Autodesk 00308-011408-9F30A - VLA AUTOSKETCH R8-MEDIA W9X/NT, autosketch release 8 User Manual

AutoSketch

RELEASE 8

™

User’s Guide

October, 2001

Copyright © 2001 Autodesk, Inc.

All Rights Reserved

This publication, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form, by any method, for any purpose.
AUTODESK, INC. MAKES NO WARRANTY, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED

WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, REGARDING THESE MATERIALS AND MAKES
SUCH MATERIALS AVAILABLE SOLELY ON AN “AS IS” BASIS.

IN NO EVENT SHALL AUTODESK, INC. BE LIABLE TO ANYONE FOR SPECIAL, COLLATERAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
DAMAGES IN CONNECTION WITH OR ARISING OUT OF PURCHASE OR USE OF THESE MATERIALS. THE SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE
LIABILITY TO AUTODESK, INC. REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, SHALL NOT EXCEED THE PURCHASE PRICE OF THE
MATERIALS DESCRIBED HEREIN.

Autodesk, Inc. reserves the right to revise and improve its products as it sees fit. This publication describes the state of this product
at the time of its publication, and may not reflect the product at all times in the future.

Autodesk Trademarks

The following are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries: 3D Plan, 3D Props, 3D Studio, 3D
Studio MAX, 3D Studio VIZ, 3DSurfer, ActiveShapes, ActiveShapes (logo), Actrix, ADE, ADI, Advanced Modeling Extension, AEC
Authority (logo), AEC-X, AME, Animator Pro, Animator Studio, ATC, AUGI, AutoCAD, AutoCAD Data Extension, AutoCAD
Development System, AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD Map, Autodesk, Autodesk Animator, Autodesk (logo), Autodesk MapGuide,
Autodesk University, Autodesk View, Autodesk WalkThrough, Autodesk World, AutoLISP, AutoShade, AutoSketch, AutoSurf,
AutoVision, Biped, bringing information down to earth, CAD Overlay, Character Studio, Design Companion, Design Your World,
Design Your World (logo), Drafix, Education by Design, Generic, Generic 3D Drafting, Generic CADD, Generic Software,
Geodyssey, Heidi, HOOPS, Hyperwire, Inside Track, Kinetix, MaterialSpec, Mechanical Desktop, Multimedia Explorer, NAAUG,
ObjectARX, Office Series, Opus, PeopleTracker, Physique, Planix, Powered with Autodesk Technology, Powered with Autodesk
Technology (logo), QuickCAD, RadioRay, Rastation, Softdesk, Softdesk (logo), Solution 3000, Texture Universe, The AEC Authority,
The Auto Architect, TinkerTech, VISION*, WHIP!, WHIP! (logo), Woodbourne, WorkCenter, and World-Creating Toolkit.

The following are trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries: 3D on the PC, 3ds max, ACAD, Advanced User
Interface, AME Link, Animation Partner, Animation Player, Animation Pro Player, A Studio in Every Computer, ATLAST, Auto­Architect, AutoCAD Architectural Desktop, AutoCAD Architectural Desktop Learning Assistance, AutoCAD Learning Assistance,
AutoCAD LT Learning Assistance, AutoCAD Simulator, AutoCAD SQL Extension, AutoCAD SQL Interface, Autodesk Animator Clips,
Autodesk Animator Theatre, Autodesk Device Interface, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk PhotoEDIT, Autodesk Software Developer's
Kit, Autodesk Streamline, Autodesk View DwgX, AutoFlix, AutoSnap, AutoTrack, Built with ObjectARX (logo), ClearScale, Colour
Warper, Combustion, Concept Studio, Content Explorer, cornerStone Toolkit, Dancing Baby (image), DesignCenter, Design
Doctor, Designer's Toolkit, DesignProf, DesignServer, DWG Linking, DXF, Extending the Design Team, FLI, FLIC, GDX Driver,
Generic 3D, gmax, gmax (logo), gmax ready (logo),Heads-up Design, Home Series, i-drop, Kinetix (logo), ObjectDBX, onscreen
onair online, Ooga-Chaka, Photo Landscape, Photoscape, Plasma, Plugs and Sockets, PolarSnap, Pro Landscape, Reactor, Real­Time Roto, Render Queue, SchoolBox, Simply Smarter Diagramming, SketchTools, Sparks, Suddenly Everything Clicks,
Supportdesk, The Dancing Baby, Transform Ideas Into Reality, Visual LISP, Visual Syllabus, VIZable, Volo, and Where Design
Connects.

