setting that you might want to change at this point controls the color of the cursor and the drawing area background The illustrations in this book show a white background and black crosshair cursor but you re proba bly seeing the AutoCAD default which features a black background and a white crosshair cursor If you want to change the colors follow these steps 1 In the Window Elements area of the Display tab click the Colors but ton to open the Drawing Window Colors dialog box see Figure 1 8 In the upper left corner of the dialog box in the Context list box 2D Model Space should be selected If it s not select it Ea prawing Window Colors FIGURE 1 8 The Drawing Window Colors dialog box 2 Move to the Color drop down list which is in the upper right corner If your drawing area background is currently white a square followed by the word White is dis2. The New Features Workshop is a series of interactive animations tutorials and short descriptions designed to help you learn the new features Would you like to view the New Features Workshop now Yes Maybe later No don t show me this again You can also access the New Features Workshop from the Help menu aes AutoCAD Autodesk FIGURE 1 1 The AutoCAD welcome screen provides access to the New Features Workshop 4 New Features Workshop gt Main Menu AutoCAD 2008 P Scale Annotations Dimensions and Leaders i A 9 A Ri zy Hi Him Y rgi Wy A whe iol Y Dimension Enhancements General Dimension Enhancement 2 y P Add a Break to a Dimension Create an Inspection Dimension Bi Add a Jog to a Linear Dimension Ba Adjust the Distance Between Dime D Multileaders Tables Layers Visualization User Interface Customization Dratting Productivity FIGURE 1 2 The New Features Workshop dialog box AutoCAD and LT offer numerous dia log boxes with vari ous combinations of buttons and text boxes You ll learn their many functions as you progress through the book Chapter 1 gt Getting to Know AutoCAD The Customer Involvement Program Nearly all the latest releases of Autodesk products include the opportunity to participate in the customer involvement program CIP The CIP is designed to collect nonpersonal information about your Autodesk products and com
3. hil CHAPTER 1 iia Getting to Know AutoCAD Opening a new drawing Getting familiar with the AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT graphics windows Modifying the display Displaying and arranging toolbars Chapter 1 Getting to Know AutoCAD our introduction to AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT begins with a tour of the user interface of the two programs In this chapter you ll also learn how to use some tools that help you control the interface s appearance and how to find and start commands For the material covered in this chap ter the two applications are almost identical in appearance Therefore as you tour AutoCAD I ll point out any differences between AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT In general LT is a 2D program so it doesn t have most of the 3D features that come with AutoCAD such as solids modeling and rendering The AutoLISP pro gramming language found in AutoCAD is also absent from LT The other differ ences are minor As mentioned in this book s introduction when I say AutoCAD I mean both AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT I ll also refer to AutoCAD LT as LT throughout this chapter and the rest of the book to specifically refer to that ver sion Starting AutoCAD is the first task at hand Starting AutoCAD If you installed AutoCAD using the default settings for the location of the pro gram files start the program by choosing Start gt Programs gt Autodesk gt AutoCAD 2008 gt AutoCAD 2008 or by choosing Start gt All Progra
4. ll cover in Chapter 13 At the far right of the status bar are tools for controlling the appearance of annota tion objects in AutoCAD The padlock icon controls which types of toolbars and windows are locked in their current positions on the screen Leave it in the unlocked mode for now This has been a quick introduction to the various parts of the graphics win dow I didn t mention a couple of items that might be visible on your screen You might have scroll bars below and to the right of the drawing area although these can be useful they can take up precious space in the drawing area They won t be of any use while working your way through this book so I suggest you remove them for now To temporarily remove these features follow these steps 1 Choose Tools gt Options to open the Options dialog box shown in Figure 1 6 It has 10 tabs LT has only 8 across the top that act like tabs on file folders 10 Chapter 1 Getting to Know AutoCAD AllOptions G Support File Search Path H Q Working Support File Search Path H Q Device Driver File Search Path Project Fies Search Path ra E Text Edtor Dictionary and Font Fie Names FA EB Paint Fie Spooler and Prolog Section Names E E Printer Suppor File Path B B Automatic Save Fie Location E B Coker Book Locations E Data Sources Location E Template Settings E Tool Palettes Fie Locations EB Authoring Palette Fie Locations 8 Log File Location
