autocad 2011 User Guide

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AutoCAD 2011 for Mac

User's Guide

September 2010

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Certain materials included in this publication are reprinted with the permission of the copyright holder.

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Disclaimer

THIS PUBLICATION AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS MADE AVAILABLE BY AUTODESK, INC. "AS IS." AUTODESK, INC. DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE REGARDING THESE MATERIALS.

Published by: Autodesk, Inc. 111 McInnis Parkway San Rafael, CA 94903, USA

Get Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter 1 Find the Information You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Access and Search the Product Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Learn the Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

View the Product Readme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Join the Customer Involvement Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Chapter 2 Get Information from Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Obtain General Drawing Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

The User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Chapter 3 Start a Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Parts of the User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

The Menu Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

The Tool Sets Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

The Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Overview of Using the Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Enter Commands on the Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Enter System Variables on the Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . 18

iii

Switch Between Dialog Boxes and the Command Line . . . . . . 20

View and Edit Within the Command History . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Work with Shortcut Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Chapter 4 Control the Drawing Area Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Interface Themes and Background Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Cursors in the Drawing Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Selection Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

The UCS Icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Viewport Label Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

The ViewCube Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

The Coordinates Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Model Space and Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Chapter 5 Control Status, Layers, Properties, and Content . . . . . . . . . 35

The Status Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

The Layers Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

The Properties Inspector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

The Content Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Chapter 6 Customize the Drawing Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Set Interface Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Set Up the Drawing Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Specify the Behavior of Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Customize Startup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Start and Save Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Chapter 7 Start a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Overview of Starting a New Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Specify Units and Unit Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Determine the Units of Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Set the Unit Format Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Use a Drawing Template File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Add Identifying Information to Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Chapter 8 Open or Save a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Open a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Work with Multiple Open Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Preview Open Drawings and Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Switch Between Open Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Switch Between Layouts in the Current Drawing . . . . . . . . . 66

iv | Contents

Transfer Information between Open Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Save a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Find a Drawing File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Specify Search Paths and File Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Chapter 9 Repair, Restore, or Recover Drawing Files . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Repair a Damaged Drawing File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Create and Restore Backup Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Control the Drawing Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Chapter 10 Change Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Pan or Zoom a View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Save and Restore Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Control the 3D Projection Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Overview of Parallel and Perspective Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Define a Perspective Projection (DVIEW) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Define a Parallel Projection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Choose Preset 3D Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Define a 3D View with Coordinate Values or Angles . . . . . . . . 90

Change to a View of the XY Plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Shade a Model and Use Edge Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Use a Visual Style to Display Your Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Customize a Visual Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Control Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Chapter 11 Use Viewing Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Specify 3D Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Overview of 3D Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Use 3D Navigation Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Create a 3D Dynamic View (DVIEW) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Use ViewCube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Overview of ViewCube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

ViewCube Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Reorient the View of a Model with ViewCube . . . . . . . . . . 115

Change the UCS with ViewCube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Chapter 12 Display Multiple Views in Model Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Set Model Space Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Select and Use the Current Viewport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Save and Restore Model Layout Viewport Arrangements . . . . . . . . 125

Contents | v

Organize Drawings and Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Chapter 13 Create Single-View Drawings (Model Space) . . . . . . . . . . 129

Quick Start for Model Space Drafting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Draw, Scale, and Annotate in Model Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Chapter 14 Create Multiple-View Drawing Layouts (Paper Space) . . . . . 137

Quick Start for Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Understand the Layout Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Work with Model Space and Paper Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Work on the Model Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Work on a Named Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Access Model Space from a Layout Viewport . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Create and Modify Layout Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Control Views in Layout Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Scale Views in Layout Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Control Visibility in Layout Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Scale Linetypes in Layout Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Align Views in Layout Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Rotate Views in Layout Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Reuse Layouts and Layout Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Create and Modify Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Chapter 15 Control the Properties of Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Work with Object Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Overview of Object Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Display and Change the Properties of Objects . . . . . . . . . . 163

Copy Properties Between Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Work with Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Overview of Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Use Layers to Manage Complexity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Create and Name Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Change Layer Settings and Layer Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Override Layer Properties in Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Work with Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Set the Current Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Change the Color of an Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Use Color Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Work with Linetypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Overview of Linetypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Load Linetypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Set the Current Linetype . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

vi | Contents

Change the Linetype of an Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Control Linetype Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Display Linetypes on Short Segments and Polylines . . . . . . . 185

Control Lineweights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Overview of Lineweights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Display Lineweights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Set the Current Lineweight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Change the Lineweight of an Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Control the Display Properties of Certain Objects . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Control the Display of Polylines, Hatches, Gradient Fills,

Lineweights, and Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Control the Transparency of Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Control How Overlapping Objects Are Displayed . . . . . . . . . 196

Control the Display of Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Chapter 16 Use Precision Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Use Coordinates and Coordinate Systems (UCS) . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Overview of Coordinate Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Enter 2D Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Enter 3D Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Understand the User Coordinate System (UCS) . . . . . . . . . . 210

Specify Workplanes in 3D (UCS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Assign User Coordinate System Orientations to Viewports . . . . 219

Control the Display of the User Coordinate System Icon . . . . . 221

Use Dynamic Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Snap to Locations on Objects (Object Snaps) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Use Object Snaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

The Object Snap Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Set Visual Aids for Object Snaps (AutoSnap) . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Override Object Snap Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Restrict Cursor Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Adjust Grid and Grid Snap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Use Orthogonal Locking (Ortho Mode) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Use Polar Tracking and PolarSnap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Lock an Angle for One Point (Angle) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Combine or Offset Points and Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Combine Coordinate Values (Coordinate Filters) . . . . . . . . . 241

Track to Points on Objects (Object Snap Tracking) . . . . . . . . 244

Track to Offset Point Locations (Tracking) . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Specify Distances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Enter Direct Distances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Offset from Temporary Reference Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Specify Intervals on Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Extract Geometric Information from Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Obtain Distances, Angles, and Point Locations . . . . . . . . . . 252

Obtain Area and Mass Properties Information . . . . . . . . . . 253

Contents | vii

Use a Calculator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Use the Command Prompt Calculator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Chapter 17 Draw Geometric Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Draw Linear Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Draw Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Draw Polylines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Draw Rectangles and Polygons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Draw Multiline Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Draw Freehand Sketches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Draw Curved Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Draw Arcs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Draw Circles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Draw Polyline Arcs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Draw Donuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Draw Ellipses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Draw Splines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Draw Helixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Draw Construction and Reference Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Draw Reference Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Draw Construction Lines (and Rays) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Create and Combine Areas (Regions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Create Revision Clouds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Chapter 18 Change Existing Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Select Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Select Objects Individually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Select Multiple Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Prevent Objects from Being Selected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

Select Objects by Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Customize Object Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

Group Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

Correct Mistakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Erase Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Cut, Copy, and Paste with the Clipboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

Modify Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Choose a Method to Modify Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Edit Objects with Grips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

Move or Rotate Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Copy, Offset, or Mirror Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325

Change the Size and Shape of Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

Fillet, Chamfer, Break, or Join Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344

Modify Complex Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

Disassociate Compound Objects (Explode) . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

Modify Polylines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

viii | Contents

Modify Splines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

Modify Helixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

Modify Multilines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

Chapter 19 Add Constraints to Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

Overview of Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

Constrain Objects Geometrically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

Overview of Geometric Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

Apply or Remove Geometric Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

Display and Verify Geometric Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

Modify Objects with Geometric Constraints Applied . . . . . . . 381

Infer Geometric Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384

Constrain Distances and Angles between Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

Overview of Dimensional Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

Apply Dimensional Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

Control the Display of Dimensional Constraints . . . . . . . . . 394

Modify Objects with Dimensional Constraints Applied . . . . . 395

Constrain a Design with Formulas and Equations . . . . . . . . . . . 398

Overview of Formulas and Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

Control Geometry with Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

Define and Reference Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

Chapter 20 Work with Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405

Overview of Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405

Insert Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

Work with Dynamic Blocks in Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

Overview of Dynamic Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

Remove Block Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411

Chapter 21 Create and Modify Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

Define Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

Create Blocks Within a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

Create Drawing Files for Use as Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414

Control the Color and Linetype Properties in Blocks . . . . . . . 416

Nest Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418

Create Block Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419

Attach Data to Blocks (Block Attributes) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420

Overview of Block Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420

Define Block Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423

Extract Data from Block Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425

Extract Block Attribute Data (Advanced) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426

Modify Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431

Contents | ix

Modify a Block Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431

Modify the Data in Block Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

Modify a Block Attribute Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434

Disassemble a Block Reference (Explode) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437

Work with 3D Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439

Chapter 22 Create 3D Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441

Overview of 3D Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441

Create Solids and Surfaces from Lines and Curves . . . . . . . . . . . 446

Overview of Creating Solids and Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446

Create a Solid or Surface by Extruding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450

Create a Solid or Surface by Sweeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453

Create a Solid or Surface by Lofting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456

Create a Solid or Surface by Revolving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459

Create Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461

Overview of Creating 3D Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461

Create 3D Solid Primitives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465

Create a Polysolid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475

Create 3D Solids from Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477

Combine or Slice 3D Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481

Check 3D Models for Interferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484

Create Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485

Overview of Creating Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486

Create Procedural Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491

Create NURBS Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501

Create Associative Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505

Create Meshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511

Overview of Creating Meshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511

Create 3D Mesh Primitives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515

Construct Meshes from Other Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528

Create Meshes by Conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534

Create Custom Mesh (Legacy) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537

Create Wireframe Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542

Add 3D Thickness to Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544

Chapter 23 Modify 3D Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547

Overview of Modifying 3D Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547

Use Gizmos to Modify Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549

Overview of Using Gizmos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549

Use the Gizmos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551

Move 3D Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554

Rotate 3D Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556

Scale 3D Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558

x | Contents

Use Grips to Modify Solids and Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561

Use 3D Subobject Grips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561

Cycle Through and Filter Subobjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564

Use Grips to Edit 3D Solids and Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567

Modify 3D Subobjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570

Move, Rotate, and Scale 3D Subobjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570

Modify Faces on 3D Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573

Modify Edges on 3D Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575

Modify Vertices on 3D Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579

Work with Complex 3D Solids and Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581

Display Original Forms of Composite Solids . . . . . . . . . . . 582

Modify Composite Solids and Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583

Shell and Remove Redundancies in 3D Objects . . . . . . . . . . 585

Press or Pull Bounded Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587

Add Edges and Faces to Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588

Modify Properties of 3D Solid, Surface, and Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . 590

Modify Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594

Overview of Modifying Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594

Trim and Untrim Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596

Extend a Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598

Fillet a Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599

Edit NURBS Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600

Analyze Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602

Modify Mesh Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610

Overview of Modifying Meshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610

Change Mesh Smoothness Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615

Refine Mesh Objects or Subobjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619

Add Creases to Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621

Modify Mesh Faces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622

Create and Close Mesh Gaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626

Tips for Working with Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627

Chapter 24 Create Sections and 2D Drawings from 3D Models . . . . . . . 635

Work with Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635

Overview of Section Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635

Create Section Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637

Modify a Section View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640

Save and Publish Section Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647

Create a Flattened View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650

Annotate Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653

Chapter 25 Work with Annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 655