Third Party Trademarks

Élan LIcense Manager is a trademark of Élan Computer Group, Inc.
Microsoft, Visual Basic, Visual C++, and Windows are registered trademarks and Visual FoxPro and the Microsoft Visual Basic
Technology logo are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries.
dBASE and Paradox are trademarks of Borland International, Inc.
Oracle is a trademark of Oracle Corporation.
Lotus 1-2-3 is a trademark of IBM Corporation.

All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

Third Party Software Program Credits

ACIS® Copyright © 1994, 1997, 1999 Spatial Technology, Inc. Three-Space Ltd., and Applied Geometry Corp. All rights reserved.
Active Delivery™ 2.0 © 1999-2000 Inner Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
© 2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
International CorrectSpell™ Spelling Correction System © 1995 by Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products, N.V. All rights reserved.
InstallShield™ 3.0 © 1997 InstallShield Software Corporation. All rights reserved.
Portions © 1991-1996 Arthur D. Applegate. All rights reserved.
Portions of this software are based on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.
Typefaces from the Bitstream® typeface library © 1992.
Typefaces from the Payne Loving Trust © 1996. All rights reserved.
The license management portion of this product is based on Élan License Manager © 1989, 1990, 1998 Élan Computer Group, Inc. All rights
reserved.
Trimble Link ™ © Trimble Navigation Limited. All rights reserved.
WexTech AnswerWorks © 2000 WexTech Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Wise for Installation System for Windows Installer © 2000 Wise Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.
© C-Dilla Labs, a Macrovision Company. All rights reserved.

GOVERNMENT USE

Use, duplication, or disclosure by the U. S. Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in FAR 12.212 (Commercial Computer Software­Restricted Rights) and DFAR 227.7202 (Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software), as applicable

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Contents

Part I First Things to Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter 1 Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Contents of Package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Device Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Installing AutoSketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Registering AutoSketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

About This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Visual Cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Online Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Chapter 2 Important Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Entities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Drawing Origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Grid Origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Drawing Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Layers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Contents | iii

Chapter 3 Screen Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Title Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Menu Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Drawing Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Scroll Bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Rulers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Split Boxes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Drawing and Grid Origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Property Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Edit Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Status Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Content Librarian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Pop-up Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

ToolTips and Pop-up Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Part II Managing Drawing Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Chapter 4 Opening & Saving Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Opening a Drawing File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Combining Two Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Saving a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Closing a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Finding a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Accessing Autodesk Point A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Chapter 5 Setting Up a New Drawing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

The Wizards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Creating a New Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Selecting a Template. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Setting the Drawing Scale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Moving the Drawing Origin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

Setting the Page Size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Using Rulers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Setting the Margins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54

Setting the Units of Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54

Setting the International Units of Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Setting the Linear Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Setting the Angular Units of Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Setting the Area Units of Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Setting Decimal Precision for Scalar Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

iv | Contents

Chapter 6 Customizing the Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Changing the Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Setting Up the Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Changing the Appearance of the Grid and the Drawing Origin. . . . 65

Using Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Using the Grid Edit Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Changing a Drawing’s Grid Type on the Grid Edit Bar. . . . . . . . . . . 70