5. toolbar around the screen Try this with the Zoom toolbar Drag the Zoom toolbar to the right side of the screen You ll notice that as you drag it the toolbar stays put and you re dragging a rec tangle of the same size as the toolbar see Figure 1 11 As you drag the rectangle to the right of the drawing area and begin to move it off the drawing area onto the right side of the screen the rectangle becomes taller and thinner 18 Grab bars are the two lines at the left end of a horizontal toolbar or at the top of a ver tical one They repre sent the one place to grab a docked toolbar to move it You can also change a docked toolbar into a float ing toolbar by double clicking its grab bars Chapter 1 Getting to Know AutoCAD Raaeaaaca AQAAHAlAAIAA PHORM oD FIGURE 1 11 Dragging the Zoom toolbar Once the rectangle has changed shape release the left mouse button The rectangle changes to the Zoom toolbar which is now positioned off the drawing area without its title bar HOME ADI 2 D B L P This procedure is called docking a toolbar Notice how the Standard and other toolbars at the top of the drawing area have no title bars they are docked Continue with these steps 1 Drag the Zoom toolbar back onto the drawing area using the grab bars at the top of the toolbar You can easily change the shape of any floating toolbar by dragging its edge Let s change the shape of t
6. 2D Drafting amp Annetation 3D Modeling AutoCAD Classic 20 Drawing Save Current As Workspace settings Customize FIGURE 1 14 The Workspaces menu 4 Close the Workspaces toolbar When you make changes to the new workspace by adding a toolbar or chang ing the background color of the drawing area you can easily update the 2D Drawing workspace to accommodate those changes Follow steps 1 and 2 previ ously naming the workspace again to 2D Drawing You ll get a warning window telling you that a workspace by that name already exists and asking you whether you want the new arrangement to replace the old one Click Yes Using the Keyboard The keyboard is an important tool for entering data and commands If you re a good typist you can gain speed in working with AutoCAD by learning how to enter commands from the keyboard AutoCAD provides what are called alias keys single keys or key combinations that start any of several often used com mands You can add more or change the existing aliases as you get more familiar with the program In addition to the alias keys you can use several of the F keys function keys on the top row of the keyboard as two way or three way toggles switches to turn AutoCAD functions on and off Although buttons on the screen duplicate these functions Snap Grid and so on it s sometimes faster to use the F keys Finally you can activate commands on the drop down menus from the key b
7. Then drag the toolbar to the left side or top of the drawing area to dock it Here are the positions I recommend for the five tool bars you should dock on your screen gt At the top just under the menu bar dock the Standard toolbar Below that on the left side dock the Layers toolbar To the right of the Layers toolbar dock the Properties toolbar On the left side dock the Draw toolbar Next to the Draw toolbar dock the Modify toolbar 20 Chapter 1 Getting to Know AutoCAD fib AutoC an 2008 Drawing 1 dwa FIGURE 1 12 The AutoCAD user interface with five toolbars docked on the top and left sides of the drawing area This arrangement of the toolbars will be convenient because you ll often use commands on these five toolbars When you need other toolbars temporarily you can use the Toolbars menu to display them in the drawing area and let them float If you have any other toolbars docked on the screen use their grab bars to drag them onto the screen Then click the Xs in their title bars to close them Here is a partial list of toolbars that you might have on your screen that need to be turned off gt Display Order toolbar gt Styles toolbar gt Workspaces toolbar Using the Toolbars Customizing Toolbars You can customize each toolbar and you can build your own custom toolbars to display only the buttons you use frequently You can even design your own but tons for commands that aren t a
8. a close look at the menus toolbars and key board controls NOTE in many cases you can start AutoCAD commands in a number of ways from drop down menus from the toolbars from the Command window and from menus that appear when you right click When you get used to drawing with AutoCAD you ll learn some shortcuts that start commands quickly and you ll find the way that is most comfortable for you Using the Drop Down Menus The left end of the menu bar just below the title bar see Figure 1 3 earlier in this chapter consists of an icon and 11 12 if you have the Express Tools installed words Click any of these to display a drop down menu The icon and the File and Edit menus are included with all Windows compliant applications although they are somewhat customized to work with AutoCAD The drop down menu associ ated with the icon contains commands to control the appearance and position of the drawing area Commands in the File menu are for opening and saving new and existing draw ing files printing exporting files to another application choosing basic utility options and exiting the application The Edit menu contains the Undo and Redo commands the Cut and Paste tools and options for creating links between Auto CAD files and other files The Help menu works like most Windows Help menus and contains a couple of AutoCAD specific entries as well including some online resources anda link to the New Features Workshop The ot