Overview of Annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 655

Contents | xi

Scale Annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656

Overview of Scaling Annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657

Set Annotation Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 658

Create Annotative Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660

Display Annotative Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 670

Add and Modify Scale Representations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671

Set Orientation for Annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673

Chapter 26 Hatches, Fills, and Wipeouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675

Overview of Hatch Patterns and Fills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675

Specify Hatch and Fill Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 680

Control the Appearance of Hatches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 684

Choose a Hatch Pattern or Fill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685

Control the Hatch Origin Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 689

Control the Scale of Hatch Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 691

Set Property Overrides for Hatches and Fills . . . . . . . . . . . 692

Control the Display of Hatch Boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . 694

Control the Draw Order of Hatches and Fills . . . . . . . . . . . 696

Modify Hatches and Fills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 697

Modify Hatch Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 697

Modify Hatch Alignment, Scale, and Rotation . . . . . . . . . . 698

Reshape a Hatch or Fill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699

Re-create the Boundary of a Hatch or Fill . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701

Create a Blank Area to Cover Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 702

Chapter 27 Notes and Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 705

Overview of Notes and Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 705

Create Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 706

Overview of Creating Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 706

Create Single-Line Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708

Create Multiline Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 711

Create and Edit Columns in Multiline Text . . . . . . . . . . . . 722

Import Text from External Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 723

Create Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 723

Overview of Leader Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724

Create and Modify Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 725

Work with Leader Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 728

Add Content to a Leader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 729

Use Fields in Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 732

Insert Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 733

Update Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 735

Use Hyperlinks in Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 736

Work with Text Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 738

Overview of Text Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 738

Assign Text Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 740

xii | Contents

Set Text Height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 746

Set Text Obliquing Angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 747

Set Horizontal or Vertical Text Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . 748

Change Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 749

Overview of Changing Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 749

Change Single-Line Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750

Change Multiline Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 751

Find and Replace Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753

Check Spelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 754

Chapter 28 Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 757

Create and Modify Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 757

Work with Table Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 760

Add Text and Blocks to Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 762

Use Formulas in Table Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 764

Chapter 29 Dimensions and Tolerances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 767

Understand Basic Concepts of Dimensioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 767

Overview of Dimensioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 767

Parts of a Dimension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 769

Associative Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 771

Use Dimension Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 773

Overview of Dimension Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 773

Compare Dimension Styles and Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . 774

Control Dimension Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 775

Control Dimension Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 783

Control Dimension Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 792

Set the Scale for Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801

Create Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 803

Create Linear Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 803

Create Radial Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 809

Create Angular Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814

Create Ordinate Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 816

Create Arc Length Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 818

Modify Existing Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 819

Modify A Dimension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 819

Apply a New Dimension Style to Existing Dimensions . . . . . . 827

Override a Dimension Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 828

Modify Dimension Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 830

Modify Dimension Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 832

Change Dimension Associativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 835

Add Geometric Tolerances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 837

Overview of Geometric Tolerances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 837

Material Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 839

Datum Reference Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 840

Contents | xiii

Projected Tolerance Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 840

Composite Tolerances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 841

Plot and Publish Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 843

Chapter 30 Specify Settings for Plotting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 845

Save Plot Settings as Named Page Setups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 845

Reuse Named Page Setups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 846

Specify Page Setup Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 848

Select a Printer or Plotter for a Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 848

Select a Paper Size for a Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 848

Determine the Drawing Orientation of a Layout . . . . . . . . . 849

Set the Plot Area of a Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 850

Adjust the Plot Offset of a Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 851

Set the Plot Scale for a Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 852

Set the Lineweight Scale for a Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 853

Select a Plot Style Table for a Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 853

Set Shaded Viewport and Plot Options for a Layout . . . . . . . 854

Chapter 31 Print or Plot Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 857

Overview of Plotting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 857

Use a Page Setup to Specify Plot Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 860

Select a Printer or Plotter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 860

Specify the Area to Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 861

Set Paper Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 862

Position the Drawing on the Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 863

Specify the Printable Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 863

Set the Position of the Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 864

Set Drawing Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 864

Control How Objects Are Plotted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 865

Set Plot Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 865

Set Shaded Viewport Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 867

Set Options for Plotted Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 870

Use Plot Styles to Control Plotted Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . 871

Use Color-Dependent Plot Style Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 874

Use Named Plot Style Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 875

Preview a Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 876

Plot Files to Other Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 877

Plot Adobe PDF Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 877

Share Data Between Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 879

Chapter 32 Reference Other Drawing Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 881

xiv | Contents

Overview of Referenced Drawings (Xrefs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 881

Attach and Detach Referenced Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 883

Attach Drawing References (Xrefs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 883

Nest and Overlay Referenced Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 886

Set Paths to Referenced Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 888

Detach Referenced Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 889

Update and Archive Referenced Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 890

Update Referenced Drawing Attachments . . . . . . . . . . . . 890

Archive Drawings That Contain Referenced Drawings

(Bind) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 892

Clip External References and Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 894

Edit Referenced Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 897

Edit a Referenced Drawing in a Separate Window . . . . . . . . 897

Resolve Referenced Drawing Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 898

Resolve Missing External References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 898

Resolve Circular External References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 899

Resolve Name Conflicts in External References . . . . . . . . . . 900

Track External Reference Operations (Log File) . . . . . . . . . . 901

Increase Performance with Large Referenced Drawings . . . . . . . . . 904

Overview of Demand Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 904

Unload Xrefs in Large Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 905

Set Paths for Temporary Xref File Copies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 905

Chapter 33 Work with Data in Other Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 907

Import Other File Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 907

Import ACIS SAT Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 907

Convert DXF and DXB Files to DWG Format . . . . . . . . . . . 908

Attach Raster Image Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 908

Overview of Raster Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 908

Attach, Scale, and Detach Raster Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . 910

Modify Raster Images and Image Boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . 913

Manage Raster Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 917

Tune Raster Image Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 920

Export Drawings to Other File Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 923

Export PDF Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 923

Export DXF Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 923

Export Raster Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 924

Export PostScript Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 925

Export ACIS SAT Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 926

Export Stereolithography STL Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 926

Use Drawings from Different Versions and Applications . . . . . . . . 927

Work with Drawings in Earlier Releases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 928

Save Drawings to Previous Drawing File Formats . . . . . . . . . 931

Work with AutoCAD Drawings in AutoCAD LT . . . . . . . . . . 934

Work with Custom and Proxy Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 937

Contents | xv

Collaborate with Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 941

Chapter 34 Use the Internet for Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 943

Get Started with Internet Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 943

Work with Drawing Files over the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 944

Open and Save Drawing Files from the Internet . . . . . . . . . 944

Share Drawing Files Internationally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 945

Access Buzzsaw for Project Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . 947

Work with Xrefs over the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 948

Render Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 949

Chapter 35 Draw 2D Isometric Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 951

Set Isometric Grid and Snap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 951

Draw Isometric Circles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 953

Chapter 36 Add Lighting to Your Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 955

Overview of Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 955

Standard and Photometric Lighting Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . 958

Illuminate a Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 960

Guidelines for Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 960

Use Point Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 962

Use Spotlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 965

Use Weblights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 967

Use Distant Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 976

Assigning a Shape to a Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 977

Adjust and Manipulate Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 978

Control the Display of Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 978

Adjust Light Placement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 979

Control Light Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 982

Incorporate Luminaire Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 987

Chapter 37 Materials and Textures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 989

Overview of Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 989

Browse Material Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 990

Chapter 38 Render 3D Objects for Realism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 993

Overview of Rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 993

Prepare a Model for Rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 994

Understand Face Normals and Hidden Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . 994

Minimize Intersecting and Coplanar Faces . . . . . . . . . . . . 996

xvi | Contents

Balance Mesh Density for Smooth Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . 998

Set Up the Renderer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1001

Control the Rendering Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1001

Basics of Rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1002

Render Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1002

Save and Redisplay Rendered Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1003

Save a Rendered Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1003

Redisplay a Rendered Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1004

Use Models with Other Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1005

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1007

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1035

Contents | xvii

xviii

Get Information

Find the Information You Need

There are various ways to find information about how to use this program, and multiple resources are available.

This program is a powerful application with tools that help you work with a high level of efficiency and productivity. You install this software with the Installation wizard that starts automatically when you insert the product media.

This application is often intuitive, but when you do need to look something up, you can save time and avoid frustration if you use the Help system to find information. The Help system is organized in a structured design that makes information easy to locate.

Access and Search the Product Help

The Help system in AutoCAD for Mac uses a Web browser and is available online and offline.

You can access the Help system by doing one of the following:

■ Press Fn-F1 or Cmd-/.

If you press Fn-F1 or Cmd-/ when a command is active, the appropriate help topic is opened in the Web browser. Otherwise, the landing page of the Help system is displayed.

■ On the Mac OS menu bar, click Help ➤ AutoCAD for Mac Help.

The landing page of the Help system is displayed.

■ In a dialog box, help the Help or ‘?’ button.

The help topic related to the dialog box is opened in the Web browser.

Navigate Help

Each page of the help system is divided into four main areas:

■ Header - Contains the navigation links to the Home page along with links

that represent the path to the current topic. Along with navigation links, the Search text box is also located in the header.

■ Left Side - Along the left side of a page is the table of contents that allow

you to navigate in the current guide. You can also find links sections on the current page as well as related topics in the documentation set. When on the Home page, the left side contains a listing of the guides in the current documentation set.

■ Middle - The middle of the page contains the content for the current topic.

When on the Home page, the middle of the page contains links to the main topics in the selected guide in the documentation set from the left side.

■ Right Side - The right side of the page contains links that are related to

the current topic. These links come from Autodesk.com and are available only when using the online version of the Help system.

Search Help

In the upper-right corner of each page is a Search text box. Enter a text string to search on, and click the Search button or press Enter to begin the search. The results of the search are displayed on a new page. The left side of the results page lists the books that a search result was found in, while the right side displays the results for the selected book. Click a book from the left side to see additional serach results, or click a link from the search results to open the associated topic.

Learn the Product

For the latest information about Autodesk training, visit http://www.autodesk.com/training or contact your local Autodesk office.

-----Authorized Training Centers

4 | Chapter 1 Find the Information You Need

More than 1,200 ATC sites are available worldwide to meet your needs for discipline-specific, locally based training.

Autodesk Official Training Courseware

Autodesk Official Training Courseware (AOTC) is technical training material developed by

-----

Autodesk. You can purchase AOTC from your local reseller or distributor, or you can order it online from the Autodesk Store.

Autodesk e-Learning for Autodesk Subscription

-----e-Learning

customers features interactive lessons organized into product catalogs.

The Autodesk Developer (ADN) program provides support for full-time, professional developers who

-----Autodesk Developer Network want to build software based on Autodesk

products.

Autodesk Consulting provides services that help set up processes and provide critical training that

-----Consulting will help increase productivity so you can

capitalize on the power of your products.

View the Product Readme

You can find late-breaking information about this software in the Readme.

It is suggested that you read through the Readme for information about recommended hardware, updated installation instructions, and known software problems.