Changing Other Grid Settings on the Grid Edit Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Using the Grid Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Chapter 7 Printing, Plotting, and Publishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Understanding Page Tiling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Selecting an Output Device. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Printing a Drawing to Scale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Printing a Drawing to Fit on a Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Setting the Drawing Scale Automatically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Publishing a Drawing File Set using eTransmit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Publishing a Drawing to the Web. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Customizing a Publish to Web Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Chapter 8 Controlling Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Viewing Several Areas at Once . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Using Preset Views. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Zooming In and Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Panning Across the Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Using the IntelliMouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Returning to a Previous View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Saving and Recalling Views. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Viewing Drawing Details. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Redrawing a Pane or Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Arranging Drawing Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Chapter 9 Entering & Modifying Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Entering a Point Based on Pointer Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Entering a Point on the Reference Grid or Guideline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Entering a Point Exactly on an Entity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Entering a Point at a Specific Distance from an Endpoint. . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Entering the Midpoint of an Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Entering a Point at a Symbol Basepoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Entering the Endpoint of an Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Entering a Point Where Two Entities Intersect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Entering a Point That Creates a Perpendicular. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Contents | v

Entering the Center of an Arc or Circle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109

Entering a Point to Create a Tangent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110

Entering a Quadrant Point on an Arc or Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110

Entering a Point from the Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111

Using Lock Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114

Using Set Last Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117

Modifying a Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117

Chapter 10 Entering Lengths & Angles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Entering Lengths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120

Entering Angles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121

Entering a Scalar Value. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125

Entering a Percentage Value. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125

Part III Basic Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Chapter 11 Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Drawing Single Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130

Drawing Connected Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131

Drawing a Line in Relation to an Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134

Chapter 12 Polylines, Polygons, & Curves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Drawing Polylines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139

Sketching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141

Drawing Irregular Polygons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143

Drawing Clouds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145

Drawing Regular Polygons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147

Drawing Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151

Chapter 13 Arcs & Circles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Drawing Arcs Based on Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157

Drawing Circles Based on Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159

Drawing Tangent Circles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161

Drawing Ellipses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163

Chapter 14 Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Placing a Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168

Inserting Symbols in Lines, Polylines, and Polygons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170

Creating Symbol Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173

vi | Contents

Managing Symbols in the Content Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Managing Symbol Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Editing Symbol Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Using AutoExplode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Setting a Current Symbol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Setting a Current Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Chapter 15 3D Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Using Extrusion Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Using Isometric Transformation Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Customizing 3D Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Changing Render Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Changing Geometry Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Changing Extrusion Property Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Changing Isometric Origin Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Chapter 16 Pen & Pattern Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Setting Pen Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Using Color Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Setting the Pattern Properties of an Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Creating a Boundary Fill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Matching Entity Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Changing the Hatch Spacing and Angle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Adding Bitmap Images for Bitmap Fills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Part IV Annotating a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Chapter 17 Working With Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Placing Text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Modifying Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Changing Text Height, Angle, Justification, and Wrap Width . . . . 217

Choosing a Font. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Editing Text with the Text Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Editing Text with the Inplace Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Checking Spelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Contents | vii

Chapter 18 Creating Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Linear Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .226

Single Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .227

Chained Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .228

Baseline Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .230

Changing Linear Dimensions With the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231

Angular Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .232

Changing Angular Dimensions With the Mouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233

Radius Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .234

Changing Radius Dimensions With the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .235

Diameter Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .236

Changing Diameter Dimensions With the Mouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . .237

Centerline Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238

Ordinate Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238

Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239

Chapter 19 Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Placing a Marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .242

Selecting a Marker Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .245

Part V Editing Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Chapter 20 Selecting & Deleting Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Selecting Entities with the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .250

Selecting All Entities in a Drawing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .252

Using the Selection Modifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .252

Aligning the Selection Handles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .255

Clearing a Selection Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .256

Modifying the Properties for the Entire Selection Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .256

Marquee Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .257

Deleting Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .259

Chapter 21 Undoing, Redoing, & Repeating Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Undoing Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .262

Redoing Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .262

Repeating Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .263

Chapter 22 Moving, Rotating, & Resizing Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Working With the About Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .266

Moving or Copying an Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .267

Rotating an Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .270

viii | Contents

Rubber Stamping an Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Creating Patterns of Duplicate Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Parallel Placement of Duplicate Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Mirroring an Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Scaling an Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Stretching an Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

