Wiley Introducing AutoCAD 2008
Contents
1. Figure 1 1 la x 2 Quechon lor help re Sa x AutoCAD when opened into a 2D Tg lD nlie Ae slye le REBRSIE B Drafting amp Annota tion workspace Ag AutoCAD 2006 Drawing chug a fie Edk view leek Formal Took Draw Dimension Modify window Help Express Ap ype 20 Drafting amp Annobstion 7 2058 i dh oo O Se i BINS RIO P Slandand a A Al ke 49 Standard Ae 0 2000 i P Pr g Standard g Aaf of Standard E XAR Somme DASHBOARD Formard 0 0819 0 0479 0 0000 SNAP GRID ORTHO POLAR osner oTRACK bucs DM LwT fb a ArnetalionSede 11 A of i Gy 3 4 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD If this is a completely new installation you may see the Autodesk Impressions toolbar in the middle of the AutoCAD window Autodesk Impressions is an adjunct program to AutoCAD which lets you edit your drawings in a way similar to Adobe Illustrator You can close this toolbar as will not discuss this Autodesk product in this book If you are using AutoCAD 2008 try the following exercise to see how to get to the 3D Modeling workspace this workspace is not available in AutoCAD 2008 LT 1 In the upper left corner of the AutoCAD window you ll see a drop down list that shows 2D Drafting amp Annotation Click this drop down list and select 3D Modeling Notice that this drop down list contains the same three optio2. move an object behind another or to the back of a set of objects not available in LT Commands for finding distances point coordinates object properties mass prop erties and areas Commands for importing other drawings raster images and OLE objects Drop down list and tools for controlling layer properties located just below the Standard toolbar Additional tools for managing layers formerly Express Layer tools Tools for setting up drawing layouts for viewing printing and plotting Tools for adding and controlling lights in 3D models Tools for adding texture maps in 3D models Tools for creating and editing 3D objects Commands for editing existing objects You can move copy rotate erase trim extend and so on Many of these commands are duplicated in the Modify drop down menu Commands for editing special complex objects such as polylines multilines 3D solids and hatches Tools for adding leader notes to your drawing Tools for selecting specific points on objects such as endpoints and midpoints See Chapter 3 Tools for controlling 3D views Commands for a set of drop down lists and tools for manipulating the properties of objects This toolbar is ordinarily docked to the right of the Layer toolbar just below the Standard toolbar Tools for making changes to symbols or background drawings that are imported as external reference drawings not available in LT Commands for controlling the cr
3. Click Mowe E command entry move Select objects Lise an checi ssieciion method and press ENTER men vou finish Speri baes DOME OF IS placement Wisplacement sect o beso pound oy ere E Sperti setong ZNIER ni or use first point as displacement Saeco o0 o arise The teo points you specify define a vector thal indicates hoa far the selected objacts ara to ba movad and in what direcion f you press ENTER at the Specify Second Point prompt the first poirt is interpreted as a relative Ao YZ displacement For example iT you specdy 2 3 for the base point and press ENTER at the next prompl the objects move 2 units in ihe 4 direcion and 2 units in ihe Y direction from their curant position Displacement ee ee ce ee ee alane ee ee ba kameror n eo Ed GETTING HELP 31 4 Click the Close button or press the Esc key 5 Press the Esc key to exit the Move command If you gain some confidence with AutoCAD s Help window you can go far in helping yourself learn basic AutoCAD commands But if you really get stuck this book should help you get past your barriers Finding Additional Sources of Help The Help window is the main source for reference material but you can also find answers to your questions through the other options in the Help menu Here is a brief description of the other Help menu options Info Palette AutoCAD 2008 LT only A pop up window that offers immediate help with the command you are using It s helpful
4. PE f 2 arg Annotation Scale d DEEE n he l AIMS 4 klO A dom F Dimensions j 4 A A AL ak Text ear oe f 0 2000 In the next section you ll start to work in the drawing area by T PTA RIB drawing some lines Before you do that take a moment to examine Multileacers ___ aaa Je the top portion of the Dashboard where the 2D Draw control panel i m of l l l l Tables _4 Em Cd resides You will be instructed to use the tools in this control panel an ee ae Ea a frequently throughout this book so it will be helpful for you to get 2D Navigate gt a a feel for their arrangement and what they contain 16 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD Figure 1 8 Click and hold the I downward pointing arrow to open the fly out toolbar ls La x Click and hold here The toolbar expands to show more options Det aod ole m g gt E Besides the visible tools a few tools are hidden from view You can expand the list of tools to select more tools Click and hold the downward pointing arrow to the far right of the row of tools see Figure 1 8 The set of tools expands into a fly out toolbar While continuing to hold down the mouse button you can point to the tool you want in the fly out toolbar and then release the mouse You ll also have an opportunity to use the 2D Navigate control panel which offers the x gaja a 20 Navinate tools you ll need to get around in your
5. such as selecting a point selecting objects or entering a value The prompts offer a great deal of help prompting you to take an action Getting Help AutoCAD provides a good set of help options that can answer most of the questions you might have while working on a drawing If you re stuck with an AutoCAD problem give the AutoCAD help options a try To get more familiar with the AutoCAD Help window try the following 1 Choose Help gt Help from the menu or press F1 to open the AutoCAD 2008 Help window 2 Click the Contents tab which contains a table of contents The other two tabs Index and Search provide assistance in finding specific topics ga nies fai D Conteris Indes Search Type in the yordis bo search For 3 Scan down the screen until you see the topic Command Reference and double click it Both panels of the Help window change to show more topics fi HJE 4 Inthe panel on the right click the item labeled C just to the right of the com a in mand listing The panel expands to display a list of command names that start with the letter C 5 Look down the list and click Copy A description of the Copy command appears in the panel to the right You also have the Concepts Procedures and Commands tabs along the top of the panel on the right These options provide more detailed information about how to use the selected item If you want to back up through the steps you have just taken
6. If you do not want the toolbar to dock but instead want it to appear floating near the bor der of the AutoCAD window you can press the Ctrl key before you click and drag the toolbar into position This prevents toolbars from automatically falling into a docked position AutoCAD remembers your toolbar arrangement between sessions When you exit and then reopen AutoCAD later the AutoCAD window appears just as you left it Starting a Drawing Starting a new drawing in AutoCAD is a little different from other programs so let s create a new file to see how it s done 1 Choose File gt Close to close the current file When the message box appears asking you to save changes click No Notice that the toolbars disappear and that the Auto CAD drawing window appears blank when no drawings are open 2 Choose File gt New to open the Select Template dialog box 3 Select the acad dwt template file and then click Open to open a blank drawing window 4 To give your new file a unique name choose File Save As to open the Save Drawing As dialog box 5 Enter My First Drawing As you type the name appears in the File Name text box Notice that the file will be saved in the My Documents folder by default 6 Click Save You now have a file called My First Drawing dwg located in the My Docu ments folder Of course your drawing doesn t contain anything yet You ll take care of that next The acad dwt template file you sele