■ View the Readme

Visit the Partner Products & Services page for a

-----Partner Products and Services

list of resources available for your Autodesk product and your industry.

View the Product Readme | 5

Join the Customer Involvement Program

You are invited to help guide the direction of Autodesk design software.

If you participate in the Customer Involvement Program (CIP), specific information about how you use AutoCAD for Mac is forwarded to Autodesk. This information includes what features you use the most, problems that you encounter, and other information helpful to the future direction of the product.

See the following links for more information.

■ Learn more about the Autodesk Customer Involvement Program:

http://www.autodesk.com/cip

■ Read the Autodesk Privacy Statement: http://www.autodesk.com/cipprivacy

When you join, you will be able to view reports that can help you optimize your use of AutoCAD for Mac.

To turn the CIP on or off

1 On the menu bar, click Help ➤ Customer Involvement Program.

2 In the Customer Involvement Program dialog box, choose whether you

want to start or stop participating.

3 Click OK.

6 | Chapter 1 Find the Information You Need

Get Information from Drawings

You can retrieve general information from a drawing including identifying information and the number of objects that it contains.

There are types of information stored in a drawing that are not specific to objects within the drawing, but provide useful information to help you understand the behavior of the drawing, the settings of system variables, the number of objects, descriptive information, and so on.

Obtain General Drawing Information

You can retrieve general information about the drawing file and its settings.

This information includes the following:

■ Custom descriptive information about the drawing (DWGPROPS)

■ General drawing settings (STATUS)

■ Amount of time spent in the drawing (TIME)

This information can help you document a drawing, displays a variety of drawing settings such as the total number of objects in the drawing, and total amount of time spent in the drawing file.

See also:

■ Enter System Variables on the Command Line on page 18

■ Add Identifying Information to Drawings on page 59

■ Extract Geometric Information from Objects on page 252

■ Compare Dimension Styles and Variables on page 774

Quick Reference

Commands

DWGPROPS

Sets and displays the file properties of the current drawing.

SETVAR

Lists or changes the values of system variables.

STATUS

Displays drawing statistics, modes, and extents.

TIME

Displays the date and time statistics of a drawing.

System Variables

CDATE

Stores the current date and time in decimal format.

DATE

Stores the current date and time in Modified Julian Date format.

SAVENAME

Displays the file name and directory path of the most recently saved drawing.

8 | Chapter 2 Get Information from Drawings

The User Interface

Start a Command

Use the menu bar, Tool Sets palette, and Command Line to access many frequently used commands.

Parts of the User Interface

The default user interface displays palettes and bars around the drawing area. Also, several controls are displayed within the drawing area.

The Search field displays at the top of the application menu. Search results can include menu commands, basic tooltips, and command prompt text strings. You can enter a search term in any language.

■ Cmd-1 turns the Tool Sets palette on and off

■ Cmd-2 turns the Content Libraries palette on and off

■ Cmd-3 turns the Command Line on and off

■ Cmd-4 turns the Layers palette on and off

■ Cmd-5 turns the Properties Inspector on and off

■ Cmd-6 turns the Status bar on and off

■ Cmd-7 turns the References Manager palette on and off

■ Cmd-8 turns the Materials Browser palette on and off

■ Cmd-9 is not assigned

■ Cmd-0 turns all palettes and bars on and off

You can dock palettes by dragging them to the edge of your screen until a blue line appears, and then dropping them into place. You can also undock them by dragging and dropping.

Quick Reference

Commands

CUI

Manages the customized user interface elements in the product.

OPTIONS

Customizes the program settings.

The Menu Bar

The menu bar contains common commands organized into logical categories.

Use the menu bar when learning the product, or browsing for a command.

12 | Chapter 3 Start a Command

Many, but not all commands are accessible from the menu bar. Less commonly used commands can be entered in the Command Line. All available commands are listed in the Help system under Command Reference.

Quick Reference

Commands

CUI

Manages the customized user interface elements in the product.

The Tool Sets Palette

The Tool Sets palette provides efficient access to AutoCAD commands.

The Search field displays at the top of the application menu. Search results can include menu commands, basic tooltips, and command prompt text strings. You can enter a search term in any language.

■ Tool flyouts

■ Tool groups

■ Tool sets

The Tool Sets Palette | 13

Tool Flyouts

Some of the tools on the Tool Sets palette have a flyout indicator.

Click and hold the flyout to display several options for that command.

Tool Groups

The tools on the Tool Sets palette are organized into tool groups. Click the arrow to display the entire tool group, which includes additional commands. To make the tool group stay visible, click the lock icon at the bottom of the tool group.

If you right-click the Tool Sets palette, a menu displays that you can use to turn off any tool groups that you don’t need.

14 | Chapter 3 Start a Command

Tool Sets

Click the Tool Sets button to display a list of alternate sets of commands based on your current tasks. For example, clicking the Annotation tool set replaces the commands in the Tool Sets palette with commands associated with dimensioning.

Cmd-1 turns the Tool Sets palette on and off.

TIP Use the CUI editor to customize any tool set, or create your own tool sets.

Quick Reference

Commands

CUI

Manages the customized user interface elements in the product.

The Command Line

The Command Line provides a fast way to enter commands and system variables directly using the keyboard.

Overview of Using the Command Line

By default, the Command Line is displayed in the lower-left corner of screen.

The Command Line | 15

Using the keyboard, you can enter the following in the Command Line:

■ A command or command abbreviation called a command alias

■ The capitalized letters of an option for a command

■ A setting called a system variable that controls how the program operates

by default

Many advanced users prefer this method for speed. Also, the Command Line displays prompts and error messages.

Cmd-3 turns the Command Line on and off.

Quick Reference

Commands

COMMANDLINE

Displays the Command Line window.

COMMANDLINEHIDE

Hides the Command Line window.

CUI

Manages the customized user interface elements in the product.

16 | Chapter 3 Start a Command

Enter Commands on the Command Line

You can enter a command by using the keyboard. Some commands also have abbreviated names called command aliases.

To enter a command by using the keyboard, type the full command name or its command alias in the input area of the Command Line, and then press Enter or Spacebar. The Command Line includes several controls.

For example, instead of entering circle to start the CIRCLE command, you can enter c. Command aliases are defined in the acad.pgp file. To define your own command aliases, see Create Command Aliases in the Customization Guide.

To find a command or system variable, type one or more of its beginning letters in the Command Line and press Tab to cycle through all the possibilities. Then, press Enter or Spacebar.

NOTE When Dynamic Input is turned on and is set to display dynamic prompts, you can enter commands and options in tooltips near the cursor. Dynamic Input can be turned on an off from the status bar.

Specify Command Options

When you enter a command in the Command Line, you see either a set of options, a dialog box, or a palette. To specify an option displayed in the Command line, enter the capitalized letters for the option. For example, when you enter circle, the following prompt is displayed:

Specify center point for circle or [3P/2P/Ttr (tan tan radius)]:

You can specify the center point for the circle either by entering X,Y coordinate values, or by using the pointing device to click a point in the drawing area.

To choose a different option, enter the letters capitalized in one of the options in the brackets. You can enter uppercase or lowercase letters. For example, to choose the three-point option (3P), enter 3p.

Enter Commands on the Command Line | 17

Repeat and Cancel Commands

You can repeat the previous command by pressing Enter or Spacebar.

To repeat a recently used command, right-click in the Command Line or click the drop-down arrow to the left of the command input area. This action displays a shortcut menu with a list of recently used commands.

You can also repeat a recently used command by cycling through the commands with Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys, and then pressing Enter.

To cancel any command in progress, press ESC.

See also:

■ Use Dynamic Input on page 223

■ Keyboard Shortcuts

■ Create Command Aliases

Quick Reference

Commands

COMMANDLINE

Displays the Command Line window.

COMMANDLINEHIDE

Hides the Command Line window.

CUI

Manages the customized user interface elements in the product.

Enter System Variables on the Command Line

System variables are settings that control how certain commands work.

Sometimes you use a system variable in order to change a setting. At other times you use a system variable to display the current status.

With system variables, you can

■ Turn on or turn off features. For example, the GRIDMODE system variable

turns the grid display on and off when you change the value.

18 | Chapter 3 Start a Command

■ Control the operation of a command. For example, the HPASSOC syatem

variable controls whether hatch patterns are associative by default.

■ Retrieve stored information about the current drawing and about the

program configuration. For example, CDATE is a read-only system variable that stores the current date in decimal format. You can display the values of read-only system variables, but you cannot change them.

Usually system variables are accessible from dialog boxes. You can change their values either in a dialog box, directly in the Command Line, or automatically in a script or custom program.

To change the setting of a system variable

1 In the Command Line, enter the system variable name. For example,

enter pickadd to change the style for selecting objects, whether selecting objects automatically replaces the current selection set, or whether they are added to the current selection set.

2 If necessary, press Fn+F1 to view the documentation for that system

variable.

3 Enter the setting that you want to use. In the example of PICKADD, enter

0, 1, or 2 to determine how you select multiple objects.

Quick Reference

Commands

COMMANDLINE

Displays the Command Line window.

COMMANDLINEHIDE

Hides the Command Line window.

CUI

Manages the customized user interface elements in the product.

SETVAR

Lists or changes the values of system variables.

Enter System Variables on the Command Line | 19

Switch Between Dialog Boxes and the Command Line

You can display prompts on the command line instead of using a dialog box, or switch back again. This option is useful primarily when using scripts.

Some functions are available both in the Command Line and in a dialog box. In many cases, you can enter a hyphen before a command to suppress the dialog box and display prompts in the Command Line instead.

For example, entering layer on the command line displays the Layer Properties Manager. Entering -layer on the command line displays the equivalent Command Line options.

Suppressing a dialog box is useful for familiar operation with earlier versions of the program, and for using script files. There may be slight differences between the options in the dialog box and those available in the Command Line.

These system variables also affect the display of dialog boxes:

■ ATTDIA controls whether the INSERT command uses a dialog box for

entering block attribute values.

■ EXPERT controls whether certain warning dialog boxes are displayed.

■ FILEDIA controls the display of dialog boxes used with commands that

read and write files. For example, if FILEDIA is set to 1, SAVEAS displays the Save Drawing As dialog box. If FILEDIA is set to 0, SAVEAS displays prompts on the command line. The procedures in this documentation assume that FILEDIA is set to 1. Even when FILEDIA is set to 0, you can display a file dialog box by entering a tilde (~) at the first prompt.

FILEDIA and EXPERT are useful when you use scripts to run commands.

Quick Reference

Commands

COMMANDLINE

Displays the Command Line window.

COMMANDLINEHIDE

Hides the Command Line window.

20 | Chapter 3 Start a Command

System Variables

ATTDIA

Controls whether the INSERT command uses a dialog box for attribute value entry.

EXPERT

Controls whether certain prompts are issued.

FILEDIA

Suppresses display of file navigation dialog boxes.