Arranging Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Repeating a Transformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Chapter 23 Trimming Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Creating a Corner Between Two Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Rounding an Intersection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Beveling an Intersection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Trimming to an Edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Removing Sections of Entities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Dividing an Entity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Dividing an Entity into Equal Segments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Creating an “Alcove” in a Line or Polyline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Joining Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Combining Two Polygons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Creating a Polygon from the Intersection of Two Polygons . . . . . . . . . . 296

Subtracting One Polygon From Another . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

Chapter 24 Reshaping Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Selecting Vertices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Moving and Aligning Vertices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Moving a Segment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Adding a Vertex, Segment, or Bulge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Editing the Properties of a Polyline or Polygon Segment. . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Controlling the Visibility of a Segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Deleting a Vertex or Segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Opening and Closing Poly Entities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Dividing a Polyline at a Vertex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Reshaping Arcs and Circles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Chapter 25 Converting & Exploding Entity Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

Converting Entities to Polylines and Polygons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Converting Arcs and Circles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

Converting Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

Closing and Opening Curves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

Converting Polylines and Polygons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

Contents | ix

Converting TrueType Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .318

Creating Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .319

Exploding Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .320

Chapter 26 Making Inquiries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Displaying Information About a Specific Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .322

Displaying Information on the Selection Set. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .323

Displaying the Coordinates of a Point. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .324

Measuring Distances. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .324

Measuring Angles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .326

Measuring Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .328

Part VI Using a Drawing As a Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

Chapter 27 Storing Data in a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Creating Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .334

Assigning Fields and Values to Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .335

Calculated Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .336

Removing Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .339

Chapter 28 Retrieving Data From a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Creating Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .342

Organizing Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .344

Sending Information to Other Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .345

Displaying Values in a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .347

Including AutoFields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .348

Chapter 29 Using Web Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

Assigning URLs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .353

Browsing Hyperlinks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .354

Using Hyperlink Jumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .355

Appendix A Appendix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

Advanced Topics found in online Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .358

Glossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

x | Contents

Part 1

First Things to Know

Chapter 1 Welcome
Chapter 2 Important Concepts
Chapter 3 Screen Layout

1

2 |

Welcome

1

AutoSketch is a precision drawing tool for the

®

Microsoft

Windows ME, Windows 2000, and Windows XP

environments. It is developed for use by anyone who

needs fast, accurate drawings and wants the power and

flexibility afforded by Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98,

Windows ME, Windows 2000, or Windows XP. Uses for

AutoSketch include:

■ Engineering drawings

■ Architectural drawings

■ Electrical schematics

Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98,

In this chapter

■ Contents of package

■ System requirements

■ Device drivers

■ Installing AutoSketch

■ Registering AutoSketch

■ About this guide

■ Online Help

■ Technical support

■ Facility plans

■ Office layouts

■ Interior design drawings

■ Process flow diagrams

■ Maps

■ Business graphics

3

The emphasis throughout AutoSketch is on speed, power, and ease of use.
Features appear when you need them but are kept out of the way when you
don’t. If you’re already a Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98, Windows ME,
Windows 2000, or Windows XP user, you’ll find the menu system and much
of the screen familiar. If you’re new to Windows, you’ll find it an easy place
to work. If you use a Microsoft Office product, you’ll notice that many tasks
can be completed in a similar manner in AutoSketch.

Contents of Package

AutoSketch comes with everything you need to install and use the software.
The package includes the following items:

■ AutoSketch CD

■ AutoSketch Getting Started Guide

■ Read This First card

System Requirements

To run AutoSketch on your computer, the following software and hardware
are required.

Minimum System Requirements

■ Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000,

or Windows XP. AutoSketch is not compatible with earlier versions of
Windows.

■ Pentium II or AMD equivalent—233Mhz processor.

■ 32 megabytes of RAM.

■ A hard drive with at least 100 megabytes of free space.

■ A CD-ROM drive.

■ A display adapter and 256 color monitor supported by Windows NT 4.0,

Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, or Windows XP.

■ VGA video display with an 800 by 600 resolution, supporting 16 bit color.

■ A mouse (or other pointing device) supported by Windows.