7. a format that most Win dows users will find easy to understand and many users are more comfortable using the menu bar If you prefer using toolbars with their graphic icons you can start to use the Dashboard The Dashboard offers many of the same commands as the menu bar but in a more compact format that is quicker to access Specifically the Dashboard is a collection of lists buttons and tools that invoke com mands These tools are grouped into eight control panels each with an icon that shows its function see Figure 1 7 In typical Windows fashion each tool offers a ToolTip that pro vides a short description which helps you understand what the icons represent If the Dashboard does not appear on the screen you can choose Tools gt Palettes gt Dashboard to restore it to the window Figure 1 7 If you move the arrow cursor onto one of the Control Panel tools and leave it there for The control panels of the Dashboard a moment you ll see a ToolTip appear just below the cursor As a new user you ll find these ToolTips helpful because they show you the name of the tool o x In addition when I ask you to select a tool I ll use the name shown gt 2zi aiei in the ToolTip For example if you hover over the icon in the upper left corner of the Dashboard you ll see a ToolTip appear Unsaved Layer Skabe 4 Layers I with the name of the control panel 2D Draw APEL res ff20onr aig ASAABEO_
8. an Otrack option in the status bar 2 Click in the middle of the drawing area You have just selected a point Move the cur sor and a rectangle follows This is a selection window if any objects appear in the drawing area this window allows you to select them for editing A coordinate display appears at the cursor showing your coordinates in an X Y format Also notice the words Specify opposite corner in the Dynamic Input display This tells you that you have started a selection window and you need to select the opposite corner for the window 3 Move the cursor a bit in any direction then click again Notice that the selection win dow disappears Had there been objects within the selection window they would be selected This is similar to the way the cursor behaves on the Windows Desktop how ever in Windows you have to drag the cursor to create a selection window 4 Try selecting several more points in the drawing area Notice that as you click you alternately start and end a selection window As you click the drawing area you might notice that depending on whether you click to the right or to the left of the previous point the selection window displays a different color If you click from left to right the selection window appears blue From right to left it s green These colors indicate a different mode of selection which you ll learn about in chapter 4 If you right click a shortcut menu appears Just as with most o
9. following exercise to get a feel for how the menu bar works 1 Click Modify in the menu bar The list of items that appears includes the commands and settings that let you control the way AutoCAD displays your drawings 2 Move the cursor slowly down the list of menu items As you highlight each item notice that a description of the item appears in the status bar at the bottom of the AutoCAD window These descriptions help you choose the menu option you need At the end of the description you ll see a single word in capital letters This is the key board command equivalent to the highlighted option in the menu or toolbar You can actually enter these keyboard commands to start the tool or menu item to which you are pointing You don t have to memorize these command names but knowing them will help you later if you want to customize AutoCAD 3 Some of the menu items won t show anything in the status bar but will have arrows to their right This means the menu option has additional choices For instance high light the Object item and you ll see another set of options appear to the right of the menu This second set of options is called a cascading menu Whenever you see a menu item with the arrows you know that it opens a cascading menu with a more detailed set of options Opening Dialog Boxes You might have noticed that other drop down menu options are followed by an ellipsis This indicates that the option displays a dialog
10. for first time users When you issue a command with the Info palette open you will see an option or a list of options in the palette These options offer a brief tutorial or other information regarding the current command Additional Resources gt Developer Help Information specifically for developers This includes anyone interested in customizing AutoCAD New Features Workshop Descriptions and tutorials focused on the new features found in AutoCAD 2008 You can update this unique support tool through the Autodesk website Additional Resources gt Online Training Resources offers additional options that start your default web browser and open pages in the Autodesk website You can find the most up to date information regarding AutoCAD support and training by using these options About Information about the version of AutoCAD you are using Staying Informed with the InfoCenter Nearly every major Windows program is somehow linked to the Internet to offer the latest news and updates for software AutoCAD provides the InfoCenter which appears as a bar in the upper right corner of the AutoCAD window O x Type a question for help a l x Click the magnifying glass icon to the left of the InfoCenter bar to open the InfoCenter search list Type a E for help 1 EE arch pna Send Feedback Feedback Close 32 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD Check subecr ption statue TE Create a new sup
11. from bottom to top but AutoCAD lets you alter your view orientation as well as include additional coordinate systems that can be oriented in different directions The UCS icon is especially helpful when you start to use these other coordinate systems and display modes but right now just be aware that it is there to help you get your bearings You might notice a small square at the base of the UCS icon This square tells you that you are in the world coordinate system which is the base coordinate on which other coor dinate systems can be built You ll learn more about the UCS in Chapter 5 Using the Command Line The horizontal window at the bottom of the AutoCAD window is called the command line Besides the drawing area this is where you can get feedback from AutoCAD As you work in AutoCAD the command activity appears in the bottom line of the command line and scrolls upward When AutoCAD is waiting for input you ll see the word Command at the bottom of the Command line This is the command prompt As you click a point in the drawing area you ll see the message Specify opposite corner in the command line Simultaneously a selection window appears in the drawing area Click another point without selecting any thing and the selection window disappears and the command prompt returns You ll want to pay close attention to the command line as you start using AutoCAD because it tells you what AutoCAD expects you to do It also lists informa
12. retrieve these palettes by clicking buttons on the a Standard Annotation toolbar at the top of the AutoCAD window Properties palette Tool palettes Now let s look at some important parts of the AutoCAD window PIPILE EILSEL NEARER EENIA ALLEATE The drawing area the status bar and the command line work together to give you feedback while you create and edit your drawing As you move your cursor over the drawing area you ll see the cursor appear as a crosshair cursor If you click the drawing area a pair of numbers and a selection window appear Click again and the selection window disappears The crosshair cursor lets you point to portions of the drawing area and the numeric display known as the Dynamic Input display tells you your XY coordinate within the drawing area The selection window lets you select objects in the drawing area You ll learn more about coordinates in AutoCAD in Chapter 2 and you ll look at selection windows a bit later in this chapter n If you don t see the Dynamic Input display go to the bottom of the Tre Os aN HE AutoCAD window to the status bar and click the DYN button This is Freni rei the Dynamic Input setting Along with the Dynamic Input display the command line and status bar just below the drawing area provide feedback as you work with AutoCAD commands see Figure 1 4 You can also see the XY coordinate in the far left of the status bar in the lower left corner of the AutoCAD