View and Edit Within the Command History

You can copy text from the Command History to repeat commands.

You can expand and collapse the Command History in the Command Line using the indicated control.

Within the Command History, use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys, the scroll bar, or other scrolling method to locate and then highlight previously entered commands, system variables, and text.

By default, pressing Cmd-C copies highlighted text to the Clipboard. Pressing Cmd-V pastes text from the Clipboard to the Command Line.

To copy all the text in the Command History to the Clipboard, right-click and select Copy History from the shortcut menu, or enter the COPYHIST command. To save commands automatically to a log file starting with the next command, enter the LOGFILEON command.

Quick Reference

Commands

COMMANDLINE

Displays the Command Line window.

View and Edit Within the Command History | 21

COMMANDLINEHIDE

Hides the Command Line window.

COPYHIST

Hides the Command Line window.

LOGFILEOFF

Closes the command history log file opened by LOGFILEON.

LOGFILEON

Writes the contents of the command history to a file.

System Variables

LOGFILEMODE

Specifies whether the contents of the command history are written to a log file.

LOGFILENAME

Specifies the path and name of the command history log file for the current drawing.

LOGFILEPATH

Specifies the path for the command history log files for all drawings in a session.

Work with Shortcut Menus

Display a shortcut menu for quick access to commands that are relevant to your current activity.

The Search field displays at the top of the application menu. Search results can include menu commands, basic tooltips, and command prompt text strings. You can enter a search term in any language.

■ Display the controls for a user-interface element such as a palette, the

status bar, or the ViewCube

■ Control the command in progress, including command options, object

snaps, and canceling.

■ Display a list of recent input or repeat the last command entered

■ Cut, copy, and paste from the Clipboard

22 | Chapter 3 Start a Command

■ Display a dialog box, such as Drafting Settings or Preferences

■ Undo the last command entered

In the Application Preferences dialog box (the OPTIONS command), you can customize right-click behavior to be time sensitive, so that a quick right-click acts the same as pressing Enter, and a longer right-click displays a shortcut menu.

Quick Reference

Commands

CUI

Manages the customized user interface elements in the product.

OPTIONS

Customizes the program settings.

Work with Shortcut Menus | 23

Control the Drawing Area Interface

The drawing area includes several tools and controls for viewing and drawing operations. You can adjust the display of these interface elements.

Interface Themes and Background Color

Many options are provided for customizing the look and feel of the product, including the color of the icons and the background color of the drawing area.

The default color of the icons and palettes are dark gray. If you prefer, you can change this theme to a light color.

The default background color of the drawing area is a medium gray, which is optimum for displaying objects with different colors. Nevertheless, some people prefer a white or a black background color depending on their tasks and preferences.

See also:

■ Set Up the Drawing Area on page 43

To change the color of the user interface between dark and light

1 On the menu bar, click AutoCAD, and then Preferences.

2 In the Application Preferences dialog box, left column, click Look & Feel.

3 Under Interface Theme, click in the Themes box, and click either Dark or

Light.

4 Click OK.

To change the background color of the drawing area in Model space

1 On the menu bar, click AutoCAD, and then Preferences.

2 In the Application Preferences dialog box, left column, click Look & Feel.

3 Under Interface Theme, click in the Model box, and then click a color,

or click Select Color.

The default dark gray background color has an RGB value of 33,40,48.

4 If you clicked Select Color, the Color Palette dialog box is displayed. At

the top of the dialog box, click either Index Color, True Color, or Color Books, and then make your color selection. Cick OK to exit the Select Color dialog box.

5 Click OK.

Quick Reference

Commands

OPTIONS

Customizes the program settings.

Cursors in the Drawing Area

In the drawing area, the appearance of the cursor changes depending on what you are doing.

■ If you are prompted to specify a point location, the cursor appears as

crosshairs

■ If you are prompted to select an object, the cursor changes to a small square

called a pickbox

■ When you are not in a command, the cursor appears as a combination of

the crosshairs and pickbox cursors

■ If you are prompted to enter text, the cursor appears as a vertical bar

In the following illustrations, these cursors are displayed in order.

26 | Chapter 4 Control the Drawing Area Interface

You can change the size of the crosshairs and pickbox cursors in the Application Preferences dialog box by clicking Cursor & Selection (the OPTIONS command).

Quick Reference

Commands

OPTIONS

Customizes the program settings.

System Variables

CURSORSIZE

Determines the size of the crosshairs as a percentage of the screen size.

PICKBOX

Sets the object selection target height, in pixels.

Selection Style

Selecting objects conforms to a selection style that is common to most Mac applications.

Use click and drag to specify a rectangular selection area. Drag to the left for a crossing selection, or drag to the right for a window selection.

Each time you select one or more objects, it automatically clears the previous selection. To add objects to the previous selection, press SHIFT as you select them.

You can change the behavior of object selection in the Application Preferences dialog box by clicking Cursor & Selection (the OPTIONS command).

See also:

■ Select Multiple Objects on page 295

Selection Style | 27

Quick Reference

Commands

OPTIONS

Customizes the program settings.

System Variables

PICKADD

Controls whether subsequent selections replace the current selection set or add to it.

PICKDRAG

Controls the method of drawing a selection window.

The UCS Icon

The drawing area displays an icon representing the XY axis of a rectangular coordinate system called the User Coordinate System, or UCS.

You can move or rotate the UCS with the UCS command. The UCS is useful in 2D, and essential in 3D because it controls features that include

■ The angular orientation that defines horizontal and vertical

■ The alignment and angle of the grid, and hatch patterns

■ The origin and orientation for 2D and 3D coordinate entry

■ The orientation of construction places, projection planes, and the Z-axis

direction for many 3D operations

28 | Chapter 4 Control the Drawing Area Interface

You can change the appearance of the UCS icon with the UCSICON command, Properties option. With this command, you can also control whether the UCS icon is visible.

See also:

■ Understand the User Coordinate System (UCS) on page 210

■ Specify Workplanes in 3D (UCS) on page 214

■ Control the Display of the User Coordinate System Icon on page 221

Quick Reference

Commands

PLAN

Displays an orthographic view of the XY plane of a specified user coordinate system.

UCS

Manages user coordinate systems.

UCSICON

Controls the visibility and placement of the UCS icon.

Viewport Label Menus

Viewport label menus are located at the top-left corner of each viewport, and provide a convenient way of changing views and visual styles.

Viewport Label Menus | 29

By default, text is displayed that shows the current viewport settings. For example, the text might be

[+][Top][2D Wireframe]

You can click within each of the three bracketed areas.

■ Click + to display more options

■ Click Top to choose between several standard and custom views

■ Click 2D Wireframe to choose one of several visual styles. Most of the

other visual styles are used for 3D visualization

See also:

■ Save and Restore Views on page 84

■ Use a Visual Style to Display Your Model on page 92

Quick Reference

Commands

VIEW

Saves and restores named model space views, layout views, and preset views.

VSCURRENT

Sets the visual style in the current viewport.

System Variables

VPCONTROL

Controls whether the Viewport label menus are displayed in all viewports.

The ViewCube Tool

The ViewCube tool is a handy tool to control the orientation of 3D views.

This tool is available in most Autodesk products, and provides a common experience when you switch between products.

30 | Chapter 4 Control the Drawing Area Interface

Alternatively, you can use the 3DORBITcommand to drag 3D views, and right-click for additional 3D viewing options.

See also:

■ Use 3D Navigation Tools on page 108

Quick Reference

Commands

NAVVCUBE

Indicates the current viewing direction. Dragging or clicking the ViewCube tool rotates the scene.

The Coordinates Display

The coordinates display is located in the lower-right corner of the active viewport and displays the current location of the crosshair cursor in the drawing area.

The display of the coordinates in the active viewport can be toggled in the Units & Guides tab (Application Preferences dialog box).

The Coordinates Display | 31

Along with the coordinates displayed in the active viewport, you can also get the current location of the crosshair cursor in a tooltip near the cursor when dynamic input is turned on. For more information about dynamic input, see

Use Dynamic Input on page 223.

See also:

■ Use Dynamic Input on page 223

■ Overview of Coordinate Entry on page 199

Quick Reference

Commands

OPTIONS

Customizes the program settings.

System Variables

VPCOORDDISPLAY

Controls whether the current coordinates value of the crosshair cursor are displayed in the lower-right corner of the active viewport.

Model Space and Layouts

There are two working environments, or spaces, in which you can work, model space and paper space layouts.

■ Model space is used to create 2D drawings and 3D models

■ Paper space is used create layouts for plotting

While you can plot from model space, layouts are more convenient for scaling views, changing the location of views, and controlling the area and settings used in plotting.

To switch between model space and a layout, click the drop-down near the left side of the status bar.

32 | Chapter 4 Control the Drawing Area Interface

See also:

■ Quick Start for Layouts on page 137

Quick Reference

Commands

MSPACE

In a layout, switches from paper space to model space in a layout viewport.

MVIEW

Creates and controls layout viewports.

PSPACE

In a layout, switches from model space in a viewport to paper space.

Model Space and Layouts | 33

Control Status, Layers, Properties, and Content

Use the Status bar, Layers palette, Properties Inspector, and Content palette to change which drafting aids are enabled, modify the layers in the current drawing, the properties of the current drawing or selected objects, and insert blocks from custom content libraries.

The Status Bar

The Status bar includes buttons that turn on and off various features.

For example, this is where you can conveniently turn on and off the grid display, grid snap, object snap, dynamic input, and so on. The status bar also includes controls to display lineweights and object transparency. Several controls relate to the annotation scaling feature.

One of the most important controls on the status bar, highlighted in the illustration, changes the drawing area between model space and paper space layouts.

Click the disclosure triangle at the far right end of the status bar to display the second row of controls, which include settings and operations for 3D.

Cmd-6 turns the status bar on and off.

To control the display of buttons on the status bar

1 Right-click any empty area of the status bar.

2 In the status bar menu, click Display, and then any flyout.

3 Click any button name in the flyout to change whether it is displayed or

hidden.

Quick Reference

System Variables

STATUSBAR

The Layers Palette

The Layers palette provides two ways to display and manage layers and layer properties.

The disclosure triangle in the Layers palette expands and compresses the Layers palette to display either

■ All layers and layer properties in a matrix of information, or

■ The current layer only

36 | Chapter 5 Control Status, Layers, Properties, and Content

Display All Layers and Layer Properties

The layers and layer properties in a drawing can be displayed as a matrix, similar to a spreadsheet. Each row contains a layer and each column represents a layer property. You can click the Display Settings button at the bottom of the Layers palette to control which layer properties are displayed or hidden.

When undocked in this format, the Layers palette can display all layer information simulatneously at the cost of taking up space on the screen. Docking the Layers palette reduces the space it takes up, but you might have to scroll left and right to see all the properties.

Display the Current Layer Only

Under normal working conditions, the compressed format that displays only the name of the current layer is adequate and recommended.