9. ar is the same as the behavior of fly out menus in general P NOTE Whenever you start AutoCAD or LT for a new drawing session the toolbars are reset and contain the original fly out menu buttons The toolbar fly out menus are regular toolbars that have been attached to another toolbar AutoCAD has 37 toolbars in all but only a few have fly out menus the Zoom fly out menu I just discussed and the Insert fly out menu on the Draw toolbar for example You can display the Zoom and Insert fly out menus as regular toolbars independent of the Standard and Draw toolbars Displaying and Arranging Toolbars In this section I ll use the Zoom toolbar to show you some ways you can control and manipulate toolbars Follow these steps 1 Be sure the padlock icon in the lower right corner of your screen is in unlocked mode Then right click any toolbar button on the screen to open the Toolbars menu see Figure 1 10 Using the Toolbars FIGURE 1 10 TheToolbars menu If you don t see Zoom near the bottom of the list you should have a down arrow there Use it to scroll down if necessary and then click Zoom to display the Zoom toolbar in the form of a floating box in the drawing area Notice that the Zoom toolbar now has a title bar Toolbars that are positioned on the drawing area are called floating toolbars They have title bars and by placing the cursor on the title bar and holding down the left mouse button you can drag the
10. d window Regenerating model AutoCAD menu utilities loaded Command A g When you enter commands rather than using the menus or buttons the Command window is where you tell the program what to do and where the pro gram tells you what s happening It s an important area and you ll need to learn how it works in detail Two lines of text should be visible You ll learn how to increase the number of visible lines later in this chapter in the section Working in the Command Window Below the Command window is the status bar SNAP GRID ORTHO POLAR OSNAP OTRACK DUCS DYN LwT MODEL On the left end of the status bar you ll see a coordinate readout window In the middle are 10 readout buttons LT has only 9 that indicate various drawing modes It s important to learn about the coordinate system and most of these drawing aids Snap Grid Ortho and Osnap early on as you learn to draw in AutoCAD or LT They will help you create neat and accurate drawings Polar and Otrack are advanced drawing tools and will be introduced in Chapter 5 Ducs stands for Dynamic User Coordinate System it s used in 3D drawings Dyn is an off on toggle that activates or suppresses the dynamic display of information next to the crosshair cursor when it s in the drawing area For now keep it in the off unpushed mode Lwt which stands for lineweight will be discussed in Chapter 14 The Model button is an advanced aid that I
11. e off unpushed position Be sure all the other readout buttons except Model are in their off unpushed positions Your screen should look close enough to Figure 1 3 to continue You ll arrange the toolbars the way you need them a little later Introducing the AutoCAD Graphics Window At the top of the graphics window sit the title bar the menu bar and three toolbars You might have more or less than three toolbars if so you ll change that soon Communications Title bar Menu bar InfoCenter Center Favorites le x a E Pe ee es NE ee 2 ET A trae Jl oS Si a sie Serie ER Me ent Foma Tms Dram Devens Mowy enon Hao Biceess dig BIA Sle Oe a7 vos Workspaces toolbar Standard toolbar Layers toolbar Properties toolbar Styles toolbar The fitle bar is analogous to the title bar in any Windows program It contains the program name AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT and the title of the current draw ing with its path as long as any drawing other than the default Drawingn dwg is open Below the title bar is the menu bar where you ll see the drop down menus Among the drop down menus File Edit Window and Help are standard Windows menus meaning that they appear on Windows compliant applica tions These Windows menus also contain a few commands specific to AutoCAD The rest of the menus contain AutoCAD specific functions To the far right of the menus are the InfoCenter Communications Cente
12. een and resize it although I don t recom mend you do this at first If you currently have fewer than three lines of text in the window you ll need to increase the window s vertical size To do so move the cursor to the horizontal boundary between the drawing area and the Command window until it changes to an up and down arrow broken by two parallel hori zontal lines ke Hold down the left mouse button drag the cursor up by approximately the amount that one or two lines of text would take up and then release the mouse button You should see more lines of text but you might have to try this a couple of times to display exactly three lines A horizontal line will separate the top two lines of text from the bottom line of text When you close the program AutoCAD will save the new settings the next time you start AutoCAD the command win dow will display three lines of text The Command window is where you give information to AutoCAD and where AutoCAD prompts you for the next step in executing a command It s good prac tice to keep an eye on the Command window as you work on your drawing Most errors occur when you aren t looking at it frequently If the Dyn button on the Using the Drop Down Menus status bar is in the on position some of the information in the Command win dow will appear in the drawing area next to the cursor I ll cover this feature when you start drawing Before you begin to draw take