13. AD Figure 1 12 Using the Arc command point If multiple options are available they appear within the brackets and are sepa rated by slashes The default is the option AutoCAD assumes you intend to use unless you tell it otherwise Enter Cdl to select the Center option The prompt Specify center point of arc appears Notice that you had to enter only the C and not the entire word Center When you see a set of options in the command line note their capitalization If you choose to respond to prompts using the keyboard these capitalized letters are all you need to enter to select that option In some cases the first two letters are capitalized to differentiate two options that begin with the same letter such as LAyer and LType Now select a point for the center of the arc as shown in Figure 1 12 The prompt Specify start point of arc appears You ll also see a rubber banding line from the center point you just selected to your cursor If you point directly to the right you ll see that the rubber banding line snaps to an exact horizontal orientation and you ll see a ToolTip appear at the cursor This is a feature called polar tracking vector and it helps you to draw in exact horizontal and vertical directions much like a T square and a triangle The ToolTip shows your cur sor s location relative to the center point you just selected It displays this informa tion in what is known as a polar coordinate You can learn more a
14. AD window ff o or 3 aS dh amp FEO ie TA Ai an a ae EP AubotAD Postrio Help Hes f S Hide Back Foredi Home Print Conteris laces Search History danced LD Feror Zoom a Wier Concepts 100 Fan or Zoom e veer Commanels Bes Fanor 200m e Wiger Procedures 92 Fan and Loam wiih the Aerial ie Window Commands 613 Fan amd Doom wih the Aadel iaw Window Proosduras Bi Pan sral Zoom withthe Senel wisw Window Comag 5S Todisaley the previous vice durny FEN Kesime and OOM Atealine Procedures Sots To restore the grails ew Procedures 56 To daper the ares of the id imis by mooning Progadures 55 To disper fae drgveiig esters Wy rocening Procedures gg To Zoom into an aca By saecitying ile bondes Procedures So To zoom by dragging Procedures gg Topan ky spectying poinle Procedures 55 Topan by drogang Procedures DO ATAD Ormen Type in a quecion and press Erber Query Tips hese do zoom pbo Tey viga E ask Piasaratl by Arri tea rib rka E i Dpiions 2 Click the Move tool in the 2D Draw control panel to start the Move command Press F1 or choose Help from the menu bar to open the Help window A description of the Move command appears in the panel on the right M Gonna MOYE Command Commas Moves objects a spectied distance in a seid direction BO Modify vowel a Modify menus beta Shone mente Saet The oieta 10 more and righl cick inthe craving area
15. CHAPTER 1 Getting Familiar with AutoCAD If you are totally new to AutoCAD you ll want to read this chapter It provides an overview of AutoCAD s layout and shows you what to expect when you start to use it Even if you ve had an AutoCAD class or have used an older version of AutoCAD you ll find this chapter useful You ll start by taking a tour of the AutoCAD window to get familiar with the menus toolbars and other components You ll then get a chance to try your hand at drawing and in doing so you ll be introduced to the way AutoCAD s commands work You ll also learn how to use the Zoom and Pan tools to help you get around in a drawing And you ll look at the ways you can view your drawing using the layout tabs Finally you ll be introduced to the Help system for those times when you forget to have this book on hand This chapter includes the following topics Understanding the AutoCAD window Starting a drawing Panning and zooming to adjust your view Understanding the layout tabs Understanding how command options work Getting help 2 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD Understanding the AutoCAD Window Autodesk has completely redesigned AutoCAD 2008 s 2D drafting interface and to show it off AutoCAD s default opening window prominently displays these new features If you ve used AutoCAD before it will appear as though AutoCAD has completely changed Don t worry it hasn t Through AutoCAD s workspace f
16. The command line is a text window that displays commands as you use them as well as your keyboard input Messages often appear here that prompt you to perform a step ina command You ll learn more about the command line a bit later in this chapter see the Using the Command Line section Another unique item in AutoCAD s window is the set of tool palettes shown in Figure 1 3 These palettes let you keep your favorite tools and drawing components in one convenient place for quick access The AutoCAD tool palettes and Properties palette might not appear in the AutoCAD window but you can open these palettes by choosing Tools gt Palettes gt Tool Palettes and by choosing Tools gt Palettes gt Properties Figure 1 3 j P The tool palettes g p A r k Nia H Son crinali and the Properties No selection E Se RB a palette a3 2D Spiral E Cc Color E fiylever Layer 0 Elichcal Cylinder Linety pe FyLayer 5 Linetype 1 0000 Frustum Cone Lineweight ByLayer 2 Thickness 0 0000 Z E Frustum Pyramid Material EyLaver E Shadow d Casts and Recehy E fn i Piot she Byoolor if UCS Previous Plot style aa None 5 Plot table Model fF 5 3D Align Flot kable Mok avilable B Center 42 4399 A CenterY 25 01563 a aah n mnn m 5 a y Properties palette a ra Tool palettes a E 8 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD a AAR ws SS Ale You can also easily
17. age previews with the added advantage of allowing you to draw within them The layout tabs also give you control over the printed scale of your drawing Another way to look at the layout tabs is to think of them as a drawing mock up area Using a layout tab you can set up multiple views of the drawing you create in model space You can also add a title to your drawing and include borders or other graphic design features Try the following exercise to see firsthand how the layout tabs work PTH Model af Layout 1 Click the Layout1 tab at the bottom of the drawing area The drawing area changes to show your drawing plus some additional display elements as shown in Figure 1 11 The Layout tab shows you how your drawing will look when it is printed 2 Move the cursor over the rectangle that immediately surrounds the rectangle and circle drawing that you created earlier in the chapter TURNING ON THE TABS If you don t see the tabs don t worry AutoCAD can be set up to hide the tabs but they can be easily restored to view To turn them on locate the Model tool in the Status bar at the bottom of the AutoCAD Window NAP foTRacK Ducs ovn LT fig amp 4 Model Layout 1 Right click the Model or Layout tool located at the bottom of the AutoCAD window and then select Display Layout and Model Tabs The tabs will appear just below the drawing area To hide the tabs right click on any tab and select Hide Layou
18. because at a practical level they are really all the same Just be aware that menu options and toolbar buttons invoke commands UNDERSTANDING THE AUTOCAD WINDOW 17 Using Other Toolbars I mentioned earlier that not all the AutoCAD toolbars are open and visible If they were you wouldn t have any room for a drawing area Table 1 1 provides a brief description of the toolbars that are available in AutoCAD AutoCAD Toolbars COMMAND DESCRIPTION Table 1 1 3D Navigation Tools for controlling 3D views not available in LT CAD Standards Tools for checking the layer dimension and text styles against standards you have Camera Adjustment Dimension Draw Draw Order Inquiry Insert Layers Layers Il Layouts Lights Mapping Modeling Modify Modify II Multileader Object Snap Orbit Properties Refedit Reference Render Solids Editing created not available in LT Tools for controlling camera objects Commands for helping you dimension your drawings Many of these commands are duplicated in the Dimension drop down menu See Chapter 10 Commands for creating common objects including lines arcs circles curves ellipses and text This toolbar appears in the AutoCAD window by default Many of these commands are duplicated in the Draw drop down menu Commands for arranging the order of overlapping objects If an object covers another object that you need visible you can use the Draw Order toolbar to
19. bout polar coordinates in Chapter 2 With the rubber banding line pointing to the right click to select a point as shown in Figure 1 12 The prompt Specify end point of arc or Angle chord Length appears Move the mouse and a temporary arc appears originating from the start point of the arc that you just selected and rotating about the center of the arc Finally click here for the endpoint i First click here for the arc center Then click here for the start point b x GETTING HELP 29 As the prompt indicates you now have three options You can enter an angle a chord length or the endpoint of the arc The prompt default to specify the endpoint of the arc lets you select the arc s endpoint The cursor is in Point Selection mode telling you it is waiting for point input To select this default option you need only select a point on the screen indicating where you want the endpoint 7 Move the cursor so it points vertically from the center of the arc You ll see the polar tracking vector snap to a vertical position as shown in Figure 1 12 8 Click any location with the polar tracking vector in the vertical position The arc is now fixed in place As you can see AutoCAD has a distinct structure in its prompt messages You first issue a command which in turn presents options in the form of a prompt Depending on the option you select you get another set of options or you are prompted to take some action