Review Layer Properties

The Properties Inspector palette can be used to display all the properties of either the current layer, or a selected layer as a vertical list. To switch from displaying object properties, click the Layer Properties button at the top of the Properties Inspector palette.

Cmd-4 turns the Layers palette on and off.

See also:

■ Work with Layers on page 165

The Layers Palette | 37

To create a new layer

1 If necessary, click the disclosure triangle to expand the Layers palette.

2 At the bottom-left corner of the palette, click the + button.

3 Enter the name of the new layer in the highlighted text area, and then

press Enter.

To change the current layer

1 On the Layers palette, click the layer drop-down.

2 Click the layer that you want to make the current layer.

There are several alternative methods. In the expanded Layers palette, you can right-click a layer to display a menu, or you can double-click on the layer name.

To filter the list of layers

1 If necessary, click the disclosure triangle to expand the Layers palette.

2 Enter one of more characters in the Search area at the bottom of the

palette.

Only the layers with the characters that you entered are displayed in the Layers palette. Wildcards are not available.

3 It is recommended that you delete the text in the Search area when you

are done.

You can click the magnifying glass icon to display and choose from a list of previous searches.

Quick Reference

Commands

LAYER

Manages layers and layer properties.

The Properties Inspector

With the Properties Inspector, you can display and change the settings and properties for objects and for layers.

38 | Chapter 5 Control Status, Layers, Properties, and Content

You can perform the following actions:

■ Specify the current default properties assigned to all new objects

■ View and change the properties of one or more selected objects

■ Specify the default properties of the current Layer

The key to controlling the information that appears in the Properties Inspector is choosing either the Object/Current button, or the Layer Properties button in the top-left corner of the palette.

For object properties, clicking either the Essentials button or the All button controls the number of properties displayed.

Object/Current Properties Button

The Properties Inspector with the Object/Current button clicked can complete one of three actions depending on what is selected.

■ With no objects selected, it displays the default properties to be used for

all new objects. You can change these defaults by clicking a property in the palette, and specifying a different value.

■ With one object selected, it displays the properties for that object only,

and you can change any of its properties.

■ With more than one object selected, it can either display only the common

properties shared by the objects, or all the properties. Any property that you change is applied to all the selected objects.

The Properties Inspector | 39

Layer Properties Button

The Properties Inspector provides an efficient way of displaying the properties and settings associated with the current layer, or a layer that you select in the Layers palette.

Cmd-5 turns the Properties Inspector on and off.

See also:

■ Overview of Object Properties on page 161

Quick Reference

Commands

PROPERTIES

Controls properties of existing objects.

The Content Palette

The Content palette allows you to access and manage content libraries.

From the Content palette you can

■ Create custom content libraries to organize frequently used blocks

■ Add and remove blocks from the Favrorites library or a custom library

■ Insert blocks from the current drawing, Favorites library, or a custom library

Content Libraries

Libraries are used to help organize and access the blocks that you frequently insert into a drawing. By default, there is no content available in the Content palette. Custom libraries are created and managed using the Manage Content Libraries dialog box. You add content to a library by referencing a saved DWG or DXF file, or the blocks contained in a saved DWG file.

After content has been added to a library, you can

■ Insert a block into a drawing (see -INSERT)

■ Add a block to the Favorites library

■ Remove a block from a library

40 | Chapter 5 Control Status, Layers, Properties, and Content

■ Search for a block in a library

WARNING If a drawing being referenced by Favorites or a custom library is moved, the reference is maintained but the associated block cannot be inserted into a drawing.

See also:

■ Insert Blocks on page 407

Quick Reference

Commands

CONTENT

Opens the Content palette.

CONTENTCLOSE

Closes the Content palette.

System Variables

CONTENTSTATE

Indicates whether the Content palette is open or closed.

The Content Palette | 41

Customize the Drawing Environment

You can change many window and drawing environment settings in the Application Preferences dialog box. For example, you can change how often a drawing is automatically saved to a temporary file, and you can link the program to folders containing files you use frequently.

Set Interface Options

You can adjust the application interface and drawing area to match the way you work.

Set Up the Drawing Area

You can adjust the color and display schemes used in the application and drawing windows, and control the behavior of general features such as grip editing behavior.

Many of the settings are available from shortcut menus and the Application Preferences dialog box.

Some user interface elements, such as the presence and location of menu items and palettes, can be specified and saved using the Customize dialog box.

Some settings affect how you work in the drawing area:

■ Color Scheme (Application Preferences dialog box, Look & Feel tab). You

specify a dark or light color theme for the overall user interface. The settings affect the window frame background, status bar, title bar, and palettes.

■ Background Colors (Application Preferences dialog box, Look & Feel tab).

You specify the background colors used in the Model and named layouts.

■ UCS Icon and ViewCube (Application Preferences dialog box, Look & Feel

tab). You can specify the display options for the UCS icon and ViewCube in model space.

■ UCS Icon Style, Size, and Color (UCS Icon dialog box). You can control

the appearance of the UCS icon in model space and paper space.

■ Clean Screen. You can expand the drawing area to display only the menu

bar with the Cean Screen button on the status bar. Press Ctrl-0 to restore the previous setup.

Tooltips

Several types of tooltips provide pop-up information for interaction with toolbars, object snaps, and drafting operations.

Tooltips are displayed for tools on the Tool Sets and other palettes in the user interface. Hover the cursor over the control to display the tooltip.

See also:

■ User Interface Customization in the Customization Guide

Quick Reference

Commands

3DCONFIG (-3DCONFIG)

Sets options that affect 3D display performance.

CLEANSCREENON

Clears the screen of the menu bar and all palettes.

CLEANSCREENOFF

Restores the state of the display before CLEANSCREENON was used.

OPTIONS

Customizes the program settings.

VIEWRES

Sets the resolution for objects in the current viewport.

44 | Chapter 6 Customize the Drawing Environment

System Variables

CLEANSCREENSTATE

Indicates whether the clean screen state is on or off.

CURSORSIZE

Determines the size of the crosshairs as a percentage of the screen size.

DRAGMODE

Controls the way dragged objects are displayed.

EXTNAMES

Sets the parameters for named object names (such as linetypes and layers) stored in definition tables.

GRIPCOLOR

Controls the color of unselected grips.

GRIPHOT

Controls the color of selected grips.

GRIPS

Controls the display of grips on selected objects.

HELPPREFIX

Sets the file path for the Help system.

INSUNITS

Specifies a drawing-units value for automatic scaling of blocks, images, or xrefs when inserted or attached to a drawing.

INSUNITSDEFSOURCE

Sets source content units value when INSUNITS is set to 0.

INSUNITSDEFTARGET

Sets target drawing units value when INSUNITS is set to 0.

INTELLIGENTUPDATE

Controls the graphics refresh rate.

ISAVEBAK

Improves the speed of incremental saves, especially for large drawings.

Set Up the Drawing Area | 45

ISAVEPERCENT

Determines the amount of wasted space tolerated in a drawing file.

LAYOUTREGENCTL

Specifies how the display list is updated in the Model tab and layout tabs.

LOCALE

Displays a code that indicates the current locale.

LOCALROOTPREFIX

Stores the full path to the root folder where local customizable files were installed.

LOGFILEMODE

Specifies whether the contents of the command history are written to a log file.

LOGFILENAME

Specifies the path and name of the command history log file for the current drawing.

LOGFILEPATH

Specifies the path for the command history log files for all drawings in a session.

OSNAPCOORD

Controls whether coordinates entered on the command line will override running object snaps.

PAPERUPDATE

Controls the display of a warning dialog box when attempting to print a layout with a paper size different from the paper size specified by the default for the plotter configuration file.

PICKADD

Controls whether subsequent selections replace the current selection set or add to it.

PICKAUTO

Controls automatic windowing at the Select Objects prompt.

46 | Chapter 6 Customize the Drawing Environment

PICKBOX

Sets the object selection target height, in pixels.

PICKDRAG

Controls the method of drawing a selection window.

PICKFIRST

Controls whether you select objects before (noun-verb selection) or after you issue a command.

PICKSTYLE

Controls the use of group selection and associative hatch selection.

PSTYLEPOLICY

Controls the plot style mode, Color-Dependent or Named, that is used when opening a drawing that was created in a release prior to AutoCAD 2000 or when creating a new drawing from scratch without using a drawing template.

QTEXTMODE

Controls how text is displayed.

RASTERPREVIEW

Controls whether BMP preview images are saved with the drawing.

SAVEFILE

Stores the current automatic save file name.

SAVEFILEPATH

Specifies the path to the directory for all automatic save files for the current session.

SAVETIME

Sets the automatic save interval, in minutes.

SPLINESEGS

Sets the number of line segments to be generated for each spline-fit polyline generated by the Spline option of the PEDIT command.

TDUSRTIMER

Stores the user-elapsed timer.

Set Up the Drawing Area | 47

TOOLTIPMERGE

Combines drafting tooltips into a single tooltip.

VISRETAIN

Controls the properties of xref-dependent layers.

XLOADCTL

Turns xref demand-loading on and off, and controls whether it opens the referenced drawing or a copy.

Specify the Behavior of Palettes

Palettes, such as Tool Set, ststus bar, and Reference Manager can be docked, displayed as icons, or floated.

Settings for these and other options are often changed on a shortcut menu, available by right-clicking the title bar of the palette.

■ Resize. Drag an edge of the palette to change its size. If one or more palettes

are docked, dragging one of the palettes adjusts the size of the other docked palettes.

■ Collapse to Icons. You can collapse the display of all palettes, except

command line and status bar, to a set of icons that are displayed along the left or right side of the screen. Click an icon to temporarily display the associated palette. (PALETTEICONON command)

■ Show as Palettes. Expands all palettes that are currently collapsed as icons.

The palettes are returned to their previous size and location. (PALETTEICONOFF command)

You can hide all the palettes at once with HIDEPALETTES and turn on all hidden palettes with SHOWPALETTES.

NOTE If a palette has been turned back on manually and moved, it is not affected by SHOWPALETTES.

The placement of palettes can be changed by dragging them on screen. You can control the location a palette is docked by dragging it to the edge of the screen and dropping it when you see a blue bar. You can also drag and drop palettes on a palette that is already docked.

Use RESETBLOCK to return all palettes to their default placement.

48 | Chapter 6 Customize the Drawing Environment

Quick Reference

Commands

HIDEPALETTES

Hides all currently displayed palettes, including the command window.

PALETTEICONON

Collapses all open palettes, except command line and status bar, to a small bar displayed along the left or right side of the screen.

PALETTEICONOFF

Restores the display of all palettes collapsed by PALETTEICONON.

RESETPALETTES

Resets all palettes to their default placement settings.

SHOWPALETTES

Restores the display of hidden palettes.

System Variables

PALETTEICONSTATE

Indicates whether palettes are in icon state.