13. en set parameters You ll look at this command All Center Dynamic Extents Previous Scale Windov Object lt real tinme _all in Chapter 3 egenerating nodel Command 16 LT has 24 toolbars compared with AutoCAD s 37 The additional toolbars in AutoCAD are almost all for 3D and ren dering tools Chapter 1 Getting to Know AutoCAD At the end of the top line of text is _a11 This tells you that you have used the All option of the Zoom command This fly out menu is called the Zoom fly out menu because it contains tools for changing views of the drawing or zooming around in the drawing 5 Look at the Standard toolbar where the Zoom Window button was previously Notice that the Zoom All button has replaced it ow Help Express amp QR ss Zoom All 4 TIP Ona toolbar fly out menu the button you select replaces the button that was on the toolbar This arrangement is handy if you re going to be using the same command several times because the button for the command is readily available and you don t have to open the fly out menu to select it again The order of the fly out menu buttons remains the same so when you open the Zoom fly out menu again the Zoom Window button will be at the top of the list You ll need to become familiar with any fly out menu buttons you use because the last one used becomes the representative button on the toolbar The behavior of the Zoom fly out menu on the Standard toolb
14. her eight or nine menus contain the most often used AutoCAD com mands You ll find that if you master the logic of how the commands are orga nized by menu you can quickly find the command you want Here is a short description of each of the other AutoCAD drop down menus View Contains tools for controlling the display of your drawing file Insert Contains commands for placing drawings and images or parts of them inside other drawings Format Contains commands for setting up the general parameters for a new drawing or changing the entities in a current drawing 14 LT has only 23 Standard toolbar buttons It s missing the Sheet Set Manager and Block Editor buttons because LT doesn t offer these features Chapter 1 Getting to Know AutoCAD Tools Contains special tools for use while you re working on the current draw ing such as those for finding the length of a line or for running a special macro Draw Contains commands for creating new objects such as lines or circles on the screen Dimension Contains commands for dimensioning and annotating a drawing Modify Contains commands for changing existing objects in the drawing Window Contains commands for displaying currently open drawing windows and lists currently open drawing files Express Contains a library of productivity tools that cover a wide range of AutoCAD functions Express Tools are widely used but unsupported directly by Autodesk They might or mig
15. his toolbar Move the cursor to the far right edge of the Zoom toolbar until the crosshair cursor changes to a two way arrow ARARAQAR aaf Using the Toolbars Hold down the left mouse button with the cursor on the right edge of the toolbar and drag the arrow to the left until the rectangle changes shape Release the mouse button Ce x AQRAA RA QR You can reshape and reposition each floating toolbar to fit on the drawing area just as you want it You won t need the Zoom toolbar just now so you ll remove it 3 Move the cursor to the title bar and click the box with an X in it to close the Zoom toolbar Floating toolbars don t affect the size of the drawing area but they cover your drawing Each row or column of docked toolbars takes up space that would other wise be drawing area You have to decide how many docked and floating toolbars you need on the screen at a time A good way to start is to leave the Standard Lay ers and Properties toolbars docked on the top of the screen and the Draw and Modify toolbars docked on the left side of the screen If your toolbars are positioned as shown in Figure 1 12 continue with the next section If these toolbars are in another location on the drawing area or not visible try the steps you used in this section to dock them on the top and left sides of the drawing area If the toolbars aren t visible right click any visible toolbar button and choose the toolbar you need
16. ht not be installed on your computer Using the Toolbars Now look at the toolbars on your screen You ll have two to five toolbars in one or two rows at the top and a couple more on the right and or left sides of the drawing area Just below the drop down menus is the most extensive of the tool bars the Standard toolbar JO Wee Ad A6s4 F V S FARRAR UB a The icons on the AutoCAD toolbars look like flat images and don t appear as raised buttons until you point to them The Standard toolbar has 25 icons and they are arranged into 7 logical groups The icons on the left half of the Standard toolbar are mostly for commands used in all Windows compatible applications so you might be familiar with them The icons on the right half of the Standard toolbar are AutoCAD commands that you use during your regular drawing activ ities You use these commands to take care of a number of tasks including the following gt Changing the view of the drawing on the screen gt Changing the properties of an object such as color or linetype gt Borrowing parts of an unopened drawing to use in your current drawing gt Displaying a set of palettes that contain objects you can use in your drawing Using the Toolbars 15 Accessing the Toolbar Fly Out Menus Notice that one icon on the Standard toolbar has a little triangular arrow in the lower right corner This arrow indicates that clicking this icon displays more than one command Foll