20. box as the following exercise demon strates D 1 Click the Tools option in the menu bar 2 Click the Options item at the bottom AE Damn prot lec lt 3Unoaned Pinter Uh Curent dasni Traarg deg of the menu to open the dialog box Fies ES Oper and Sase Po ard Subien System Laci Pretienioes Draing a0 Model ng Setection Protics Seah pale Ta nanic and bu rabine e aa Suppl Fike Seed Pel Thos The Options dialog box 1S like the RY wok Spoor Fils Sench Pala A i Oeics Deter Fig Seasick Aah ii Preferences dialog box in other programs AA a e my TY Hala and Wiscal ar ac us Fis Haras Anes Ls In it you can find most of the general P Tost Ect dictara Fo te Nar Prini Fae anmak sod Piskcg Sections hens Anhieb settings that affect AutoCAD s behavior a ssc RS Co Dag Locations Numerous settings are divided into tabs FB Dan Sane Leni P enie Setlings across the top of the dialog box The a Hi Logi aasin Options dialog box is one of many dialog Faia n inea heppa and haich pahan thsi sa ne pse p the folders in eich duc LAD sbowid kok Act kek lon custom zak bles puga Jina ia cunert fro cer boxes available through the menu bar UNDERSTANDING THE AUTOCAD WINDOW 13 Starting Commands Another type of item you ll find in a menu is a command that directly executes an Auto CAD operation Try this exercise to explore a typical command 1 Firs
21. click the Back button on the toolbar 30 g fe 0 oma fa CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD Using the Search Tab If youre a beginning AutoCAD user looking for help the Help window s table of contents might not be as useful as it could be To use it you have to know a little about what you want to find Sometimes it s quicker to use the Search feature of the Help window 1 Click the Search tab in the left panel If this is the first time you ve selected the Search tab you might see a message telling you that AutoCAD is setting up an index for searches 2 Enter Change in the text box at the top of the Search tab and then click Ask or press Jl The list box displays all the items in the Help system that contain the word Change In this example the list that is returned is quite large You can use Boolean AND OR NEAR and NOT in conjunction with other keywords to help filter your searches Once you ve found the topic you re looking for select it from the Select Topic list and then click the Display button to display the topic information The Index tab lets you locate specific topics in the AutoCAD Help system by entering a word in a list box Using Context Sensitive Help AutoCAD also provides context sensitive help to give you information related to the com mand you are currently using To see how this works try the following 1 Close or minimize the Help window to return to the AutoC
22. command prompt plus some additional options Using the Menu Bar The command line is a little unusual for a Windows program so the AutoCAD menu bar provides a familiar means to finding commands You ll see many of the standard Windows commands such as Open and Save as well as AutoCAD s version of the Print command which is called Plot Youll also find other commands and options that are pure AutoCAD but the basic operation of the menu bar is the same as that of other Windows programs The menu bar lets you issue commands and open dialog boxes to change settings The icons shown to the left of many menu options are a helpful feature of the menu bar These icons help you connect the option names with their equivalent toolbar options For example if you open the Modify menu you ll see that the options there have the same icons that appear in the 2D Draw control panel of the Dashboard located along the right side of the AutoCAD window aw ol Draw Dimension Modify Window Help Express e a question for help P jx Haz Ch g A FA Bropernes HASSE A Match Properties i T Change to ByLayer Object 2 dip Annotate Object Scale I gq f J er gS dh amp BE 12 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD Another menu bar feature is the command description in the status bar As you open a menu from the menu bar and point to options you ll see a brief description of the option in the status bar Try the
23. cted in step 3 is really just an AutoCAD drawing file that has been set up with standard settings AutoCAD uses those settings to create a new file As you saw in the Select Template dialog box you can choose from several such templates The new file you just created shows a drawing area roughly 75 units wide by 45 units high The units can be inches meters or millimeters You determine what the units are equivalent to through the Drawing Units dialog box which you will learn about in Chapter 2 The drawing area you re presented with initially is your workspace although you re not limited to the 75 by 45 unit area in any way No visual clues indicate the size of the area so to check the area size for yourself move the crosshair cursor to the upper right corner 20 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD of the screen and observe the value in the coordinate readout in the lower left corner of the AutoCAD window This is the standard AutoCAD default drawing area for new draw ings using the acad dwt drawing template EN AutoCAD 2008 Drawingidwo O Ox oS Fle Edit ew Insert Format Took Te Dimension fiediFy Window Help S echer ler heli P 8a Dep Point here _ 4 e 7 20070 EBAABEO 0 a Ae a AIS oO A Sianderd al A A Al ake oy Standard A o 2000 4 P A BIB Shendeind B mjii Stardard ral EaR a wT or and read t
24. d it would be impossible to get any work done if it weren t for these two features But Undo and the Esc key are just two of a set of features you can use to reverse something you have done If you find you ve done something unintentionally you can use the following options to get out of trouble Backspace If you make a typing error press the Backspace key to back up to your error and then reenter your command or response Esc When you need to quickly exit a command or a dialog box without making changes just press the Esc key in the upper left corner of your keyboard U_ If you accidentally change something in the drawing and want to reverse that change click the Undo tool the left pointing curved arrow in the Standard toolbar You can also enter U_ at the command prompt Each time you do this AutoCAD undoes one operation at a time in reverse order The last command performed is undone first then the next to last command and so on The prompt displays the name of the command being undone and the drawing reverts to its state prior to that command If you need to you can undo everything back to the beginning of an editing session Undo If you decide that you want to back up a few steps of an operation you just per formed you can use the Undo tool the left pointing curved arrow on the Standard toolbar Each click of the Undo tool steps you back one operation In AutoCAD 2008 you can also select the exact command to undo
25. drawing In most cases you ll be able to guess what each tool does by looking at its icon The icon with an arc in the 2D Draw control panel for instance indicates that the tool draws arcs the one with the circle shows that the tool draws circles and so on For further clari fication the ToolTip gives you the name of the tool UNDERSTANDING THE COMMAND TOOL AND OPTION RELATIONSHIP One of AutoCAD s greatest assets is its ability to adjust to your way of performing tasks If you prefer using toolbars you can gain access to nearly all the AutoCAD functions through toolbars If you prefer using options from the menu bar again you can perform most of what you need through them And the Dashboard offers the most commonly used functions in AutoCAD Hard core users know how to use the command line and know nearly all the commands by heart The AutoCAD commands are really at the heart of its operations Menu bar options the Dashboard and toolbar buttons are really just different ways to invoke AutoCAD commands When you click a toolbar button or a menu option you are really initiating a command through AutoCAD s menu system sometimes with predetermined options already selected In fact if you watch the command line as you click a menu option or toolbar button you ll see that the messages in the com mand line are the same regardless of where you invoked the command For this reason l Il often intermix the terms tool option and command