4 | Chapter 1 Welcome

Device Drivers

As a Windows program, AutoSketch uses the device drivers provided by
Microsoft and others specifically for use with Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98,
Windows ME, Windows 2000, or Windows XP. AutoSketch itself does not
provide drivers for printers, plotters, display adapters, pointing devices, and
so on.

Installing AutoSketch

You can’t install or reconfigure AutoSketch by copying files directly from the
CD to your hard drive. To install AutoSketch, you must run the setup appli­cation from the AutoSketch CD.

Before installing AutoSketch, you must have Windows NT
Windows ME, Windows 2000, or Windows XP installed on your system.
Refer to your Windows online Help for information on installing and
configuring Windows.

To install AutoSketch

®

4.0, Windows 98,

1 Insert the AutoSketch CD into your CD-ROM drive. Installation begins

automatically as soon as you insert the CD.

2 Follow the installation prompts that appear.

If installation did not begin when you inserted the AutoSketch CD into your
CD-ROM drive, Autorun may be turned off on your machine.

Device Drivers | 5

To install AutoSketch if you have turned off Autorun
1 Insert the AutoSketch CD into your CD-ROM drive.

2 On the Windows start menu, click Run. The Run dialog box appears.

3 Enter D:\Setup.exe and click OK. If you are installing from a different

drive, substitute the correct drive in place of the letter D.

4 Follow the installation prompts that appear.

To run AutoSketch after installation is complete,
Programs, AutoSketch.

Registering AutoSketch

If you have Microsoft Internet Explorer installed on your system, Autodesk
Online Software Registration can be launched during installation.

Registering makes you eligible for technical support and for early notification
when new product releases become available. It also provides Autodesk with
important information about how you use your software.

About This Guide

You can use this guide both as a tool for learning AutoSketch and as a refer­ence manual after you’re familiar with the software.

This guide is tailored to help you find information quickly. The beginning of
each paragraph signals the thought or point covered in the paragraph. To
find information on a specific subject you can usually scan through text
reading only the first few words of each paragraph until you find the infor­mation you want. Illustrations, screen shots, tables, icons, and so on replace
explanatory text where possible.

on the Start menu, click

6 | Chapter 1 Welcome

“How-to” information appears in numbered steps. This simplifies the learn­ing process for new users and helps experienced users find essential
information quickly.

Instructions for installing and using Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98,
Windows ME, Windows 2000, or Windows XP do not appear in this guide.
If you are uncomfortable with your knowledge of Windows, review
Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, or
Windows XP online Help before attempting any serious work with
AutoSketch.

Visual Cues

This guide uses certain symbols and typographical conventions to help you
find information quickly. They are listed here:

Typographical conventions

Convention Meaning

■

item in a list

1. step in a procedure

Bold denotes something you must type exactly as it appears

Italics signals a new term; an explanation usually follows

ALL CAPS key names

KEY+KEY key combination (e.g., CTRL+R)

KEY, KEY, KEY key sequence (e.g., ALT, F, S)

Initial Caps filenames and names of menus, dialog boxes, and dialog box

controls

About This Guide | 7

Illustrations

This guide uses two types of illustrations. One depicts the AutoSketch screen
or some element onscreen. When this type of illustration is necessary, every
effort is made to depict the element exactly as it appears on the actual
display.

The other type of illustration demonstrates an action or principle. Each
element in a drawing of this type has a specific meaning. Here is a list of the
conventions used in procedural illustrations:

Elements used in procedural illustrations

Convention Meaning

existing entity

new entity

imaginary line (e.g., rubber band line or line used to show
alignment)

mouse click that selects an entity or a point—the number, when
present, specifies the mouse click’s position in a series of clicks

click and drag operation—beginning of arrow indicates where to
start; end of arrow indicates where to stop

last mouse click in a procedure that requires termination (e.g.,
polyline, baseline dimension, etc.)