17. lready represented by buttons on the toolbars These activities are for more advanced users however and aren t covered in this book To find out more about how to customize toolbars see Mastering Auto CAD 2008 and AutoCAD LT 2008 by George Omura Wiley 2007 Workspaces Now that you have your screen set up to look like Figure 1 3 you are ready to proceed through the book I ll direct you to display additional toolbars as needed For now though save this setup as a new workspace because it s a variation of the AutoCAD Classic or LT workspace that comes with the program Follow these steps 1 Choose Tools gt Workspaces gt Save Current As This opens the Save Workspace dialog box see Figure 1 13 x O Cancel FIGURE 1 13 The Save Workspace dialog box 2 Enter 2D Drawing and click Save The computer works for a while and then returns you to your workspace The new 2D Drawing work space setup will remain as it now is until you change it or until you select a different workspace 3 Right click any toolbar and click the Workspaces entry in the Tool bars list you ll see the 2D Drawing workspace displayed in the Work spaces toolbar below 2D Drafting amp Annotation 3D Modeling and AutoCAD Classic see Figure 1 14 Later in this book AutoCAD users will switch to the 3D Modeling workspace and make a few adjustments to it Chapter 1 Getting to Know AutoCAD Workspaces E3 PE 2D Drawing
18. ms gt Autodesk gt AutoCAD LT 2008 gt AutoCAD LT 2008 depending on your pro gram This command path might vary depending on the Windows scheme you are using If you customized your installation find and click the AutoCAD 2008 icon or the AutoCAD LT 2008 icon on your desktop Exploring the New Features Workshop The New Features Workshop dialog welcome screen opens when you first start AutoCAD and leads to several animated demonstrations and explanations of the new features included in the latest release of AutoCAD see Figure 1 1 This is a quick and easy way to see how AutoCAD 2008 has improved over AutoCAD 2007 and which tools you can use to augment any skills you already have Choosing Maybe Later on the left side of the dialog box causes it to reappear every time you start AutoCAD choosing the No Don t Show This to Me Again option dismisses the dialog box indefinitely You must then access the New Features Workshop through the Help menu in the menu bar at the top of the AutoCAD user interface Selecting the Yes radio button on the left side of the dialog box opens the New Features Workshop dialog box see Figure 1 2 Here you navigate and select the feature you want to investigate in the left pane and observe the selection in the right pane The drop down list in the upper left corner provides access to the New Features Workshops for other Autodesk products installed on your system Starting AutoCAD New Features Workshop
19. nd choose Auto CAD Classic Alternately you can choose Tools gt Workspaces gt AutoCAD Classic If AutoCAD Classic already has a check in the box next to it or if you are using LT this step is unnecessary S File Edt view Insert Format Tools Draw 3D Modeling 18 eO 3D Modeing AutoCAD Classic 2D Drafting amp Annotation ai Save Current As Workspace settings Customize By default the AutoCAD Classic workspace displays the tool palettes on the screen If the palettes are displayed you need to turn them off for now by clicking the X in the top right corner or by choosing Tools gt Palettes gt Tool Palettes from the menu bar Your workspace might have different toolbars and palettes displayed than those shown in Figure 1 5 If other palettes are still visible click the X in the upper right or upper left corner of each palette to close it Archt Anret Mode Tables tretch Sruct Cvi Electri Mech fff comm FIGURE 1 5 The tool palettes Introducing the AutoCAD Graphics Window 3 The large area in the middle of the screen is called the drawing area It might need adjusting Choose View gt Visual Styles gt 2D Wireframe 4 Choose View gt 3D Views gt Plan View gt World UCS If dots appear in the drawing area the grid is turned on 5 Move the cursor to the status bar at the bottom of the screen and click the Grid readout button so it s in th