SHOWPALETTESTATE

Indicates whether palettes were hidden by the HIDEPALETTES command or restored by the SHOWPALETTES command.

Customize Startup

Command line switches can be used to control how the program is started from the Terminal window or a shell script.

You can use command line switches to specify several options when you start the program. For example, you can run a script or start with a specified drawing template.

Customize Startup | 49

Command line switches are parameters you can use to create custom shell scripts to start AutoCAD for Mac in a specific. Valid switches are listed in the following table.

Designates a script to run after you start the program (b stands for batch process). Scripts can be used to set up drawing parameters in a new drawing file. An SCR file type is assumed.

Starts the program without first displaying the logo screen.

-nologo

Script name-b

No AutoCAD for Mac logo screen

The syntax for using command line switches is

"pathname/AutoCAD" ["drawingname"] [-switch "name"]

When using a switch option, you must follow the switch with a space and then the name of a file, path, or view within quotation marks. For example, the following entry starts the program from a folder named AutoCAD 2011 for Mac with the drawing template arch1.dwt, restores a named view PLAN1, and executes a script file startup.scr.

“/Applications/Autodesk/AutoCAD 2011 for Mac/AutoCAD.app/Contents/MacOS/AutoCAD for Mac” -t “/templates/arch1”

-b “startup”

50 | Chapter 6 Customize the Drawing Environment

Start and Save Drawings

Start a Drawing

All drawings start from either a default drawing template file or a custom drawing template file that you create. Drawing template files store default settings, styles, and additional data.

Overview of Starting a New Drawing

Before you start to draw, you need to decide what system of drawing units that you will use in the drawing, and then choose a drawing template file appropriate for those drawing units.

Choose Drawing Units

A drawing unit can equal one inch, one millimeter, or any other system of measurement. For more information about drawing units, see Determine the

Units of Measurement on page 54.

Choose a Drawing Template File

When you start a new drawing, AutoCAD for Mac accesses a drawing template file to determine many default settings such as unit precision, dimension styles, layer names, a title block, and other settings. Many of the settings are based on whether the drawing template file is intended for use with a drawing created in inches, feet, millimeters,centimeters, or other unit of measurement.

Customize a Drawing Template File

By customizing your own drawing template file, you save yourself a lot of work changing settings, and you also ensure that the settings are standardized.

You can create several drawing template files for different projects, and you can choose one when you click New.

Quick Reference

Commands

NEW

Creates a new drawing.

OPTIONS

Customizes the program settings.

SAVEAS

Saves a copy of the current drawing under a new file name.

System Variables

MEASUREMENT

Controls whether the current drawing uses imperial or metric hatch pattern and linetype files.

Specify Units and Unit Formats

Before you start to draw, you decide on the units of measurement to be used in the drawing, and set the format, precision, and other conventions to be used in coordinates and distances.

Determine the Units of Measurement

Before you start to draw, you must decide what one drawing unit represents based on what you plan to draw. You can convert a drawing between systems of measurement by scaling it.

Every object you create is measured in drawing units. Before you start to draw, you must decide what one drawing unit will represent based on what you plan to draw. Then you create your drawing at actual size with that convention.

For example, the objects in the illustration might represent two buildings that are each 125 feet long, or a section of a mechanical part that is measured in millimeters.

54 | Chapter 7 Start a Drawing

Convert Drawing Units

If you start a drawing in one system of measurement (imperial or metric) and then want to switch to the other system, use SCALE to scale the model geometry by the appropriate conversion factor to obtain correct distances and dimensions.

For example, to convert a drawing created in inches to centimeters, you scale the model geometry by a factor of 2.54. To convert from centimeters to inches, the scale factor is 1/2.54 or about 0.3937.

See also:

■ Set the Scale for Dimensions on page 801

Quick Reference

Commands

UNITS

Controls coordinate and angle display formats and precision.

SCALE

Enlarges or reduces selected objects, keeping the proportions of the object the same after scaling.

System Variables

LUNITS

Sets linear units.

LUPREC

Sets the display precision for linear units and coordinates.

Determine the Units of Measurement | 55

MEASUREINIT

Controls whether a drawing you start from scratch uses imperial or metric default settings.

MEASUREMENT

Controls whether the current drawing uses imperial or metric hatch pattern and linetype files.

UNITMODE

Controls the display format for units.

Set the Unit Format Conventions

You can set the format and the number of decimal places to be used when you enter and display linear and angular units.

Set Linear Units

You can choose from several common conventions to represent the format and the precision of linear distances and coordinates displayed in the Properties Inspector palette, dynamic input, the status bar, and other locations.

For example, here are three variations of dynamic input.

Set Angular Units

You can specify that positive values of angles are measured either clockwise or counterclockwise, and the direction of angle 0 (usually East or North). You can enter angles using grads, radians, or surveyor's units or using degrees, minutes, and seconds.

If you use surveyor's angles when specifying polar coordinates, indicate whether the surveyor's angles are in the north, south, east, or west direction. For example, to enter the relative coordinates for a property line that is 72 feet,

56 | Chapter 7 Start a Drawing

8 inches long with a bearing of 45 degrees north, 20 minutes, 6 seconds east, enter @72'8"<n45d20'6"e.

Understand Rounding and Precision

When you specify the display precision of units, the values for coordinates and distances are rounded off. However, the internal precision of coordinates and distances is always maintained regardless of the display precision.

For example, if you set the display precision of decimal-format units to 1 (or

0.0), the display of coordinates is rounded to one place after the decimal point. Thus, the coordinates 0.000,1.375 are displayed as 0.0,1.4, but the internal precision is still maintained.

Quick Reference

Commands

UNITS

Controls coordinate and angle display formats and precision.

System Variables

ANGBASE

Sets the base angle to 0 with respect to the current UCS.

ANGDIR

Sets the direction of positive angles.

AUNITS

Sets units for angles.

AUPREC

Sets the display precision for angular units and coordinates.

LUNITS

Sets linear units.

LUPREC

Sets the display precision for linear units and coordinates.

Set the Unit Format Conventions | 57

MEASUREINIT

Controls whether a drawing you start from scratch uses imperial or metric default settings.

MEASUREMENT

Controls whether the current drawing uses imperial or metric hatch pattern and linetype files.

UNITMODE

Controls the display format for units.

Use a Drawing Template File

A drawing template file provides consistency in the drawings that you create by maintaining your standard styles and settings.

Select a Drawing Template File

A set of drawing template files is installed with AutoCAD for Mac. Many of them are provided either for imperial or for metric units, and some are optimized for 3D modeling. All drawing template files have a .dwt file extension.

While these drawing templates provide a quick way to start a new drawing, it is best to create drawing templates specific to your company and the type of drawings you create.

Create a Drawing Template File

When you need to create several drawings that use the same conventions and default settings, you can save time by creating or customizing a drawing template file instead of specifying the conventions and default settings each time you start. Conventions and settings commonly stored in template files include

■ Unit format and precision on page 54

■ Title blocks and borders on page 407

■ Layer names on page 167

■ Snap and Grid spacing on page 232

■ Text styles on page 738

58 | Chapter 7 Start a Drawing

■ Dimension styles on page 773

■ Multileader styles on page 728

■ Linetypes on page 180

■ Lineweights on page 186

■ Layouts on page 139

■ Page setups on page 848

By default, drawing template files are stored in the template folder, where they are easily accessible. You can use the Application Preferences dialog box to set a default for both the template folder and the drawing template file.

Quick Reference

Commands

NEW

Creates a new drawing.

OPEN

Opens an existing drawing file.

OPTIONS

Customizes the program settings.

SAVEAS

Saves a copy of the current drawing under a new file name.

System Variables

MEASUREMENT

Controls whether the current drawing uses imperial or metric hatch pattern and linetype files.

Add Identifying Information to Drawings

You can keep track of your drawings more easily if you add keywords or other information to them.

Add Identifying Information to Drawings | 59

Use Finder

Finder can be used to location drawing files. For example, you can search for all files created on a certain date, or for files you modified yesterday.

Display Properties in Fields

You can assign any of the drawing properties to a field in a text object. For more information about fields, see Use Fields in Text on page 732.

Quick Reference

System Variables

CDATE

Stores the current date and time in decimal format.

DATE

Stores the current date and time in Modified Julian Date format.

TDCREATE

Stores the local time and date the drawing was created.

TDINDWG

Stores the total editing time, which is the total elapsed time between saves of the current drawing.

TDUCREATE

Stores the universal time and date that the drawing was created.

TDUPDATE

Stores the local time and date of the last update/save.

TDUUPDATE

Stores the universal time and date of the last update or save.

60 | Chapter 7 Start a Drawing

Open or Save a Drawing

You can use several methods to find and open drawings, even damaged drawings. You can save and backup drawings automatically.

Open a Drawing

You open drawings to work on them just as you do with other applications. In addition, you can choose from several alternative methods.

To open a drawing, you can

■ Use Open on the File menu to display the Select File dialog box. If the

FILEDIA system variable is set to 0, the Command prompt version displays instead of a file navigation dialog box.

■ Double-click a drawing in Finder to launch AutoCAD for Mac

the drawing. If the program is already running, the drawing opens in the current session.

and open

■ Drag a drawing from Finder onto the AutoCAD for Mac icon in the Dock.

If you drop a drawing anywhere outside the drawing area—for example, the command line or the blank space next to the toolbars— the drawing is opened. However, if you drag a single drawing into the drawing area of an open drawing, the new drawing is not opened but inserted as a block reference.

Work on Drawings During Loading

You can work on drawings before they are fully open. This is useful when you work on large drawings and you want to begin working immediately. To take advantage of this capability, three conditions are required.

■ The drawing must have been saved in paper space.

■ The INDEXCTL system variable must be set to a non-zero value.

When these conditions are met, you can create or modify visible objects, pan or zoom, turn off or freeze layers, and any other operation that does not require displaying objects not visible when the drawing was last saved.

NOTE The Quick View feature will not be fully functional during loading under these conditions.

Resolve Missing References

As you open a drawing, you are notified (messages and task dialog boxes) when a reference cannot be located. From the References - Unresolved Reference Files task dialog box, click Update the Location of the Referenced Files to open the Reference Manager palette to make changes to missing external references.

The following table outlines some of the references that might be missing and describes how to handle them.

DescriptionMissing Reference Types

External references

Shapes

Missing external references are the result of AutoCAD for Mac not being able to resolve the last known location of an xref, raster image, or underlay. To resolve a missing external reference, locate the file and update its location using the Reference Manager palette. For information about resolving missing referenced files, see

■ Resolve Missing External References on page 898

■ Attach Raster Image Files on page 908

Missing shape files are often the result of custom shapes being used in a linetype. Browse to the missing linetype file, or place the shape file in the folder with the drawing or one of the support paths defined in the Options dialog box. For information about custom shape files in linetypes, see Shapes in Custom Linetypes in the Customization Guide.