26. e upper right of the drawing area as shown in Figure 1 9 Again it s not important if you don t pick the exact location The rectangle is now in place Now add a circle to the drawing 1 Click the Circle tool in the 2D Draw control panel enasna 2 Click the location shown in Figure 1 9 to place the cen b o200 0 ter of the circle Now as you move the cursor a circle 2 db amp aa tG appears whose radius follows the location of the cursor S O BG 3 Click another point as shown in Figure 1 9 to fix the circle s radius in place If you prefer you can enter an exact radius value for a circle instead of clicking another point to fix the circle radius You now have a circle and a rectangle As you can see you create objects by placing key points of their geometry within the drawing area For the rectangle it was two corners for the circle it was the center and a location on the perimeter Once you ve placed objects in the drawing you can edit them using a variety of tools In later chapters you ll learn more about those editing tools In the following section you ll learn how to get around in your drawing 22 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD WHEN YOU NEED TO UNDO Recently AutoCAD User Group International AUGI conducted a survey to identify the most commonly used features in AutoCAD The group found that the Undo feature and the Esc key were at the top of the list Everyone makes mistakes an
27. eature you can easily change AutoCAD s interface to display the old familiar toolbars You ll get a chance to look at workspaces later in this chapter In this section you ll look at AutoCAD s interface options and then you ll switch to the AutoCAD classic window The dl symbol in this book denotes the Enter key Whenever you see it press the Enter key also known as the Return key Although Autodesk has made it much easier to work in 3D as a new or returning user you ll want to start with the basic 2D operations If you re feeling adventurous you can go to Chapter 6 to find out more about AutoCAD s new 3D tools LT users will not have the 3D functions AutoCAD works like most other Windows based graphics programs but it also has a few quirks This section gives you an overview of AutoCAD s layout Although many elements will be familiar a few will be new to you To start you ll see the two ways that AutoCAD displays a drawing Then for the rest of this chapter you ll focus on the 2D drawing environment After installing AutoCAD take the following steps to get to the 2D workspace 1 Choose Start gt All Programs gt Autodesk gt AutoCAD 2008 gt AutoCAD 2008 LT users will click AutoCAD LT 2008 in place of AutoCAD 2008 in the previous menu selection You can also double click the AutoCAD 2008 icon on your Windows Desktop If you have Windows XP set to the Classic Start menu you will see Start gt Program
28. ere in the upper right region of the drawing area A rectangle appears see Figure 1 6 You ll learn more about the different cursor shapes and what they mean later in this chapter Next try deleting the rectangle you just drew 1 Place the cursor on top of the rectangle but don t do anything yet Notice that as you pass the cursor over the rectangle it is highlighted In a crowded drawing this high lighting can help you determine exactly what will be selected should you click an object 2 With the cursor on the rectangle and the rectangle highlighted click the rectangle The rectangle is selected 3 Press the Delete key The rectangle is removed from the drawing 14 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD Figure 1 5 Selecting the first point of a rectangle Figure 1 6 Once you ve selected the first point of the rectangle you ll see a rectangle fol low the motion of your mouse O JE lel xd EU Auto A 20 Drawing dv ES fie Edt ew Insert Format Took Grew Dimension biodfy Express Sbindow Help lO AISRasls ppe 4 questo lor els F Hl Es se 2 A z Uralling t Qnnotalian iS F unsaved Layer Skate Sm epote z 207F70 The A OEA ei AIS ARO A Stamdard will A A Ala Standard A 0 2000 q P A San cand Be Click here to start the rectangle ug fal tg s Stancand z SE ja a Model Leyoutl L
29. eyout m Arnctaion Scale ile ot ET Ol uz UjSpecity firat cormer point or Charters Elevation Fillets Thicknesas Width 23 2048 94647 00000 SNAP GRID ORTHO POLAR fosmer oTRack Ducs DH Ww MODEL Ea AutoCAD 200s Drawing 1 dwg a fie Edt few Insert Format Took Drew Dimension Modify Express Window Helo OM A amp heas A Fl EA aS a 20 Uralling amp 4nnotalian FI ss unsaved Layer Shae S u O8 Dm 0 oe 200F dh Ba OL ie amp me HIS FEJO P Standard will A A A R oa Standard Be 0 2000 q P A R E 2 Standard ir ui m is of Stance af Other corner point or Areas Dimensions Rotation 4 71 7654 41 4712 00000 SNAP GRID ORTHO POLAR JosMar oTRack Ducs DYN Ww MODEL ous y Ge UNDERSTANDING THE AUTOCAD WINDOW 15 In step 1 AutoCAD shows you exactly what the cursor is pointing to by highlighting objects that will be selected with the next click In drawing and erasing the rectangle you were exposed to the most common processes you need to know about to work in AutoCAD you selected a command from the menu bar and then you selected points in the drawing area while following the messages in the command line Commands from the toolbars work in the same way as you ll see next Using the Dashboard The menu bar provides most of the commands you ll need in
30. he coordinate here 0O 4 4 EP Model Leyoutl Layout 7 Coemand 2 l E _ Command aT E T aog 40 5517 00000 SNAP GRID ORTHO POLAR osMer OTAeCK DUCS DVN Lw MODEL Amotion Sede 11r amp A Lz Fa SA The coordinate readout won t show exactly 75 units by 45 units because the proportions of your drawing area are not likely to be exactly 7 5 by 4 5 Factors such as the size and resolu tion of your display and the shape of the AutoCAD window affect the dimensions of the drawing area Next try drawing a couple of objects just to get comfortable with drawing in Auto CAD In the following exercise you ll draw a rectangle then you ll add a circle 1 Click the Rectangle tool in the 2D Draw control panel gja m0 j Remember that you can use the ToolTips to help you ge 0 ae i locate a tool You can also choose Draw gt Rectangle amp dh amp amp from the menu bar Se ate E STARTING A DRAWING 21 Figure 1 9 Click here to complete Drawing a circle the rectangle g Click here for the center of the circle Dai pe IN Click here to fix the circle s radius Click here to start the rectangle 2 Click a point in the lower left of the drawing area as shown in Figure 1 9 Don t worry about the exact location You re just practicing right now After clicking notice that one corner of the rectangle follows the cursor 3 Click a point in th
31. ize and the new sheet size will be reflected in the white area shown in the layout tab You ll learn how to control sheet sizes in Chapter 12 As you might guess you use the layout tabs to lay out your drawing for printing You can print from the Model tab if you like but you have much more control over your printer output from a layout tab Understanding How Command Options Work Nearly every AutoCAD command offers a set of options that are shown at the command line prompt These options let you alter the behavior of a command to suit your current drawing To see how command options work and to get a feel for the drawing process in general in this exercise you ll draw an arc and then place it exactly in the inside corner of the rectangle 1 Click the Arc tool in the 2D Draw control panel ae I ui The prompt Specify start point of arc or g JA oaa Center appears and the cursor changes to a ACSA amp sen 3 crosshair cursor rc aN ey a gh 2 Ifyou examine this Specify start point of arc or Center prompt you ll see the start point contains two options The default option is stated in the main part of the prompt Specify start point If other options are available they appear within brackets as in the Center option that appears in the Arc Command prompt This Center option tells you that you can also start your arc by selecting a center point instead of a start 28 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOC
32. jj gt if RERIJA B by using the Undo drop down list You can Scale Eiase open the Undo drop down list by clicking the Copy Crcle downward pointing arrow to the right of the F olygor Undo Tcommend o Undo tool Redo If you accidentally undo one too many commands you can redo the last undone command by clicking the Redo tool the right pointing curved arrow on the Standard toolbar Or enter RJ In AutoCAD 2008 Redo allows you to redo several operations that you might have undone with the Undo if WIRERAIBe command You can also select the exact Lopp command to redo by using the Redo drop a oom down list To open the Redo drop down list Redo 1 command click the downward pointing arrow to the right of the Redo tool PANNING AND ZOOMING TO ADJUST YOUR VIEW Panning and Zooming to Adjust Your View One of the greatest features of AutoCAD is its ability to draw accurately through a wide range of scales For example you can draw a football field zoom into a blade of grass and draw its cell structure With such a broad range of views to work with you need to be familiar with AutoCAD s view features The Zoom and Pan commands are the most fre quently used view features so you ll want to become familiar with them right away Try the following exercise to see how Zoom works 1 Choose View gt Zoom gt Window or select Zoom Window from the 2D Navigate control panel The 2D Navigate control pa
33. n and distance of your pan As with any other command that displays a rubber banding line you can select points to indicate dis tance and direction or you can enter coordinates This allows you to specify exact distances and directions to pan your view UNDERSTANDING HOW COMMAND OPTIONS WORK 27 In step 3 your entire drawing disappeared when you deleted the outer rectangle This is because that rectangle is really a viewport into the drawing you created in the Model tab When you are on a layout tab a viewport acts like a window into your drawing By default AutoCAD creates a single viewport to show your drawing but you can have multiple viewports of various sizes each displaying different parts of your drawing When you deleted that viewport you essentially closed your view into your drawing in the Model tab so your rectangle and circle disappeared from view They didn t really go anywhere It s just that your view of them was deleted You might have also noticed that a layout tab displays a white area over a gray back ground This white area represents the area of the paper onto which your drawing will be printed The white area also shows a dashed line close to its edge This dashed line represents the printable area of your paper The current default printer connected to your computer determines both the paper area and the dashed line If you have a printer that accepts paper of different sizes you can select a different sheet s
34. nect to the Internet Once you ve set up the InfoCenter you can begin to use a wide range of resources on the Internet aimed at the AutoCAD user If you click the InfoCenter s Communication Center tool the one that looks like a satellite dish you ll open a list of topics available The list is divided into main topics shown as gray title bars You can click the arrow to the right of a title bar to close or open a topic Summary AutoCAD is a rare example of a program that has successfully made the transition from a text based DOS program to a fully Windows compliant one As with most of today s drawing programs you can use toolbars and menu options to access AutoCAD s features The trick to using AutoCAD is in learning how to use it to input exact distances and direc tions Once you ve mastered the input methods AutoCAD offers you re well on your way to producing accurate drawings If you find you have questions along the way this book will provide the right amount of help but don t forget the AutoCAD Help system It is full of great information and can be a real lifesaver That does it for your introduction to AutoCAD You might want to practice what you ve learned thus far When you re ready to get down to some serious drawing check out the next chapter There you ll be introduced to the drawing tools you ll need to pro duce accurate drawings
35. nel is the one at the bottom of the Dashboard 2 Click the first point indicated in Figure 1 10 You don t have to be too accurate 3 Click the second point indicated in Figure 1 10 The area you selected expands to fill the drawing area Notice that the transition to the zoomed view is smooth This helps you keep track of exactly where in the drawing the zoom occurs 4 Choose View gt Pan gt Realtime or click the Pan Realtime tool in the 2D Navigate control panel Notice that the cursor changes to a hand icon E 5 Click and drag the cursor in the drawing area Notice how the view moves as you drag the cursor 6 Press Esc to exit the Pan command You can also right click and choose Exit from the shortcut menu 7 Finally to get your original view of the overall drawing choose View gt Zoom gt Previous or click the Previous View tool in the 2D Navigate control panel Previous view Then click this location a Click this location first to start the Zoom window OR Figure 1 10 Selecting a Zoom window 23 24 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel you can use the wheel to zoom in and out of your drawing view You can also use it to pan across your drawing To zoom scroll the wheel To pan click and drag the scroll wheel If you have a mouse that uses special drivers you might not be able to use the wheel to con trol pan
36. ns found in the Work spaces message box that appears in step 1 of the previous procedure Ag Autocad 2008 Drawing1 deg My File Edit view Insert Format Tools Draw Dimension Mi I 3D Modeling H DW Wile 2p Drafting amp Annotation 30 Modeling AutoCAD Classic Save Current As Wokepace settings Customize The current default file Drawing1 dwg is set up for 2D drafting but you can open a new file using a file template already set up for 3D modeling CHANGING 3D VIEWS TO 2D VIEWS AND BACK Even though the default 2D file looks completely different from the new 3D file you created using the acad3D dwt template they really are basically the same They just have different dis play settings turned on You can change the Drawing2 dwg 3D view to a 2D view by doing the following 1 Choose View gt Visual Styles gt 2D Wireframe 2 Choose View gt 3D Views gt Plan View gt World UCS Your 3D view changes to look like a typical 2D drawing Likewise you can convert a 2D view into a 3D one 1 Choose View gt Visual Styles gt Realistic 2 Choose View gt 3D Views gt SE Isometric 3 Enter Perspective 1 to turn on the Perspective view 4 Click the Grid button in the status bar at the bottom of the AutoCAD window The file that started out with a 3D view now shows your drawing in 2D UNDERSTANDING THE AUTOCAD WINDOW 5 2 Choose File gt New The Select Template dialog bo
37. oss referencing of drawings See Chapter 8 Commands for operating AutoCAD s rendering feature not available in LT Command for editing 3D solids not available in LT See Chapter 6 continued 18 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD continues COMMAND DESCRIPTION Standard The most frequently used commands for view control file management and Standard Annotation Styles Text UCS UCS II View Viewports Visual Styles Walk and Fly Web Workspaces Zoom editing This toolbar is ordinarily docked below the menu bar An abbreviated version of the Standard toolbar Tools for controlling style options such as text styles and dimension styles Tools for creating and editing text See Chapter 9 Tools for setting up a plane on which to work This is most useful for 3D modeling but it can be helpful in 2D drafting as well See Chapter 6 Tools for selecting from a set of predefined user coordinate systems Tools for controlling the way you view 3D models See Chapter 6 for more on 3D views Tools for creating and editing multiple views of your drawing See Chapter 6 for more about viewports Tools for controlling the way 3D models are displayed Tools for controlling motion through a 3D model Tools for accessing the World Wide Web Tools for managing workspaces Commands for navigating your drawing Besides the standard toolbars you see at the top of the AutoCAD window you can also open any of the othe
38. port request E Vey support requests WE Edit subscrigtion carter profile pe view amp Leeming catalog CoMenueication Cente Sewu Incomples Biss heeds Babeiean the Lines fg Trick or Treat Bonus Tool for AuboTeaD 2007 Baer Producte IDa 2005 11 10 AH DP sutoceb 2007 Rendering on Piti Lore CAJ 0S 008 7 00 AF ig Haunted Haystace Landing Still a Hol Halloween beri 2 Years Laber CIONI2005 6 53 Pe i Autodesk wentar Persona Learning Bolton Are unced IOUSWE00S 10 21 AM i Placing a String of Dimensions in aulotaD 0242006 10 13 Ak Knowledge Gace st autocad 2007 Te ireert block slow ig Re SOMECKE PLEASE HELP ig Re Large Table Performance fg SOMEONE PLEASE HEF GP Pe How t corvert 30 to 20 i Sand Feedsad The InfoCenter provides a way to stay informed about the latest software updates and support issues for AutoCAD Click the Settings button to open the InfoCenter Settings dialog box Ad infoCenter Settings xj Please inchoate the counlryregin nearest pou curent location ka Check for rew online content Newer Search Resuks T Communication Center Aubodesk Channels Balloon Motihication R55 Feeds The InfoCenter works best if you use an always on Internet connection such as a DSL connection or high speed cable connection If you don t have such a connection you can set the Check For New Online Content option to On Demand You can then check for updates when you con