OR

mouse click that opens a pop-up menu—the number, when
present, specifies the mouse click’s position in a series of clicks

8 | Chapter 1 Welcome

Online Help

AutoSketch includes an extensive online Help system. This system includes
all of the information found in the AutoSketch User’s Guide, plus information
not found in the guide. Advanced topics, such as information on tracing,
importing and exporting, and customizing AutoSketch, are found exclu­sively in online Help. For a complete list of topics which appear exclusively
in online Help, refer to the Appendix on page 357. To access the online Help
system, click AutoSketch Help on the Help menu, or press F1.

Online Help | 9

10 | Chapter 1 Welcome

Important Concepts

2

AutoSketch allows you to create drawings that are

attractive, precise, and information rich. The building

blocks of any AutoSketch drawing are its entities, whose

geometry and appearance are defined by properties. A

hallmark of AutoSketch is its ability to store drawing

information in a database. From the manufacturer of a

product, to the World Wide Web address of the

company where you can buy it, AutoSketch allows you

to create drawings that are greater than their appear-

ance. This chapter introduces you to the general

concepts of AutoSketch so that you can take full

In this chapter

■ Entities

■ Properties

■ Coordinates

■ Drawing origin

■ Scale

■ Layers

advantage of its power.

11

You are probably familiar with “paint” and “draw” programs that are com­mon on personal computers. A paint program creates an image by assigning
colors to each dot in a rectangular array of dots. A draw program creates an
image by defining objects mathematically. A line, for example, is a specific
pattern of dots in a paint program. In a draw program, a line may have prop­erties such as color, width, style, and so on, but in its simplest form, it has a
startpoint and an endpoint.

AutoSketch is similar to an ordinary draw program, but it goes a few steps
further. It allows you to work with the actual (world) sizes of the objects you
draw whether those objects are miles, millimeters, or microns across. It also
allows you to zoom in or out of your drawing almost without limit. And
during all of this, it keeps track of the scale of your drawing, showing you
exactly how it will appear when printed.

But there is more to a AutoSketch drawing than the way it looks. Underlying
each drawing is a database—a series of predefined and user-defined proper­ties that you can use as a basis for selecting entities, generating reports, and
exporting information to other Windows applications. For example, by
assigning properties to a line, you can record the fact that it represents a half­inch cold water pipe located under the master bedroom. The ability to store
and recall database information makes AutoSketch a powerful tool for
organizing graphic and textual information.

In this brief chapter, you will learn about the special concepts on which
AutoSketch is based. Reading it helps you understand how AutoSketch works
and makes it easier for you to become productive.

12 | Chapter 2 Important Concepts

Entities

Each item you add to a drawing is called an entity. Entities are the building
blocks of a drawing. Other programs may refer to entities as objects, items,
or elements. AutoSketch creates the following entity types:

■ Arc—An arc is a portion of a circle. You can use an arc to show the direc-

tion a door swings, a rounded wall, and so on. For more information, see

the chapter titled “Arcs & Circles,” which begins on page 155.

■ Circle—A circle is a curved line with every point equally distant from the

center. You can use a circle to represent a hole, a round object, and so on.

For more information, see the chapter titled “Arcs & Circles,” which

begins on page 155.

■ Curve—A curve is a polyline that is rendered onscreen and on printed

output in a special way. AutoSketch supports two curve types: fitted

curves and spline curves. Fitted curves pass directly through each control

point. Spline curves pass through the first and last control points and are

drawn toward intermediate ones. A closed curve can contain pattern fill.

Use curves to create free-form shapes such as curved sidewalks and car

fenders. For more information, see the chapter titled “Polylines, Polygons,

& Curves,” which begins on page 137.

■ Detail view—An entity that displays a portion of a previously saved view.

For more information, see “Viewing Drawing Details” on page 95.

■ Dimension—A dimension is a predefined collection of lines, arcs, markers,

and text used to display a measurement in the drawing. The text label is

updated automatically when you stretch or reshape the dimension. For

more information, see the chapter titled “Creating Dimensions,” which

begins on page 225.

■ Ellipse—A closed symmetrical curve that resembles a flattened circle.