20. nnotation work space which is similar to the AutoCAD Classic workspace You ll be using a varia tion of the AutoCAD Classic workspace for the first 14 chapters in this book In the final two chapters you ll switch to the 3D Modeling workspace but for now you need to get your AutoCAD user interface to look like Figure 1 3 N OTE _ The figures and graphics is this book show the drawing area of the AutoCAD user interface with a white background but the default and pre ferred method is to use a black background to reduce eyestrain The color choice in the book is simply for readability Starting AutoCAD Title bar Layers toolbar Properties toolbar Menu bar Styles toolbar Standard toolbar Workspaces toolbar Communications Center Favorites Draw toolbar sles a PEME Modify toolbar ir mese Drawing area User Coordinate Modeland Command Status System UCS icon layouttabs window bar Ilf Corm f Tables Hatch Struct FIGURE 1 4 The AutoCAD graphics window using the 3D Modeling workspace Chapter 1 Getting to Know AutoCAD The toolbars on your screen might not be in the same places as they are shown here Later in this chapter you ll see how to move the toolbars display and place new toolbars and suppress the toolbars If your screen looks like Figure 1 4 or isn t at all like Figure 1 3 you need to make a few changes 1 Click the drop down arrow in the Workspaces toolbar a
21. oard rather than by using the mouse If you press the Alt key an underlined letter called a hot key appears on each menu Pressing the key for the under lined letter activates the menu Each command on the menu also has a hot key Once you activate the menu with the hot key combination you can enter the underlined letter of these commands For a few commands this method can be the fastest way to start them and to select options Using the Mouse 23 While working in AutoCAD you ll need to enter a lot of data such as dimen sions and construction notes answer questions with yes or no and use the arrow keys You ll use the keyboard constantly It might help to get into the habit of keeping your left hand on the keyboard and your right hand on the mouse if you re right handed or the other way around if you re left handed Using the Mouse Your mouse most likely has two buttons and a scroll wheel So far in this chap ter you have used the left mouse button for choosing menus commands or options or for holding down the button and dragging a menu toolbar or win dow The left mouse button is the one you ll be using most often but you ll also be using the right mouse button While drawing you ll use the right mouse button for the following three operations gt To display a menu containing options relevant to the particular step you re in at the moment gt To use in combination with the Shift or Ctrl key
22. ow these steps to see how this special icon works Q 1 Move the cursor to the Standard toolbar and point to the icon that a has a magnifying glass with a rectangle in it 2 Rest the arrow on the button for a moment without clicking A small window opens just below it displaying the command the button rep resents In this case the window should say Zoom Window This is a tool tip all buttons have them Notice the small arrow in the lower right corner of the icon This is the multiple command arrow men tioned earlier 3 Place the arrow cursor on the button and hold down the left mouse button A column of nine buttons opens vertically below the original button see Figure 1 9 The top button in the column is a duplicate of the button you clicked This column of buttons is called a toolbar fly out menu In this example you re working with the Zoom toolbar fly out menu Window Help Ex BEAR Q 53 2 D B FIGURE 1 9 Toolbar fly out menu 4 While still holding down the mouse button drag the arrow down over lt i each button until you get to the one that has a magnifying glass with a piece of white paper on it Hold the arrow there until you see the The Zoom All com tooltip It should say Zoom All Now release the mouse button The men ah este view of your drawing fly out menu disappears and AutoCAD executes the Zoom All com io dude ecial pie mand Look in the Command window at the bottom of the scre
23. played Open the Color drop down list and select Black or the background color you want The drawing area will now be that color and the cursor color will change to white as shown in the Preview window below 3 Click the Apply amp Close button to close the Drawing Window Colors dialog box The background and cursor colors change 12 LT doesn t have the Screen menu so the option to turn it off isn t on LT s Display tab Chapter 1 Getting to Know AutoCAD 4 Don t close the Options dialog box yet 5 If you want the lines of your crosshair cursor to extend completely across the screen go to the lower left corner of the Display tab the lower right corner for LT and move the slider to change the Crosshair Size setting to 100 6 Click OK to apply any remaining changes and close the Options dia log box Your crosshair lines now extend across the drawing area 9 T I P_ Ifyou choose a color other than black as the drawing area background color the color of the crosshair cursor remains the same as it was To change the crosshair color in the Drawing Window Colors dialog box go to the Inter face Element list box and select Crosshairs Then select a color from the Color drop down list Working in the Command Window Just below the drawing area is the Command window This window is separate from the drawing area and behaves like a Windows window that is you can drag it to a different place on the scr