39. ption In Is the same as using the Scale option and entering 2x to magnify your view two times Out Is the same as using the Scale option and entering 0 5x to view twice the current view area All Displays the area of your drawing defined by the drawing limits plus any part of your drawing that falls outside the limits Extents Displays a view that encompasses all the objects in your drawing This option ignores the limits of your drawing You ve just about completed your first look at AutoCAD You ll want to know about just a couple of other features In the next section I ll introduce a display feature in Auto CAD that helps you set up your drawing for printing UNDERSTANDING THE LAYOUT VIEW 25 Understanding the Layout View Aside from the command prompt you ve probably noticed that AutoCAD Y behaves like most other Windows programs But one element in AutoCAD s window is a little different from other Windows graphics programs Specifically x at the bottom of the AutoCAD window you ll see a set of tabs labeled Model TAPP Mode Tayomi Lope 7 Layout1 and Layout2 eommanas If you have followed the exercises in this chapter or if you ve just opened a new drawing the Model tab is currently selected This tells you that the drawing area you are currently viewing is the model space of AutoCAD Model space is the display you ll use to do most of your drawing It s like your main workspace The layout tabs are like p
40. r toolbars that are focused on a particular function For example the Draw toolbar contains the same tools as those found in the Draw portion of the Dashboard As you saw in Table 1 1 AutoCAD also has toolbars for editing 3D object or for working with views Opening a toolbar is fairly simple but unless you know where to look you might never find them The following steps show you how to open the Draw toolbar 1 To open the Draw toolbar right click any toolbar near the top of the AutoCAD win dow A shortcut menu of toolbars appears 2 Click Draw in the shortcut menu The Draw toolbar appears in its docked position at the left side of the AutoCAD window Again docked just means that the toolbar is merged with the border of the AutoCAD window to keep it out of the drawing area 3 You can undock a toolbar by clicking and dragging the toolbar s grab bar The grab bar is the pair of lines you see at the top or left end of the toolbar Again the toolbar then is called a floating toolbar and shows its title bar In its floating position you can click the X in the upper right corner of the Draw toolbar to close it E ta LL D IONIT OLNSHI Click and drag the bars to move the toolbar away from the window border i Draw ffocqanrretKQrvoons HEREAEA STARTING A DRAWING 19 You can dock toolbars to the top bottom or sides of the AutoCAD window to keep them out of the drawing area
41. rom the Workspaces toolbar You ll be working in this workspace for most of this book 5 Exit the 3D Drawing2 dwg file by choosing File gt Close You have AutoCAD set up for 2D drawing so you ll now take a more detailed look at the AutoCAD window You ll find that for the most part it is a typical Windows style graphics program window with a few twists Getting to Know the Window Components The AutoCAD window consists of several parts that are common to most Windows graphics programs e Menu bar e Toolbars e Drawing area e Status bar Dashboard e Tool palettes e Properties palette Your AutoCAD window should look like Figure 1 1 which shows the default configu ration for a new AutoCAD installation Since AutoCAD is so easily customizable you might not see exactly the same layout but the basic components should be there As with typical Windows programs AutoCAD has a menu bar along the top that con tains most of the common functions you ll need to use see Figure 1 2 Below that are toolbars for quick access to settings and the more common Windows functions such as Save Undo Redo and Print You also have the Dashboard to the right of the window that offers the most common 2D drafting tools Just as you can do in other Windows programs you can move toolbars and reshape them to your liking The default location of the toolbars is in their docked position which just means they are merged with the outer edge of the window
42. s instead of Start gt All Programs AUTOCAD 2008 VERSUS AUTOCAD 2008 LT AutoCAD 2008 and AutoCAD 2008 LT are essentially the same programs with some differences both large and small The LT version has limited 3D capability and you won t have the 3D workspace Customization features are also limited in the LT version With the exception of the 3D features you should be able to use the features discussed in this book when using AutoCAD 2008 LT UNDERSTANDING THE AUTOCAD WINDOW The opening greeting called a splash screen appears momentarily then if this is a new installation AutoCAD will display the Workspaces message box This message box offers an option to select 2D Drafting amp Annotation 3D Modeling or AutoCAD Classic 2 Click 2D Drafting amp Annotation You ll see the AutoCAD window with a blank default document named Drawing1 dwg as shown at the top of Figure 1 1 If this is a new installation you will also see the New Features Workshop window If this hap pens select Maybe Later and then click OK In some installations you might see a Startup dialog box If this happens to you click Cancel and AutoCAD will display the blank default document 3 The default document appears to be an empty 2D space You ll also see a special tool palette called the Dashboard to the right of this space This is a set of 2D draft ing and annotation tools that gives you ready access to the most common drafting functions
43. s and zooms Several other Zoom and Pan related commands exist but those you ve just tried are the ones you ll use 90 percent of the time You can try the other Zoom and Pan options which are displayed when you choose View gt Zoom You ll also find options in the Zoom command line options list Al 1 Center Dynamic Extents Previous Scale Window Object lt real time gt Here is a list of the options and how you can use them Realtime Is the default Zoom option It displays a magnifying glass cursor With this option you can click and drag up or down to change your magnification in real time You can right click to access the other Zoom options including Exit and Cancel Previous Displays the previous view like Undo does for the Zoom command Dynamic Changes the display to an overall view A rectangle also appears which lets you select an area to which to zoom in To change the size of the rectangle click the rectangle This allows you to adjust the size of the rectangle and thus change the size of the zoom area Click again to fix the rectangle size Right click and choose Enter to zoom in to the selected area Scale Lets you zoom in or out by a specific value It allows you to enter a specific view scale Center Allows you to center a location on the screen Object Lets you select a view area based on the area occupied by an object For example if you want to zoom in so that a particular object fills the display area use this o
44. t and Model Tabs If you want to leave the tabs off you can still switch from model space to a layout by clicking on the model or layout tools If you have multiple layouts you can use tool just to the right of the Layout tool to select a layout 26 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD Figure 1 11 Your drawing as it appears in one of the layout tabs 3 Click the highlighted rectangle and then press the Delete key Your drawing disappears Click the Model tab to return to model space You ll see that the objects you drew are still there Click the Undo tool in the Standard toolbar twice to return to the Layout1 tab and undo your deletion of the outer rectangle The view of the rectangle and circle returns Click the Model tab to return to the original drawing area ACCURATE PANNING Realtime Pan is a great tool for quickly getting around in a drawing but sometimes you need to pan in an exact distance and direction A version of the Pan command lets you do just that Choose View gt Pan gt Point and you ll see the following prompt Specify base point or displacement This is the prompt you ll see for the Move or Copy commands though in this case you re not affecting the objects in your drawing When you select a point at this prompt you ll see a rubber banding line in conjunction with the next prompt Specify second point The rubber banding line indicates the directio