Mathematically, the path of a point that moves so the sum of the dis-

tances from it to a pair of fixed points remains constant. For more infor-

mation, see “Drawing Ellipses” on page 163.

■ Fill—A hidden line polygon that conforms to the shape of a bounded area

and displays either a solid color, a hatch, or bitmap fill. For more informa-

tion, see the chapter titled “Pen & Pattern Properties,” which begins on

page 197.

■ Group—A compound entity consisting of individual symbols and entities

which AutoSketch treats as a single entity. For more information, see “Cre-

ating Groups” on page 319.

■ Line—A line is an entity that connects two points. You can use a line to

represent any straight object such as a water pipe, a wall edge, an electrical

connection, or a street. For more information, see the chapter titled

“Lines,” which begins on page 129.

Entities | 13

■ Marker—A marker is a special entity that notes a specific point in a draw-

ing. For more information, see the chapter titled “Markers,” which begins
on page 241.

■ OLE Object—An OLE object is a special entity created in one application

and embedded into another. When you double-click a linked OLE object,
Windows opens the source application that created it and loads the asso­ciated file. When you double-click an embedded OLE object, the source
application opens within AutoSketch—that is, its toolbars, menus, and so
on, temporarily replace AutoSketch’s. For more information, see “Using
the Clipboard &OLE” in online Help.

■ Picture—A raster image is a picture or bitmap that can be imported and

placed in the drawing. AutoSketch treats the raster image like most other
entities, allowing you to move, scale, or duplicate it as needed. For more
information, see “Tracing in AutoSketch” in online Help.

■ Polygon— A polygon is a closed polyline that can contain a fill pattern.

Use a polygon when you need to know the area of an enclosed region or
when you need to fill an area with a hatch pattern, bitmap fill, or a solid
color. For more information, see the chapter titled “Polylines, Polygons, &
Curves,” which begins on page 137.

■ Polyline—A polyline is a multi-segmented line AutoSketch treats as a

single entity. When a polyline is closed, it becomes a polygon. Use a
polyline in situations where you need to know the total length of a series
of connected segments.

■ Symbol—A symbol is a group of entities that AutoSketch treats as a single

entity. Symbols can be stored in libraries for use in multiple drawings. For
more information, see the chapter titled “Symbols,” which begins on page

167.

■ Text—A text entity can be any size and can use any TrueType font. It can

be rotated at any angle. For more information, see the chapter titled
“Working With Text,” which begins on page 211.

14 | Chapter 2 Important Concepts

Properties

Properties, the individual qualities that define an entity, are divided into
three categories:

■ Geometric properties—those that define an entity’s size, position, and so

on. AutoSketch assigns geometric properties automatically as you draw

and edit.

■ Graphic properties—those that specify the appearance of an entity.

Graphic properties include layer, color, width, style, and pattern.

AutoSketch assigns graphic properties as you draw based on the current

settings on the property bar.

■ Fields—those you define yourself. You define a field by specifying its

name, type, and width or precision. A desk symbol, for example, could

have fields for model, size, color, and style. A resistor symbol for a printed

circuit board could have fields for resistance, wattage, and tolerance. You

can assign fields to any entity except a text entity, a marker, or a dimen-

sion. A field has two components: a field name, such as Manufacturer,

and a value, such as “AAA Casements.” Assigning this value to the

Manufacturer field of a window symbol attaches that information to the

symbol.

Coordinates

Coordinates are numbers that specify the location of one point in relation to
another. This relationship is classified as either absolute or relative. Absolute
coordinates reference the origin of the current coordinate system, for exam­ple, the Drawing Origin, the Grid Origin, or the Page Origin. Relative coordi­nates reference the last point you entered. They are useful when you want to
draw or place another entity a known distance from another entity or point.

Properties | 15

AutoSketch expresses location in three ways: xy (Cartesian), polar, and
isometric coordinates. X-and y-coordinates express location in terms of hori-

zontal and vertical distances from another point. Polar coordinates express
location in terms of distance (radius) and angle. For example, the xy coordi­nates 7,5 are equivalent to the polar coordinates 8.6,35.5.