62 | Chapter 8 Open or Save a Drawing

Work with Large Objects

AutoCAD 2010 supports object size limits greater than those available in previous releases. With increased object size limits you can create larger and more complex models. Using increased object size limits can result in compatibility issues with legacy drawing file formats (AutoCAD 2007 and earlier).

When working with drawings that you might need to exchange with others using AutoCAD 2009 and earlier, set the LARGEOBJECTSUPPORT system variable to 0. Setting LARGEOBJECTSUPPORT to 0 warns you when a drawing contains large objects that cannot be opened by a release of the program prior to AutoCAD 2010.

Recover Defective Drawing Files

In some circumstances, it is possible that a drawing file becomes defective. This can result from hardware problems or transmission errors. If a drawing file is corrupt, you might be able to recover it. See Repair, Restore, or Recover

Drawing Files on page 75.

Change the Default Drawing Folder

Each time you start AutoCAD for Mac, the Documents folder is the default path in each standard file selection dialog box.

Alternatively, you can start AutoCAD for Mac in the current folder from the Terminal window. Set REMEMBERFOLDERS to 0 and then start AutoCAD for Mac from the current folder.

See also:

■ Open and Save Drawing Files from the Internet on page 944

Quick Reference

Closes the current drawing.

CLOSEALL

Closes all currently open drawings.

OPEN

Opens an existing drawing file.

Open a Drawing | 63

OPTIONS

Customizes the program settings.

WHOHAS

Displays ownership information for opened drawing files.

DWGCHECK

Checks drawings for potential problems when opening them.

FILEDIA

Suppresses display of file navigation dialog boxes.

INDEXCTL

Controls whether layer and spatial indexes are created and saved in drawing files.

LARGEOBJECTSUPPORT

Controls large object size limit support when you open and save drawings.

REMEMBERFOLDERS

Controls the default path displayed in standard file selection dialog boxes.

ROAMABLEROOTPREFIX

Stores the full path to the root folder where roamable customizable files were installed.

Work with Multiple Open Drawings

You can preview and switch between open drawings and layouts in a drawing and transfer information between open drawings.

Preview Open Drawings and Layouts

With QuickView, you can easily preview and switch between open drawings and layouts in an open drawing.

The Show Drawings & Layouts button on the status bar allows you to do the following:

■ Open drawings. All copen drawings are displayed along the left side of the

QuickView dialog box. Double-click a drawing thumbnail to switch to the corresponding drawing file, or right-click a drawing thumbnail to display

64 | Chapter 8 Open or Save a Drawing

a list of available options. For more information, see Switch Between Open

Drawings on page 65

■ Layouts in an open drawing. Displays the Model layout and named layouts

in the current drawing or the selected drawing when there is more than one drawing open. Double-click a layout thumbnail to switch to the corresponding layout and drawing file, or right-click a layout thumbnail to display a list of available options. For more information, see Switch

Between Layouts in the Current Drawing on page 66

Quick Reference

QUICKVIEW

Displays a list of all open drawings, and the layouts contained in the current drawing or the selected drawing when more than one drawing is open.

STATUSBAR

Controls the display of the status bar.

Switch Between Open Drawings

Switch between open drawings.

You can use one of the following methods to switch between open drawings:

■ On the menu bar, click the Window menu and choose a drawing from the

bottom of the menu.

■ In the Mac OS Dock, right-click the AutoCAD for Mac icon and choose a

drawing from the top of the menu.

■ In the Mac OS Dock, right side, click the thumbnail that represents the

open drawing.

■ On the status bar, click the Show Drawings & Layouts button. In the

QuickView dialog box, click the drawing thumbnail along the left side.

■ On the status bar, click the Drawings & Layouts pop-up menu and choose

a drawing from the top of the menu.

Switch Between Open Drawings | 65

Quick Reference

QUICKVIEW

Displays a list of all open drawings, and the layouts contained in the current drawing or the selected drawing when more than one drawing is open.

UPDATETHUMBSNOW

Manually updates thumbnail previews for named views, drawings, and layouts.

UPDATETHUMBNAIL

Controls updating of the thumbnail previews for views and layouts.

Switch Between Layouts in the Current Drawing

Switch between the model space and layouts in the current drawing.

You can use one of the following methods to switch between layouts in the current drawing:

■ On the status bar, click the Show Drawings & Layouts button. In the

QuickView dialog box, click the layout thumbnail on the right side.

■ On the status bar, click the Drawings & Layouts pop-up menu and choose

a layout from the middle section of the menu.

■ At the Command prompt, enter ctab and press Enter. When prompted for

a new value, enter model or the name of a layout in the drawing and press Enter.

Quick Reference

LAYOUT

Creates and modifies drawing layouts.

QUICKVIEW

Displays a list of all open drawings, and the layouts contained in the current drawing or the selected drawing when more than one drawing is open.

66 | Chapter 8 Open or Save a Drawing

UPDATETHUMBSNOW

Manually updates thumbnail previews for named views, drawings, and layouts.

CTAB

Returns the name of the current layout in the drawing.

UPDATETHUMBNAIL

Controls updating of the thumbnail previews for views and layouts.

Transfer Information between Open Drawings

You can easily transfer information between drawings that are open in a single session.

When you open multiple drawings in a single session, you can

■ Reference other drawings.

■ Copy and paste between drawings.

■ Use object snaps and the Copy with Basepoint (COPYBASE) command to

ensure accurate placement.

Quick Reference

COPYBASE

Copies selected objects to the Clipboard along with a specified base point.

Save a Drawing

You save drawing files for later use just as you do with other applications. You can also set up automatic saving and backup files and save only selected objects.

When you work on a drawing, you should save it frequently. Saving protects you from losing work in the event of a power failure or other unexpected event. If you want to create a new version of a drawing without affecting the original drawing, you can save it under another name.

The file extension for drawing files is .dwg, and unless you change the default file format in which drawings are saved, drawings are saved in the latest

Transfer Information between Open Drawings | 67

drawing file format. This format is optimized for file compression and for use on a network.

The character limit for a DWG file name (including its path) is 256 characters.

NOTE If the FILEDIA system variable is set to 0, the Command prompt version displays instead of a file navigation dialog box.

Save Part of a Drawing File

If you want to create a new drawing file from part of an existing drawing, you use the WBLOCK command. With the command, you can select objects or specify a block definition in your current drawing and save them to a new drawing file. You can also save a description with the new drawing.

Save to a Different Type of Drawing File

You can save a drawing to an earlier version of the drawing format (DWG) or drawing interchange format (DXF), or save a drawing as a template file. Choose the format in the Save Drawing As dialog box.

Save with Visual Fidelity for Annotative Objects

When working with annotative objects, this option allows you to maintain visual fidelity for these objects when they are viewed in AutoCAD 2007 and earlier releases. Visual fidelity is controlled by the SAVEFIDELITY system variable.

If you work primarily in model space, it is recommended that you turn off visual fidelity (set SAVEFIDELITY to 0). However, if you need to exchange drawings with other users, and layout fidelity is most important, then visual fidelity should be turned on (set SAVEFIDELITY to 1).

NOTE The SAVEFIDELITY system variable does not effect saving a drawing to the AutoCAD 2010 drawing or DXF file formats.

Annotative objects may have multiple scale representation. When visual fidelity is on, annotative objects are decomposed and scale representations are saved (in an anonymous block) to separate layers, which are named based on their original layer and appended with a number. If you explode the block in AutoCAD 2007 or earlier releases, and then open the drawing in AutoCAD 2008 or later releases, each scale representation becomes a separate annotative object, each with one annotation scale. It is not recommended that you edit or create objects on these layers when working with a drawing created in AutoCAD 2008 and later releases in AutoCAD 2007 and earlier releases.

68 | Chapter 8 Open or Save a Drawing

When this option is not selected, a single model space representation is displayed on the Model layout. More annotation objects may be displayed on the Model layout depending on the ANNOALLVISIBLE setting. Also, more objects may be displayed in paper space viewports at different sizes than in AutoCAD 2008 and later releases.

Reduce the Time Required to Save a Drawing File

You can reduce the time required to save a drawing file if you specify incremental saves rather than full saves. An incremental save updates only those portions of the saved drawing file that you changed.

When you use incremental saves, drawing files will contain a percentage of potentially wasted space. This percentage increases after each incremental save until it reaches a specified maximum, at which time a full save is performed instead. You can set the incremental save percentage in the Open and Save tab of the Options dialog box or by setting the value of the system variable ISAVEPERCENT. If you set the value of ISAVEPERCENT to 0, all saves are full saves.

To reduce the size of drawing files, it is recommended that you perform a full save (with ISAVEPERCENT set to 0) before transmitting or archiving a drawing.

Work Internationally

If you share drawing files with companies in other countries and regions, the drawing file names might contain characters that are not used in other languages.

If a drawing file is created in a different language version of the operating system, the following will occur:

■ If support for the language is installed, the file name characters are visible

in Finder.

■ If support for the language is not installed, the file name characters appear

as a series of boxes in Finder.

In either case, you will be able to open the drawing file beginning with AutoCAD 2007 because the product is Unicode-compliant.

NOTE If you share drawing files with companies using earlier releases of the product, you can avoid file name issues for Asian languages and languages that use accented characters. In those circumstances, do not use high ASCII values, or values of 80 hexadecimal and above, when creating a file name.

Save a Drawing | 69

Maintain Compatibility with Large Object Limits

Drawings saved to a legacy drawing file format (AutoCAD 2007 or earlier) do not support objects greater than 256MB. With the AutoCAD 2010 drawing file format, these limitations have been removed allowing you to save objects that are greater in size.

When saving to a legacy drawing file format (AutoCAD 2007 or earlier), the drawing cannot contain large objects; there might be compatibility issues with trying to open the drawing. The LARGEOBJECTSUPPORT system variable controls the large object size limits used and the warning messages displayed when a drawing is saved.

The following explains how object size limits for drawings is determined:

■ Drawing files cannot exceed an internal size limit of 4GB. This size is based

on the total size of all objects in a drawing when uncompressed. Since a drawing file is normally compressed, the final size of a saved drawing file on disk will vary based on the size and number of objects in a drawing.

■ Each individual object in a drawing cannot exceed an uncompressed size

limit of 256MB. For example, a mesh object, when saved to a file and compressed, might be 75MB in size while the same object when uncompressed might be 257MB.

In these situations, the drawing cannot be saved to an AutoCAD 2007 or earlier file format until the issues are resolved. You can resolve the size limits by breaking the drawing or objects up into several drawings or objects.