45. t turn off the Dynamic Input display by clicking the DYN button in the status bar It should look like it is in the off posi tion or that it is not pressed down You ll start your exploration enami ee of commands with this feature turned off because it can be somewhat confusing to first time users You ll get a chance to try the Dynamic Input feature in later chapters starting with Chapter 2 2 Ifthe tool palettes are open click the X in the upper right or upper left corner to close them This will give you a larger drawing area 3 Click the Draw option in the menu bar and then click the Rectangle command Notice that the command line now shows the following prompt Specify first corner point or Chamfer Elevation Fillet Thickness Width AutoCAD is asking you to select the first corner for the rectangle and in brackets it is offering a few options that you can take advantage of at this point in the com mand Don t worry about those options right now You ll have an opportunity to learn about command options in Chapter 2 4 Click a point roughly in the lower left corner of the drawing area as shown in Fig ure 1 5 Now as you move your cursor you ll see a rectangle follow the cursor with one corner fixed at the position you just selected You ll also see the following prompt in the command line Specify other corner point or Area Dimensions Rotation 5 Click another point anywh
46. ther Windows applica tions a right click frequently opens a menu that contains options that are context sensitive This means the contents of the shortcut menu depend on where you right click as well as the command that is active at the time of your right click If no options are applicable at the time of the right click AutoCAD treats the right click as lt l 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 Finally as with any window you can expand the drawing area or contract it lo x into a smaller window by clicking the Restore Down icon in the upper right r corner of the drawing area 10 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD When the drawing area is in the Restore Down position it appears as a separate win dow within the AutoCAD window You can then resize the window to any rectangular shape you need This is helpful when you have multiple AutoCAD drawing files open Clicking the UCS Icon The UCS icon is the L shaped icon you see at the lower left corner of the drawing area shown earlier in Figure 1 4 It helps you see your orientation at a glance by pointing to the positive X and Y directions UCS stands for user coordinate system That name is a hint that you can create and use other coordinates besides the default one that exists in new drawings The default X direction is from left to right and the Y direction is
47. tion when you query AutoCAD for certain types of information which you ll learn about in later chapters In addition to getting feedback from the command line you ll also see the command prompt at the cursor whenever you have Dynamic Input display turned on The command line is a little like a chat window when you re online You chat with AutoCAD by responding to messages that appear in the command line When AutoCAD asks for specific data the command line allows you to enter data using the keyboard It is also an area that provides information about your drawing when you request it UNDERSTANDING THE AUTOCAD WINDOW 11 CHATTING WITH AUTOCAD AutoCAD communicates its needs to you through messages in the Enter command line These messages often tell you what to do next or offer Cancel options usually shown in square brackets Commands often display Elevation a series of messages which you answer to complete the command Fillet If you aren t sure what to do check the command line for clues Thickness width As an additional aid you can right click to display a context i m r F Snap Overrides j sensitive shortcut menu If you are in the middle of a command this Se menu provides a list of options specifically related to that command ce om For example if you right click before selecting the first point for the Moa Rectangle command a menu appears offering the same options that are listed at the
48. to save space You can drag them into the drawing area and reshape them if you want and you can reposition them Toolbar BB qutoCap 008 Drawing1 dwq ia ioj x ll fis Edt ew int Pomat Took Ore Qimenson Modify Window Helo Express Type x ler hel ib ne x la x Douane A Oaea Sl RERA il Jreaved Layer Seks zi kmn pi P imo Workspace toolbar Standard Annotation toolbar Communication Center Dashboard not shown UNDERSTANDING THE AUTOCAD WINDOW anywhere on the screen When toolbars are away from the edge of the window and appear free floating they are said to be floating toolbars as opposed to docked Many other toolbars are available but are not displayed in the AutoCAD window Later in this chapter you ll learn how to find and retrieve these hidden toolbars In the middle is the drawing area where you ll do your actual drawing One difference between Figure 1 1 and what you see on your screen is the background color in the default AutoCAD drawing area The color you see on your screen is black because that helps with the visibility of lines on the computer screen In this book you ll see the drawing area background in white because drawings with a white background are easier to see in print At the bottom of the screen is the status bar which provides information regarding many of the settings you ll use in AutoCAD Just above the status bar is the command line which is somewhat unique to AutoCAD
49. window Getting Familiar with the Drawing Area As you might imagine the drawing area in the middle of the AutoCAD window is the space where you ll be spending a lot of time It pays to get a feel for how it behaves early on As your introduction to the drawing area try the following exercise 1 Move the cursor around in the drawing area As you move the cursor notice that the coordinate readout in the status bar gives the X and Y coordinates and adds the Z coordinate Figure 1 4 at I The status bar and A the command line UCS icon Command prompt Command window work with the draw 7 ing area to give you i ih Model Cepam of Layou feedback as you MM Commence draw zl Comma amp w 4 a 275 19 3062 0 0000 SHAFP G ID ORTHO POLAR osmar OTRACK ucs Evm Lo MODEL Srnnctazon Scale 1 1 5 r Ea te O F Coordinate readout Status bar UNDERSTANDING THE AUTOCAD WINDOW 9 CONTROLLING THE STATUS BAR DISPLAY To the far right of the status bar you ll see a downward pointing triangle or arrow click this arrow to open a menu that controls the display of the status bar You use this menu to turn the items in the status bar on or off A check mark by an item indicates it is currently on If for some reason you do not see all the buttons mentioned in the previous discussion check this menu to make sure that all the status bar options are turned on Note that the LT version does not have
50. x appears ax Look ix E Template QM Yew v Took Previews IPT Templates Hiztany O Shest5ets Mi acads0 dit 113k iD EJacad Named Plot Styles3D dat 113K acad Mamed Plot Styles dwt 49K hy Documents acad chat TIK MM acadso3D dwt 119K K PJacadiso Mamed Flot Styles 119K peat he MJacad SO Named Plot Styles dwe 49E Tes jlacadiso dit TOK We SJ ANSI A portrait Color Depe 83K m EJANI A portrait Mamed Plot 83K EFANS A Color Dependent Plot B E ANSI A Hamed Plot Styles dit ed ke Buezsaw Files of type Drawing Template dwt Sa 3 Select acad3D dwt from the list and click Open A new file called Drawing2 dwg appears Notice that this drawing is in a 3D space You ll learn more about 3D model ing in Chapter 6 Bl autecan 2008 Drawing dag gie Edt Wes Insert Format Took Draw Dimension Modfy Window Helo Espress 1 Madeira BE e ORR PBs ETILE Ff a_l io j JD Ovoss 3 we Cylindrical Helix A eo eaa E a ala o E 2 Spiral SSeS CELI E3 unsaved Currant View J agleqg E Frustum Cone Reakte i Elliptical Cando Nea Prustum Pyramid Law te DES Previos 0 30 Align Ren SMAP GAID ORTHO PoOLeA osmar oTRack jours ova LT GB E i af AnreivionSeake ie a gf O 6 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD Figure 1 2 The components on the top of the Auto CAD window 4 Select 2D Drafting amp Annotation f
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