Isometric coordinates differ from x- or y-coordinates in that they add a third
axis (z) to the expression. Isometric drawings are usually used to create two­dimensional views of a three-dimensional object.

Drawing Origin

AutoSketch locates most points in relation to the drawing origin, even if you
move the grid origin. If you move the drawing origin on the page, the entire
drawing shifts to reflect that change. The drawing origin appears onscreen as
colored arrows indicating the positive x and y (and, if isometric, z) directions.
It does not appear on printed output. Normally, the drawing origin is located
at the lower-left corner of your page, however, if you need to move it, you
can center the Drawing Origin on the page, or relocate it with the mouse, or
by entering new coordinates. For more information on moving or modifying
the Drawing Origin, see “Moving the Drawing Origin” on page 49.

16 | Chapter 2 Important Concepts

Grid Origin

The grid origin is similar to the drawing origin in function and appearance.
However, the grid origin serves as a reference point for grid coordinates only.
By default the grid origin is located at the drawing coordinates 0,0, for
example, at the drawing origin. You can move the grid origin of rectangular,
circular, or isometric reference grids. For more information, see the chapter
titled “Customizing the Grid,” which begins on page 59.

Drawing Scale

Drawing scale is the ratio between the actual size of the entities in a drawing
and their size on printed output. In conventional drafting, you scale the
components of a drawing by using an architectural or engineering scale. In
AutoSketch, you simply enter the actual (world) size of an entity and the soft­ware keeps track of the scale for you. You can also create “scaleless” 1:1 draw­ings in AutoSketch without regard for scale.

Specifying a drawing scale, however, has two important benefits. It allows
AutoSketch to accurately depict onscreen how your drawing will look on a
printed page. And it allows you to specify entities such as text, markers, and
dimensions by output size. This is usually more convenient than specifying
such entities according to their size in relation to actual (world) entities. For
information on how to change the drawing scale, see “Setting the Drawing
Scale” on page 47.

Layers

Layers help you place entities together in logical groups. An architectural
floor plan, for example, might contain a framing layer, a plumbing layer, an
electrical layer, and so on. You can mask layers while working on others to
remove distracting clutter and improve performance. Masked layers are not
printed or displayed. You can also lock a layer to protect its contents from
unintended change. For information on layers, see “Organizing With Layers”
in online Help.

Grid Origin | 17

18 | Chapter 2 Important Concepts

Screen Layout

3

The AutoSketch screen provides an assortment of

features that make it easy to create precise technical

drawings. This chapter describes the components of the

AutoSketch screen.

In most cases, this chapter does not provide detailed

information on standard Windows concepts or on

specific menu items. For information on standard

Windows concepts, such as the mouse, the Control

menu, the window border, the maximize button, dialog

box controls, and so on, refer to Windows online Help.

In this chapter

■ Title bar

■ Menu bar

■ Drawing windows

■ Drawing and grid origin

■ Toolbars

■ Property bar

■ Edit bar

■ Status bar

■ Content Librarian

■ Pop-up menus

■ ToolTips and pop-up

windows

19

Title Bar

The AutoSketch title bar extends across the top of the application window. It
displays the name of the program and the name of the current drawing file
if the window that contains the drawing is maximized. The buttons at the
right end of the title bar allow you to minimize, maximize, close, or restore
the AutoSketch window. You can also maximize or restore a window by
double-clicking on the title bar. You can exit AutoSketch
Control menu box, then clicking close on the drop-down menu. Double­clicking the Control menu box at the left end of the title bar is another quick
way to exit. If AutoSketch is running in a window rather than maximized,
dragging the title bar moves the entire window on the desktop.

by clicking the

Menu Bar

You can choose menu items using either the mouse or the keyboard. To use
the mouse, click the menu name. When the menu drops down, click the item
you want. Menu items with an arrow to the right display cascading menus
when you place the pointer over one of them. When you highlight a menu
item a description appears in the status bar.

20 | Chapter 3 Screen Layout