See also:

■ Save Drawings to Previous Drawing File Formats on page 931

■ Work with Drawings in Earlier Releases on page 928

■ Export Drawings to Other File Formats on page 923

■ Create Drawing Files for Use as Blocks on page 414

■ Add Identifying Information to Drawings on page 59

■ Create and Restore Backup Files on page 77

■ Share Drawing Files Internationally on page 945

■ Open and Save Drawing Files from the Internet on page 944

70 | Chapter 8 Open or Save a Drawing

Quick Reference

BLOCK

Creates a block definition from selected objects.

OPTIONS

Customizes the program settings.

QSAVE

Saves the current drawing using the specified default file format.

QUIT

Exits the program.

SAVE

Saves the drawing under the current file name or a specified name.

SAVEAS

Saves a copy of the current drawing under a new file name.

WBLOCK

Writes objects or a block to a new drawing file.

DWGCHECK

Checks drawings for potential problems when opening them.

DWGNAME

Stores the name of the current drawing.

DWGPREFIX

Stores the drive and folder prefix for the drawing.

DWGTITLED

Indicates whether the current drawing has been named.

FILEDIA

Suppresses display of file navigation dialog boxes.

ISAVEBAK

Improves the speed of incremental saves, especially for large drawings.

Save a Drawing | 71

ISAVEPERCENT

Determines the amount of wasted space tolerated in a drawing file.

LARGEOBJECTSUPPORT

Controls large object size limit support when you open and save drawings.

RASTERPREVIEW

Controls whether BMP preview images are saved with the drawing.

SAVEFIDELITY

Controls whether the drawing is saved with visual fidelity.

SAVEFILE

Stores the current automatic save file name.

SAVEFILEPATH

Specifies the path to the directory for all automatic save files for the current session.

SAVENAME

Displays the file name and directory path of the most recently saved drawing.

SAVETIME

Sets the automatic save interval, in minutes.

Find a Drawing File

You can search for a drawing using name, location, and date filters.

■ Use Searchlight in Finder to search for drawings using name, location, and

date filters.

■ Use the Select File dialog box for the OPEN command to display drawing

file previews. When the RASTERPREVIEW system variable is on, a raster preview image is automatically generated and stored with the drawing when you save it.

See also:

■ Add Identifying Information to Drawings on page 59

72 | Chapter 8 Open or Save a Drawing

Quick Reference

OPEN

Opens an existing drawing file.

Specify Search Paths and File Locations

You can set the search path to drawing support files such as text fonts, drawings, linetypes, and hatch patterns. You also can specify the location of temporary files, which is important when working in a network environment.

The Application tab (Application Preferences dialog box) is where you set the search path that is used by the program to find drawing support files such as text fonts, drawings, linetypes, and hatch patterns. The MYDOCUMENTSPREFIX system variable stores the location of the Documents folder for the current user.

The working search path for drawing support files lists paths that are valid and exist in the current system folder structure (including system network mapping). Using these options helps improve performance when these files are loaded.

Using the Application tab (Application Preferences dialog box), you can also specify the location of temporary files. Temporary files are created on disk, and then deleted when you exit the program. The temporary folder is set to the location that the operating system uses. If you plan to run this program from a write-protected folder (for example, if you work on a network or open files on a CD), specify a different location for your temporary files.

The temporary folder that you specify must not be write-protected, and the drive containing the folder should have sufficient disk space for the temporary files. It is recommended that you manually delete the files from this folder on a regular basis to ensure sufficient space is provided for temporary files. If not enough space is available for temporary files, you may experience errors or instability in the program.

If you want to use a file that contains custom interface elements, specify it in the Customizations Files item on the Application tab (Application Preferences dialog box).

Specify Search Paths and File Locations | 73

Quick Reference

OPTIONS

Customizes the program settings.

MYDOCUMENTSPREFIX

74 | Chapter 8 Open or Save a Drawing

Repair, Restore, or Recover Drawing Files

If a drawing file is damaged or if your program terminates unexpectedly, you can recover some or all of the data by using commands to find and correct errors, or by reverting to a backup file.

Repair a Damaged Drawing File

If a drawing file is damaged, you can recover some or all of the data by using commands to find and correct errors.

Repair and Recovery

When an error occurs, diagnostic information is recorded in the acadlt.err file, which you can use to report a problem.

A drawing file is marked as damaged if corrupted data is detected, or if you request that the drawing be saved after a program failure. If the damage is minor, sometimes you can repair the drawing simply by opening it. A recovery notification is displayed while opening drawing files that are damaged and need recovery. You can

■ RECOVER. Performs an audit on, and attempts to open, any drawing file.

■ AUDIT. Finds and corrects errors in the current drawing.

■ RECOVERAUTO. Controls the display of recovery notifications before or

after opening a damaged drawing file.

Example: Auditing Files

Auditing a file generates a description of problems with a drawing file and recommendations for correcting them. As you start the audit, you specify whether you want the program to try to fix the problems it encounters. The report is similar to the following example:

Auditing Header DXF NAME Current Value Validation Default PDMODE 990 - 2040 UCSFOLLOW 811 or 0 Error found in auditing header variables 4 Blocks audited Pass 1 4 objects audited Pass 2 4 objects audited Total errors found 2 fixed 2

If you chose not to correct the errors, the last statement changes to

Total errors found 2 fixed 0.

The output from a recovery audit is written to an audit log (ADT) file if the AUDITCTL system variable is set to 1 (On).

Recovery does not necessarily preserve the high-level consistency of the drawing file. The program extracts as much material as it can from the damaged file.

Quick Reference

Commands

AUDIT

Evaluates the integrity of a drawing and corrects some errors.

OPTIONS

Customizes the program settings.

RECOVER

Repairs and then opens a damaged drawing file.

System Variables

AUDITCTL

Controls whether AUDIT creates an audit report (ADT) file.

76 | Chapter 9 Repair, Restore, or Recover Drawing Files

RECOVERAUTO

Controls the display of recovery notifications before or after opening a damaged drawing file.

REPORTERROR

Controls whether an error report can be sent to Autodesk if the program closes unexpectedly.

Create and Restore Backup Files

Backup files help ensure the safety of your drawing data. If a problem occurs, you can restore a drawing backup file.

Computer hardware problems, power failures or surges, user mistakes, or software problems can cause errors in a drawing. By saving your work frequently, you can ensure a minimum of lost data if your system fails for any reason. If a problem occurs, you can restore a drawing backup file.

Use Backup Files

In the Application tab (Application Preferences dialog box), you can specify that backup files are created when you save drawings. If you do, each time you save a drawing, the previous version of your drawing is saved to a file with the same name and a .bak file extension. The backup file is located in the same folder as the drawing file.

You can revert to your backup version by renaming the .bak file in Finder to a file with a .dwg extension. You may want to copy it to a different folder to avoid overwriting your original file.

Save Your Drawing Automatically at Specified Intervals

If you turn the automatic save option on, your drawing is saved at specified time intervals. By default, files saved automatically are temporarily assigned the name filename_a_b_nnnn.sv$.

■ Filename is the current drawing name.

■ a is the number of open instances of the same drawing file in the same

work session.

■ b is the number of open instances of the same drawing in different work

sessions.

■ nnnn is a random number.

Create and Restore Backup Files | 77

These temporary files are automatically deleted when a drawing closes normally. In the event of a program failure or a power failure, these files are not deleted.

To recover a previous version of your drawing from the automatically saved file, rename the file using a .dwg extension in place of the .sv$ extension before you close the program.

See also:

■ Recover from a System Failure

Quick Reference

Commands

OPTIONS

Customizes the program settings.

System Variables

ISAVEBAK

Improves the speed of incremental saves, especially for large drawings.

78 | Chapter 9 Repair, Restore, or Recover Drawing Files

Control the Drawing Views

Change Views

You can magnify the details in your drawing for a closer view or shift the view to a different part of the drawing. If you save views by name, you can restore them later.

Pan or Zoom a View

You can pan to reposition the view in the drawing area or zoom to change magnification.

With the Realtime option of PAN, you pan dynamically by moving your pointing device. Like panning with a camera, PAN does not change the location or magnification of objects on your drawing; it changes only the view.

You can change the magnification of a view by zooming in and out, which is similar to zooming in and out with a camera. ZOOM does not change the absolute size of objects in the drawing; it changes only the magnification of the view.

When you work with minute parts in your drawing, you may need to zoom out frequently to see an overview of your work. Use ZOOM Previous to return quickly to the prior view.

The options described here are the options most commonly used.

Zoom to Magnify a Specified Rectangular Area

You can quickly zoom on a rectangular area of your drawing by specifying two diagonal corners of the area you are interested in.

The lower-left corner of the area you specify becomes the lower-left corner of the new display. The shape of the zoom area you specify does not correspond exactly to the new view, which must fit the shape of the viewport.

Zoom in Real Time

With the Realtime option, you zoom dynamically by moving your pointing device up or down. By right-clicking, you can display a shortcut menu with additional viewing options.

Zoom to Magnify One or More Objects

ZOOM Objects displays a view with the largest possible magnification that includes all of the objects you selected.

Zoom to View All Objects in the Drawing

ZOOM Extents displays a view with the largest possible magnification that includes all of the objects in the drawing. This view includes objects on layers that are turned off but does not include objects on frozen layers.

ZOOM All displays either the user-defined grid limits or the drawing extents, whichever view is larger.

82 | Chapter 10 Change Views

autocad 2011 User Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

Get Information

Find the Information You Need

Access and Search the Product Help

Learn the Product

View the Product Readme

Join the Customer Involvement Program

Get Information from Drawings

Obtain General Drawing Information

The User Interface

Start a Command

Parts of the User Interface

The Menu Bar

The Tool Sets Palette

The Command Line

Overview of Using the Command Line

Enter Commands on the Command Line

Enter System Variables on the Command Line

Switch Between Dialog Boxes and the Command Line

View and Edit Within the Command History

Work with Shortcut Menus

Control the Drawing Area Interface

Interface Themes and Background Color

Cursors in the Drawing Area

Selection Style

The UCS Icon

Viewport Label Menus

The ViewCube Tool

The Coordinates Display

Model Space and Layouts

Control Status, Layers, Properties, and Content

The Status Bar

The Layers Palette

The Properties Inspector

The Content Palette

Customize the Drawing Environment

Set Interface Options

Set Up the Drawing Area

Specify the Behavior of Palettes

Customize Startup

Start and Save Drawings

Start a Drawing

Overview of Starting a New Drawing

Specify Units and Unit Formats

Determine the Units of Measurement

Set the Unit Format Conventions

Use a Drawing Template File

Add Identifying Information to Drawings

Open or Save a Drawing

Open a Drawing

Work with Multiple Open Drawings

Preview Open Drawings and Layouts

Switch Between Open Drawings

Switch Between Layouts in the Current Drawing

Transfer Information between Open Drawings

Save a Drawing

Find a Drawing File

Specify Search Paths and File Locations

Repair, Restore, or Recover Drawing Files

Repair a Damaged Drawing File

Create and Restore Backup Files

Control the Drawing Views

Change Views

Pan or Zoom a View