24. puter system to help the product programmers and developers design software that best meets their customers needs If you haven t yet agreed or disagreed to par ticipate when you first start AutoCAD you might be prompted to join with the Customer Involvement Program dialog box C Yes Lage ard ware to particnate Recommended Mo lant vadio partopate at ha tima Mama nte Paraguei sataman ut odet wor seort 1 Matted ay nat be anor wens ea F seeind me 7 drys w wj Participation is strictly voluntary and if you choose to participate AutoCAD will periodically send a small file to Autodesk containing information such as your software name and version the commands you use and your system con figuration information An Internet connection is required and you must ensure that your firewall settings don t prevent the information from being transmitted Exploring the AutoCAD User Interface After bypassing the initial dialog boxes that AutoCAD provides the program opens to display the AutoCAD user interface also called the graphics window AutoCAD provides many methods for creating and editing objects changing the view of a drawing or executing AutoCAD file maintenance or other utilities In LT your screen looks similar to Figure 1 3 For AutoCAD your monitor displays one of three workspaces the AutoCAD Classic workspace also similar to Figure 1 3 the 3D Modeling workspace see Figure 1 4 or the 2D Drafting amp A
25. r and Favorites buttons You can enter a question in the field to the left of the Info Center button to quickly access information from the Help system through the InfoCenter s drop down panel With the Communications Center you can deter mine what type of information such as software updates product support or RSS feeds Autodesk sends directly to your system LT users can skip step 3 and move on to step 4 The title bar and menu bar at the top of the LT screen are identical to those in AutoCAD except that AutoCAD LT appears in the title bar rather than AutoCAD Chapter 1 Getting to Know AutoCAD Below the menus are the Standard and Styles toolbars The Standard toolbar contains 25 commonly used command buttons LT has only 23 Several of these buttons will be familiar to Windows users the rest are AutoCAD commands The Styles toolbar to the right defines the appearance of any new objects in the draw ing Just below these toolbars are the Workspaces Layers and Properties tool bars which together contain six command buttons and six drop down lists The blank middle section of the screen is called the drawing area Notice the movable crosshair cursor The crosshairs on your cursor might not extend com pletely across the screen Later in this chapter I will show you how to modify the length of the crosshairs as well as make a few other changes Your screen might or might not display the coordinate tooltips next to the in
26. tersection of the crosshairs Notice the little box at the intersection of the two crosshair lines This is one of several forms of the AutoCAD and LT cursor When you move the cursor off the drawing area it changes to the standard Windows pointing arrow As you begin using commands it will take on other forms depending on which step of a command you re performing User Coordinate Drawing area System Model and UCS icon layout tabs f orossar cursor SPHOMH ADVIO The icon with a double arrow in the lower left corner of the drawing area is the UCS icon UCS stands for user coordinate system It indicates the positive direction for the X and Y coordinates You won t need it for most of the chapters in this book so you ll learn how to turn it off in Chapter 3 At the bottom of the drawing area are three tabs a Model tab and two Layout tabs You use these tabs to switch between viewing modes I ll discuss viewing modes in Chapter 13 This example shows no toolbars floating in the drawing area but one toolbar is docked on either side of the drawing area Your screen might or might not have the toolbars or they might be in different positions If the toolbars are floating within the drawing area rather than docked along one edge they will have a colored title bar For specifics see the section Using the Toolbars later in this chapter Introducing the AutoCAD Graphics Window Below the drawing area is the Comman
27. to display a menu containing special drawing aids called object snaps see Chapter 10 gt To display a menu of toolbars when the pointer is on any icon of a toolbar that is currently open If you have a three button mouse the middle button is usually programmed to display the Object Snap menu instead of using the right button with the Shift key If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel you can use the wheel in several ways to control the view of your drawing l ll cover those methods in subsequent chapters AutoCAD makes extensive use of toolbars and the right click menu feature This makes your mouse an important input tool The keyboard is necessary for inputting numeric data and text and it has hot keys and aliases that can speed up your work however the mouse is the primary tool for selecting options and controlling toolbars The next chapter will familiarize you with a few basic commands that will enable you to draw a small diagram If want to take a break and close AutoCAD choose File gt Exit and choose not to save the drawing 24 Chapter 1 Getting to Know AutoCAD Are You Experienced Now you can W recognize the elements of the AutoCAD graphics window understand how the Command window works and why it s important WW use drop down menus X open and control the positioning of toolbars v save a workspace of your screen setup in AutoCAD
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